IVF Couples Can Keep On Trying If The First Attempts Fail

Women who had not had luck with fertility treatments on the third or fourth try were previously told to stop conventional treatments. Now, new research suggests that these women can keep on trying till positive results. 

While 29.5 percent of women had a baby following the first cycle, the rate remained above 20 percent through the fourth cycle, based on a sample of over 150,000, according to Health Day.

"IVF should be thought of as a relatively long-term treatment, with repeat treatment cycles if success is not immediate," said lead researcher Debbie Lawlor, a professor of epidemiology at the University of Bristol.

In the past, infertility was thought of as the inability to achieve pregnancy following 12 months of regular unprotected intercourse with the same partner. While researchers at Duke University Medical Center found that for women under 40, incremental increases in IVF cycles can help increase the chances of pregnancy, this effect starts to decrease following 42 years of age. Fortunately, nearly 65 percent of women achieved a live birth by the sixth cycle. 

Researchers believe that their findings support the efficacy of extending the number of IVF cycles beyond the typical three or four. 

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