The latest in fertility
Fertility research, written in plain English.
To-the-point summaries of the latest peer-reviewed research on fertility, IVF, and reproductive health.
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The latest in fertility
To-the-point summaries of the latest peer-reviewed research on fertility, IVF, and reproductive health.
Loading articles…
The latest in fertility
To-the-point summaries of the latest peer-reviewed research on fertility, IVF, and reproductive health.
Whether the uterine lining gets thinner between the trigger shot and embryo transfer day does not affect the chances of an ongoing pregnancy, with success rates nearly identical in women who had this shrinkage (50%) versus those who did not (54%). This finding held true no matter how much shrinkage occurred and across every pregnancy outcome measured, including miscarriage rates.
Women with endometriosis-related infertility were more than twice as likely to have a baby within 12 months when they went straight to IVF rather than having surgery first. In the study's most controlled group, 57% of women who did IVF had a live birth, compared to only 26% of those who had surgery.
Even in low-risk, first-time mothers carrying a single baby to full term, those who conceived through IVF were about 70% more likely to deliver by cesarean than women who conceived naturally. Despite the higher cesarean rate, there were no meaningful differences in serious complications for mothers or babies between the two groups.
A protein that helps control how genetic instructions are read turns out to be essential for keeping the ovarian egg supply intact, and losing it causes complete infertility and rapid egg loss in animal models. Restoring one of its key targets partially recovered early egg development, suggesting that errors in this biological editing process may play a role in premature egg reserve loss in women.
In couples who had unexplained repeat miscarriages, having a low sperm count on the day of egg fertilization was linked to a higher chance of producing embryos with a mix of normal and abnormal cells, known as mosaic embryos. However, once a chromosomally normal embryo was selected and transferred, sperm count, movement, and volume did not affect the chances of a live birth or another pregnancy loss.
Cells from endometriosis lesions release tiny particles that reprogram nearby immune cells, pushing them to help the disease grow and spread rather than fight it. This creates a feedback loop where the reprogrammed immune cells then encourage even more endometriosis cells to multiply and move.
Among over 14,000 women treated for infertility, those who used a combination drug protocol including a natural hormone mixture had about 31% higher odds of a live birth compared to those using a single synthetic hormone drug alone. The use of this combination approach also grew steadily between 2016 and 2021, while use of the single synthetic hormone drug declined.
For women with endometriosis, psychological stress does not appear to directly cause pain spikes, but the way a person thinks about and reacts to stress, especially catastrophic thinking, likely shapes how much pain they feel day to day. This review found that the relationship between stress and pain runs in both directions, meaning pain also increases stress, creating a cycle that can make symptoms harder to manage.
In rats with a condition mimicking PCOS, a supplement called NMN reversed hormonal imbalances, insulin resistance, and irregular cycles while restoring healthier ovarian structure. NMN worked by boosting the activity of energy-producing processes inside the cells that support egg development, helping those cells survive and grow.
A group of proteins involved in silencing harmful DNA segments in cells appears to play a key role in both infertility and certain cancers, based on a review of existing research. In animal studies, defects in these proteins disrupted the development of sperm and egg cells, leading to infertility in both males and females.
Men carrying genetic variants linked to severely abnormal sperm shape and movement had IVF success rates comparable to fertile men when they used a procedure where a single sperm is injected directly into an egg. Researchers found that these genetic variants were found only in infertile men and not in fertile controls, suggesting they play a real role in causing infertility.
When radiologists used a structured format instead of free-form writing for pelvic MRI reports, the reports were more complete and surgeons rated them as more useful for making treatment decisions. The structured format took about 4.5 minutes longer to write and sometimes included more statements that did not match expert review, mainly because it prompted radiologists to explicitly note when nothing was found in specific areas.
Women with higher levels of a simple ratio calculated from two routine blood test values were nearly three times more likely to have low levels of a protein that regulates sex hormones, a key feature of PCOS. This link was somewhat weaker once factors like BMI and cholesterol were taken into account, suggesting that shared metabolic problems may partly explain the connection.
A natural compound found in turmeric called curcumin reduced the growth of endometriosis tissue in mouse studies by boosting a protein that normally keeps the disease in check. Researchers found that this protective protein is lower than normal in people with endometriosis, and that restoring it slowed the spread and growth of abnormal tissue.
Researchers found that specific inherited gene changes can cause embryos to stop developing in the very earliest stages, leading to female infertility. In affected embryos, these gene changes disrupted cell division and caused DNA damage, which appears to be why the embryos could not keep growing.
A compound that promotes mitochondria joining together improved maturation rates in aged eggs and appeared to reduce signs of cellular stress in lab and tissue studies. It also changed how energy-producing structures behaved in aging support cells that surround eggs.
In IVF cycles where embryos were transferred on the fourth day after fertilization, pregnancy rates nearly tripled depending on how developed the embryo was at the time of transfer: 10% for the least developed, 33% for mid-stage, and 49% for the most developed. Embryos that were still at an early cell-dividing stage on day 4 were far less likely to result in pregnancy, suggesting those embryos may do better if left to grow longer in the lab before transfer.
A drug already approved by the FDA called Elagolix reduced endometriosis lesion size by nearly 87% in a rat model, while also lowering hormone and inflammation levels linked to the disease. Researchers also confirmed that a reliable rat model of endometriosis can be created with a 90% success rate, giving scientists a consistent way to test future treatments.
Women with more ultrasound signs of adenomyosis were significantly more likely to have severe chronic pelvic pain, but the number of signs did not predict infertility or painful periods. Each additional ultrasound sign raised the odds of severe pelvic pain by about 65%, with certain deeper tissue changes driving that link more than surface-level signs.
Tiny plastic particles have been detected inside the fluid surrounding eggs, sperm, testicles, and the placenta, and their presence was linked to poorer sperm movement in multiple studies. However, whether these particles affect egg supply or overall fertility outcomes in women is still unclear, with studies showing mixed results.
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