Expectations for success in fertility treatment involving assisted reproduction.

We carried out a prospective investigation recording how 115 couples estimated their chances for successful in-vitro fertilization. The couples were asked to predict the success of in-vitro fertilization on a scale ranging from 0% to 100%. The somatic findings and the social background variables (age, education, length of time of trying to get pregnant, causes of infertility and experience of treatment) were also recorded. Of these couples, 57% of the women and 61% of the men hoped for success. The expectations for success bore no relation to age, duration of infertility, education, experience with treatment or the causes of infertility.