Can a high white blood cell count prevent embryo implantation ?

Question # 1

Would a high white blood count of 13500 stop implantation.  No symptoms of being sick however my wbc has been high for months.  I have ulcerative colitis but take humira and have no current symptoms.  I have three failed ivf attempts and one failed donor egg cycle all bfn

Answer :

My very confident answer is 'No'. 

Uterus lining , where the embryo implants ( decidua ) , is an immunologically privileged site. It means , the immune system doesn't do the actual function what it is intended for , in those sites. Even though ,  the trophoblast cells and the placenta carry antigens ( foreign molecules ) which are disparate to mother's immune system they are not attacked by the mother's immune cells. Since decidua is an immunologically privileged site , the immune system's usual reaction ( to attack foreign antigens ) is turned off ( by the secretions of the embryo ) and hence the immune cells doesn't hurt the embryo. Even in healthy pregnancies , the WBC count increases in your circulatory system. In other words , pregnancy can lead to an increased WBC in blood without any negative consequences to the developing fetus.

The success rate of an IVF cycle is not 100% , even with donor embryos. Sixty percent of women who are within 35 years of age , and who have good ovarian reserve  get pregnant within 3 IVF cycles ( not within 3 IVF transfers ! ) It is very natural to think that something is wrong with your body ( especially , the uterus ) when an IVF cycle fails. But the truth is , in 99% of the cases nothing is wrong . Not every embryo have the potential to implant and give rise to a healthy baby ( because of genetic defects in the embryo ) . We are still faraway from having a foolproof ART technology which could pin point which embryo will become a healthy baby. 

You just have to repeat your IVF cycle with donor embryos until you find success. Make sure that you are with a good IVF clinic which has high success rate.

Good luck !

Manju

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