Outcome of in vitro fertilization treatment in patients who electively inseminate a limited number of oocytes to avoid creating surplus human embryos for cryopreservation

Objective: To determine whether the outcome of IVF treatment in patients who electively inseminate a limited number of oocytes is comparable to that in a group of good prognostic or poor prognostic patients. Design: Retrospective clinical study. Setting: University-based tertiary fertility center. Patient(s): Two hundred three women under the age of 40 years. Intervention(s): Patients undergoing their first cycle of IVF who elected to have no more than four oocytes inseminated (study group) or who produced only four or fewer oocytes (poor prognostic group) or who had excess embryos cryopreserved (good-prognostic group). Main Outcome Measure(s): Implantation rate, clinical pregnancy rate, and ongoing pregnancy rate. Result(s): There were no significant differences in the implantation rate for the study group when compared with the good-prognostic group or the poor-prognostic group. The clinical pregnancy rate (62.5% vs. 64%) and ongoing-pregnancy or birth rate (56.3% vs. 60.7%) were similar between the study group and the good-prognostic group. However, the clinical pregnancy rate (62.5% vs. 29.7%) and ongoing-pregnancy rate (56.3% vs. 24.3%) were higher in the study group compared with the poor-prognostic group. Conclusion(s): Inseminating fewer oocytes in patients who elect not to cryopreserve embryos does not adversely affect their probability of conception.