Lay summary
Infertility is a common problem affecting 1 in 6 couples in NZ today. For many of infertile couples, IVF represents their best chance of having children. However, staggeringly, 70% of transferred embryos fail to implant into the inner lining of the womb, the endometrium. While implantation is a process that depends on both the embryo and the womb, up to 50% of this failure could be caused by the lining of the womb not being adequately receptive to the embryo. IVF clinics have focused on selecting high quality of embryos for transfer but the other side of side of the equation, the assessment of womb receptivity, is lagging far behind. We propose to develop a novel screening tool to assess receptivity, which should then help identify the underlying cause of infertility, improve the success rate of IVF and ultimately treat infertility.