Around 20% of ladies who needed fertility treatment, comparable to IVF, to conceive their first child are prone to get pregnant naturally in the longer term, finds a recent UCL study.

The primary-of-its-kind research, published in Human Reproduction, analyzed data from 11 studies of over 5,000 women world wide between 1980 and 2021, to judge how common it’s to get pregnant naturally after having a baby conceived by fertility treatment.

They found that at the very least one in five women conceived naturally after having had a baby using fertility treatment comparable to IVF mostly inside 3 years. This figure remained unchanged, even when making an allowance for the differing types and end result of fertility treatment – alongside length of follow up.

Infertility is defined by the failure to attain a pregnancy after 12 months or more of standard unprotected sexual activity, and it’s estimated to affect 1 in 7 heterosexual couples.

Nonetheless, not all women looking for and undergoing fertility treatment are absolutely or permanently infertile. And half of couples who struggle to conceive naturally in the primary 12 months of trying will go on to achieve this within the second 12 months.

Even though it is usually considered ‘rare’ for a girl to get pregnant naturally, if she has previously had fertility treatment, the researchers want to spotlight the way it will not be actually an unusual event.

The team consider the findings to be particularly essential, as many ladies may not realise that they may conceive naturally following fertility treatment.

This may lead to them becoming pregnant again quickly or when they don’t seem to be ready – which might be problematic for each the health of the mother and child.

Lead creator, Dr Annette Thwaites (UCL EGA Institute for Women’s Health) said: “Our findings suggest that natural pregnancy after having a baby by IVF is removed from rare. That is in contrast with widely held views – by women and health professionals – and people commonly expressed within the media, that it’s a highly unlikely event.”

Much has modified because the early days of IVF and it’s now used for a wide selection of causes of infertility, including cases where no cause is ever found.

As well as, some women may not have experienced infertility in any respect but used treatment for other reasons. This might include single women using donor sperm, women in same sex relationships, surrogates or those looking for to screen for serious genetic conditions.

So, it will be important for many who have had successful IVF to understand how likely they’re to conceive naturally afterwards.

IVF was first utilized in 1978 and now, greater than 10 million babies worldwide have been born using the treatment – equating to between 1% and 6% of all babies born per 12 months within the developed world by 2020.

With a purpose to track the info more accurately and analyze which aspects make natural pregnancy after having a baby by fertility treatment more likely, the researchers are calling for linked national data sets.

They hope that this information could then be used to counsel people considering their options after successful fertility treatment.

Dr Thwaites said: “Knowing what is feasible would empower women to plan their families and make informed decisions regarding further fertility treatment and/or contraception.”

Study limitations

The included studies were mostly of moderate quality and varied widely by geography, explanation for subfertility, type and end result of fertility treatment and length of follow up making direct comparisons difficult.

Patient stories

Shema:

Shema Tariq, a health care provider and academic from London, was diagnosed with low ovarian reserve and told that her probabilities of conceiving without IVF were almost zero. She has two children aged 3 and 4.

She says: “It took six rounds of IVF to conceive our son, who was born in 2018. My GP briefly mentioned contraception to me after he was born, but we each laughed and agreed that it wasn’t relevant. It never occurred to me that I would get pregnant (despite being a sexual health doctor). I used to be 43 and had been told that my probabilities of conceiving naturally were lower than 1%.

“Eight months later I used to be unexpectedly, and naturally, pregnant with our daughter. She has been essentially the most wonderful surprise, but once we first came upon I felt overwhelmed and unprepared for one more pregnancy. If I’d known that one-in-five women conceive naturally after IVF I’d have used contraception until I used to be ready each emotionally and physically.”

Sally:

After being diagnosed with endometriosis in her 20s, Sally Pearse was told by healthcare specialists that it was almost inconceivable that she’d ever conceive naturally.

She said: “Before having my first child I used to be told by a gynaecologist after a laparoscopy that my only technique to conceive was through IVF because of endometriosis. After the birth of my first child though IVF I met with the IVF consultant and asked if I’ll conceive naturally now I had had a successful pregnancy. I used to be told I had a 1% likelihood of conceiving naturally so began plans for IVF again.

“The subsequent month I conceived naturally and went on to have my second child.

“I used to be not given a reason for the 1% likelihood and feel that even experts of their role get this stuff fallacious. If I hadn’t wanted one other child I might have been shocked moderately than pleasantly surprised.”

Source:

University College London