The commonest IVF patients ask their doctor is – What are my chances of getting pregnant with IVF ?
What is my success rate likely to be ?
This is a poor quality question , which is why the answer is also likely to be of poor quality .
For one thing, you need to understand the difference between the success rate in a single IVF cycle and the cumulative pregnancy rate in 3 IVF cycles .
Now everyone would like to get pregnant in the first cycle itself , but this is often an unrealistic expectation, and it is unrealistic expectations which often lead to grief. If the first cycle fails , many patients find it very hard to come to terms with this failure , and often are not able to screw up the courage to start another cycle . They end up reducing their own chances of getting pregnant , by depriving themselves of the one treatment which gives them the best chance of getting having a baby.
On the other hand , if they had more realistic expectations , they would understand that getting pregnant takes time – whether you do it in the bedroom, or in an IVF clinic ! After all, human reproduction is inefficient, because most embryos have genetic problems, which we can’t prevent or diagnose. This is why every fertile couple doesn’t get pregnant every time they have sex ( except in Hindi films !)
Please come to terms with the fact that you may require 3 -4 IVF cycles in order to get pregnant , and you should be thinking in terms of the pregnancy rate over 3 to 4 cycles , rather than just the success rate in a single cycle . This will make it easier for you to deal with the ups and downs of IVF treatment, and you will find the journey much easier to traverse, because you have more realistic expectations.
And if you do get pregnant in your first cycle ( as we hope and wish that all our patients will !), then please treat this as a bonus !
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