A prospective study of the effects of female and male marijuana use on in vitro fertilization (IVF) and gamete intrafallopian transfer (GIFT) outcomes

Objective This study was undertaken to examine whether marijuana use affects in vitro fertilization and gamete intrafallopian transfer (IVF/GIFT). Study design Prospective study of 221 IVF/GIFT couples. Results Amount of lifetime heavy marijuana use adversely affected IVF/GIFT. Women smoking more than 90 times in their lifetime had 27% fewer oocytes retrieved (P= .03) and 1 fewer embryo transferred (P< .05). Women smoking marijuana more than 10 times in their lifetime had infants 17% (P = .01) smaller at birth. If men smoked marijuana 11 to 90 times in their lifetime, there was a 15% decrease in infant birth weight (P = .03); if this increased to more than 90 times, there was a 23% decrease (P = .01). Timing also played a role. Women smoking marijuana 1 year before IVF/GIFT had 25% fewer oocytes retrieved (P = .03), whereas couples had 28% (P = .04) fewer oocytes fertilized. Women and men who smoked in the past 15 years, had 12%(P = .04) and 16% (P = .03) smaller infants, respectively. Conclusion Both timing and amount of marijuana use negatively affected IVF/GIFT.