Researchers Say IVF Add-On Treatments Are Ineffective

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• Researchers in Australia say most add-on treatments for in vitro fertilization (IVF) aren’t effective.
• They say 82 percent of women in their study utilized IVF add-on procedures.
• They note that many women may opt for these additional treatments in frustration if initial procedures don’t work.
• They say add-on procedures are common in countries such as the United States.

The majority of women undergoing in vitro fertilization (IVF) are opting to pay for add-ons treatments despite limited evidence surrounding their effectiveness.

Research presented last week at the annual meeting of the European Society of Human Reproduction and Embryology reported that 82 percent of the women in the study used IVF add-ons.

The study focused on a cohort of Australian women, but the researchers say the number of women using IVF add-ons could be even higher in countries such as the United States where IVF is often privately funded.

“It has been suggested that IVF add-on use might be more common in areas where IVF is largely provided by private companies rather than through public clinics. In Australia, IVF is largely provided by private companies and this is similar to the situation in the U.S. So, it is likely that IVF add-on use may be widespread in the U.S., too,” Sarah Lensen, PhD, lead author of the research and a research fellow at the National Health and Medical Research Council in Australia, told Healthline.