Three-quarters of UK fertility patients using unproven add-on treatments

Regulator finds people spending money on acupuncture and drugs when undergoing IVF or donor insemination

Almost three-quarters of people undergoing fertility treatment in the UK are using unproven extras" to increase their chances of having a baby, despite little evidence that they work.

The findings, from the UK's fertility watchdog, mean that about 40,000 people a year wanting to conceive are spending money on acupuncture, supplements and drugs, even though they are largely unproven.

Some patients are facing increasingly long waits for care, of up to two years, especially for NHS fertility treatment.

51% of patients who used donor sperm got it from abroad, where rules on the maximum number of families that can be created by one donor are looser than in the UK.

While 73% of patients are satisfied with their fertility treatment, Asian and black patients are less likely to be satisfied.