Assisted Reproduction and Miscarriage Rate

A new study has found that the miscarriage rate among women who undergo assisted reproductive technology (ART) is similar to that among women who conceive naturally. Earlier studies had suggested that pregnancies conceived using in vitro fertilization and related ART had a higher-than-expected rate of miscarriage, according to a recent report published in Obstetrics and Gynecology.

The researchers examined the miscarriage rate in >60,000 pregnancies from ART procedures done in US clinics between 1996 and 1998. Then they compared the findings with miscarriage rates from the National Survey of Family Growth, a survey of US women between the ages of 15 and 44. The results showed a 14.7% miscarriage rate among ART pregnancies, similar to the rate reported in the survey.Women who conceived with their own eggs and freshly fertilized embryos had a miscarriage rate of 10.1% among women in their 20s, compared with 39% among women older than 43. Pregnancies using donor eggs had a miscarriage rate of 13.1%, with little change among age groups. Miscarriage was higher among women who previously had a miscarriage and those who had ART before, however, according to the report.