Understanding and overcoming the reasons for IVF failure

Our Austin fertility specialists realize how devastating a failed IVF cycle is. After all of the time, effort and hope invested by hopeful patients, how could IVF not succeed? Because pregnancy is very complex, there are multiple reasons for IVF failure. Our fertility specialists understand these reasons and have the experience and technology to help overcome them.

Reasons for IVF failure

Our Austin fertility specialists know that successful pregnancy requires a healthy egg, normal sperm and a normal uterus. Any issue that interferes with any of these factors can lead to IVF failure.

• Problems with the egg. Research suggests that 25 to 40% of a woman’s eggs are chromosomally abnormal. This number increases as a woman ages. These eggs can lead to abnormal embryos.
• Problems with the sperm.  Fertile men often have sperm do not swim normally or have an abnormal shape. However, there are usually enough normal sperm in an ejaculate to lead to a successful pregnancy. Interestingly, unlike eggs, research suggests that abnormal sperm generally cannot fertilize an egg. In men with significantly abnormal sperm – due to low concentration, low motility or a low percentage of normally shaped sperm – an IVF cycle will fail in the lab unless an advanced fertilization technique is employed.
• Problems with the uterine lining. An embryo cannot implant in the uterus unless the conditions are right. If the uterine lining is not thick enough, or if there is a lesion in the cavity like a polyp, a fibroid, or scar tissue, an IVF cycle will fail.

Helping our patients conceive

Our physicians will do their best to make sure that all of these potentially negative variables have been addressed and if necessary, corrected, prior to starting your IVF stimulation. In the event that an unexpected finding arises during stimulation, they will address that appropriately as well.

In addition to these biological reasons for potential IVF failure, the IVF lab environment, the technical skill of the embryologists, and the clinical experience of the fertility specialist can also influence IVF and pregnancy success. You can rest assured that when you partner with the fertility specialists at Texas Fertility Center, you are partnering with a team of highly trained experts who are committed to your success.

How TFC overcomes the reasons for IVF failure

Our Austin fertility specialists have more than 100 years of combined experience and training in reproductive medicine, and our andrologists and embryologists use leading-edge technology in the lab to address many reasons for IVF failure.

• IVF with PGS. Our Austin fertility center has championed the use of IVF with preimplantation genetic screening, or PGS, to select the best embryos for transfer.
• Intracytoplasmic sperm injection. Our IVF lab offers intracytoplasmic sperm injection, or ICSI, an advanced technique that combats severe male factor infertility by injecting sperm directly into an egg to achieve fertilization.
• Frozen embryo transfer. Our physicians have long recommended frozen embryo transfer to allow uterine conditions to return to normal after ovarian stimulation. This technique boosts implantation and pregnancy rates, and leads to healthier babies.
• Advanced IVF lab. Our IVF lab offers the latest assisted reproductive technologies in a carefully controlled setting.
• Experienced fertility specialists. Our physicians use the latest in ovarian stimulation in order to maximize your ovarian response. They also have a wealth of experience performing egg retrievals and embryo transfers – even in the most difficult cases.

Many patients who come to our Austin fertility specialists after failed IVF cycles elsewhere find pregnancy success. Our physicians develop a comprehensive and individualized treatment plan for each patient in order to maximize the likelihood of your pregnancy success.

If you would like to learn more about fertility treatment at Texas Fertility Center, please contact us.