Treatment cancellation or failure
Couples should always be aware there is a possibility when undergoing assisted conception treatment that the current treatment cycle will be cancelled or will fail. There are several reasons for this:
- Failure to respond to the drugs that are used to promote follicle growth (e.g. Menopur, Metrodin, Puregon) i.e. not enough or no viable follicles are produced
- Over response to the drugs used to promote follicle growth i.e. there are too many eggs produced and the risk of multiple pregnancy is too high
- Sperm failure or insufficient sperm on the day of insemination
- Technical difficulty in collecting eggs in an IVF cycle
- Failure of fertilisation during IVF
- Failure of embryos to thrive after fertilisation
- Failure of embryos to survive thawing during a frozen embryo transfer
- Technical difficulty in replacement of the embryos during an IVF cycle
- Failure of the embryos to implant in the lining of the womb
- Failure of pregnancy due to early miscarriage or ectopic pregnancy
Unfortunately if treatment fails in a self funded treatment cycle you as the patient will be liable to pay for all treatment and appointments up to that point. The rest of the treatment payment may be held in credit for a future cycle or refunded if you decide not to continue. Medication is non-refundable after delivery but any that is unused may be kept for use in a future cycle if stored correctly.
It is also possible that other factors not described here may lead to the cancellation of a treatment cycle. Couples having NHS funded treatment should note that most local health commissioning groups do not count a cancelled cycle as a treatment cycle and you will be able to have another funded attempt. Counselling will always be available to give you a chance to discuss any problems and the prospects for future treatments: see our Counselling page for more information.