Multiple Failures… Is It the End?

By Dr. Avanthi Vellala | Fertility Specialist

This story is, at its core, about a woman who refused to give up. And I'm not sure I deserve any of the credit for that.

She was 36. Seven years of marriage. Two failed embryo transfers done at another centre before she walked into my clinic. When I looked at her history. OATZ on the male side, two transfers that hadn't worked despite good-looking embryos. I understood the weight she was carrying. Not just physically. Emotionally.

She had come to me six years after her first IVF cycle. Six years. I want you to sit with that for a moment.

Starting Fresh

Given her age and the male factor, I designed a customised protocol. We needed to give her the best possible embryos, and we did. she formed good blastocysts. We tested two of them genetically. Both came back normal. That was a moment I quietly celebrated in my head.

Then I did something I strongly believe in for cases like hers an ERA test. It maps the uterus's personal window of implantation, because 'the right time' is different for every woman. We transferred one PGT-normal embryo, timed to her exact window. We followed a Recurrent Implantation Failure protocol. We added IVIG (Intravenous immunoglobulin) . We did everything right.

The Result I Didn't Want to Give Her

The pregnancy test came back negative.

She cried. Of course she did. I would have too. When someone has been through this much, a negative result doesn't just feel like a failed procedure it feels like the universe saying no. Again.

I kept in touch with her on my personal number. I told her: 'These are dark days. Let's find the sun together.' I'm a BTS Army I made that line up in the moment and I still stand by it.

I gave her emotional support. I gave her a break from the process. Some patients need you to fight alongside them. Others need you to put down the sword for a while. She needed both.

A Hospital Lobby and a Moment I Won't Forget

During the break, I ran into her at a hospital where her mother had been admitted. We met in the lobby completely unplanned. She saw me and her face lit up. She wanted to grab a meal together.

Honestly? My first thought was: aren't you upset with me? The last result I gave her was a negative. Yet here she was, warm and kind, offering to sit with me over food.

She made up her mind to try again. That moment reminded me why I do this work — not for the successful outcomes alone, but for those in-between conversations, in lobbies and on phone calls, that matter just as much as any protocol.

She Gathered Her Courage

We added LIT (Lymphocyte Immunization Therapy) to her protocol. Transferred the second PGT-normal embryo, again timed to her ERA window. Again followed the full RIF protocol.

The day the result came, she was positive.

She is currently 28 weeks pregnant. I think about her often. I'm wishing her a safe and smooth delivery every single day.

What I Carry From This

The protocols, the testing, the science that's all important, but it's not the story.

The story is her. A woman who said yes, one more time, when everything in her had every reason to say no.

That kind of courage doesn't come from a doctor. It comes from somewhere much deeper. I was just lucky enough to be in the room.