A common question that we get here at IVF1 is: How long does it take to get
pregnant with IVF? Seems like a simple question but the answer is a little
complicated and is not going to be the same for everybody.
Here's the first concept: Fertility treatment is like gambling. Say you go to Las Vegas to play craps.
You have two dice and you want to roll "Double Sixes" So you ask the Boxman
how long it will take to roll double sixes. They might look at you strangely
because he or she knows that it is possible to roll double sixes on your
first try or not roll double sixes at all. The same is true for IVF treatment.
You have a certain probability for getting pregnant based on a number of factors
You could get pregnant on your first try or you might not get pregnant at all.
A better question to ask them is not how long does it take to get pregnant
but rather, "What is the probability of a pregnancy occurring if
I have one attempt at embryo transfer?" or "What is the probability of a pregnancy
occurring if I have two attempts at embryo transfer?" and so on
The second concept: What does probability mean? Let's take another example. Say you have
a coin to flip and you want it to come up heads. Before you flip, you have a
50% chance for getting heads. This does not mean that if you flip the coin twice
that you are guaranteed to get a heads of one of those two times. In this case
50% plus 50% does not equal 100%!
Your chance for getting a heads is 50% every time you flip the coin.
Now, let's say that your doctor tells you that your
chances for a pregnancy with an embryo transfer is 50%. This does not mean that
you are guaranteed to be pregnant within 2 tries. In fact, you could have a lot of
tries and even with a 50% chance you might not get pregnant.
You could try three times and probability says there is a 1 in 8 chance
that your pregnancy test will come up negative all three times.
3rd concept - What are the factors that influence your chances for getting
pregnant with IVF? There are probably hundreds of factors that can influence
your probability for a pregnancy. I'll discuss a few of the major ones.
Age - As this chart shows, as women get older, their probability for a successful IVF goes down.
Much of this decrease is due to the fact that as women age they are more likely
to produce abnormal embryos that do not have the correct number of chromosomes
Ovarian reserve - Women who have poor ovarian reserve do not respond
to fertility medications as well, and therefore, produce less eggs. Less eggs
means less embryos and therefore less chances to find healthy embryos for an
embryo transfer. As this chart shows, compared to other diagnoses, women with
poor ovarian reserve have a significantly lower chance for success.
BMI - BMI or body mass index is important at both extremes. Women with a very high BMI
> 30 and those with a very low BMI, say < 20, have lower IVF pregnancy rates.
Smokers - Women who smoke have a lower chance for IVF success
Some of this is due to the fact that smoking causes ovarian reserve to drop more rapidly.
However, smoking also causes other problems.
We know this because smokers who quit before their IVF cycle have
better pregnancy rates than those that keep smoking.
Our InfertilityTV bottom line: Some people will get pregnant with IVF right away. Some might take a long time
and some may never get pregnant. There are many different variables which
will influence how long it takes to get pregnant with IVF but no way to predict
exactly how long it will take in your case. We have a lot more videos on IVF
and how to maximize your chances to get pregnant. Check out this playlist, but
before you go, tap that button with the thumbs up and if you haven't already
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