Due to the coronavirus pandemic, which has been affecting our country since March, national and international authorities have made a decision to stop all non-emergency medical and surgical procedures including assisted reproduction and IVF treatments. This decision has raised questions for many people who are about to begin or have already begun the treatment process.
Does the coronavirus have a negative effect on the pregnancy process?
Up until today, no evidence has been found that shows the coronavirus has a negative effect on the pregnancy process or pregnant women. However, it is a known fact that pregnant women have weaker immune systems. Also, it is known that this type of viral infection may be more problematic for pregnant women and some drugs used to treat the infection may have negative effects on the course of pregnancy.
So regarding this matter, taking into account the rate and the extent of spreading of the coronavirus, it was decided that some national measures had to be taken to reduce the spread and risk of this virus. In the light of this, it was decided that reproductive treatments should be postponed because of the following reasons;
- To prevent and minimize possible complications that may arise from assisted reproduction and pregnancy.
- To avoid possible negative impacts on the course of pregnancy during the coronavirus epidemic.
- To reduce the risk of unknown vertical transmission with patients who are corona positive.
- To support the redistribution of health resources during the corona epidemic.
- To apply current social distancing rules.
- To minimize the risk of infection to embryos and gametes in IVF Treatment in Turkey laboratories.
Reference: Dong, M., Wu, S., Tao, Y., Zhou, F., & Tan, J. (2021). The impact of postponed fertility treatment on the sexual health of infertile patients owing to the COVID-19 pandemic. Frontiers in Medicine, 8, 730994.