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Updated: Jun 2, 2026
Fertility Preservation Through Oocyte Vitrification: Clinical and Laboratory Perspectives
Published on: September 16, 2021
The long-term outcome of 946 consecutive couples visiting a fertility clinic in 2001-2003
Janneke Donckers1, Johannes L H Evers, Jolande A Land
1Maastricht University Medical Centre, Department of Obstetrics and Gynaecology, and GROW, School for Oncology and Developmental Biology, Maastricht, the Netherlands. j.donckers@live.nl
Objective:
To describe the outcome of fertility work-up, treatment, and dropout in a cohort of subfertile couples in a well-defined area in Western Europe.
Design:
Prospective cohort study.
Setting:
Maastricht University Medical Center.
Patient(S):
Subfertile couples referred by their general physician between 2001 and 2003.
Intervention(S):
Demographic data, findings of the fertility investigation, and outcome of treatment were entered prospectively into a database. Follow-up was performed until November 2008.
Main Outcome Measure(S):
Diagnosis, treatment, dropout rate, pregnancy rate, and live-birth rate.
Result(S):
During the study period, 946 couples were referred, of whom 17% dropped out. Follow-up was complete in 94% of couples. Spontaneous pregnancies occurred in 28% of all couples, and there were 32% treatment-dependent pregnancies. IVF (51% live births in couples treated) and no treatment/expectant management (50%) were the most effective treatments.
Conclusion(S):
After 5-8 years, 51% of couples referred for subfertility had at least one live birth.
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