IVF does not cause early menopause

IVF unlikely to cause early menopause in women

IVF does not bring on early menopause, the first long-term study into the effects of the treatment has found.

For some years, medical professionals have been concerned about whether the two are linked, however, the menopausal age of around 200 women who were among the first to undergo IVF back in the 1980s has been shown to be comparable with the national average.

To get their results, the Bourn Hall Clinic in Cambridgeshire got in contact with 700 of its former patients - all of whom had received IVF between 1981 and 1994 - and asked them a number of questions about their current health and when they had gone through the menopause.

199 individuals responded and the results show that IVF 'appears to have no lasting impact on the timing or symptoms of the menopause', explains Dr Kay Elder, who led the survey.

She also notes that even those who underwent IVF multiple times did not see an increase in menopausal symptoms.

'This is a question patients often ask - and it's very useful to finally have a scientific study to point to which offers them reassurance that IVF will not affect the timing or severity of the menopause,' said a spokesman for the British Fertility Society.