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.