Medical reasons for stopping treatment

Your doctor may recommend that you stop treatment because your chances of getting pregnant are very low. Make sure to get all the facts on why your doctor is not recommending more treatment or a different type of treatment. Your doctor should be able to give you an honest assessment of your and your partner’s chances of success.

Here are some reasons why your treatment may not be moving forward, and things that might affect your decision to stop treatment.

Keep in mind that sometimes it is not possible to identify the reason for treatment failure.

Male infertility: Considerations for stopping treatment

• There is no sperm or very little good, healthy sperm.
  • Donor sperm may be a solution.

Female infertility: Considerations for stopping treatment

• There are not enough eggs or good, healthy eggs.
  • Donor eggs may be a solution.
• Age-related infertility
  • This is one of the major reasons that a doctor will recommend stopping treatment.
  • Age significantly impacts the number of available eggs.
  • Ovaries may not respond as well to stimulating hormones.
  • The upper age limit for women undergoing IVF ranges from 40 to 45 years old, depending on other individual factors such as body weight, number of available eggs, and each clinic's practice.
  • If you are an Ontario resident, the age limit for receiving funding from the Ontario government is 43.
  • Donor eggs may be a solution.
• Recurrent miscarriages
  • Having more than one miscarriage can take a toll on your mental wellbeing, as each pregnancy brings hope that is then followed by loss.
  • Multiple miscarriages can also take a physical toll on a woman’s body.
  • For a better understanding of the potential causes and treatment options related to recurrent miscarriages, click here.
• Health risks
  • Your doctor may feel continuing treatment poses a health risk to your female partner.  Hormones can be hard on her body and so can pregnancy.
  • If there are medical reasons to stop treatment, consider your doctor’s advice and/or get a second opinion.

Male and/or female factor infertility: Considerations for stopping treatment

• Lack of good, healthy embryos. While there may not be any concerns with your eggs and sperm, putting them together may not always work.

Social support issues

Research has shown that not getting enough support or the right kind of support from family members and friends can reduce the amount of time people stay in treatment.

• Lack of understanding from family and friends
  • You may feel that you are not getting enough support. Sometimes family members or friends struggle with understanding your difficulties because they just do not know or understand what fertility treatment is all about.

• Cultural reasons
  • Talking to your spiritual or religious leader can help you in your decision.
  • Some religions and/or cultures do not support certain kinds of fertility treatment, so you may feel that your community does not support you in your treatment decisions.
  • Talking to others with the same type of background as you may also help to provide information and ways of understanding treatment in relation to your religion/culture.
• What can you do to get more support?
  • Find a support group
    • There are many online groups (such as IVF Support Canada and Canadian IVF Pregnancy Support) and websites that can help you find others who are going through the same treatment and may have similar concerns.
    • Patient-specific support groups are listed on the Fertility Matters website.

Couple issues

• Couples are more likely to stop treatment when one partner does not feel supported by the other.
• Couples who do not agree about the next steps regarding treatment often stop treatment altogether.
• Here are some steps you can take with your partner to discuss stopping treatment
  • Create a plan. Recognize that you and your partner may be on different pages.
    • Women often take longer than men to come to the conclusion that treatment isn’t working. Try to decide on the number of future cycles that you will do together, so that you have a plan for stopping treatment, or at least when to revisit the conversation. This allows you both to have time to cope with the thought of stopping treatment.
  • List your options: things that you don’t want to do, would possibly consider and have tried without success. This list can help show you all the steps that you’ve tried and all of the options left.
  • Don’t blame yourself for the situation. It isn’t something that you’ve done wrong or could have changed. Writing down things you are grateful for (alone or together) can help you refocus your energy on the things that you do have.
  • Express how you feel about the situation. Don’t take it out on your partner or your doctor.
    • Example: “These cycles are really hard on me because I see how they affect you both physically and emotionally. I don’t know how much more I can take. I think that we should lay out a plan for our next steps and discuss if this involves another round.”
• For more examples on improving partner communication, check out the Keeping your couple healthy section of the app.

Dissatisfaction with the treatment provided

• Not every clinic will suit every patient’s needs. If you feel uncomfortable or unhappy with the doctor or the other staff members, you may want to consider switching clinics. Not having a good working relationship with the medical staff can make it difficult to pursue treatment.
• Instead of stopping treatment due to lack of medical support, you may want to consider looking into another clinic that suits your needs.

Emotional reasons

• Feeling overwhelmed or stressed by treatment is another common reason why people stop treatment.
  • While having good social and financial support can protect you against these stressors, nothing can fully take away the emotional stress of fertility treatment.
  • If you have taken steps to reduce your stress, but are still feeling overwhelmed, you may want to consider stopping treatment. Removing the stress of treatment, although difficult, may help you feel less pressure and better about your day-to-day life overall.
• It is normal to feel some stress during fertility treatment. However, long periods of depression, anxiety or other unbearable emotions may be a sign to reconsider whether you want to continue with treatment.
  • If the treatment is taking a toll on your mental health, make sure you talk to a mental health professional.
• As opposed to completely stopping treatment, some people may also decide to take a break. This break can help you decide what steps you want to take next, if any, and may help you save some money for the next treatment. It may also help you regain some emotional energy to begin the next round of treatment.
  • Before you take a break from treatment, talk to your doctor about a timeline that is appropriate for you and your partner, being sure to consider age.

Financial stress

• Fertility treatment can be very expensive. You may find that it is not financially possible for you to continue treatment.
• What should I consider before stopping treatment for financial reasons?
  • Consider looking into alternative funding sources for your treatment, like tax credits or charitable organizations.
  • A financial advisor can help you determine how much money you can spend on fertility treatments and assess if loans are a good option for you. These financial advisors can also help you navigate the sometimes tricky process of applying for a loan to ensure that you are making a good financial decision.

Becoming discouraged too quickly

People often think that getting pregnant is a piece of cake. This is what we see on TV or in the movies. Or we hear from people around us: “We didn’t even try to get pregnant, it just happened!” This is actually far from common! The reality is that getting pregnant is NOT easy.

In a similar way, when we decide to go to a fertility clinic, we might expect that once we get some “assistance,” things will be easy and work out pretty quickly. However, this is usually not the case. It is important to be aware of the success and failure rates of the various treatments.

We do know that doing multiple cycles of fertility treatment will give you more chances of success.

• For example, in Quebec, the government will fund 6 IUIs. 
• Knowing the success rate of IUI (20-30% and declines with the female partner's age) can be helpful in making sure your expectations of treatment are realistic.