Understanding IVF success rates
IVF success rates depend on many factors including the woman's age and the cause of infertility. Female age is the biggest factor that influences the probability of having a baby from IVF. Unfortunately, IVF cannot overcome age-related infertility, and IVF success rates generally decline as female age increases.
For this reason, you will often see success rates provided based on female age.
Cumulative success rates
IVF success rates can be reported in many different ways, which can make it difficult to understand your chances of having a baby and to compare results between IVF clinics or with different IVF options. In general, IVF success can be considered as either the chance of having a baby from:
- One attempt (e.g. one egg retrieval and one embryo transfer, or one frozen embryo transfer)
- One complete IVF cycle (e.g. one egg retrieval and multiple embryo transfers including fresh and frozen embryos) – this is called the cumulative chance.
IVF patients should be prepared to undergo multiple IVF cycles and embryo transfers to increase the chances of having a baby. Unfortunately, for some people IVF is not successful.
IVF success rates by age
The success rates below are the national IVF success rates in Australia among people using their own eggs
Female age less than 35
On average, the chance of having a baby is
26%
from one IVF attempt
51%
from one complete IVF cycle
80%
from three complete IVF cycles
92%
from six complete IVF cycles
After three complete IVF cycles about 20% of patients under the age of 35 have not yet achieved a live birth, and after six cycles, around 8% have not achieved a live birth.
Female age over 35
On average, the chance of having a baby is
10%
from one IVF attempt
28%
from one complete IVF cycle
52%
from three complete IVF cycles
66%
from six complete IVF cycles
After three complete IVF cycles, about 48% of patients over the age of 35 have not yet achieved a live birth, and after six cycles, around 34% have not achieved a live birth.
This data was taken from the most recent ANZARD report. This data is based on patients undergoing IVF using their own eggs (rather than donor eggs) and represents an optimistic live birth rate which assumes that every patient dropping out (not proceeding with a further IVF cycle) has the same chance of achieving a live birth as patients who did proceed with subsequent IVF cycles.
For more information about IVF success rates in Australia, and to understand your personal chance of IVF success, please visit YourIVFSuccess.
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Disclaimer: Evidence-based IVF is a web-based resource that provides evidence-based information based on research and other data. Content on the Evidence-based IVF webpage is provided for information purposes only and is not intended as a substitute for medical advice. You should consult with qualified and appropriately experienced medical professionals when considering the information from this webpage. Scientific studies and clinical trial results are continually being published. While considerable care has been taken, The University of Melbourne cannot, and does not make any representations and gives no warranties that the information associated with the Evidence-based IVF webpage is in every respect correct, current, complete, reliable, or suitable for any purpose and use is entirely at your own risk.
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