Infertility Forum - What causes Sterility? Can a woman's immune system prevent

Womens Health > Infertility Forum > What causes Sterility? Can a woman's immune system prevent

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Q: What causes Sterility? Can a woman's immune system prevent

asked by: DoctorQuestion on March 24th, 2006

i have been trying to conceive for 5 years. my husband and i have had all the usual tests and all was fine - nothing negative what-so-ever came up. i went for my first cours of IVF 17 days ago and felt as tho i was pregnant but on doing the pregnancy test it was negative!!!!

over the years i have done pregnancy tests from time to time and has on occassion had a very pale double line (but mostly negatives)

now my question is - could i be conceiving regularly but my body is rejecting the zygote (thinking its a foreign body)? thus my immune system kicks in? how could i find out and what can be done about it?

thanking you
Clair

Replies(1)

Dr. Nikola Gjuzelov , MD

replied on May 23rd, 2006

Infertility Answer A920

It has been shown that some women's immune systems can produce antibodies against a man's spermatozoids, preventing them from fertilizing an egg-cell. In these cases, in vitro fertilization can be a successful fertility therapy. In other women, the immune system can produce antibodies against the embryo. In these cases, conception (fertilization) and implantation (pregnancy test is positive) occur... but the pregnancy can’t be kept to term because the antibodies attack the embryo and cause miscarriage. You can request genetic analyses for both you and your husband because I sense that antibodies might be responsible for sterility.

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