Test that could tell a woman if IVF will work for her

A TEST that tells women if IVF would be futile could save them from years of heartache, researchers claim.

It detects whether their wombs carry a specific genetic fingerprint that makes pregnancy almost impossible. Women who tested positive would know to avoid paying for numerous courses of IVF, which can cost up to £8,000 each.

Professor Nick Macklon, medical director of Complete Fertility Centre Southampton, who has carried out trials of the test, said: ‘Many women undergo a number of IVF cycles without success despite having good quality embryos and, up to now, it has been unclear whether or not the lining of the womb may be the cause of that.

‘We have now shown that an abnormal gene expression in the lining can be identified in many of these women and that a specific gene ‘fingerprint’, when present, is always associated with failure, which is very significant in aiding our understanding of IVF failure.’

The test involves genetic checks on a biopsy of wom- en’s wombs. Professor Macklon carried out a study on 115 women with doctors from University Medical Center Utrecht and Academic Medical Centre in Amsterdam.

Some were perfectly healthy while others had been diagnosed with the condition known as Recurrent Implantation Failure.

The study, published in the journal Scientific Reports, found the test accurately picked out all women who had the condition. Professor Frank Holstege, head of the genomics laboratory at University Medical Center Utrecht, said: ‘What this tells us is that a large proportion of women who suffer Recurrent Implantation Failure may be infertile due to a problem with the receptivity of their uterus.

‘Their chances of achieving successful pregnancy are likely to be very small and this information gives clinicians much more clarity in counselling patients as to the wisdom of investing further time, effort and money in ongoing treatment.’

He said the study was ‘significant’ for fertility research. The next stage would be a wider clinical test.

Under NHS guidelines, women should be offered at least three courses of IVF if they have repeatedly tried unsuccessfully to get pregnant. But in many areas they are given only one. If it fails, they have to pay privately.