IVF can be both exciting and devastating at the same time. The excitement comes from the belief that you can have your own baby after many years. However, it can be devastating to learn that your IVF cycle has failed.
But how do you know this? How do you know whether your IVF cycle failed? What are the symptoms you can expect during a failed implantation, and how common is an IVF failure?
We have discussed all this in this article. So, read till the end to find out the answers to your questions about IVF failure.
Symptoms Of Failed Implantation Of Fertilized Egg
Just like how you would experience certain symptoms during an IVF success, you will also experience certain symptoms indicating an IVF failure. Below are some of the common symptoms of a failed implantation of a fertilized egg.
Vaginal Bleeding
As you already know, you will get your menstrual cycle if implantation is a failure. This is the same for both normal and IVF pregnancies.
You will usually have your vaginal bleeding a week or two after an embryo transfer. This happens when the transferred embryo doesn’t implant into the uterine lining or dies after some time of implantation.
The vaginal bleeding will mostly contain the endometrial tissues that cover the uterus to receive the embryo. When the embryo transfer is a failure, your uterus will expel the endometrial tissues along with the dead embryo through your vagina.
You might also get the usual period symptoms like cramps, tender breasts, nausea, etc.
Lower Back Pain
Lower back pain can occur in both a successful and failed IVF cycle. In a successful IVF pregnancy, you will get lower back pain when the embryo implants into the uterine lining.
In a failed IVF cycle, lower back pain will occur as part of the cramps you usually get during your menstrual cycle.
Your uterus will contract its muscles to expel all the endometrial tissues out of your body. This can cause stomach cramps and lower back pain.
Negative Pregnancy Result
This is one of the obvious signs of a negative pregnancy result. You can take your urine pregnancy test at home two weeks after embryo transfer to test whether you are pregnant or not.
Sometimes, the vaginal bleeding you have can also be implantation bleeding, which is a light spotting your get when the embryo implants into the uterus.
So, to avoid confusion, you can take a pregnancy test to confirm whether you are pregnant. If you are not sure about your home pregnancy test result, you can also visit your doctor to take a blood pregnancy test or an ultrasound to confirm your pregnancy result.
Absence Of Pregnancy Symptoms
Like in a natural pregnancy, you will also experience certain symptoms when your IVF cycle is successful. Certain pregnancy symptoms include nausea, fatigue, bloating, breast tenderness, vomiting, etc.
If you don’t experience these symptoms after about two weeks after embryo transfer, it mostly means a failed pregnancy.
You might have noticed that certain symptoms are common for both positive and negative pregnancy. So, it is always best to take a pregnancy test to confirm pregnancy.
How Common Is Failed Implantation?
IVF Treatment has the highest success rate among all other fertility treatments. But you might be surprised to know that having an IVF failure is not that uncommon. Studies have shown that around 40% experience IVF failures during their first IVF cycle.
The main factors causing this are usually embryo quality, uterine factors, fertility conditions, etc.
However, doctors have also witnessed an increase in success rates as the number of cycles increased. So, don’t worry if your first IVF success is a failure. You can try again and have a successful pregnancy.
Conclusion
It is normal for you to feel depressed and lose hope if you face an IVF failure. But as we saw earlier, your IVF success rates increase as the number of cycles increases.
This is because, after an IVF failure, you can your IVF doctor can understand the causes of IVF failure and take the necessary steps to avoid it in future cycles.
If you can’t identify whether you are pregnant at home, it is best to visit our fertility hospital and take a blood test or ultrasound. This can give you a definite result of your IVF pregnancy.
After a failed IVF, your period will usually start about 10–14 days after embryo transfer. You should consult your doctor if you have confirmed IVF failure but still didn’t get your period even after two or three weeks.
Like in a natural pregnancy, you will also experience certain symptoms when your IVF cycle is successful. Certain pregnancy symptoms include nausea, fatigue, bloating, breast tenderness, vomiting, etc.
The urine pregnancy test kit you use at home measures the hCG hormones in your urine to detect pregnancy. After embryo implantation, your body will start releasing the hCG hormones (pregnancy hormones) into the bloodstream.
Your pregnancy test kit will measure these hormones to determine whether you are pregnant or not.
