60 seconds to gauge couples' IVF chances

London: A 60-second test which predicts couples' chances of having a baby through IVF has been created by scientists.

The free calculator, which is available online, uses the answers to nine simple questions to work out the odds of fertility treatment succeeding.

With the results said to be almost 100 per cent accurate, the test could save couples the emotional and financial pain of going through repeated treatments only for them to fail.

Women with a lower likelihood of becoming mothers could be told early on about tweaks to their treatment that could increase their chances. Others could be counselled to think about alternative options such as adoption.

Background information

Glasgow and Bristol university researchers obtained background information on almost 150,000 IVF treatments carried out in the UK between 2003 and 2007. They used this to work out which factors were most important in becoming pregnant. From this, they created the IVFpredict test.

The nine questions take as little as a minute to answer in total and the results are up to 99 per cent accurate, the scientists say.

This is despite them not including information about lifestyle factors such as smoking and weight.

Those given low odds may be able to increase their chances as much as three-fold by opting for donor eggs or ICSI, in which sperm is injected directly into the egg, the journal PLoS ONE reports.