The Effects of Maternal and Paternal Body Mass Index on Live Birth Rate after Intracytoplasmic Sperm Injection Cycles

We designed the present study to evaluate the simultaneous effect of obesity in couples on in vitro fertilization/intracytoplasmic sperm injection (IVF/ICSI) outcomes. In this cross-sectional study, performed at Royan Institute between January 2013 and Janu- ary 2014, we evaluated the recorded data of all patients during this time period. The study population was limited to couples who underwent ICSI or IVF/ICSI cycles with autologous oocytes and fresh embryo transfers. We recorded the heights and weights of both genders and divided them into groups according to body mass index (BMI). Multilevel logistic regression analysis was used to determine the odds ratio for live births following ICSI or IVF/ICSI. In total, 990 couples underwent IVF/ICSI cycles during the study period. Among the ovulatory women, a significant difference existed between the BMI groups. There was a 60% decrease [95% confidence interval (CI): 0.11-0.83] in the odds of a live birth among overweight subjects and 84% (95% CI: 0.02-0.99) decrease among obese subjects. Among the anovulatory women, the association between the BMI and live births presented no clear tenden- cies. We did not observe any significant relationship between male BMI and live birth rate. The results demonstrated no significant association between the couples’ BMI and live birth rate. Based on the present findings, increased female BMI independently and negatively influenced birth rates after ICSI. However, increased male BMI had no impact on live births after ICSI, either alone or combined with in- creased female BMI.