Women who consume a few glasses of wine weekly reduce their chances of successful IVF, as per a new research.

Similarly the chances of men hoping to foster a child can cut down if they consume a beer daily.

Meanwhile, couples where both the partners drink six units once a week which is equal to sharing a bottle of wine also reduce their chance of a live birth by 26%.

Harvard Medical School in Boston, US, experts interviewed 2,574 couples as to how much had they drunk and what kind of alcohol did they like before they ventured in to IVF.

Of the group, 56% of women and 34% of men drank less than one alcoholic drink a week, whereas 4% of women and 5% of men consumed alcohol at least once a day.

"Men and women who each had six UK-equivalent units a week or more significantly reduced their likelihood of pregnancy" said Dr Brooke Rossi, who led the study. This is equivalent to two strong pints of beer or two large glasses of wine. Women cut their chances of getting pregnant by 18% while men reduced their chances of a live birth by 14%.

It was found that the results were particularly strong for women who drank white wine and men who had beer.

Dr Rossi said that it is generally advisable for women to abstain from drinking when they are trying to achieve pregnancy.