Is there an association between the 'October 7th' events and IVF outcomes in Israel?

Research question: Is there an association between the 'October 7th' 2023 events and IVF outcomes in Israel?

Design: in this retrospective cohort study the study group was women treated during the 4 weeks after 'October 7th', compared with a matched control group treated between 1 January 2021 and 6 October 2023. Each study group participant was matched with three separate control subjects of the same female age at oocyte retrieval, with a matching body mass index (BMI), IVF cycle number and ovarian reserve parameters.

Results: The study included 580 patients. The 145 women who underwent oocyte retrieval or frozen embryo transfer after 7 October 2023 were compared with 435 women treated before 7 October. The mean age of the study group was 35.6 ± 5.9 years, and the mean BMI 25.01 ± 5.60 kg/m². Pregnancy rates per embryo transfer were similar between the groups (22.4% versus 30.5%, P = 0.28 in fresh cycles; 16.9% versus 27.1%, P = 0.12 in frozen embryo transfers). Among women who underwent oocyte retrieval there were no differences in the ovarian stimulation protocols (P = 0.95), number of oocytes retrieved (P = 0.16) or number of fertilized oocytes (P = 0.34). There was no difference in the rate of good-quality embryos between groups (P = 0.053). Among women who underwent frozen embryo transfers, during the study period more patients had natural cycles (52.5% versus 24%, P < 0.001), and there was no difference in maximal endometrial thickness before embryo transfer (P = 0.33).

Conclusions: It appears that there is no association between the 'October 7' events and IVF outcomes.