How successful is infertility treatment?
When talking of success rates for any type of infertility treatment, one should bear in mind that the average chance to conceive for a normally fertile couple having regular unprotected intercourse is around 25% during each menstrual cycle. It is estimated that 10% of normally fertile couples fail to conceive within their first year of attempt and 5% after two years. Comparable to normal fertility rates, effective treatments can be expected to have, on average, up to a 25% success rate per cycle of treatment, and may therefore need to be repeated several times before a pregnancy is achieved. Simple ovulation induction to compensate for hormonal imbalances has a very high success rate; more than 80% of women suffering from such disorders are likely to conceive after several cycles if treatment with drugs such as clomiphene citrate or gonadotrophins.