Intractable primary infertility in women exposed to diethylstilbestrol in utero

Fertility factors were examined in 50 women with primary infertility and presumed in utero diethylstilbestrol (DES) exposure and in 50 age-matched controls. Uterine deformities and endometriosis were more frequent in the DES-exposed women than the controls. When managed from one to four years, only 4% of DES-exposed women with primary infertility conceived (with no conceptions resulting in a viable fetus) as compared to 44% of controls. Primary infertility of one to two years' duration with uterine deformities characteristic of DES exposure seems to signal a poor prognosis for pregnancy despite treatment of identifiable fertility factors.