Fertility Treatment and COVID-19 – April 2020 guidance

As the world faces an epidemic of unprecedented proportions, physicians in reproductive medicine and their patients are faced with choices that will be most difficult.

Our priority is the health and well-being of patients and healthcare providers. Because COVID-19 is a novel virus, our recommendations are based upon the best clinical guidance considering the impacts of patient care and elective treatments.

Very little information about COVID-19 and pregnancy is available, and almost no information concerns the first trimester as organogenesis occurs. Infection can be present without the presence of symptoms.

  • We recommend that health organisations, fertility experts and patients avoid pregnancies and discontinue all fertility treatments whenever possible.
  • We recommend that providers suspend the initiation of all new treatments and postpone all non-urgent fertility interventions until more is known. Age and diminished ovarian reserve do not constitute urgent conditions.
  • We recommend that individuals and couples pursue oocyte and/or embryo cryopreservation in order to postpone pregnancy.
  • Elective surgery should be postponed.