Endometriosis and ivf

Does Endometriosis Affect IVF Implantation? Facts You Must Know

Last Updated: September 8, 2022By

Does endometriosis affect IVF implantation? Can women with endometriosis not become pregnant? Are there ways to still achieve pregnancy with endometriosis? This article will help you find out.

This article talks about endometriosis, IVF and IVF implantation procedure, if endometriosis affects IVF implantation along with how a woman can improve her IVF success chances if she has endometriosis.

What Exactly is Endometriosis?

Endometriosis is a female reproductive system abnormality where the endometrial tissue, a tissue that normally grows inside the uterus, grows outside the uterus resulting in severe pelvic pain and irregular menstruation. In females with endometriosis, the endometrial tissue usually lies on the ovaries or fallopian tubes. Common effective treatments for endometriosis are excision surgery and progestin (synthetic progesterone) therapy.

How is IVF Implantation Done?

IVF implantation is the final stage in in-vitro fertilization (IVF) procedure and before it takes place, there are a number of stages a female has to undergo to become pregnant. IVF usually starts with mature eggs and sperm retrieval, then fertilization takes place, then fertilized eggs are incubated for next 5 days, and the eggs that successfully made it to blastocyst (day 5) are checked for chromosomal abnormalities and genetic disorders and then the egg with most potential to result in a healthy pregnancy is transferred back to the woman’s uterus which is called IVF implantation/embryo transfer.

For IVF implantation, a tube called catheter connected with a syringe containing one or more embryos is inserted into the uterus and the catheter transfers the embryo around the uterine lining where it implants and pregnancy further continues.

Does Endometriosis Affect IVF Implantation?

Usually, not in all cases. Yes, abnormal endometrial tissue development around the ovaries, fallopian tubes, or other areas of the uterus could make embryo transfer a bit complex, but in cases of mild endometriosis, a woman does not really need any treatment to get pregnant. Multiple studies have evaluated that over 50 to 70% of women with endometriosis do not require any treatment to achieve pregnancy. Women with mild endometriosis who have normal fallopian tubes but experience irregular ovulation cycles, can simply go for ovarian stimulation. Ovarian stimulation is a clinical approach to trigger ovulation and produce multiple mature eggs with fertility drugs such as Clomiphene in women experiencing irregular menstruation. 

But, in the remaining 30 to 50% cases where women have acute endometriosis, she might require treatments to achieve a sustainable pregnancy. IVF treatment in Gurgaon is the best clinical pregnancy procedure to achieve healthy pregnancy while having acute endometriosis.

Why? Because endometriosis may damage fallopian tubes leading to blockage that does not let fertilized eggs travel down to the uterus and implant. IVF bypasses the involvement of fallopian tubes completely. In IVF, fertilization takes place outside the woman’s body and embryos are directly implanted around the uterine lining, bypassing the fallopian tubes where they implant and further carry on the pregnancy.

How to Improve IVF Success Chances with Endometriosis?

Wonder if you could improve your IVF success chances if you have endometriosis? Well, you can. Here are some ways:

Get your endometriosis treated first

It is your priority whether you want to treat your endometriosis first and then have a child or vice versa. Well, pregnancy is achievable both ways. Women with mild endometriosis and healthy fallopian tubes can achieve pregnancy easily with help of medical ovarian stimulation and IUI (intrauterine insemination) assisted conception. And if you have acute endometriosis and your fallopian tubes are damaged, IVF is the best way to achieve a healthy pregnancy however.

Find a good IVF centre

Want to improve your chances of IVF pregnancy? It is foremost to find the best IVF centre in Gurgaon having qualified, experienced and reputed fertility specialists that hold a high IVF success rate. Having a fertility doctor with all these attributes, you can make certain that your reproductive condition is well-understood and you will only be offered the best possible treatment.

Make healthy lifestyle changes

Certain studies have concluded that women with endometriosis who followed a more active and healthy lifestyle were more responsive to the treatments and had a quicker recovery. Consider doing a little exercise, eat more fibre rich foods including fruits, vegetables and grains. And also try to quit or at least limit smoking and drinking alcohol as these habits have been found to worsen endometriosis and affect overall fertility.

The Bottom Line

In 50 to 70% endometriosis cases, women may not even require medical help to achieve a healthy pregnancy. But in cases of acute endometriosis where women have irregular ovulation cycles and their fallopian tubes damaged as a result of abnormal endometrial tissue development, IVF from a reputed fertility clinic such as Grace Fertility is the best option to attain a healthy pregnancy. Since IVF implantation bypasses the fallopian tubes completely, a woman can still become pregnant and have a child while having endometriosis.