When an IVF pregnancy miscarries

 

IVF patients believe that the worst outcome of an IVF cycle is that it can fail and they end up with nothing at all .

While it's true that a failure is heartbreaking , the reality is that what's much worse than a failed IVF cycle with a negative beta HCG is an IVF cycle that ends up with a positive beta HCG and you then miscarry . This is much harder to cope with, because it seems as if God has given you something , and then snatched it back again. Once the HCG is positive, your hopes go up, and you can finally see light at the end of the tunnel. To have this taken away is a cruel blow, and it's hard to accept this reality.

The standard emotional response is one of grieving , and you are likely to be angry with yourself , with God , and with the doctor , because you think life is very unfair, and all the bad stuff seems to happen only to you.

However, you just have to come to terms with the fact that IVF doesn't reduce the risk of miscarriages and that the background miscarriage rate for all pregnancies ( whether they start in the bedroom or in the IVF clinic ) is going to be 15%. This risk is completely random , and the most common reason for an early miscarriage is a genetic error in the embryo . This miscarriage is nature's defence mechanism , to prevent you from giving birth to an abnormal baby .

However , your confidence is going to be shaken so badly, that you are going to find it very hard to gather the courage to try another IVF cycle -  especially because IVF treatment is so expensive , and it's impossible to predict what the outcome is going to be. It can be difficult to to spend money all over again on the second IVF cycle,  especially when the first IVF cycle has dashed all your hopes, and there is nothing we can do differently to reduce the risk of another miscarriage.

And if you do get pregnant again after another IVF cycle , you are never sure whether to be happy  because you are pregnant, or to be scared , because you are worried that this pregnancy could also miscarry. Living in this grey zone area can be very difficult, and exacts a huge emotional toll.

Unfortunately , there is no easy way to overcome this emotional distress , except to learn how to meditate , and keep your fingers crossed .

The good news is that just because you have miscarried once, this fact doesn't increase the risk of another miscarriage in your next pregnancy !

Need help in getting pregnant ? Please send me your medical details by filling in the form at www.drmalpani.com/free-second-opinion so that I can guide you !