A new study has found a history of cannabis use by men and women does not have a negative effect on in vitro fertilization (IVF) outcomes.
Researchers from Canada and Israel looked at IVF treatment outcomes among male-female, non-donor IVF patients that both used and didn’t use cannabis. The study included 722 patients of which there were 654 non-cannabis consumers and 68 couples where either the patient, the partner, or both, were consumers of cannabis. Of the 68 couples, 15 couples reported the female used cannabis, 40 where the male was the cannabis consumer, and 13 where both partners consumed cannabis.
“Our study did not show any detrimental impact of current cannabis use on any of the measured IVF outcomes…All the reproductive outcomes of cannabis users and non-users in our study were comparable. These parameters included measures of ovarian response, sperm quality, efficiency of fertilization, early embryonic development, and implantation. In fact, the ongoing pregnancy rate per cycle start trended higher for the group of cannabis users (35.2 percent vs. 29.1 percent). This could partially relate to the female participants in the user group being younger than the non-user counterparts,” the authors of the study reported. “The results of this study are in line with the newer studies suggesting that the use of cannabis is not associated with a compromised outcome for couples undergoing IVF.”
Data on the effects of cannabis use on male and female fertility as well as information on the effects of cannabis on IVF continue to be contradictory, so there is no clear answer as to whether cannabis use by men or women affects reproductive function.
A previous study conducted by the U.S. National Institute of Health found evidence that women who consumed cannabis could be less likely to get pregnant. The study found women who had a positive urine test for cannabis were 40 percent less likely to get pregnant during each menstrual cycle. However, the researchers admitted only a small number of people in the study consumed cannabis, resulting in a small sample pool. The study also didn’t account for cannabis use in partners. The authors also noted cannabis users had differences in reproductive hormones involved in ovulation than non-users. The authors also noted in animal studies, cannabis use can affect the lining of the uterus, impacting the likelihood of an embryo implanting and establishing a pregnancy.
Researchers have previously linked cannabis use with low birth weight, attention issues and other cognitive behavioral issues in children. In addition to avoiding alcohol and caffeine, maintaining a healthy body weight and diet and staying active, fertility specialists have begun to discourage cannabis use while trying to conceive.
“The effects of cannabis in pregnancy are better known,” Dr. Brenda S. Houmard is a board-certified OB-GYN and Reproductive Endocrinology and Infertility Specialist at Seattle Reproductive Medicine (SRM)’s Spokane clinic, said. “When it comes to exposures—environmental exposures, social exposures, medications—if there isn’t direct research on those agents in fertility, we fall back to what we know about those exposures in pregnancy. So most of the time, we counsel patients that are seeking fertility to follow the same guidelines that they would follow in pregnancy.”In some studies, cannabis has been shown to have a negative effect on male reproduction as well. Using cannabis twice a week or more has shown to cause a nearly 30 percent reduction in sperm count and sperm concentration and has been shown to last five to six weeks after stopping cannabis use. Cannabis use in men can also result in erectile dysfunction as well as testicular atrophy.
