Implantation Failure Symptoms & 5 Reasons Why Implantation Might Fail
If you are currently receiving IVF treatment, then you will most likely know that successful implantation is a key part of successfully becoming pregnant.
If you find that your implantation failed, it can be upsetting and you may wonder what caused it.
This article discusses the potential implantation failure symptoms, the causes of implantation failure and the steps you can take if you have repeated implantation failure.
In this article:
- What is Implantation?
- What Role Does the Uterine Lining Play in Successful Implantation?
- What is Implantation Failure?
- Symptoms of Implantation Failure
- 5 Reasons for Embryo Implantation Failure
- Recurrent Implantation Failure – Steps You Can Take
What is Implantation?
Implantation is the attachment of a fertilised egg to the uterine wall that occurs between the 6 and 12 days following ovulation, with the majority of occurrences occurring around day 9.
It is usually after implantation that your pregnancy symptoms begin, and you can receive a positive pregnancy test.
The fertilised egg grows and multiplies quickly and by the time it enters the uterus- it is known as a blastocyst.
What is a Blastocyst?
A blastocyst is a spherical cluster of stem cells in a fluid which is surrounded by an outer layer.
It is this outer layer that eventually forms the placenta (at the point where the fertilised egg attaches to the uterine lining in the implantation process).
This outer layer is critical to the process because it attaches to and integrates with the uterine lining.
Blastocyst in IVF
If you are receiving IVF fertility treatment, a blastocyst is formed slightly differently.
When an egg and sperm combine, an embryo is created.
Normally, this event would take place in the fallopian tube in your body, but in the IVF lab it takes place in a petri dish which contains nourishing culture medium.
The resulting embryo divides quickly and enters the uterus at the blastocyst stage (or is transferred to the uterus on day 3 or day 5 during an IVF cycle).
What Role Does the Uterine Lining Play in Successful Implantation?
The uterine lining plays a key role in successful implantation.
The uterine lining, also known as the endometrium- consists of two layers.
- The Functional Layer – The functional layer is the thickened layer of the uterine layer that is shed once a month every menstrual cycle. Sound familiar? That’s right, you guessed it, when shed the functional layer exits your vagina as your menstrual period.
- The Basal Layer – The basal layer is a layer of your uterine lining that never sheds. The basal layer helps to form the functional layer.
Both the functional layer and basal layer are necessary for successful implantation, and studies have shown that a thicker functional layer creates a higher chance of successful implantation.
What is Implantation Failure?
Implantation failure is where the blastocyst fails to implant into the uterine lining, resulting in a chemical pregnancy.
This usually occurs when the blastocyst fails to communicate with the endometrium effectively and the endometrium is not receptive enough (not a good enough endometrial receptivity at the time).
Symptoms of Implantation Failure
There is no indication or symptom that can tell us whether IVF succeeded or not after an embryo transfer.
In general, if the embryo does not implant, premenstrual symptoms will appear around 15 days later, followed by menstrual blood to confirm the implantation failure.
To take an alternative approach, the absence of any symptoms might indicate IVF implantation failure signs.
A heightened sense of smell, increased sensitivity of the breasts, implantation bleeding, vaginal discharge, and mild stomach cramps are all common side effects or symptoms of successful implantation (and early pregnancy).
If these symptoms do not appear even after a few weeks following IVF, it may indicate a failure.
It is worth noting that an ectopic pregnancy can also cause vaginal bleeding.
This happens when a fertilised egg implants into one of the fallopian tubes rather than the uterine lining.
Other symptoms may include abdominal, pelvic, or even shoulder pain.
5 Reasons for Embryo Implantation Failure
Below are the 5 potential implantation failure reasons:
1) Embryo Quality
The quality of the embryo is a very important factor to consider for implantation.
Embryos which are lower in quality have genetic defects, such as aneuploidies (the wrong number of chromosomes) and not enough or incorrect genetic information.
When an egg containing these genetic defects is fertilised, it forms an embryo which is genetically incompetent. These embryos usually do not implant, and in the cases they do, they usually lead to miscarriages.
On rare occasions, the embryo can grow and develop until the baby is full-term.
However, these full-term babies are born with genetic defects.
A good quality embryo has a much higher chance of successful implantation.
2) Age of the Eggs
The age of the egg cells is actually more important than the age of the woman receiving the IVF treatment.
Older egg cells tend to produce a much lower embryo quality than younger eggs, which significantly reduces the chances of successful implantation.
Not only the quality of the eggs reduces with egg, but so does the quantity, which can also affect the chances of successful IVF cycles.
3) Embryo Transfer
Sometimes, the fertilisation of the egg can go wonderfully, the quality of the eggs can be perfect and everything can look positive, and yet implantation still fails. Why does this happen?
The issue could be due to the blastocyst transfer process.
4) Ovarian Response
Sometimes, the reason for unsuccessful implantation can be due to the woman’s ovarian response.
When a woman’s ovaries do not respond well to the fertility medications, their ovaries will not produce enough eggs.
This increases the chances of unsuccessful IVF and implantation.
This issue is more common in women over the age 37.
5) Lifestyle
Lifestyle choices can affect your chances of successful embryo implantation. By taking the below steps, you can increase your chances of successful implantation.
- Stop Smoking.
- Most fertility clinics require women to stop smoking for at least three months before beginning In Vitro Fertilization (IVF) therapy.
- Women who smoke require twice as many IVF cycles as women who do not smoke.
- Healthy Weight. Women who are overweight have a lower chance of having a successful IVF procedure.
- It is advised to maintain a healthy weight to increase your chances of successful IVF.
- If you are overweight, decreasing roughly 10% of your body weight might improve your chances of getting pregnant.
Recurrent Implantation Failure – Steps You Can Take
If you have recurrent or repeated implantation failure (for three or more IVF cycles), there are some steps which you can take, including:
- Test your AMH.
- Ask your embryologist to check the quality of your embryos.
- Try different ovarian stimulation methods.
- Try taking insulin sensitizers for PCOS.
- Try different modes of embryo transfer.
- Try doing frozen embryo transfers instead.
- Try having a day 5 embryo transfer rather than a day 3 embryo transfer.
- Use donor eggs or embryos.
- Have any uterine polyps or fibroids removed.
- Try a different clinic.
Did you enjoy this article? Why not check out another article: Does Plan B Work During Ovulation?
My name is Louise and I am the Digital Marketing and Administrative Assistant at MyBump2Baby. I have been writing in the parenting niche for over 2 years specialising in fertility, pregnancy, baby and baby name support articles.