Common fertility treatments are ‘no better than nature’, study finds
(sz) Fertility treatments offered to couples trying for a baby are no more effective than attempts to conceive naturally, a study suggests today.
Couples who attempt artificial insemination or use a drug designed to aid conception do not have significantly higher chances of a pregnancy than those not receiving treatment, the researchers found.
One in seven couples in Britain experiences problems conceiving, with about a quarter of these having unexplained infertility.
Treatments are offered in line with fertility guidelines issued by the National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence (NICE). They include artificial insemination, and the drug clomiphene citrate, which is believed to correct subtle ovulatory dysfunction. Such treatments are relatively inexpensive and do not involve stimulation of a woman’s ovaries or IVF (in vitro fertilisation).
Researchers writing in the British Medical Journal, however, have thrown into question the provision of such treatments on the NHS. Intrauterine insemination (IUI) and clomiphene citrate (Clomifert or Clomid) are recommended for couples who have had difficulty conceiving, but where investigations have failed to find out why. Couples would typically be offered these methods before considering IVF, which involves collecting a woman’s eggs, fertilising them outside the body and returning them to her womb. more…
From: »The Times«