• Question: Has IVF ever gone wrong ?

    Asked by klacey07 to Vicki, Claire, Nuruz, Jo, Jane, Greg on 22 Jun 2010 in Categories: . This question was also asked by emma12, kyzzah, minikk.
    • Photo: Vicki Onions

      Vicki Onions answered on 16 Jun 2010:

      Hi,
      Yes i believe that it has and there are lots of different ways that it can. IVF can go wrong in that the eggs don’t fertilise and so no embryos form. Also sometimes the embryos that are put back in to the woman don’t implant and so no pregnancy follows. Also there are cases of human error in terms of IVF – eggs and sperm can get muddled and the wrong eggs/sperm used and even very rare cases of the wrong person’s embryos being put back.
      However these are, thankfully, very rare and there are now very strict procedures that embryologists (the scientsits who do the lab work to create and grow the embryos) must follow to limit the chances of this happening. Whenever an embryologist does something with eggs or embryos, there has to be a second person to check they have done the right thing.

    • Photo: Claire O'Donnell

      Claire O'Donnell answered on 16 Jun 2010:

      If you mean have there been mix ups with people getting the wrong embryo back then unfortunately yes there have but thankfully they’re very rare. Have a look at my previous answer on this, there’s a link to a newspaper articelabout a case like this.
      Things can also go wrong during the treatment the woman gets to stimulate her ovaries. It’s called ovarian hyperstimulation syndrome (OHS) and can cause damage to the woman’s heart and lungs. Again thankfully it’s rare but it can be very very serious. Women have ultrasound scans during the beginning of the cycle of treatment whilst they are having drugs to stimulate their ovaries to produce a lot of eggs. In this way their ovaries can be monitored and if it looks like too many eggs are maturing at once (they are usually happy with up to about 10 as compared to the one per month that usually matures) then the cycle of treatment will be abandoned to avoid the risk of OHS

    • Photo: Jane Cleal

      Jane Cleal answered on 21 Jun 2010:

      IVF sometimes doesn’t work so it has to be repeated. Also sometimes the mum can have lots of babies, but nowadays there is less chance as they put less embryos in.

    • Photo: Greg FitzHarris

      Greg FitzHarris answered on 22 Jun 2010:

      Yes, absolutely… the treatment can in fact damage the woman. The hormones administered can cause a sickness called ovarian hyperstimulation syndrome. Is not nice… and has even (very rarely indeed) caused death.

      Problems are quite rare generally, though… but it is definately important to know there are risks involved..

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