How often can you safely have IVF treatment?

For some people, the path to parenthood takes more forward planning than for others. When you know you need IVF to help you conceive, you may not only be thinking about when to start the process but also how long you’ll keep trying and how many rounds of IVF you are prepared to undertake.

National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) guidelines recommend that women under 40 who meet specific NHS eligibility criteria are offered up to 3 NHS-funded cycles. However, outside the confines of NHS treatment, there isn’t a definitive limit on the number of IVF cycles someone can have.

Ultimately, your decision to continue or stop treatment is a personal one, likely based on medical advice, personal well-being and resources. In this article, we explore some of the key things to consider when making this choice and what options you have if further IVF cycles aren’t feasible.

How many times can you do IVF in a year?

There is no universal limit to the number of IVF cycles you can do in a year, as it depends on each individual’s circumstances. However, it is usually required that there is a period of at least one menstrual cycle between IVF attempts for the body to recover.

Key considerations

The combination of factors that influence how many times an individual can do IVF in a year will be unique to them, but some key considerations include:

Recovery time

After an IVF cycle, your body needs time to recalibrate hormonally and physically. The stimulation medications and egg collection procedure can leave you feeling bloated, tired, or hormonally unsettled for a short period. Allowing at least one menstrual cycle between rounds gives your ovaries time to return to baseline and helps ensure your body is in the best possible condition for the next attempt.

Emotional and physical toll

IVF can be a demanding experience, and the strain of repeated cycles shouldn’t be underestimated. Hormonal treatments, uncertainty, and the pressure to stay hopeful can lead to emotional fatigue over time. Many people find the anticipation and waiting, followed by repeated highs and lows, particularly draining, which naturally affects how frequently they feel able to undergo treatment.

Overall health

Your general health plays an important role in determining how often you can, or should, have IVF. Conditions such as endometriosis, polycystic ovary syndrome, thyroid disorders, or metabolic issues may influence how your body responds to treatment. Your clinic will monitor how you manage each cycle and may recommend spacing treatments further apart if your body needs more recovery time.

Age and ovarian reserve

As age affects both egg quality and ovarian reserve, this will influence how intensively your clinic recommends proceeding. Some people with diminished ovarian reserve may be advised to cycle consecutively to maximise the number of eggs that can be collected in a shorter timeframe, while others may benefit from a more conservative approach. Your fertility specialist will help balance urgency with your well-being.

Cost

Affordability naturally plays a role in how many cycles someone can attempt each year. Costs don’t just include the treatment itself but also medications, scans, time off work and potential add-on procedures, all of which may affect the pace at which you move through treatment. To make treatment more accessible and affordable, Kind iVF offers all-inclusive treatment packages and even allows patients to spread the cost with payment plans. 

Clinic policy

Some clinics have internal guidelines about how quickly cycles can be repeated, often based on patient safety and best clinical outcomes. These policies may determine the minimum recovery time required between egg collections or embryo transfers, ensuring each cycle is carried out under optimal conditions and with the highest regard for patient well-being.

Does having multiple rounds of IVF increase the chance of pregnancy?

Having multiple rounds of IVF can improve the chances of having a baby, although it does depend on your overall health, age and individual response.

Each subsequent cycle of IVF provides new insights for fertility specialists, which they can use to adjust your treatment plan. In addition, multiple attempts can result in more embryos being created, increasing the overall pool of embryos to transfer and the cumulative chances of a live birth.

One study, which followed more than 56,000 women, found that 33% had a baby as a result of their first IVF cycle. However, by the 8th cycle, success rates had increased to between 54 and 77%.

The risks of multiple IVF cycles

The risks that arise from going through multiple cycles of IVF are much the same as the potential risks from just one cycle. These include:

• Ovarian hyperstimulation syndrome (OHSS): The ovaries become enlarged, and fluid can build up in the abdomen. Most cases are mild, but severe cases can be life-threatening.
• Ectopic pregnancy: Where an embryo implants outside of the uterus, most commonly in the fallopian tubes.
• Pelvic infection: Very occasionally, infection can occur in the pelvis after egg collection.

