Abstract:Objective To analyze the correlation of infertility type and infertility period with fertilization failure of conventional in vitro fertilization (IVF). Methods Totally 1,128 cycles of conventional IVF in the Reproductive Medical Center of the Affiliated Hospital of Inner Mongolia Medical University from March 2014 to October 2016 were retrospectively analyzed. According to the type of infertility, the patients were divided into primary infertility group (group A) and secondary infertility group (group B). The fertilization outcomes in different infertility periods were compared between the two groups. Results The fertilization rates in the group A and the group B were 69.36% and 72.99% respectively, the difference had statistical significance (χ2 = 27.175, P = 0.000). The normal fertilization rates in the group A and the group B (60.48% vs. 62.00%) had significant difference (χ2 = 4.085, P = 0.043). The cleavage rates (94.96% vs. 95.84%) and the R-ICSI rates (8.96% vs. 2.23%) in the group A and the group B also had statistical differences (χ2 = 4.494 and 22.775, P = 0.043 and 0.000 respectively). In comparison of the ICSI rate between the two groups, the patients with 4 or more years of infertility in the group A got a higher ICSI chance than those in the group B, the difference had statistical significance (χ2 = 4.528 and 4.580, P = 0.034 and 0.049). Conclusions There are many reasons for the failure of conventional IVF. The patients with primary infertility or long infertility period have a high risk of fertilization failure during IVF-ET, and to these patients short-term fertilization and timely ICSI are recommended.