Is conception in infertile couples treatment-related? A survey of 309 pregnancies

Abstract

309 couples with infertility of 1 to 11 years duration in whom pregnancies occurred during examination or treatment were evaluated. The couples were classified into diagnostic groups according to the main cause of their infertility; anovulatory, mechanical, male, cervical, unexplained, combined. Pregnancies were divided into treatment-related and nontreatment-related. Analysis of results revealed that whereas in infertile patients with a defined cause of infertility, the treatment-related pregnancy rate was 73.1%, in the unexplained infertility group the incidence of treatment-related pregnancies was only 6.6%. We concluded that a meticulous fertility survey should be carried out in each infertile couple in order to detect a specific cause impeding fertility, but if such a cause cannot be found, reassuring of patients and decreasing their anxiety is more effective in inducing pregnancy than nonspecific therapy.