Last month on NBC’s TODAY show, a couple from Missouri had an IVF embryo implantation performed live on air. This morning they returned to the show to announce their news to the world: they are successfully pregnant.

Journaling about the process on the NBC website, the hopeful mother wrote the following entry before finding out she was pregnant:

In our initial discussion about the decision to do IVF, we told each other and some of the medical staff at Dr. Silber’s office that we will only try IVF once. I am fearful of facing the disappointment and of continuing to set myself up for failure. As I have said before, two precious unsuccessful pregnancies left me depressed and very skeptical about my ability to have my own children. However, we have decided that if the IVF does not work this time we will try again. This decision has taken some of the pressure off of us.

To read her full account, visit Today Moms.

Jessica and her fiancé were right to be suspect about the prospects of a successful IVF cycle. According to the European Society of Human Reproduction and Embryology, 77% of IVF cycles fail worldwide, with that number being only slightly lower (70%) in the United States.

Originally Jessica and her fiancé had committed to trying one cycle. Yet as her journal entry indicates, it’s a cycle that is hard to break out of. Today she and her husband celebrate the joyous news that they are now successfully pregnant. What won’t be told are thousands of other couples with failed IVF cycles—and the tens of thousands of dollars worth of debt to remind them of that failure every day.

Author Profile

Christopher White, Ramsey Institute Project Director