Outcome of assisted reproductive technology (ART) and subsequent self-reported life satisfaction

Objective: To compare life satisfaction between women with successful or unsuccessful outcome after assisted reproductive treatment (ART) by taking into account the time since the last ART. Design: Cohort study. Setting: Tertiary hospital. Patients: A total of 987 consecutive women who had undergone ART during 1996–2007 were invited and altogether 505 women participated in the study. Interventions: A postal enquiry with a life satisfaction scale. Main Outcome Measure: Self-reported life satisfaction in respect to the time since the last ART. Results: In general, women who achieved a live birth after ART had a significantly higher life satisfaction than those who had unsuccessful ART, especially when compared in the first three years. The difference disappeared in the time period of 6–9 years after ART. The unsuccessfully treated women who had a child by some other means before or after the unsuccessful ART had comparable life satisfaction with successfully treated women even earlier. Conclusions: Even if unsuccessful ART outcome is associated with subsequent lower level of life satisfaction, it does not seem to threaten the long-term wellbeing.