I have failed IVF repeatedly, what should I do ?

You can do five things :

• Change your IVF clinic
• Change the egg
• Change the uterus
• Change the sperm
• Change the embryo

Unfortunately, there are no clear answers for most failed IVFs. If you have undergone multiple failed IVFs , these are the options you have in front of you :

• If you are a woman of advanced maternal age or with premature ovarian failure, it would be reasonable to try IVF with donor eggs from a young woman. In most cases this will solve the problem.
• If you are young and have still encountered several failed IVFs, try changing the clinic. However, make sure the doctor does not mechanically repeat the same treatment
• If you are obese and have metabolic disorders like PCOD or diabetes, try reducing your weight and keep your insulin and glucose levels under control and try again.
• If the above solutions do not solve your problem , then you can consider surrogacy.
• If fertilisation is occurring, then using donor sperm is unlikely to help, because 90% of the genetic abnormalities which prevent embryo development and implantation are found to arise from the egg , and not from the sperm.
• If you are unsure whether there is problem with your egg or your husband’s sperm , you can opt for donor embryos.

There is no explanation why IVF does not work for some women. Be open to different treatment options (like donor eggs or surrogacy); and if not, then have a plan B (like adoption or child-free living). Never start an IVF cycle with the notion that I will succeed. It is wiser  to start with the question “What will I do if my IVF cycle does not succeed ?”. Having such a mind-set will help you to remain resilient and sane.

Read  more at : http://www.drmalpani.com/failedivf.htm

http://blog.drmalpani.com/2010/06/after-4-failed-ivf-cycles-what-should-i.html

http://blog.drmalpani.com/2011/02/i-have-failed-five-ivf-cycles-dr.html

Why did my eggs fail to fertilize ? (complete fertilization failure)

This is another heart-breaking situation which some couples face when they go through IVF. You are very anxious to know the day after egg collection as to how many of your eggs have fertilizedand how many embryos you have ! But there are some rare instances where none of your  eggs fertilises and you are left with no embryos to transfer. The reasons for complete fertilization failure include :

•  Lab error - technical problems in the embryology lab , such as infection in the culture medium or an incubator malfunction can cause this

• Sperm problems  –  Sometimes even normal looking sperms can fail to fertilize the eggs.  This kind of fertilization failure due to functionally incompetent sperm can be prevented by using ICSI (a technique where a sperm is directly injected into egg , thus facilitating fertilization).  If ICSI fail to solve the problem then the issue lies most probably with the egg and not with the sperm.  This is because once the sperm enters the egg , the further events that take place are controlled by the egg’s machinery , and not by the sperm’s !
• Egg problems

What do you do when faced with such a situation ? This is a medical emergency !

• Ask the embryologist whether there was a lab problem. However, even if there was, it’s quite likely that the lab is not going to be completely honest about this. If only your eggs failed to fertilize on the particular day,  while the eggs of the other patients fertilised normally, the chances of a lab error are low.
• Ask the embryologist to do rescue ICSI. Here the embryologist injects a sperm into the unfertilized egg . While the success rate is low, this can help to salvage the cycle; and will also prove that the problem was with the sperm and not with the egg
• Try again in another clinic – this gives you a better chance of pinpointing where the problem lies!

Read more at : http://blog.drmalpani.com/2010/10/failed-fertilisation-after-ivf.html