An interesting paper was published in 2008 in the BMJ, by Bhattacharaya et. al., that raises questions about the effectiveness of two of the most commonly used treatments for couples with unexplained infertility (a quarter of all couples with fertility problems have unexplained infertility).

Clomifene (or Clomid) is a medicine that stimulates a woman’s ovaries to produce more eggs, and IUI (intrauterine insemination) is a procedure that involves injecting sperm directly into the womb. Both of these treatments are currently endorsed in the UK by the NICE fertility guidelines for couples with unexplained infertility.

The research paper is interesting because it suggests that these treatments are no more effective than waiting for 6 months without treatment. The likelihood of falling pregnant during the study’s 6 month period was the same for all couples, whether they had one of the treatments or not.

The research is convincing because it included 580 couples and adhered to the strict standards of a randomised controlled trial, making it one of the largest good quality studies of this type of infertility. So if you have unexplained infertility and have been offered clomifene or IUI, it would be worth mentioning this study to your consultant and asking why they think this treatment would be relevant for you.

Tags: clomid, clomifene, infertility, IUI