Study: 1 In 5 Women Likely To Get Pregnant Naturally After IVF

A study suggests that around 20% of women who needed fertility treatments like In-vitro Fertilization (IVF) to conceive their first child are likely to conceive their second child naturally.

This research is first-of-its-kind and studied by UCL by analysing data through 11 international studies on 5000 women worldwide from 1980-2021 and was held to evaluate how common it is to conceive naturally after getting fertility treatments.

UCL Study: Women Naturally Get Pregnant After IVF

The study finds out that one in every five women is likely to conceive naturally after taking fertility treatments like IVF, especially within 3 years of the treatment. IVF is one of the most common fertility treatments usually used to conceive a child.

One in every seven heteromantic couples is said to be affected by infertility. Infertility is defined as when a couple after regular unprotected intercourse fails to achieve pregnancy even after 12 months of regular unprotected intercourse, there are chances of infertility. 

While some women may not have experienced infertility but would have taken fertility treatments for other reasons such as surrogate mothers, sperm donation, same-sex relationships, genetic conditions, and more. 

With this study, authors are breaking the notion that it is rare for women to get pregnant again once they do IVF. The study intends to break the myth and highlight that is not so 'rare' occurrence. The study feels the need to aware people that chances of conceiving naturally after getting fertility treatment are positive in many cases.

It is important to inform people who underwent IVF treatments how likely they are to get pregnant naturally after they took IVF treatments.

The lead author of the research Dr Annette Thwaites said, "Knowing what is possible will empower women" talking about the research. Dr. Thwaites from UCL EGA Institute from Women's Health believes this study is important for couples and their family planning and would enable women to make better choices about future fertility, or contraception. This study could also be used to counsel people better.

Today, more than 10 million babies are born using IVF. IVF was first used in 1978 and ever since it has brought a major change in medical science. 

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