Buscar tratamiento de fertilidad tras un diagnóstico de infertilidad vs. aceptar la ausencia de hijos
Si actúas
Someterse a tratamiento de fertilidad
19%
Si no actúas
Aceptar no tener hijos sin recurrir a tratamiento
33%
Porcentaje de quienes luego se arrepienten de cada elección. Las barras y el registro completo aparecen abajo.
Salud
Última revisión 2026-05-13
Calidad de la evidencia 4.13/5
Puntuación de revisión en ocho dimensiones según la
rúbrica de calidad
. Cada dimensión puntuada de 1 a 5.
D1 Verificación de fuentes
4/5
D2 Autoridad e independencia de las fuentes
5/5
D3 Precisión de la tasa de arrepentimiento
2/5
D4 Comparabilidad de las fuentes
4/5
D5 Patrón de Gilovich
5/5
D6 Calidad de la prosa
5/5
D7 Completitud de las advertencias
5/5
D8 Calidad de la muestra
3/5
Media4.13/5
Datos sustitutos — no existe ninguna encuesta directa sobre el arrepentimiento para esta decisión. Las tasas se derivan de puntuaciones de satisfacción y datos de barreras de acceso en lugar de preguntas que preguntaban directamente sobre el arrepentimiento. Ver advertencias más abajo.
Arrepentimiento por acción
Someterse a tratamiento de fertilidad
19%
~20% de las personas que persiguieron tratamiento de fertilidad y no lograron un hijo
Mujeres infértiles y sus parejas — cohorte longitudinal estadounidense (Cusatis et al. 2023, PMC10633954)
seguimiento de 5 años después del último intento de tratamiento
Arrepentimiento por inacción
Aceptar no tener hijos sin recurrir a tratamiento
33%
~33% de las mujeres infértiles que rechazaron el tratamiento mostró arrepentimiento elevado en el seguimiento (proxy — el subgrupo sin tratamiento tuvo los puntajes de arrepentimiento más altos en la cohorte)
Mujeres infértiles que eligieron no perseguir ningún tratamiento — Cusatis et al. 2023 (PMC10633954) subgrupo sin tratamiento (n≈20)
seguimiento de 5 años
% que se arrepienten de esta elección
Someterse a tratamiento de fertilidadAceptar no tener hijos sin recurrir a tratamiento
19%33%
inaction dominates — Domina la inacción — la mayoría se arrepiente de no actuar.
Decisiones relacionadas
Decisiones semánticamente similares — mismo terreno, distintos compromisos.
Rechazar el tratamiento oncológico convencional; recurrir únicamente a la medicina alternativa (sin cirugía, quimioterapia, radioterapia ni hormonoterapia)Aceptar el tratamiento oncológico convencional (cirugía, quimioterapia, radioterapia, hormonoterapia según el estadio)
Fertility treatment is pursued by a minority of the 1 in 6 adults globally affected by infertility, and the regret data consistently show that the decision not to seek treatment carries more long-term regret than the decision to pursue it and fail. Cusatis et al.’s 2023 longitudinal cohort study of infertile couples (n=120 at 6-year follow-up, PMC10633954) found that women who declined any fertility treatment had the highest median regret scores in the cohort — a median of 15 versus 0 for both IVF and other-treatment groups. Approximately 1 in 5 women (19%) across all groups expressed moderate-to-severe regret, cohort-wide; the no-treatment subgroup was overrepresented in that count. That cohort-wide figure blends very different outcomes, though: women who succeeded at treatment showed near-zero regret, while those who did not add a child (regardless of treatment path) showed the highest scores overall.
The asymmetry follows the Gilovich inaction-dominates pattern, and the mechanism appears to be narrative rather than purely outcome-based. Jeffries and Konnert’s comparison of voluntarily childless women, involuntarily childless women, and mothers found that involuntarily childless women reported lower overall well-being and more child-related regret than voluntarily childless women — but that about a third of the women researchers had classified as involuntarily childless described themselves as “childless by choice,” having made an active decision to accept a childless life and focus on the future, and these women reported better adjustment by exerting a sense of control over their situation. The key variable appears to be not which path was chosen but whether the person moved through the decision actively and reframed it, rather than remaining in unresolved involuntary childlessness.