However, having multiple cycles can also pose emotional and psychological risks. The emotional intensity of repeated IVF cycles can build over time with the combination of hope, anxiety and fear of disappointment heightening stress and making it harder to cope between cycles.

Further, infertility and IVF can place strain on relationships, even when couples are deeply committed to supporting one another. Navigating difficult decisions, managing expectations and coping with uncertainty can lead to tension or emotional distance at times. Social situations, such as pregnancy announcements, family gatherings or events involving children, may also become more challenging, prompting some people to withdraw socially during treatment. These experiences are common and valid, and support is available for both individuals and couples.

Alternative options to additional IVF cycles

Regardless of the reason, there may come a time when you decide to stop IVF treatment. If it hasn’t been successful and you are still yearning for a child, you might wonder where this leaves you and whether there’s any hope of you still becoming a parent.

While planning what comes next may take time, it can be useful to know that there are other options:

Donor eggs or sperm

If IVF hasn’t been successful due to sperm or egg quality, using donor gametes for treatment can help overcome this.

At Kind iVF, we offer IVF with donor sperm through our partnership with London Sperm Bank. If your own eggs are high quality, you may even be able to consider intrauterine insemination (IUI), which is a less invasive form of fertility treatment. We work with London Women’s Clinic, who have a wealth of experience in IUI treatment. They also provide IVF treatment with donor eggs in conjunction with London Egg Bank, the first and largest egg bank in the UK.

Adoption

Adoption is another meaningful and fulfilling way to build a family. While it involves coming to terms with the idea of not carrying a pregnancy or being genetically related to your child, many people find that this shift in perspective brings a different but equally profound sense of parenthood.

Surrogacy

If you feel the physical and emotional demands of IVF are too much for you to go through again, and/or your egg quality has impacted your IVF success rates, surrogacy is another option. It involves an embryo made from either your egg or a donor egg being transferred to a surrogate who carries the pregnancy and delivers the baby.

Surrogacy is a complicated treatment. However, London’s Women Clinic do perform surrogacy cycles following approval from the clinic’s ethics committee.

How to decide on how many times to do IVF

Deciding how many cycles of IVF to have isn’t always easy and can often be a battle between head and heart. Even if you feel you’ve made the right choice, it’s still normal to have a range of emotions about this and its implications. No one else can make the final decision for you, but it can help to:

Talk to your fertility specialist

Your specialist can help assess your unique circumstances, including your medical history, treatment response, age and emotional well-being, to guide you on what’s realistic and safe. They can discuss your chances of success with further attempts and help you weigh the potential benefits against the physical and emotional demands.

Consider all factors

Beyond medical advice, think about the personal, financial and emotional aspects that influence your readiness for another cycle. Checking in with how you’re coping, what support you have and how treatment is affecting your everyday life can help clarify whether continuing feels like the right thing to do.

Have counselling

Counselling can provide a safe space to process the complex emotions that often accompany fertility treatment. Speaking with a professional can help you work through uncertainty, grief, frustration or hope, and support you in making decisions that align with your wellbeing. Many clinics, including Kind iVF, offer fertility counselling as part of their service, recognising the emotional weight IVF can carry.

IVF with Kind

At Kind iVF, we understand that no two infertility journeys are the same and that the choices you have to make and the unknowns that come from them can sometimes be the most difficult part of treatment.

Throughout your treatment, no matter how many cycles of IVF you have, you’ll be guided and supported every step of the way by a team of expert doctors, nurses and care coordinators who want the same thing you do: for you to realise your dreams of parenthood. The first step is to book a consultation.

References

• Quality statement 5: IVF for women under 40 years | Fertility problems (October 2014)
• Assisted reproductive technology in Australia and New Zealand: cumulative live birth rates as measures of success (July 2017)
• IVF – NHS (April 2025)