Eighty-five anovulatory women with polycystic ovaries were treated laparoscopically by argon, carbon dioxide (CO2) or potassium-titanyl-phosphate (KTP) laser vaporization. Ovulation occurred spontaneously postoperatively in 71%. Twenty of 38 (53%) women resistant to standard clomiphene citrate (CC) therapy ovulated spontaneously after laparoscopic laser vaporization of the ovaries. Seventeen of the remaining 18 patients responded to CC postoperatively. Of 47 patients ovulating preoperatively with CC, 40 (85%) ovulated spontaneously postoperatively. Postoperatively, 56% conceived within six months of laparoscopy. This included 58% of postoperative spontaneous ovulators and 52% of postoperative CC stimulated patients. The results suggest that selected patients with polycystic ovaries can be induced to ovulate and subsequently conceive by laparoscopically partially vaporizing their ovaries with laser energy.