Are we overusing IVF?

Kamphuis, E. I., Bhattacharya, S. ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-4588-356X, van der Veen, F., Mol, B. W. J. and Templeton, A. 2014. Are we overusing IVF? BMJ 348 , g252. 10.1136/bmj.g252

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Abstract

Since the birth of the first baby by in vitro fertilisation (IVF) in 1978, the technique has earned its reputation as a major medical breakthrough of the 20th century. IVF was developed for women with tubal disease,1 but its indications soon began to grow. In the 1990s intracytoplasmic sperm injection was developed to treat couples in which the man has poor semen quality,2 which like tubal infertility prevents sperm from coming into close proximity with an egg. In recent years, however, IVF has been applied to other types of subfertility such as mild male subfertility, endometriosis, and unexplained subfertility. The birth of many healthy children has enhanced provider and patient confidence in the safety of IVF. But does applying IVF to wider forms of infertility result in overtreatment of couples who had a reasonable chance of conceiving naturally? Is it equally effective in these conditions? And, as more is understood about the adverse health outcomes in IVF children can the risks of IVF be justified for these more liberal applications?

Item Type:	Article
Date Type:	Publication
Status:	Published
Schools:	Medicine
Publisher:	BMJ Publishing Group: BMJ
ISSN:	0959-8138
Date of First Compliant Deposit:	28 August 2018
Date of Acceptance:	21 January 2014
Last Modified:	04 May 2023 20:29
URI:	https://orca.cardiff.ac.uk/id/eprint/114436

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