Filipa Rafael: What Is More Convenient for a Clinic Is Not Necessarily Better for a Patient
Filipa Rafael, Founder and Scientific Director at Fertilidade em Foco, shared a post on LinkedIn about a paper she co-authored with colleagues published in Human Reproduction:
“Convenience is not a clinical outcome. But… it quietly shapes many fertility treatments.
Artificial cycles are easier to schedule. Natural cycles are less predictable.
Yet what is more convenient for a clinic is not necessarily better for a patient.
Earlier this year, we published a multicentre retrospective study in Human Reproduction including 67,048 single-blastocyst transfers after oocyte donation.
Compared with artificial cycles, natural cycles were associated with:
- a higher live birth rate
- a lower miscarriage rate
- lower risks of hypertensive disorders of pregnancy, Caesarean delivery and large-for-gestational-age birth
Importantly, recipient age did not appear to modify these associations.
This was an observational study. It cannot prove causality, and a natural cycle is not appropriate or possible for every patient.
But the results challenge the automatic use of artificial endometrial preparation for logistical reasons alone.
Sometimes a treatment becomes standard because it is easier to organise-not because it is the option best supported by the available evidence.
How much should clinic convenience influence our choice of endometrial preparation?”
Title: Live birth rates after natural cycle versus artificial cycle in women receiving donated oocytes and the impact of female age
Authors: Filipa Rafael, Beatriz Nunes David, Juan Manuel Mascarós, Ana Neves, Elena Labarta, Nicolas Garrido, Sofia Nunes, Juan A Garcia-Velasco, Sérgio Reis-Soares, Samuel Santos-Ribeiro
You can read the Full Article in Human Reproduction.
Stay informed with the latest updates in fertility and reproductive medicine on Fertility News.
-
Sep 21, 2026, 18:01Mostafa Maghraby: What Makes a Good Embryologist?
-
Sep 21, 2026, 17:57Paweł Radwan: Meeting Fertility Leaders at the European Executive and Investors Fertility Meeting
-
Sep 21, 2026, 17:49Anna David: Can You Predict Pregnancy Outcome at Diagnosis of Early-Onset FGR?
-
Sep 21, 2026, 17:44Caspian Ostadian: Oocyte Abnormalities and Blastocyst Formation
-
Sep 21, 2026, 17:40Eric Lameignere: What If Part of the Sperm DNA Damage We Observe is Actually Created in the IVF Laboratory Itself?
-
Sep 21, 2026, 17:29Angelo Tocci: Paying More Without Improving Assisted Reproduction Outcomes
-
Sep 21, 2026, 17:22Santiago Munne: The Latest Bpisode of The Baby Blueprint, About the Worldwide Decline in Birth Rates
-
Sep 21, 2026, 17:12Zeinab Kazemianpour: 1 Embryo, 2 Different Biopsy Strategies
-
Sep 21, 2026, 17:10Diksha Kanekar: A Day in the Life of an Embryologist