Chance of success
For heterosexual couples who are lucky enough to conceive without any help, their chance of success per month of trying is approximately 7-8%, with more than 80% couples conceiving after one year of regular unprotected intercourse. With a fertility treatment such as IUI it can be around 10-15%, or IVF 30-40% per attempt.
Many factors influence success rates, but the biggest single determinant of pregnancy success is the age of the woman whose eggs are used. It is unfortunately widely established that as a woman ages, the chance of becoming pregnant decreases, and the chance of miscarriage or having a child with a genetic disability increases, due to the ageing of the ovary. This is why we encourage all women to seek advice from their GP or a fertility specialist promptly when they have been trying for a year, suspect a fertility issue or feel ready to explore their fertility options.
Choosing a fertility clinic
Success rates are just one of many factors to take into account when choosing a fertility clinic, including location, cost, support services, opening hours, patient feedback and many more.
Success rates are often highly variable and dependent on the individual characteristics of each patient, including age and reason for seeking treatment. At any clinic, we recommend that you ask your clinician what your chance of having a baby is in your own individual set of circumstances.
The HFEA advise that information on success rates is of limited value in comparing centres and choosing where to seek treatment. For more advice on how to choose a clinic, including the latest national data, please refer to the HFEA Choose a Fertility Clinic website.
Latest success rates at NUH Life
Please find below our latest live birth data for DI and IUI. We’ve also included the most recent available national data from the HFEA as reference.
Donor insemination (DI) cycles started from January 2022 to December 2024
| Patient age | Number of inseminations | Clinical pregnancy rate at NUH Life | Live birth rate at NUH Life | National average live birth rate* |
| 18-34 | 121 | 27% | 25% | 16% |
| 35-37 | 45 | 16% | 16% | 12% |
| 38-39 | 34 | 9% | 9% | 8% |
| 40-42 | 17 | 18% | 12% | 5% |
| 43-44 | 1 | 0% | 0% | Not given |
| >44 | 0 | |||
| All ages | 218 | 21% | 19% | 13% |
The multiple pregnancy rate for DI cycles at NUH Life in this time period was 2%.
Intrauterine insemination (IUI) cycles started from January 2022 to December 2024
| Patient age | Number of inseminations | Clinical pregnancy rate at NUH Life | National average clinical pregnancy rate** | Live birth rate at NUH Life |
| 18-34 | 301 | 17% | 15% | |
| 35-37 | 91 | 13% | 13% for all under 38 | 13% |
| 38-39 | 36 | 6% | 6% for all 38 and over | 6% |
| 40-42 | 2 | 0% | 0% | |
| 43-44 | 0 | |||
| >44 | 0 | |||
| All ages | 430 | 15% | 11% | 14% |
The multiple pregnancy rate for IUI cycles at NUH Life in this time period was 13%.
Key:
Data includes both stimulated and unstimulated cycles for DI and IUI
A clinical pregnancy is a foetal heartbeat seen on early pregnancy scan (6-7 weeks pregnancy)
Live birth rates may include a small number of ongoing pregnancies that have not yet delivered at the time of publication.
*DI live birth rates for 2022 and 2023 from HFEA dashboard | HFEA
**HFEA Choose a Fertility Clinic data from 2019. The HFEA does not publish live birth rate data for IUI.