198 infertile couples from Iran and 355 infertile couples from Turkey were followed up after IVF/ICSI failures. The patients鈥?demographic data, the couples鈥?decisions about continuation of treatment and the spontaneous pregnancy rates were compared in the two countries.
The drop-out rate was higher in Iran (28.3%) than in Turkey (23.4%). The reasons for treatment discontinuation in Iran and Turkey were: financial problem (33.9%vs. 41%), hopeless (10.7%vs. 22.9%), fear of drug side-effects (7.1%vs. 12%), achieving pregnancy (37.5%vs. 19.6%), child adoption (5.4%vs. 2.4%), lack of spouse cooperation (5.4%vs. 2.4%), and divorce (0%vs. 2.4%). Spontaneous pregnancy was significantly higher in Iran (10.1%) than in Turkey (3.9%). There was correlation between duration of infertility and female factor infertility with spontaneous pregnancy.
Since the majority of couples that discontinued treatment had financial problems, it is essential for health professionals to support infertile couples during their childlessness crisis.