The singleton, term gestation, and live birth rate per cycle initiated: a 1-year experience in in vitro fertilization cycles with native and donated oocytes.

OBJECTIVE

To investigate the singleton, term gestation, and live birth rate per cycle initiated in our IVF program during a 1-year period.

DESIGN

Retrospective study of all first IVF cycles performed in the year 2002, with or without intracytoplasmic sperm injection (ICSI), with day 2/3 embryo transfer and using native or donated oocytes.

SETTING

Instituto Valenciano de Infetilidad (IVI), Valencia, Spain.

PATIENT(S): Of 3,158 IVF cycles initially considered, 165 were excluded because of embryo freezing, follow-up loss, or embryo reduction. Of the remaining cycles, only 1,836 were first cycles with day 2/3 embryo transfer; of these, native oocytes were employed in 1,095 and donated oocytes in 741.

INTERVENTION(S): No patient underwent any additional procedure or intervention.

MAIN OUTCOME MEASURE(S): The singleton, term gestation, and live birth rate per cycle initiated was used as a primary outcome measure. Results were analyzed according to the origin of the oocytes (native vs. donated) and the woman's age (<37 and > or =37 years old).

RESULT(S): The ectopic pregnancy rate was higher in the native oocyte group. The singleton, term gestation, and live birth rate per cycle initiated was similar in native and donated oocyte groups (15.3% vs. 13.4%). In the native oocyte group, patients <37 years old showed a significantly better outcome. The singleton, term gestation, and live birth rate per cycle initiated was 16.7% and 10.8% in younger and older women, respectively.

CONCLUSION(S): The singleton, term gestation, and live birth rate per cycle initiated constitutes an essential parameter for determining the real possibility of a healthy baby for a specific assisted reproduction technology (ART).