How high are the chances of success with fertility treatment?
Honest figures instead of promises: what pregnancy and birth rates really mean – and where they come from.
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The chances of success of assisted reproduction depend mainly on the woman's age, the cause of the unfulfilled wish to have children and the number of treatment cycles. The nationwide average figures of the German IVF Register (DIR) serve as a guide; we discuss your personal prognosis individually.
How high are the success rates of an IVF treatment?
On the nationwide average in 2024, about 30.5% of embryo transfers in a fresh cycle led to a pregnancy, and 31.5% in a frozen/thaw cycle (2024). The birth rate per transfer was 22.5% in 2023 (fresh cycle). In frozen cycles in particular, the pregnancy rate has risen over the years – from 26.2% (2017) to 31.5% (2024). What matters for a realistic expectation, however, is not a single cycle but the cumulative chance over several attempts – and above all the woman's age. The figures below are from the German IVF Register (Yearbook 2024) and refer to treatment cycles carried out in 2023.
How does the woman's age affect the chance of success?
The woman's age is the most important factor: as age increases, both the number and quality of eggs decline, so the pregnancy rate per transfer drops markedly. Chances are highest up to about age 35 and fall noticeably from age 40. The table below shows the age-dependent average figures of the German IVF Register – broken down by single year of age, exactly as the register publishes them.
Nationwide average figures – not our practice's numbers. Per embryo transfer, fresh cycles only (IVF and ICSI combined), treatment year 2023. The register publishes the figures by single year of age.
| Woman's age (years) | Embryo transfers (number) | Pregnancy per transfer | Birth per transfer |
|---|---|---|---|
| ≤ 24 | 184 | 42.9% | 32.6% |
| 25 | 374 | 38.9% | 31.3% |
| 26 | 516 | 45.2% | 36.4% |
| 27 | 653 | 42.4% | 35.4% |
| 28 | 1,060 | 43.4% | 32.6% |
| 29 | 1,399 | 40.9% | 33.6% |
| 30 | 1,886 | 38.3% | 30.1% |
| 31 | 2,434 | 38.7% | 30.0% |
| 32 | 2,909 | 38.3% | 30.0% |
| 33 | 3,270 | 36.3% | 29.1% |
| 34 | 3,641 | 37.9% | 29.3% |
| 35 | 3,861 | 35.4% | 26.3% |
| 36 | 3,771 | 32.0% | 24.0% |
| 37 | 3,627 | 31.5% | 22.4% |
| 38 | 3,703 | 28.1% | 18.5% |
| 39 | 5,274 | 25.8% | 16.2% |
| 40 | 2,308 | 23.1% | 13.8% |
| 41 | 2,085 | 20.3% | 10.4% |
| 42 | 1,685 | 15.4% | 7.7% |
| 43 | 1,043 | 12.0% | 4.3% |
| 44 | 641 | 7.8% | 2.8% |
| ≥ 45 | 462 | 4.6% | 0.4% |
Source: German IVF Register (D·I·R)®, Yearbook 2024, special edition for couples (11/2025). Data basis: treatment cycles 2023, fresh cycles only, IVF and ICSI combined. Figures per embryo transfer. The birth rate per transfer is calculated from the absolute birth and transfer counts published by the D·I·R. Individual results may vary.
What does "pregnancy rate per transfer" mean – and why is the birth rate the more honest figure?
The "pregnancy rate per transfer" indicates how often a pregnancy is detected after an embryo is transferred – but it says nothing yet about an actual birth. The birth rate per transfer (also called the "baby-take-home rate", shown in the table as "birth per transfer"), by contrast, describes the proportion of transfers that end with a live-born child, and is therefore the more honest metric. Because not every pregnancy is carried to term, the baby-take-home rate is always lower than the pregnancy rate. We deliberately give you both figures.
How many treatment cycles are realistically needed?
Many couples need more than one attempt: the chance of a pregnancy rises cumulatively and significantly over several transfers – nationwide from 33.8% after the first transfer to 69.0% after four and 74.6% after more than four transfers. On average, about 1.9 treatment cycles per woman were needed in 2023. After one fresh transfer and two thaw transfers, roughly half of couples can look forward to the birth of a child – even though only one fresh treatment cycle took place. How many cycles make sense in your case depends on age, diagnosis and the result of the first treatment, and is discussed individually.
How the chance increases when several embryo transfers are taken together – regardless of whether fresh or thaw transfer.
| After … transfers | Cumulative pregnancy rate |
|---|---|
| 1 | 33.8% |
| 2 | 53.0% |
| 3 | 63.6% |
| 4 | 69.0% |
| > 4 | 74.6% |
Source: German IVF Register (D·I·R)®, Yearbook 2024. Cumulative pregnancy rate for treatment cycles 2020–2023, regardless of fresh or thaw transfer, follow-up to 31 Dec 2024.
Where do these figures come from?
The average figures cited are from the German IVF Register (DIR), which records and publishes the results of almost all reproductive medicine centres in Germany each year – for the 2024 yearbook, 139 of 142 member centres supplied data. The figures refer to the 2024 yearbook (special edition for couples) and to treatment cycles carried out in 2023. We report our own practice figures separately and do not mix them with the nationwide averages.
Source
German IVF Register (D·I·R)®, Yearbook 2024 – special edition for couples (11/2025). Data basis: treatment cycles 2023. To the German IVF Register yearbook