In the last 10 years, there has been an ongoing debate as to whether women of childbearing age who have a diagnosis of infertility and use in vitro fertilization (IVF) are less likely to give birth to female infants than those who conceive naturally. A recent study published in The Journal of Human Reproduction (2020) sought to answer this question by analyzing data from over one million registered IVF cycles across Europe between 2014 and 2018. The results showed that female fetal sex ratios were significantly lower among both fresh and frozen IVF cycles compared with natural conceptions – suggesting that fertility treatments may indeed be linked with an increased tendency towards male births.

Furthermore, when the researchers separated the data according to maternal age group, they found that the effect was most pronounced for women aged between 39 and 41 years old. This is thought to be due in part to the fact that these females are often more likely than younger women to receive higher doses of hormones during treatment which can impact embryo selection prior to implantation (Patrizio et al., 2020). Additionally, it has been suggested that certain lifestyle factors such as smoking or alcohol consumption could also play a role if undertaken around conception time (Wang et al., 2011).

Overall then, we can see that there is indeed evidence to suggest that women using IVF may face a slightly increased risk of having sons rather than daughters – however further research needs to be carried out before any definitive conclusions can be made. In particular, more studies should focus on larger sample sizes while exploring other potential contributing factors such as cultural practices or maternal health conditions.