Erica Berman, PhD

06/26/2026

Do high-tech “add-ons” increase the chance that IVF will work?
A big new review suggests most such procedures don’t help

Intracytoplasmic s***m injection under a light microscope.40% of the time, it works every timePhotograph: Science Photo Library

TRYING TO conceive through in vitro fertilisation (IVF) leads to disappointment more often than not. About 60% of IVF attempts fail. Fertility clinics offer a long list of tests and procedures purported to boost their customers’ chances. But a review of the evidence, published on June 23rd in the Lancet Obstetrics, Gynaecology & Women’s Health, found no convincing evidence that most of these “IVF add-ons” are helpful. Worryingly, lots of the published evidence was dubious.

The review examined 157 randomised trials of various IVF add-ons. The researchers ran each through a checklist designed to spot signs that the data may have been manipulated. That list was developed in 2023 by fertility researchers (including some of the review’s authors) who had noticed a growing number of fraudulent studies. They looked for things such as implausible study timelines, strange participant data or holes in a trial’s paper trail.

All told, nearly half of the trials did not pass muster. The remaining 85 covered ten commonly used add-ons. Of those, only three procedures showed evidence of abenefit, although the evidence was not particularly strong. The three procedures in question were endometrial scratching (which involves deliberately disturbing the lining of the uterus), EmbryoGlue (in which an embryo is dipped in a solution of hyaluronic acid, which is naturally found in the reproductive tract), and physiological intracytoplasmic s***m injection or PICSI (which tries to select high-quality individual s***m cells).

The data on three other IVF add-ons, though also limited, suggested they had no effect on the chances of a successful pregnancy. These three were corticosteroids (a class of anti-inflammatory drugs), genetic testing of the embryo for abnormal chromosomes and biopsy of the uterine lining to assess genetic expression.

Data for the remaining four procedures were too scant to make a judgment either way. These were acupuncture, intravenous infusion of fats derived from eggs or soyabeans (in the hope this might calm an immune reaction to the embryo), and injections of platelet-rich plasma into either the uterus or the ovaries (platelets being rich in tissue-rejuvenating proteins).

The trials were not just few in number but mostly small in scale too. The median trial had only about 160 patients, which would limit its ability to detect small or subtle effects. The reviewers could not rule out the idea that some interventions might work for a subset of patients. But being able to say who, if anyone, might benefit from any of them would require more and better research—as well as eagle-eyed journal editors weeding out the fishy sort before it is published. ■

06/14/2026

Blog post part 2 on Dating and Mating in the Digital Age.

One cannot discuss current dating/relationship trends without also addressing fertility. Fertility rates in most industrialized countries have dropped significantly. While you may think this is a good thing, like it will save the planet from destruction, this is not the case. Population growth does....

05/18/2026

My latest blog post (all can be found at ericaberman.ca):

Dating and Mating in the Digital Age

Oh boy do I have a lot to say about dating culture in current society. Fortunately, my perspective comes from being a therapist and not someone actually trying to date. My husband and I will be celebrating our 24th wedding anniversary tomorrow, and we have been together for 26 years. We were so young when we got together, oy! We met at the gym, which if you know either of us makes sense. Both of us have been gym rats since we were about 13-14 years old. But meeting at the gym or in IRL at all anymore does not seem to happen often.

I have nothing but empathy for anyone who wants to find a partner these days. It's really tough out there! I see it through my clients who are unhappily single, my single clients who have more or less given up and are becoming a single parent by choice (through donors, surrogacy, etc.) and in the couples counselling I do.

There are a lot of dating challenges now that did not exist in my pre-husband days. The most obvious one is online dating. The first problem with it is just that it makes dating like shopping with a shopping list. I see clients make very foolish rules around the people they will and will not consider swiping on. Things like height, or a very rigid age range may be filters that keep people from finding someone wonderful!

The other problem with dating websites is, as Marshall McLuhan, the Canadian philosopher, famously said, "the medium is the message." For #%*& sakes, you cannot connect with someone via text or messaging! So the minute you match with someone, meet in person for coffee or a walk (low stakes and safely in public) and see if there is anything there. If not, do not waste your time, and move on.

