Many women need to resort to assisted reproductive techniques to have children. The inability to achieve a pregnancy after having regular unprotected intercourse for 12 months or more is considered infertility and, according to the World Health Organization (WHO), affects approximately 17.5% of the adult population, that is, that one in six people would have this problem, which influences their emotional and psychological well-being.
Faced with the impossibility of conceiving in the period of time that is considered normal, many couples become stressed and seek professional help, but not all women who undergo fertility treatments are absolutely or permanently infertile, and half of the couples who try to conceive naturally without achieving it for a year, they achieve a pregnancy in the second year.
In fact, new research has shown that about 20% of women (one in five) who had to undergo fertility treatment, such as in vitro fertilization (IVF), to conceive their first child are likely to get pregnant naturally in the future. Their findings have been published in Human Reproduction.
“Our findings suggest that natural pregnancy after delivering an IVF baby is far from rare.”
This is the first study of its kind and in it researchers from University College London (UCL) analyzed data from 11 studies involving 5,180 women from around the world between 1980 and 2021 with the aim of determining the chances that a woman who had a baby conceived through fertility treatment became pregnant naturally afterwards.
The researchers found that at least one in five women conceived naturally after having a baby through fertility treatment such as IVF, mostly within three years of birth. This figure did not change even when different types and outcomes of fertility treatment were taken into account, together with the length of follow-up.
Natural pregnancy after having an IVF baby is not uncommon
The team consider their findings especially important because many women may not be aware that they could become pregnant naturally after fertility treatment and that this new pregnancy could occur too soon or when they are not yet ready to have another child. , which could harm both the health of the mother and that of the future baby.
Dr Annette Thwaites from the UCL EGA Institute for Women’s Health and lead author said: “Our findings suggest that natural pregnancy after delivering an IVF baby is far from rare. This is in contrast to the widespread views by women and health professionals, and those commonly expressed in the media, that it is a highly unlikely event.”
It is also possible that some women did not present infertility and had used the treatment for other reasons, such as single women who use donor sperm, women who maintain relationships with individuals of the same sex, surrogate mothers, or those who they seek to detect serious genetic diseases.
Therefore, these experts have stressed that it is important for women who have given birth through IVF to know their chances of conceiving naturally afterwards, and they hope that this information can be used to advise people considering their options afterward. of a successful fertility treatment. “Knowing what is possible would empower women to plan their families and make informed decisions regarding further fertility treatment or contraception,” concludes Dr. Thwaites.
.
