Addressing Weight Bias in Reproductive Medicine: A Call to Revisit BMI Restrictions for In Vitro Fertilization.

The prevalence of obesity has doubled among reproductive age adults in the US over the past 40 years and is projected to impact half of the population by 2030. Obesity is associated with a two to threefold increase in infertility, largely due to anovulation, and is associated with a lower rate of pregnancy with ovulation induction among anovulatory women. As a result of these trends and associations, IVF care will need to be adapted to provide safe, effective and equitable access for patients with obesity. Research over the past 10 years has demonstrated safe sedation practices and effective procedure modifications for oocyte retrievals and embryos transfers in patients with obesity undergoing IVF. We encourage IVF medical directors to revisit BMI restrictions for IVF in favor of individualized patient risk assessments in order to minimize weight bias and provide timely access to safe and effective IVF care for patients with obesity and infertility.