Online dating also creates maximizer mentality. Maximizers are individuals who have difficulty making decisions because they are fixated on avoiding regret and finding perfection. For example, if they need a new toaster, they will exhaustively research toasters for months looking for the best product at the best deal. When they finally do get a toaster, no matter how good it is, they are more likely to be dissatisfied with it than people we call Satisficers, because they keep wondering if there was a better toaster or better deal they could have found. Satisficers, in contract, will find something that meets their general criteria, buy that toaster, and not really think about it again. When you apply this to the dating world, maximizers are terrified to commit to anyone because they always worry there may be someone 'better' out there. When you have seemingly endless options through dating websites, this just exacerbates Maximizers' anxiety. When my maximizer clients ask me how they can know for sure about someone my answer is, "You can't". We don't get guarantees so if you need certainty, frankly, you will have to be single for the rest of your life."

Now I cannot discuss dating without addressing the growing divide between heterosexual men and women. The Zietgeist narrative is that straight women now are too picky because they are often more educated and have better employment compared to their male peers and this is driving men to become incels and/or part of the manosphere. I want to address some of the things that I see in a clinical setting that challenge some of these assumptions.

A lot has been discussed in the media about how up to 30% of cis females consider themselves Q***r or identify as part of the LGBTQ community in some way and this is seen as women giving up on or rejecting straight men. But, the statistics on behaviour show that regardless of how women identify only an extremely small proportion actually have anything but heteronormative relationships. I think it may be more virtue signalling than anything else as we do know that women are increasingly identifying with the political left and men with the political right.

In my therapy space, I do not see women saying that they cannot find a partner because the available partners are not educated enough nor highly employed enough. What I see often, is that my educated, successful female clients get dumped by guys who do not feel they are ready to settle down and commit to someone, especially when that someone has more of their s**t together than they do. I find that most men still think they need to fill the traditional role of 'breadwinner' before they can be in a serious relationship and build a life with someone, even if that someone is not asking that of them! Chris Williamson, host of the podcast Modern Wisdom, often brings on guests to discuss the plight of men today (some I adore like Richard Reeves!), and he constantly uses the data showing that if a man loses his job he is more likely to end up divorced compared to a woman who loses her job as evidence that women still value men primarily for their resources. I suspect this statistic has nothing to do with that and everything to do with the fact that people often experience anxiety and depression when they lose a job and men are more likely to externalize their suffering through substance use, aggression, etc.

This all might sound very sad but there are a few things that give me hope. One is that there are amazing people out there. I have clients male and female, straight and Q***r who are wonderful and are looking for someone wonderful. I always tell them that you just cannot ever give up. We also have to get off devices and get out and do things where you can meet people IRL. And there does seem to be a growing appetite for that. If humanity is lucky, there will be a revolt against tech and social media, everyone will throw their smart phone in the closest body of water (or toilet) and we will save ourselves from becoming the next fallen civilization.

10/29/2025

New research suggests that fathers taking paternity leave can have a lasting positive influence on their children's academic and behavioral growth. This effect appears to be particularly pronounced with longer leave durations, and it shapes family relationships in important ways.

07/28/2025

My latest blog post.https://manage.wix.com/dashboard/95e34dba-dddd-4f25-a514-717e035f68ac/blog/2cb9fb0d-8700-4e83-a6ce-9ca741a75821/edit

06/24/2025

If you are struggling with infertility, please stay away from Google!

We owe it to those facing infertility to ensure the information they find online is accurate, compassionate, and safe...

06/08/2025

One aspect of my work is doing fertility counselling with the LGBTQT+ community, assisting them to build families, mostly through the use of egg donors, s***m donors, and/or gestational carriers (surrogacy). I am very passionate about this work and about supporting diversity in terms of what we cons...

04/21/2025

04/21/2025

https://getpocket.com/explore/item/an-upward-spiral-how-small-acts-of-kindness-and-connection-really-can-change-the-world-according-to?utm_source=firefox-newtab-en-us

A psychologist explains how individual acts of kindness and connection can have a real impact on global change.

03/28/2025

A new study suggests our moral leanings—whether utilitarian or Kantian—may be influenced more by genetics than by upbringing.