Purpose: The aim of this study was to analyze the outcomes of IVF/ICSI cycles in women aged 43 and beyond.
Methods: Retrospective analysis of clinical pregnancy and live birth rates in 168 fresh, non donor, ART cycles performed in two Connecticut university IVF programs.
Results: In women of 43 and 44 years the overall clinical pregnancy and live birth rates were 8.3% and 5.3% per initiated cycle, respectively. There were no clinical pregnancies in women ≥45 years old. First cycle characteristics were not different from repeated cycles in terms of duration of ovulation induction, number of collected oocytes and transferred embryos (p > 0.05).
Conclusions: Pregnancies can still be achieved with IVF/ICSI up to the age of 44. Since most pregnancies occurred within the first 3 cycles, another attempt may be a reasonable option before resorting to oocyte donation for patients who failed two previous cycles. Women 45 years and beyond do not benefit from ART procedures using their own oocytes.