IVF Success & Failure – Determining Factors

In vitro fertilization (IVF) is an advanced infertility treatment that involves various processes to help an infertile woman conceive. Multiple factors play a crucial role in determining the success and failure of IVF treatment. This also includes the emotional, physical and financial burden of the treatment phase. Some common factors that affect the IVF outcome include:

Age – Women’s age is a big fact that affects the success rate of an IVF procedure. In the Indian population, IVF is proven to be highly successful between the ages of 24 to 32, as this age is when women are at the peak of fertility. With increasing age, the success rate falls because of the drop in women’s egg quality and quantity.

Type of fertility problem – IVF works well for couples with a range of common fertility issues such as PCOS, endometriosis, fallopian tube blockage in women, low sperm count, motility, and morphology-related problems in men. But complications such as fibroids, uterine abnormalities, or dysfunctional ovaries create tremendous difficulty in conceiving.

Previous Pregnancy History – A woman with recurrent miscarriages or who had problems carrying her baby to term may not conceive through IVF. In such cases, advanced ART techniques like PGT-A, PGT-M & ERA could help achieve pregnancy. On the other hand, a woman who carries her baby to term has a greater chance of conceiving through IVF.

Lifestyle – If a woman is overweight or underweight due to lifestyle habits or other such reasons, the chances of conceiving become low than others who have a normal BMI.

Fertility Centre – This is the most significant external factor affecting the success of an IVF treatment. Based on multiple reasons such as expertise, protocol, technologies, and amenities, including the laboratory standards, the proficiency of embryologists all plays a pivotal role. Moreover, some IVF centres claim very high success rates, while the global success rate is about 35% to 40%. Various parameters are considered while determining the success of an IVF treatment, including implantation rate, conception rate, and live birth rate. It’s necessary to understand that everything matters to an IVF success. There’s no doubt that IVF treatment has gifted several couples across the world to have a baby for decades, and there’s nothing wrong in giving it a try!