The association between paternal diabetes mellitus and successful pregnancy—Examined in a nationwide population undergoing reproductive treatment

Background: About 15% of all pregnancies end in pregnancy loss. As most studies have focused on maternal factors little is known regarding the influence of paternal factors on the chance of successful pregnancy. Objectives: This cohort study aims to assess the chance of biochemical pregnancy, clinical pregnancy, and live-born children in couples where the male partner has diabetes mellitus (DM). Materials and methods: We performed a nationwide cohort study. Couples undergoing assisted reproductive technology treatment from 2006 to 2019 were included. The exposed cohorts comprised embryo transfers in couples with paternal type 1 DM (T1DM), type 2 DM (T2DM), or mixed type DM (TMDM). The unexposed cohort included embryo transfers in couples without paternal DM. Results: A total of 101,875 embryo transfers were included. Of these, 503 males had T1DM, 225 males had T2DM, 263 males had TMDM, and 100,884 did not have DM. For paternal T1DM, the adjusted OR for achieving a biochemical pregnancy, clinical pregnancy, and live-born child were 0.97 (95% CI 0.77–1.23), 1.08 (95% CI 0.65–1.79), and 0.75 (95% CI 0.49–1.14), respectively. For paternal T2DM, the adjusted OR for achieving a biochemical pregnancy, clinical pregnancy, and live-born child were 0.80 (95% CI 0.56;1.16), 0.67 (95% CI 0.32–1.41), and 1.03 (95% CI 0.48–2.20), respectively. For the paternal TMDM, the adjusted OR for achieving a biochemical pregnancy, clinical pregnancy and livebirth were 0.95 (95% CI 0.67–1.33), 1.31 (95% CI 0.56–2.92), and 1.19 (95% CI 0.59–2.38), respectively. Conclusion: Paternal DM was not associated with a statistically significant decreased chance of biochemical pregnancy, clinical pregnancy, or live birth.