STUDY QUESTION Was the delivery rate of ART cycles negatively affected by the
enactment of the Law 40/2004 by the Italian Parliament which imposed a long list of
restrictions for ART procedures? SUMMARY ANSWER This large and extensive
comparative analysis of ART outcomes prior to and after the introduction of the Law 40
revealed a significant reduction in pregnancy and delivery rates per cycle, independent of
age or other clinical variables, once the law went into effect. WHAT IS KNOWN ALREADY …

OBJECTIVE: Aim of this study was to investigate the birth rate for started cycle in our
Department before and after the introduction of the law regulating ART in Italy until the
Constitutional Court cancelled most of this restrictions. DESIGN: Retrospective study 1996-
2009 May of all IVF/ICSI started cycles. MATERIALS AND METHODS: 10708 started cycles
were extracted from our database, 3808 performed before the law introduction in March
2004 and 6900 cycles after Law restrictions until May 2009. An intention to treat statistical …