Almost half of women surveyed who said they’d been struggling to get pregnant for at least a year went on to get pregnant without interventions. A new study from Australia explored the phenomenon.

That success rate was slightly lower than in women who also reported trouble conceiving and use of fertility treatments like hormones or in vitro fertilization. “Many women aged up to 36 years with a history of infertility can achieve spontaneous conception and live birth without using fertility treatment indicating (they) are sub-fertile rather than infertile,” study researcher Danielle Herbert of the University of Queensland School of Population Health in Brisbane told Reuters Health.

Meaning that if nothing is wrong m- the egg is dropping, the sperm is moving – then couples should keep trying and they may not need the expense and stress of fertility treatments. “I’m not surprised that women who were not treated still get pregnant – we know that,” said Dr. Courtney Lunch, head of reproductive epidemiology at The Ohio State University in Columbus who was asked to comment on the study. “We know we can get women pregnant quicker if we have them to into IVF, but if twe give women time, (many of them) can still get pregnant.”

The study evaluated data from more than 7,000 women in Australia. Through 2009, 53% of women said they achieved pregnancy by using medical intervention while 44% of women were able to get pregnant naturally. There was no difference in pregnancy outcomes between the two groups.

Source: http://www.conceivingconcepts.com/news/infertility/infertile-versus-subfertile