Are ART outcomes more successful in younger women? A retrospective study

It is well known that with increasing age, fertility potential decreases in women. Since some of the women who undergo assisted reproductive technology (ART) treatments are very young patients or young donors, fecundity investigation seems necessary in this group. Data from patients who underwent in vitro fertilisation/intra-cytoplasmic sperm injection (IVF/ICSI) over 20 years were analysed retrospectively. The records of 407 infertile patients aged 17-25 years (study group) and 407 infertile patients aged 26-35 years (control group) were collected. The number of follicles > 14 mm, retrieved oocytes, MII oocytes, cleaved embryos in both IVF and ICSI cycles were significantly higher in the study group when compared with the control group (p˂0.001). However, the rates of chemical pregnancies were similar between the two groups. It therefore seems unlikely that younger age has a positive effect in predicting infertility treatment outcomes.