Acupuncture for Infertility—Recent Research
An April, 2002, study published in Fertility and Sterility reported a nearly 50% increase in the success rate of women undergoing IVF, when combining IVF with acupuncture.  Their analysis showed that
“the pregnancy rate for the acupuncture group is considerably higher than for the control group (42.5% versus 26.3%)”.(1) 
Virginia Mims, MS, LAc
"Blending ancient medicine with modern science"
Photos:  Guy Salvadore (c) 2008.
1)  Wolfgang E. Paul, M.D., Mingmen Zhang, M.D., Erwin Strehler, M.D., Iman El-Danasouri, Ph.D., & Karl Sterzik, M.D., “Influence of acupuncture on the pregnancy rate in patients who undergo assisted reporudction therapy”, Fertility and Sterility, Vol. 77, No. 4, Apr. 2002.  As quoted in Lifang, Lian.  Acupuncture & IVF:  Increase IVF Success By 40–60%.  Boulder:  Blue Poppy Press, 2003.  p. 133.
2)  Lewis, Randine.  The Infertility Cure.  New York:  Little, Brown and Company, 2004.  p. 68.
3)  as quoted in: Lewis, Randine.  The Infertility Cure.  New York:  Little, Brown and Company, 2004, p. 20.
A 1996 study published in Fertility and Sterility demonstrated that acupuncture can dramatically improve the success rates of ART by increasing blood flow to the pelvic organs.  In fact, “Acupuncture is the only known technique to
directly increase vascular response”.(2)
2)  Lewis, Randine.  The Infertility Cure.  New York:  Little, Brown and Company, 2004.  p. 68
In 1996, the World Health Organization (WHO) endorsed
acupuncture for the treatment of infertility, and a 2002 study at
Weill Medical College of Cornell also concluded that
“There is sufficient evidence of acupuncture’s value to expand its use into conventional medicine and treatment of female infertility”.(3)