COVID-19 vaccination does not lower couples’ odds of pregnancy by artificial insemination
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COVID-19 vaccination, regardless of type, was not associated with lower odds of pregnancy by artificial insemination by partner among couples in China, according to data published in JAMA Network Open.
Many Chinese couples experiencing infertility have been hesitant to receive a COVID-19 vaccine because of claims on social media that vaccination may cause female infertility, according to study background.
“Although some studies have focused on the association of vaccines with in vitro fertilization outcomes, no evidence involving artificial insemination by partner has been reported, to our knowledge,” Chao Wang, MD, of the department of OB/GYN at the First Affiliated Hospital of Anhui Medical University in Hefei, China, and colleagues wrote.
Wang and colleagues prospectively enrolled 4,185 couples comprising one man and one woman who received their first artificial insemination by partner (AIP) treatment at one of 10 centers in nine Chinese provinces from July 2021 to February 2022. The researchers documented each couples’ vaccination status and demographic information. Pregnancy by AIP was evaluated through transvaginal ultrasound at 1 month after treatment.
In total, 603 couples experienced clinical pregnancy and 3,582 did not. Both women’s and men’s vaccination status were not associated with the likelihood of pregnancy. In both groups, the type of vaccine — adenovirus, inactivated or recombinant — was not associated with pregnancy odds, nor was time from vaccination to AIP treatment.
Additionally, there were no differences in the odds of pregnancy between couples where both partners were vaccinated, where only the woman was vaccinated, where only the man was vaccinated and where both partners were unvaccinated.
“These findings suggest that these vaccines should be used in China among couples planning pregnancy or AIP treatment and that couples need not delay pregnancy schedules because of COVID-19 vaccinations,” Wang and colleagues wrote.