Effect of HCG-triggered ovulation on pregnancy outcomes in intrauterine insemination: an analysis of 5610 first IUI natural cycles with donor sperm in China

Objective: To evaluate the effect of human chorionic gonadotropin (hCG) trigger ovulation on pregnancy outcomes in natural IUI cycles with donor sperm. Design: Retrospective cohort study. Setting: Not applicable. Patients: A total 5610 first-natural IUI cycles with donor sperm in infertile couples during the period from January 2012 to December 2017. To control for other confounding factors, our analysis was restricted to normo-ovulatory women without tubal infertility. Intervention(s): hCG-triggered ovulation Main Outcome Measures: The main outcome measure was live birth rate; the secondary outcomes included rates of clinical pregnancy and miscarriage. Results: In the crude analysis, both the clinical pregnancy (27.40% versus 22.73%; P =0.001) and live birth rates (24.52% versus 20.13%; P =0.007) were significantly higher for the hCG group than for the spontaneous LH group. After adjustment for a number of confounding factors, the reproductive outcomes were still significantly worse for the spontaneous ovulatory group. Conclusions: Among women undergoing natural cycle IUI with donor sperm, hCG triggered ovulation for timing insemination offers beneficial impacts on both clinical pregnancy rates and live birth rates.