Can acupuncture help improve our IVF success?

Acupuncture is an adjunct therapy originating from ancient Chinese medicine practices, and it is lately being used to help women undergoing in vitro fertilization (IVF) treatment.

Research suggests that acupuncture at specific times in the cycle does help IVF results and patients have benefitted.

Here's a story I found:

“I suffered from infertility before the birth of my son in 2016. At the time I started trying to conceive, I was only 27 and so infertility came as a shock to me.

I did not regain my regular periods back after being on contraceptives for many years, and this led to complications conceiving.

After 3 years of trying, I was offered Clomid treatment to help me to conceive. The doctors prescribed me three cycles of treatment, after which, if no success, I would be referred on for IVF treatment.

My first two cycles of Clomid treatment were unsuccessful. At this point I was very disheartened and willing to try alternative therapies in my desperation to conceive. This led me to trying complementary acupuncture treatment alongside my final cycle of Clomid.

To my absolute surprise, having twice weekly acupuncture sessions alongside this cycle led me to success! I carried on with my sessions after finding out I was pregnant, and they also helped me out greatly with my extreme morning sickness.

As a scientist I was never convinced by alternative therapies, however I have been well and truly converted now!”

Dr. Rachael Bailey, PhD

What are the benefits of acupuncture for IVF?

Acupuncture has some great general health benefits which will help you on your journey to pregnancy.

These include:

Effect of acupuncture on female fertility

1. Regulating your fertility hormones and correcting any hormonal imbalances
2. Restoring absent or regulating erratic menstrual cycles
3. By stabilizing hormone levels, acupuncture can bring improvement in PCOS associated infertility
4. Improving the blood flow to your reproductive organs
5. Reducing stress and anxiety

Effect of acupuncture on male fertility

Even before sperm was discovered by Antonie van Leeuwenhoek in 1677, Chinese herbal medicine was proving useful for male infertility.

Acupuncture helps boost male fertility by:

1. Improving sperm count and motility
2. Improving sperm morphology
3. Improving blood flow to the testicular artery and lowering the temperature in your scrotum, which are both favorable for healthier sperm.

I’ve seen a lot of mixed opinions on acupuncture during IVF. Some people swear it helped them feel calmer, sleep better, and less stressed during treatment, especially around egg retrieval or transfer time. Others say they did everything “perfectly,” including acupuncture, and still had unsuccessful cycles.

From what I understand, the idea is that acupuncture may help with blood flow, stress reduction, and overall relaxation during IVF, not necessarily magically increase success rates on its own. I think that’s why some fertility clinics are open to it as a supportive therapy rather than a guaranteed fertility booster.

Honestly, even women who say “I don’t know if it improved my results” still sometimes say it helped emotionally because IVF can become mentally consuming very quickly. Having something that makes you feel calmer or more in control during the process seems valuable in itself.

At the same time, I probably wouldn’t go into it expecting acupuncture alone to dramatically change outcomes. Most doctors still seem to view embryo quality, age, and overall fertility factors as much bigger pieces of the puzzle.