The Importance of Three Full Cycles of IVF

Three Full Cycles of IVF

If you’re trying to get pregnant, the number of IVF cycles you do matters. It’s not just a matter of cost; the success rate of each cycle is high enough that doctors normally want their patients to do multiple rounds.

Treating infertility with IVF is a major life decision, so it’s worth understanding before you start. It is often said that three full cycles of treatment are necessary for a higher success rate, but how true is this?

Read on, there is more for you to find out.

How Many IVF Rounds are Necessary?

IVF is not cheap. As if that is not enough, you will need to persevere and be patient to complete the process successfully.

It’s not uncommon for patients to want to quit after a couple of rounds of IVF, but experts say that’s exactly when you should keep going if you want a baby.

This is because some women do have better success on their second cycle or later and it is especially true if you’re over 35 or have been trying for more than a year without success.

Doctors say they see many patients who feel defeated after just one try at IVF and decide to stop treatment altogether.

However, with each successive cycle using the same sperm donor, some patients do end up conceiving and carrying pregnancies to full term.

What is 3rd Cycle IVF?

When a woman has completed two unsuccessful IVF cycles (or one failed FET) in which she transferred embryos that did not result in a live birth, her doctor may recommend doing one more cycle.

Although this is considered an “advanced” or “experimental” treatment, many patients do successfully become pregnant after the third cycle of IVF.

Usually, the third cycle of IVF is done using donor eggs, however, it can also be done using the patient’s frozen embryos from an earlier cycle.

Fewer than 1% of women with infertility problems require three or more cycles of IVF before getting pregnant with their eggs.

Does Each IVF Cycle Increase your Chances?

When you’re about to try IVF for the first time, there are two questions you ask yourself: how much does it cost and how likely am I to get pregnant?

A lot of people start IVF with the assumption that their chances will increase with each cycle. But is this true? Are your chances of getting pregnant higher if you’ve already had a few failed rounds of IVF?

Now, the answer is somewhere in between as with many things in life. While your chance of getting pregnant with each cycle increases slightly, there isn’t necessarily a direct correlation between the number of IFVs you’ve had and your likelihood of getting pregnant.

The odds are different for everyone and depend on factors such as your age and whether or not you have problems with your uterus.

How Long Do 3 Cycles of IVF Take?

The time it takes to complete 3 cycles of IVF depends on several factors. The first is how many embryos you choose to transfer in each cycle.

All other things being equal, how fast and how many embryos are transferred determine your chances of success. Typically, a woman undergoing her first cycle of IVF will have a success rate of approximately 30%.

The chance of success improves substantially as you move through a series of cycles. After 3 cycles, your chances can increase to 50-60%.

Treatment is not cheap, nor is it quick. But, if you are prepared for the challenge and all goes well, your chances of having the baby you so desperately desire are decent.

Anyway, it takes around 3-4 months for a couple to complete the whole IVF procedure, which includes all testing, evaluation, surgery and other procedures.

Final Thoughts

It is a fact that in vitro fertilization does not guarantee a pregnancy. At the same time, couples should not give up hope on their first IVF cycle. Statistics show that 70 percent of IVF cycles don’t result in a live birth.

It can take up to three cycles before achieving success, which means that it is perfectly normal for couples to take this path.

IVF Grants in the U.S.

See Also

Is IVF Covered by Insurance

Five Stages of IVF

Does Medicaid Cover IVF

IVF Pregnancy Calculator

IVF Grants

Do IVF Babies Have More Problem

Loans for IVF

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