How to win the IVF jackpot !

Most patients think of IVF as being a highly scientific , precise, and accurate process , and whenever they start an IVF cycle , they do it with the expectation that they are definitely going to get pregnant . After all, the doctor is making an embryo in the IVF lab and putting it back in the uterus , and there is absolutely no reason why the cycle should fail if the embryo is good, the uterus is healthy, and the doctor is competent. After all, isn’t an embryo the starting stage of a baby ?

Sadly, the reality is very different . The truth is that most IVF cycles fail, no matter how medically perfect they may be. This is something with which it can be hard to come to terms – both for doctors and patients. The reason is simple - human reproduction is not very efficient – and this is true , whether you are making babies in the bedroom , or in the IVF lab ! After all, embryo implantation remains the final common pathway, and this is the major bottleneck for IVF success.

Of course , when you are trying to get pregnant in the bedroom , you don’t mind if it takes time ! Having baby-making sex can be quite an enjoyable exercise , which is why no one complains if it takes them 6 months to get pregnant ! And most fertile couples often forget about how long it took for them to get pregnant – and that even though their January cycle was exactly the same as the February cycle and the April cycle, they didn’t get pregnant until August.

Most people are surprisingly ignorant about the human reproductive cycle , and unless you point out this fact , they forget that it takes time to make a baby in the bedroom – after all, it’s only in Hindi films that everyone gets pregnant the first night they have sex .

When we do IVF, we increase the chances of success in one cycle , as compared to natural intercourse , because we help the patient grow many eggs at one time. However, even though we can make many embryos in one cycle, we can’t control whether the embryo will implant or not after we transfer it into the uterus.

Embryo implantation is not something which we can either control or monitor , and that’s why we need to remember that the outcome of an individual IVF cycle is always going to be uncertain. This is why patients need to have realistic expectations , and accept the fact that it may take time before they get pregnant – whether they are trying in the bedroom, or whether they are doing IVF !

This is where the concept of a jackpot is so useful. Just like buying a lottery ticket is not compulsory , neither is doing IVF . Also, these tickets can be expensive, but are well worth it when you do win - and everyone buys one with the secret hope that they are going to hit the jackpot ! Finally, the chances of winning the jackpot increase with the number of lottery tickets you buy – and this is true of IVF as well. The more IVF cycles you do , the better your chances of getting pregnant , and the cumulative rate keeps on increasing , which is why it’s so important to have patience and perseverance.

Also, while we know that some people will win the lottery, it's impossible to predict who will, and when they will . This is true for IVF as well !

Want to increase your chances of hitting the IVF jackpot ? 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 !