Natural is not better: gonadotropin stimulation does not increase aneuploidy or diminish implantation rates of euploid embryos

Abstract

One of the great controversies of contemporary IVF is whether the traditional usage of gonadotropins to maximally stimulate the ovary subverts natural selection, resulting in lower quality embryos and increasing aneuploidy risk. Modified natural cycle IVF has been proposed as a “patient friendly” alternative approach, resulting in higher quality embryos. While this is an appealing hypothesis, there are limited prospective data to support it. The goal of this study is to determine whether naturally-selected oocytes have intrinsically superior reproductive competence compared to those obtained following stimulation with exogenous gonadotropins, and are less likely to result in aneuploid embryos.