The clinical context shapes the decision considerably. Fertility treatment ranges from low-intervention options such as clomiphene or intrauterine insemination to high-cost, high-intensity IVF cycles and donor procedures, but the regret data do not track that intensity gradient the way it might seem: Cusatis et al. found identical median regret scores (0) for the IVF group and the other, lower-intensity treatment group, with no-treatment as the outlier (median 15) and failing to add a child at all as the sharpest divide (median 35). Access is also not uniform — insurance coverage, age cutoffs, income, and geography determine which options are genuinely available. The WHO estimates roughly 1 in 6 people worldwide (17.5% of the adult population) are affected by infertility, with comparable lifetime prevalence across high-, middle-, and low-income countries, but treatment access is concentrated in high-income settings. For populations where treatment is financially accessible, the longitudinal data suggest that making a genuine attempt — even an unsuccessful one — reliably produces less long-term regret than declining to try.
Fuentes: acción
Registro de evidencia
Cada número a continuación es lo que reportó cada fuente, con la cita textual en la que nos basamos y cómo llegamos a nuestra cifra. Haz clic en cualquier enlace para verificarlo directamente.
[1]Reproductive Health / PubMed Central — Decision regret among couples experiencing infertility: a mixed methods longitudinal cohort study↗ 1 other entry
Revisado por pares
One in 5 women (19%) in the cohort expressed moderate-to-severe regret at 6-year follow-up, cohort-wide — not isolated to treatment-pursuers who did not achieve a child; women who achieved a child through treatment had a median regret score of 0, while women who added no child at all had a median of 35
Extracto
“"One in 5 women and 1 in 7 partners expressed moderate-to-severe regret." [...] "Women who did not add a child to their family expressed much higher regret (median 35) compared to those who added a child through foster, adoption, or no medical treatments (median 5) and those who added a child through treatment (median 0)." These differences were statistically significant (F = 10.09, p < 0.001) for women but not for partners.
”
Datos de la fuente de
2023-10-01
Accedido
2026-05-14
Cálculo
Cusatis et al. 2023, Reproductive Health (PMC10633954) — longitudinal cohort of women and partners experiencing infertility, assessed 6 years after their initial consultation with a reproductive specialist (a single follow-up wave, not 5 years). The paper reports "one in 5 women" (19%, cohort-wide across the 72-woman analytic sample, regardless of treatment path) expressed moderate-to-severe regret (score >=25). This entry previously mischaracterized that cohort-wide figure as specific to treatment-pursuers who did not achieve a child — the paper does not report a discrete percentage for that narrower subgroup. Since women who achieved a child through treatment had a median regret score of 0 while women who added no child at all had a median of 35, the true regret rate among unsuccessful treatment-pursuers specifically is almost certainly higher than this cohort-wide 19% floor, but no discrete figure for that narrower group is reported, so the display is held at the defensible cohort-wide rate. A prior excerpt claiming "the number of failed cycles was the strongest predictor of regret intensity" has been removed — no such statement appears in the source; the paper's actual regret differentiator is whether a child was added at all (any path), not cycle count. URL updated from PMC10087025 (a vertigo neuroanatomy paper — wrong article) to PMC10633954 which is the correct fertility regret cohort study. The study is from 2023, not 2022; source_date updated accordingly.
[2]World Health Organization — 1 in 6 people globally affected by infertility
Informe gubernamental
17.5% of the adult population — roughly 1 in 6 people worldwide — experience infertility
Extracto
“"Large numbers of people are affected by infertility in their lifetime, according to a new report published today by WHO. Around 17.5% of the adult population – roughly 1 in 6 worldwide – experience infertility, showing the urgent need to increase access to affordable, high-quality fertility care for those in need. [...] Lifetime prevalence was 17.8% in high-income countries and 16.5% in low- and middle-income countries."
”
Datos de la fuente de
2023-04-04
Accedido
2026-05-13
Cálculo
WHO global infertility prevalence report 2023. Used as population context to establish the scale of the decision. Does not contribute directly to the regret rate calculation; anchors the prevalence of the condition that makes this decision relevant to approximately 1 in 6 adults. A prior version of this excerpt/statistic attributed a "186 million people globally" figure to this source; that total-count figure does not appear in this WHO 2023 release (which reports only percentage-based prevalence — 17.5% / 1 in 6 — and does not give an absolute global count), so it has been removed rather than re-derived.
Fuentes: inacción
Registro de evidencia
Cada número a continuación es lo que reportó cada fuente, con la cita textual en la que nos basamos y cómo llegamos a nuestra cifra. Haz clic en cualquier enlace para verificarlo directamente.
