Gene test could identify if IVF will be a failure

A TEST which tells women if they are unlikely to get pregnant through IVF could spare years of heartache and the expense of costly procedures which will never work.

Doctors have been puzzled over why some women still fail to conceive even when a healthy embryo is implanted through assisted fertility techniques.

But now they have discovered that women who never become pregnant carry a genetic “fingerprint” in the womb which appears to hinder pregnancy.

In trials, all women suffering from the problem tested positive for the genetic signature and 81 per cent of those who did not have it were given the all-clear after a biopsy of their womb lining.

Professor Nick Macklon, medical director of Com- plete Fertility Centre in Southampton, which is based at the city’s Princess Anne Hospital, 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.”

Prof Macklon said it could also lead to the development of a new test to help patients understand how likely they are to achieve a pregnancy before they embark on the treatment process – and to guide others on whether or not they should continue even after a number of unsuccessful cycles.

Under NHS guidelines, women should be offered three rounds of IVF, but budget cuts mean around 80 per cent of trusts do not offer the full allocation, meaning many women are forced to go private, which can cost thousands of pounds a time.