The poll asked for doctors to agree or disagree with the statement "access to IVF should be conditional on criteria based on lifestyle choices - eg denying access to smokers".
Professor Peter Braude, a leading fertility specialist from Kings College London, said: "The biggest issue is weight, where there is clear evidence that it can decrease the chance of getting pregnant, if someone is significantly over or under-weight. The evidence on smoking isn't conclusive, but there is research showing it can affect ovulation."
He added: "We don't send patients away because they smoke. But we do suggest patients stop smoking, cut down on alcohol and are a healthy weight."
A spokeswoman for Infertility Network UK, Clare Brown, said: "We always encourage those who contact us to try and adopt a healthy lifestyle when trying to conceive."
But she believes that such criteria should not be used as an out and out barrier to treatment.
The survey also found 85% of fertility experts want more clinical trials to test the efficacy of new techniques. And more than half agreed that new procedures are being offered to patients far too quickly and before trials have adequately assessed their effectiveness.
Although most IVF specialists work in the private sector, over 70% of them believe that fertility care should be funded by a country's health service.
Around two-thirds thought demand for IVF would increase over the next 30 years for varying reasons but much of the increase will be due to more people waiting longer to try for a baby.
Dr Allan Pacey, secretary of the British Fertility Society, said: "IVF should be a last resort, and starting to try five years earlier might make things better."
July 2008
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