ART: how long should we try?
Adjusting expectations to your treatment pathway
Staying patient
It’s natural to feel discouraged if your first experience of fertility treatment hasn’t ended in success. The difficulties you’re having may be due to a variety of factors affecting both you and your partner. Establishing the causes of fertility problems may take time and the path to a solution may take you through multiple treatment options and cycles.
Reasons for optimism
Today the overall success rates of ART treatments are high. A Danish study from 2009 shows that within five years of starting ART treatment, almost 70% of couples succeeded in having at least one child.1 Averages conceal ranges of outcomes and the situation will be different for every couple and clinic. It is important to discuss your individual case with a fertility specialist.
Achieving success often takes time and multiple attempts
Most couples who succeed undergo multiple treatment cycles. In a Danish study following couples treated with ART for 5 years, 28% conceived within a year and 62% within three years. More than 40% of couples went through four or more cycles during the length of the study.1
Age is an important factor
Averages favour younger women. In the same study, success rates varied from around 52% for women aged 35 or older to almost 75% for those younger than 35.1 You cannot turn back time, but you can discuss and agree with your doctor when is the right moment to refer to a specialised fertility clinic if the initial treatment does not work.
1. Pinbourg A et al, Prospective longitudinal cohort study on cumulative 5-year delivery and adoption rates among 1338 couples initiating infertility treatment. Hum Reprod.2009;24: 991-999
