In Vitro Fertilization Doesn't Affect Menopause: Study

Women who have in vitro fertilization (IVF) don't experience early menopause or more severe menopause symptoms, says a British study that's one of the first to examine the long-term effects of the fertility treatment.

The study included about 200 women, average age just over 50, who were among the first to undergo IVF in the 1980s. The age at which they started menopause was comparable with the national average and there was no increase in menopausal symptoms associated with the number of IVF treatments, BBC News reported.

The findings were published online in the journal Reproductive Bio Medicine.

Doctors long ago dismissed fears that stimulating the ovaries to generate eggs required for IVF treatment may speed up the ovaries' decline. This study provides needed clinical evidence, the researchers said.

The study findings weren't surprising, but it "nonetheless is a very helpful study indeed," Laurence Shaw, spokesman for the British Fertility Society, told BBC News.

"This is a question patients often ask -- and it's very useful to finally have a scientific study to point to which offers them reassurance that IVF will not affect the timing or severity of the menopause," Shaw said.