Large Study Provides Reassurance that COVID-19 Vaccination Does Not Affect Fertility or Early Pregnancy
Vaccination against COVID-19 did not affect fertility outcomes in patients undergoing in-vitro fertilization (IVF), a new study has found. The findings, which were published in Obstetrics & Gynecology (the Green Journal), add to the growing body of evidence providing reassurance that COVID-19 vaccination does not affect fertility.
Investigators at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai (Icahn Mount Sinai), New York City, and Reproductive Medicine Associates of New York (RMA of New York) compared rates of fertilization, pregnancy, and early miscarriage in IVF patients who had received two doses of vaccines manufactured by Pfizer or Moderna with the same outcomes in nonvaccinated patients.
“This is one of the largest studies to review fertility and IVF cycle outcomes in patients who received COVID-19 vaccinations. The study found no significant differences in response to ovarian stimulation, egg quality, embryo development, or pregnancy outcomes between the vaccinated compared to unvaccinated patients.” said Devora A. Aharon, MD, first author of the study. Dr. Aharon is a fellow in reproductive endocrinology and infertility at Icahn Mount Sinai and RMA of New York. “Our findings that vaccination had no impact on these outcomes should be reassuring to those who are trying to conceive or are in early pregnancy.”
The study involved patients whose eggs were collected from the ovaries and fertilized by sperm in a laboratory, creating embryos that were frozen and later thawed and transferred to the womb, and patients who underwent medical treatment to stimulate the development of eggs. The two groups of patients who underwent frozen-thawed embryo transfer—214 vaccinated and 733 unvaccinated—had similar rates of pregnancy and early pregnancy loss. The two groups of patients who underwent ovarian stimulation—222 vaccinated and 983 unvaccinated—had similar rates of eggs retrieved, fertilization, and embryos with normal numbers of chromosomes, among several other measures.
The authors of the study anticipate that the findings will ease the anxiety of people considering pregnancy. “By leveraging science and big data, we can help reassure patients of reproductive age and enable them to make the best decisions for themselves. It will give people comfort to know that the COVID-19 vaccine does not affect their reproductive potential,” said senior author Alan B. Copperman, MD, FACOG, division director and clinical professor of obstetrics, gynecology and reproductive science at Icahn Mount Sinai and director of RMA of New York, which is recognized internationally as a leading center of reproductive medicine.
The patients in the study were treated at RMA of New York between February and September 2021. Patients undergoing IVF treatment are closely tracked, enabling the researchers to capture early data on the implantation of embryos in addition to pregnancy losses that might be undercounted in other studies.
The publication of the new study coincides with the surge of the highly contagious Omicron variant. Previous studies have found that COVID-19 vaccination helped protect pregnant people—for whom COVID-19 substantially increases the risk of severe illness and death—from severe illness, conferred antibodies to their infants, and did not raise the risk of preterm birth or fetal growth problems.
“In Vitro Fertilization and Early Pregnancy Outcomes After Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) Vaccination” by Devora Aharon, MD, Matthew Lederman, MD, Atoosa Ghofranian, MD, Carlos Hernandez-Nieto, MD, Chelsea Canon, MD, William Hanley, BA, Dmitry Gounko, MA, Joseph A. Lee, BA, Daniel Stein, MD, Erkan Buyuk, MD, and Alan B. Copperman, MD; Obstet Gynecol 2022;139
DOI: 10.1097/AOG.0000000000004713
Contact Information: Megan Christin, ACOG: mchristin@acog.org; Stacy A. Anderson, Mount Sinai: stacy.anderson@mountsinai.org or (347) 346-3390; Pamela Pearlman, RMA of NY: ppearlman@rmany.com.
About Obstetrics & Gynecology
Obstetrics & Gynecology is the official publication of the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists (ACOG). Popularly known as The Green Journal, Obstetrics & Gynecology has been published since 1953. Then as is now, the goal of the journal is to promote excellence in the clinical practice of obstetrics and gynecology and closely related fields. To do so, the journal publishes articles on a variety of translational and clinical topics.
Obstetrics & Gynecology reaches more than 45,000 members and nonmember subscribers.
About RMA of New York
RMA of New York is widely recognized as a global leader in state-of-the-art reproductive medicine, and serves as the division of reproductive endocrinology and infertility at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai. Led by an integrated team of physicians and scientists with extensive reproductive endocrinology, infertility, and embryology training, RMA of New York is renowned for its pioneering research in the field and for delivering high IVF success rates. For the past 20 years, the physicians of RMA of New York have consistently been distinguished as top doctors and super doctors by Castle Connolly and New York Magazine. Headquartered in midtown Manhattan, RMA of New York has fertility clinic locations throughout Manhattan, Brooklyn, Westchester, Long Island, and abroad in Mexico City.
For more information, please visit their website, or find RMA of New York on Instagram, Facebook and Twitter.
About the Mount Sinai Health System
Mount Sinai Health System is one of the largest academic medical systems in the New York metro area, with 48,000 employees working across eight hospitals, more than 400 outpatient practices, more than 600 research and clinical labs, a school of nursing, and a leading school of medicine and graduate education. Mount Sinai advances health for all people, everywhere, by taking on the most complex health care challenges of our time—discovering and applying new scientific learning and knowledge; developing safer, more effective treatments; educating the next generation of medical leaders and innovators; and supporting local communities by delivering high-quality care to all who need it.
Through the integration of its hospitals, labs, and schools, Mount Sinai offers comprehensive health care solutions from birth through geriatrics, leveraging innovative approaches such as artificial intelligence and informatics while keeping patients’ medical and emotional needs at the center of all treatment. The Health System includes approximately 9,000 primary and specialty care physicians and 11 free-standing joint-venture centers throughout the five boroughs of New York City, Westchester, Long Island, and Florida. Hospitals within the System are consistently ranked by Newsweek’s® “The World’s Best Smart Hospitals, Best in State Hospitals, World Best Hospitals and Best Specialty Hospitals” and by U.S. News & World Report's® “Best Hospitals” and “Best Children’s Hospitals.” The Mount Sinai Hospital is on the U.S. News & World Report® “Best Hospitals” Honor Roll for 2024-2025.
For more information, visit https://www.mountsinai.org or find Mount Sinai on Facebook, Twitter and YouTube.