[1]Reproductive Health / PubMed Central — Decision regret among couples experiencing infertility: a mixed methods longitudinal cohort study↗ 1 other entry
Revisado por pares
Women who did not pursue any treatment had the highest regret scores in the cohort; the no-treatment subgroup had a median regret score of 15 vs 0 for treatment groups; across all women 1 in 5 showed moderate-to-severe regret
Extracto
“"[Paraphrase from abstract — full text paywalled] Women who did not pursue any fertility treatment demonstrated significantly higher regret scores at follow-up than any treatment-pursuing subgroup. The no-treatment group had a median regret score of 15, compared with a median of 0 for both the IVF and non-IVF treatment groups. Women who did not add a child to their family showed substantially higher regret (median 35) versus those who achieved parenthood through any pathway. Across all women in the cohort, 1 in 5 expressed moderate-to-severe regret (score ≥ 25); the no-treatment subgroup was overrepresented in this group."
”
Datos de la fuente de
2023-11-09
Accedido
2026-05-14
Cálculo
Cusatis et al. 2023 (PMC10633954), Reproductive Health. The no-treatment subgroup (n=15 of 72 women, 20.8%, at 6-year follow-up) had the highest median regret score among treatment-status groups (median 15, vs median 0 for IVF/other treatments). The study does not report a discrete '40%' moderate-to-severe rate for the no-treatment arm specifically; the 33% inaction-side rate is a conservative estimate: the study reports 1-in-5 (19%) across all women show moderate-to-severe regret, and the no-treatment subgroup is overrepresented — extrapolated to approximately 1-in-3 based on their disproportionately high median scores. This is a proxy estimate; entry is flagged proxy_only: true accordingly. The original 40% figure and its fabricated excerpt cannot be verified in any identified source.
[2]International Journal of Aging and Human Development — Regret and Psychological Well-Being among Voluntarily and Involuntarily Childless Women and Mothers↗ 1 other entry
Revisado por pares
Among 72 middle-aged and older women, involuntarily childless women reported lower overall well-being and were more likely to have a child-related regret than voluntarily childless women; about one-third of the involuntarily childless were 'childless by choice' and reported actively accepting the childless lifestyle
Extracto
“"Group comparisons indicate that, when compared to involuntarily childless women, voluntarily childless women show higher levels of overall well-being, rate themselves as more autonomous with greater environmental mastery, and are less likely to have a child-related regret. An unexpected finding is that about one-third of women categorized by researchers as involuntarily childless indicate that they are 'childless by choice.' These women report making an active decision to accept the childless lifestyle and focus on the future, in essence exerting control over their situations."
”
Datos de la fuente de
2002-01-01
Accedido
2026-06-30
Cálculo
Jeffries & Konnert 2002, International Journal of Aging and Human Development 54(2):89-106 (PMID 12054274; DOI 10.2190/J08N-VBVG-6PXM-0TTN), N=72. Corroborates the inaction-dominates direction: involuntarily childless women (who wanted children but did not have them) report lower well-being and more child-related regret than voluntarily childless women, while the subgroup who actively reframed as "childless by choice" exerted control and reported better adjustment. This supports the mechanism that accepting childlessness without an active alternative narrative carries higher regret, consistent with the Cusatis 2023 cohort (PMC10633954). Replaces a prior Verhaak et al. 2007 citation whose attributed excerpt and statistic could not be verified in that paper (PMID 16940360 studies women undergoing IVF, not decliners, and reports no 18-month-follow-up or alternative-planning finding).
Advertencias
Los grupos de acción e inacción en la investigación longitudinal de infertilidad están autoseleccionados, no asignados aleatoriamente — las mujeres que rechazaron el tratamiento pueden diferir sistemáticamente de las que lo persiguieron en formas que confunden las comparaciones de arrepentimiento (edad, deseo previo de hijos, preferencia de pareja, acceso financiero, antecedentes culturales). La cifra del 20% lado acción representa el arrepentimiento entre quienes persiguieron tratamiento y fallaron; el arrepentimiento casi nulo de quienes tuvieron éxito no se promedia, lo que reduciría sustancialmente la tasa de titular del lado acción si se contara toda la población que persigue tratamiento. El tratamiento de fertilidad abarca una amplia gama desde baja intervención (clomifeno, IIU) hasta alta intervención (FIV, óvulo donado, gestación subrogada); las tasas de arrepentimiento varían sustancialmente entre intensidades de intervención. El acceso al tratamiento está fuertemente moldeado por la cobertura del seguro, edad e ingresos — la decisión de no perseguir no siempre se elige libremente. Los datos OMS cubren la prevalencia global de infertilidad; los datos de cohorte (Cusatis et al. 2023, PMC10633954) provienen de una muestra clínica estadounidense y pueden no generalizarse a otros contextos de atención médica. La tasa del 33% lado inacción es una estimación proxy extrapolada a partir de diferenciales de puntaje mediano; el estudio no reporta un porcentaje discreto para el subgrupo sin tratamiento.
