ABSTRACT
INTRODUCTION Since the birth of the rst in vitro fertilization (IVF) baby almost 40 years ago, dramatic developments have occurred in IVF. IVF was initially designed to overcome the problem of tubal infertility, but is now widely held to represent the treatment of choice for unexplained infertility, male factor infertility, endometriosis, and ovarian dysfunction resistant to ovulation induction (1,2). e introduction of intracytoplasmic sperm injection (ICSI) has rendered severe forms of male infertility amenable to treatment and further widened the scope of IVF. High-prole publicity given to the latest achievements with IVF has led to its perception as a panacea for all those having diculty in conceiving a pregnancy. is has been reected in the rapid expansion of both the indications for IVF and the current annual number of IVF cycles worldwide (3). e degree to which IVF merits this growth in application remains unclear, however, since prospective randomized trials comparing the eectiveness of IVF with simpler fertility treatments remain scarce.
