Acupuncture and infertility treatment: Is there more to the outcome for women than pregnancy?

Background: Infertility is an extremely distressing experience for many women, and it is associated with psychologic morbidity, including anxiety, depression, and chronic stress. Infertility is a priority in the National Women's Health Policy in Australia. Many studies have suggested a positive link between the use of acupuncture during in-vitro fertilization (IVF) treatment at the time of embryo transfer. However, clinical trials have drawn varying conclusions, and this makes physicians uncertain about recommending acupuncture to their patients. Despite this uncertainty, infertile women increasingly seek acupuncture for fertility support during treatment. Objective: This article is a review of available research that has investigated women's experience of acupuncture with infertility treatments, such as IVF. Given that this is a qualitative and descriptive article, there are no "methods" or "results" as would be provided in a formal, statistical study. Conclusions: The qualitative information presented in this review suggests that women find the use of acupuncture empowering, whether or not pregnancy is acheived. This indicates that acupuncture can play an important role in strategies for enhancing women's health.