IVF success rates under 35

Last Updated on August 23, 2021

A woman’s age is the most important factor for having a successful pregnancy when using her own eggs. If you are under 35 and considering an IVF, the good news is that your success rates are relatively promising!

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Overall success rates for age under 35

According to the 2016 National Summary Report on Assisted Reproductive Technology (ART) published by the Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), success rates for live births, pregnancies and single-infant live births are highest among young women and start to decline in the 30s onward. After 35, the success rates drop rapidly. Meanwhile, the percentage of ART cycles resulting in miscarriages starts to surge in women’s late 30s.

In IVF, success rates can refer to a number of things instead of one final outcome. IVF success rates track progressive outcomes of IVF, from implantation to live birth. The Society for Assisted Reproductive Technology (SART) is the primary organization of professionals practicing IVF in the United States. IVF success rates for age under 35 using patients’ own eggs are shown in the latest national summary reports:

IVF success rates under 35% live birth rate# of transfers required to achieve live birth
SART 2016 Final results54.5%1.30
SART 2017 Preliminary results46.8%1.20

Live birth rate describes the percentage of cycles for egg retrieval that led to a live birth. As we can see, the live birth rates for age under 35 in 2016 and 2017 are roughly 50%, meaning one live birth results from an average of two IVF cycles.

Among them, more than 80% of the births are term deliveries, roughly 15% are pre-term deliveries and less than 4% are very pre-term deliveries using IVF for women age under 35. To put these into perspective, these are higher than women having natural pregnancies. Their pre-term and very pre-term rates are 9.85% and 2.76%, respectively (all ages, CDC 2017).

On average, 1.2 to 1.3 embryo transfers are required to achieve a live birth. A little less than half of the transferred embryos result in successful implantation. These IVF success rates for age under 35 are highest compared to older age groups, especially for implantation rate, which drops to under 8% in women over 42.

Therefore, if you are embarking on an IVF journey before 35, your odds of success are high. Having said that, there are factors that contribute to your IVF success.

Factors that affect success rates for age under 35

Fresh vs Frozen eggs/embryos

It may be intuitive to think that fresh embryo transfer should be better than using eggs/embryos that have to experience freezing and thawing. However, some doctors argue that the process of stimulating the ovaries with hormones for egg retrieval makes the uterine lining less suitable for an immediate pregnancy. Instead, having the embryos frozen and transferred at a later cycle is more advantageous.

The advantage of frozen embryo transfers is evident for IVF under 35 in all three reports by SART and CDC, with a live birth rate increase ranging from 3.7% to 13.5%.

Using IVF for age under 35Fresh egg/embryoFrozen egg/embryo
SART 2016 % live birth rate41.3 %45.0 %
SART 2017 % live birth rate38.6 %46.1 %
CDC 2016 % live birth rate35.9%49.4%

Previous experiences

Previous pregnancy and ART treatment experiences also play important roles in IVF success under 35.

The latest analyses by CDC show that having one or more previous live births is more likely (2-4%) to result in another live birth using IVF for age under 35. Women with no previous miscarriages also have a slightly higher (0.3%) chance of live birth than those with previous miscarriages. Among women with no previous births, the percentage of ART cycles resulting in live birth decreases with more previously unsuccessful ART cycles.

Overall, previous successes seem to indicate better IVF outcomes, while previous miscarriages or failed IVF correlate with lower odds of success for women age under 35. Nevertheless, the live birth rates are not too different with previous experiences unless you have had multiple unsuccessful ART experiences.

Previous live births, miscarriages, failed IVF live birth rates for age under 35:

# Previous live births012+
% Live birth rate30%34%32%

 

# Previous miscarriages01+
% Live birth rate30.7%30.4%

 

# Previous unsuccessful ART cycles0123+
% Live birth rate32%29%27%21%

Day of embryo transfer

Once a retrieved egg is successfully fertilized in the laboratory, it can be transferred into a woman’s uterus anytime in the next 1 to 6 days. Day 3 and Day 5 transfers are currently the most common, but it appears that IVF live birth rate for age under 35 is higher when using day 5 embryos.

Day of embryo transferDay 5Day 3
% Live birth rate49.4%34.4%

It could be because that a Day 5 embryo is more suitable for the uterine environment as it would have reached the uterus in a natural pregnancy. In contrast, Day 3 embryos are generally still inside the fallopian tubes.

In addition, a meta-analysis of 22 research studies revealed a reduced ectopic pregnancy rate on Day 5 embryo transfer compared with Day 3.

Use of surrogate

Lastly, the use of surrogates (also known as a gestational carriers) also significantly improves the IVF rate of live birth under 35.

Use of surrogate under 35SurrogateNo surrogate
% Live birth54%45.6%

According to the largest study to date on the use of gestational carriers in IVF treatment, the most significant improvement of success rates is seen in women with uterine factor infertility. In women with non-uterine infertility, the use of surrogates also has a smaller, but noticeable improvement in success rates. However, this is not the case for exclusively male factor infertility.

How to improve IVF success rates under 35

  1. Frozen embryo transfer shows consistently higher success rates as compared to fresh embryo transfer for ages under 35. Thus, it is beneficial to freeze retrieved eggs or fertilized embryos and perform embryo transfer at a later menstrual cycle.
  2. Day 5 embryo transfer is more advantageous than Day 3 embryo transfer. It is worth choosing an IVF clinic that follows a Day 5 transfer protocol.
  3. A gestational carrier may be required if you suffer from uterine-factor infertility. However, it should not make a difference to your success rates if the cause of infertility is exclusively due to malefactors.
  4. For more personalized recommendations, use our free IVF Success Rate Predictor. It considers determining factors in your current situation in the context of research data and comes up with a success rate.
  5. There are more than 400 fertility clinics in the United States and each has its strengths or target patient group. You could use our free tool IVF ihelper or find the below clinics that may offer you the best success rates for age under 35, tailored to your current situation.

IVF success rates under 35 with own eggs (nondonor eggs) by the clinic

*The following IVF success rate reports are base on the latest CDC data published in April 2021 (Preliminary 2019 Data) with 20 or more transfers.

IVF Clinic NameLive Births Under 35Singleton Live Births Under 35Total Transfers Under 35
WESTERN FERTILITY INSTITUTE81.872.744
OREGON FERTILITY INSTITUTE77.345.522
NEW ENGLAND FERTILITY INSTITUTE76.965.426
FAMILY FERTILITY CENTER76.271.421
FERTILITY INSTITUTE OF HAWAII76.257.142
VIRGINIA FERTILITY AND IVF75.068.592
NEW DIRECTION FERTILITY CENTERS74.952.9187
MISSOURI FERTILITY72.967.859
CCRM MINNEAPOLIS72.364.4101
REPRODUCTIVE SCIENCES MEDICAL CENTER71.964.957
Avg = 75.5 Avg = 63.1 Avg = 65.1