Consequences of IVF among women: 10 years post-treatment

Abstract

Between 2.1% and 4.2% of all children born in Scandinavian countries are conceived with the help of assisted reproductive technology. The present study is one of the first to have followed up infertile women over a long period. Data on outcomes, satisfaction and the perceived consequences of IVF treatment were collected by means of a questionnaire among a random sample of women (response rate 42%; N = 66) who had undergone IVF at a tertiary referral university hospital in Norway. It was found that 10 years post-treatment, the majority of the women had children, whether through adoption, spontaneous pregnancy or IVF. A remarkable number of the women neither had told nor intended to tell their children that they had been conceived through IVF. Although most of the women said that they regard the treatment period as a painful one, they also said that it was now in the past and no longer affected their lives in a devastating way: they had found a way to cope with this difficult period in their life.