Access Barriers Create Worse IVF Outcomes for Black Parents
Black women are more likely to experience infertility than their white counterparts, but they’re less likely to seek treatment for it because of steep barriers to entry. And even when they do pursue infertility treatments, like intrauterine insemination (IUI) or in vitro fertilization (IVF), treatment is less likely to succeed: Black women have lower pregnancy rates, higher rates of clinical pregnancy loss, and lower live birth rates.
It’s a two-pronged issue: Black women use IVF and other assisted reproductive technology less, and later. That means many people aren’t getting the help they need, and even among those who get it eventually, the delay in care contributes to worsened outcomes.
The racial disparities among those who pursue assisted reproductive technology are striking. Of 40,545 patients included in a 2021 study on disparate outcomes for Black women undergoing IVF, a whopping 62 percent were white, while 15 percent were Asian, 7.3 percent were Hispanic/Latino, and just 6.4 percent were Black.