What went wrong with my IVF Treatment ?

What went wrong with my IVF treatment ? This is one of the commonest questions I get asked.

" Hello Dr. Malpani, please give me your opinion about my treatment .  I was very positive with IVF-ICSI with laser hatching technique , but unfortunately what went wrong ?"

The reality is that often nothing "went wrong". Even in a perfect IVF cycle, the pregnancy rate is not 100%. Human reproduction is not a very efficient enterprise, and most embryos don't become babies. This is as true in the clinic as it is in the bedroom, and there is little doctors can do to control implantation, which is a biological process.

This is why it's very important for patients to have realistic expectations before they start their IVF treatment.

The trouble is that IVF doctors often aren't very forthcoming about IVF failure rates.  When they want to sign up a patient for IVF treatment, they are happy to promise them the earth and the moon . They are always very optimistic - after all, no one wants to lose a patient to another clinic by bringing them down to earth, which is why doctors will often sugarcoat what they say, and inflate their success rates. It's fairly easy to fool a patient who is emotionally vulnerable and is desperate to have a baby ! IVF doctors  offer all sorts of "modern" technology, such as IMSI, embryoscope and PGS/CCS, and patients feel that if they use all these expensive new techniques, success is guaranteed.

Even at the time of the transfer, many doctors wax eloquent about how beautiful the embryos are;  they try to infuse the patient with hope by describing how well the treatment has gone and how perfect the IVF cycle was. Many doctors believe that being positive helps to improve success rates, so they conveniently gloss over the fact that most IVF  cycles will fail, no matter what we do in the lab.

This is why counselling is so important, so that patients don't go to pieces in the case the cycle fails. This is also why patients mush insist on the clinic providing them with photos of their embryos, so they can learn from the cycle . A failed IVF cycle is not the end of the road - it's just the beginning to a more intelligent personalised treatment !

Want a free analysis of your IVF treatment cycle ? Please send me your medical details by filling in the form at www.drmalpani.com/free-second-opinion so that I can guide you better !