One in five women who have a baby through IVF ‘conceive naturally’
After giving birth via IVF, one in five women can become pregnant naturally.
Thousands of British and American women undergo fertility treatment to try to have a baby.
Many, who have been unsuccessfully trying to conceive for more than a year and have been told that they are “subfertile”, believe that a natural pregnancy is impossible.
But a scientific review of 11 studies, including nearly 5,200 women, and over a period of more than 40 years, has concluded that at least one in five women who have a child through fertility treatment will subsequently conceive naturally .
It could be that they just had to try longer, or that, according to some experts, they were helped to get pregnant again by the fertility treatment itself.
Every year around 55,000 people in the UK undergo fertility treatment to try to have a baby. Many, who have been unsuccessfully trying to conceive for over a year and have been told they are ‘subfertile’, believe that conceiving naturally is impossible
Other experts suggest having one child can help with health problems that cause infertility, such as endometriosis, or take the stress out of trying to conceive, making it easier to do so a second time.
Dr. Annette Thwaites, lead author of the scientific review, from University College London, said: ‘Our findings suggest that natural pregnancy after delivery through IVF is far from rare.
“This contrasts with the widely held belief – by women and health professionals – and often expressed in the media, that it is a highly unlikely event.”
The research, published in the journal Human Reproduction, looked at global studies on natural pregnancy after IVF published between 1980 and 2021.
The overall data showed that at least one in five women conceived unassisted after having a baby using fertility treatment, mainly IVF.
About 18 percent conceived naturally within just three years of giving birth to a child from fertility treatment.
The study’s authors say women should be aware that getting pregnant after having a child through a process like IVF is not a rarity and, in fact, is relatively common.
Women need to know that this can happen, because those who don’t realize it and don’t use birth control can get pregnant again much sooner than they expect, while not being physically or emotionally ready for another child.
Infertility is defined by the failure to conceive after 12 months or more of regular unprotected sex, and is estimated to affect one in seven heterosexual couples.
But that doesn’t mean they’re permanently infertile, and about half of couples who struggle to conceive naturally in the first year will continue to do so in the second year.
The study concludes that at least one in five women conceive naturally after giving birth through fertility treatment, as the figure could be higher.
The studies included in the review varied in how long they followed women after they had a child, from two to 15 years, so they may have missed subsequent pregnancies.
More research is needed, as some studies were only of mediocre quality.
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