One of the first questions that most people ask is
"What is my chance for IVF Success?" The initial hope of achieving a pregnancy by IVF is often dampened by the answer to this question.There is a lot of debate on success rate of IVF. This is because there are centres that promises 100% success rate without explaining the nuances of how success rates are calculated…
How do you believe the figures of IVF success rates provided by different clinics? As a rule of thumb, we go by the global standard of IVF success rate:
What does that mean? To put these figures into perspective……
Studies have shown that the rate of spontaneous or natural pregnancy in couples with proven fertility in the past is approximately 20 percent per cycle. Which means 2 out of 10 women with normal fertility would conceive naturally in any given attempt
A couple undergoing IVF with self-eggs will have a 20% greater chance of conceiving than by natural conception …that gives them a success rate of 4 out of 10 that is 40%
Therefore, although a figure of 40 percent may sound low, it is much greater than the chance that a fertile couple will conceive in any given cycle.
We advise that couples plan at the outset to make several Transfer attempts. There is no absolute restriction on the number of times that a couple can attempt embryo transfer. Although pregnancy rates increase through a total of six attempts, the success rate for any given cycle remains constant i.e. 40%
Couples who have achieved an ART pregnancy in the past have an increased likelihood of ART-related conception in the future.
Yes there are a number of procedures available that can increase the standard IVF success rate by another 10-20%
ADVANCED ART PROCEDURES | USED FOR | IMPACT ON SUCCESS RATE |
---|---|---|
DONOR OOCTYES | IF FEMALE PARTNER HAS POOR QUALITY EGGS OR NO VIABLE EGGS, A OOCYTE DONOR CAN BE USED TOHARVEST GOOD QUIALITY DONOR EGGS AND FERTIZE IT WITH HUSBANDS SPERM. | 10-15% |
BLASTOCYST CULTURE | USUALLY EMBRYOS ARE TRANSFERRED ON DAY 3 OF EMBRYONIC GROWTH. BUT GROWING THEM TILL DAY 5 WILL ENSURE THAT ONLY GOOD QUALITY EMBRYOS SURVIVE THEREBY INCREASING THE POSSIBILITY OF HEALTHY EMBRYOS BEING TRANSFERRED. | 15% |
Laser Assisted Hatching (LAH) | WITH THE HELP OF LASER, A SMALL CRACK IN THE OUTER COATING OF THE EMBRYO IS MADE. THIS ASSISTS THE EMBRYO IN HATCHING AND IMPLANTATION INTO THE UTERINE LINING. | 5% |
HYSTEROSCOPY | PERFORMING HYSTEROSCOPY BEFORE IVF HELPS IN ACCURAE DETECTION OF UTERINE / TUBAL DEFECTS AND THEY CAN BE ALSO CORRECTED DURING THE PROCEDURE. IT INCREASES THE CHANCE OF CONCEPTION VIA IVF LATER. | 10% |
PRP THERAPY | PLATELET RICH PLASMA EXTRACTED FROM PATIENT’S BLOOD IS INJECTED INTO THE OVARIES AND/OR UTERINE LINING. IT IS THOUGHT THAT THE GROWTH FACTORS IN THE PRP HELP IN THE HEALING AND REGENERATION AND CAN IMPROVE THIN ENDOMETRIAL LINING AND RESTORE OVARAIN FUNCTION. THIS CAN BE A TREATMENT OPTION FOR WOMEN WITH POOR OVARIAN RESERVE AND THIN LINING. | 5% |
PGD/PGS | EMBRYO BIOPSY IS DONE TO SCREEN NORMAL EMBRYOS. HELPS COUPLES WITH FAMILIAL HYSTORY OF GENETIC DISORDERS TO HAVE NORMAL CHILDREN. | 20% |
Endometrial Receptivity Analysis (ERA) | ERA TEST TELLS YOU I THE ENDOMETRIUM WAS RECEPTIVE FOR THE EMBRYO ON THE DAY THE TRANSFER WOULD HAVE BEEN TRADITIONALLY PLANNED BY TAKING A BIOPSY OF THE ENDOMETIUM AND ANYALISNG IT FOR 248 GENES RELATED TO ENDOMETRAIL RECEPTIVITY. | 20% |
So far, with the help of Additional Assisted Reproductive tools it is possible to push the Global average IVF success beyond 40% to a maximum of 60% per cycle, but not more
So it is very misleading to say IVF success rate is 90% or higher.
Again there is a confusion between success rate of IVF and take home baby rate. IVF success rate doesn’t take into account any factors post implantation like miscarriage, biochemical pregnancy, ectopic pregnancy etc. But Take home baby rate does take this into account.
Patients should be aware, IVF success" is defined as any positive pregnancy test, or any pregnancy, even if miscarried or implanted at a position outside the womb or the very common - biochemical pregnancy (positive pregnancy hormone but non visualisation of baby on ultrasound).
We believe that the delivery rate or "take home baby rate" is the only real measure of success.
Woman’s Age | Take home baby Rate |
---|---|
For women under age 35 | 32-37% |
For women ages 35 to 37 | 28-33% |
For women ages 38 to 40 | 23-27% |
For women ages over 40 | 13-18% |
The major hurdles to success are implantation after embryo transfer and early pregnancy loss.
The risk of early pregnancy loss increases with age of the female partner. There is, however, no evidence that the risk of birth defects or chromosome abnormalities (such as Down's syndrome) is any different with IVF procedure.