Should women and men be made to give up smoking before being offered IVF?

In the past 5 years, over 700,000 IVF cycles have been performed in the USA. The ultimate goal for infertile couples and reproductive endocrinologists is to deliver healthy babies. A body of literature has incriminated tobacco smoke as a risk factor for lower success rates. There are a total of 30 published studies on women and eight for men that have found a significant association between smoking and IVF end points. There are no studies specifically addressing when to stop smoking before pursuing IVF, for how long, the quantity of cigarettes that affect IVF cycles, the effects of passive tobacco smoke, and how long after quitting smoking do fertility levels resume to nonsmoker levels. Currently, there are no formal guidelines in the USA regarding smoking cessation prior to attempting IVF. It would be premature to require women and men to give up smoking before being offered IVF at this time until more research is concluded and professional guidelines are established.