Why are IVF success rates so low?

Posted by Select IVF India on December 2nd, 2020

An IVF success rate depends on number of factors, out of which some can be controlled and others can be maintained by choosing healthy lifestyle. Factors influencing success rates:

1. Age

Age is the most important factor to be considered in IVF treatment. Younger women always have higher chances of successful IVF as compared to older women. Natural aging impacts the IVF cycle reversely. With increasing age the ovarian reserve in women decreases. A factor that reduces the chances of IVF cycle includes being old women with fewer eggs and lower quality of older women’s eggs. The IVF with self eggs have low success rates as compared to donor eggs. In fact, the live birth IVF success rate for women under 35 who start an IVF cycle is 40%. However, women over age 42 have a 4% success rate.

2. Previous pregnancy

Previous pregnancy history is also an important IVF success factor to think about and if it was with same partner. Factor such as history of recurrent miscarriage or a different partner may reduce the chance of IVF success. If a woman is previously pregnant with the same partner that’s currently undergoing IVF treatment than there is more chances of successful IVF treatment.

3. Type of fertility problems

Fertility problems do impact IVF success rates. It can be male, female or both. Female infertility factors can be uterine abnormalities, fibroid tumors, ovarian dysfunction etc. An IVF success factor also depends on ovulation. In women with low ovarian reserve may also reduce the chances of IVF success. In male’s infertility factors are low sperm count, very low morphology of sperms etc. when both male and female partner having infertility issues they lowers the chances of successful IVF treatment. A factor such as the length of time couple has been infertile is also important to be considered. The chances of IVF success decrease with the amount of time a couple has been infertile.

4. Use of donor eggs

Donor eggs are a significant choice, especially if age is over 35, as there may be a higher rate of IVF success. Quality of egg and age of donor are also important in IVF cycle. Using the donor eggs of younger women increases the chances of pregnancy for women over 40 years. Fresh donor egg or fresh embryo transfer also increases the success rate.

5. Lifestyle habits

Habits like smoking and alcohol consumption also impacts the IVF success rate. . In fact, many times the woman is required to stop smoking at least 3 months before starting IVF treatment. Smokers require higher dosages of fertility drugs to stimulate their ovaries. Smokers have lower implantation rates than nonsmokers. Women who smoke require almost twice as many IVF attempts. Women who smoke experience more failed fertilization cycles.

6. Fertility clinic

The fertility clinic chosen for IVF treatment can greatly affect IVF success rate. The training and experience of the IVF clinic and staff is also the main factor. The live birth rate per IVF cycles started. The rate of patients pregnant with multiples (twins, triplets or more). The laboratory used by the clinic and the qualifications of their staff also add-on factor. The types of patients accepted at the clinic, more specifically their age and fertility problem. Sometimes women ovaries

Failures that lower the success rate of IVF treatment

The major reasons why IVF cycle is not successful are embryo quality, age of the eggs, ovarian response, chromosomal issues etc. Many embryos are not able to implant after transfer to the uterus because they are flawed in some way. Sometimes some eggs looks good in condition in lab but actually having some defects that cause them to die instead of growing. Embryo doesn’t get implanted not because of uterus having problem but when embryo is not healthy enough to grow. As we read earlier the age of the egg is more important than the age of women. The quality and quantity of a woman’s eggs known as her ovarian reserve begin to diminish as she gets older. This affects her chances of success with IVF as well. Older women who use donor eggs, which are donated by younger women, have success rates with IVF that are nearly the same as those of younger women. Egg quality is all-important to having healthy embryos, and younger eggs usually have better quality. Women ovaries don’t respond to the fertility medications strongly enough to produce multiple eggs. Especially if a woman is over 37 or has higher FSH levels she may not produce enough eggs to result in a number of embryos for screening and potential implantation. Chances are higher than IVF will fail when this happens. Chromosomal abnormalities in the embryo are also IVF failure factor. Embryos developed in embryology lab or conceived naturally may have some abnormalities which lead to miscarriages. A man’s sperm develops more chromosomal abnormalities as he ages as well, but at a much lower rate than women’s eggs. Successful IVF treatment also requires no consumption of alcohol and quit smoking three months before the treatment begins at least. Women who smoke generally require more than two IVF cycle for successful pregnancy rate. Women with overweight or underweight might have less chances of successful IVF treatment. Main factor is to obtain healthy weight for successful IVF cycle. If patient is overweight, by maintaining only 10% of your body weight can make an optimistic difference in patient’s ability to get pregnant.

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