Impact of COVID‐19 pandemic on assisted reproductive technology treatment under voluntary lockdown in Japan

Abstract

Abstract To investigate the impact of a state of emergency (i.e., voluntary lockdown) during the COVID‐19 epidemic, we conducted a retrospective cohort study using the Japanese nationwide registry. In comparison with those during 2019, the number of treatment cycles decreased in April 2020 (−9.5%) to its lowest point in May (−24.1%). The magnitude of the decline was three times larger for frozen cycles (−37.0%) than for fresh cycles (−12.4%). The decrease was significantly smaller for women aged <35 years (−31.0%) than for the older groups (−39.0% to −39.7%). Under voluntary lockdown, a considerable decrease was observed especially for frozen cycles and older women.

Keywords

• assisted reproductive technology
• COVID‐19
• embryo transfer