Increasing Use of Assisted Reproductive Technology Worldwide

The worldwide use of assisted reproduction technology (ART) continues to increase, and multiple births remain a significant concern. There was no real surprise in the trends, which are consistent with previous trends.

The number of ART cycles increased an estimated 25.6% since the last report in 2000, the authors report, with the number of babies born worldwide through ART estimated at between 219,000 and 246,000 (a 12% increase over the year 2000). Between 2000 and 2002, delivery rates increased 18.6% for in vitro fertilization (IVF), 20.4% for intracytoplasmic sperm injection (ICSI), and 12.0% for frozen embryo transfer (FET), despite decreases in the average number of embryos transferred. Still, the researchers note, the percentage of transfers with 4 or more embryos remained high in South Korea (53.7%), Latin America (37.9%), India (37.2%), and the United Arab Emirates (37.2%).

The percentage of premature babies and perinatal mortality increased markedly from singletons to twins to triplets. The main public health problem still concerns the high rate of multiple pregnancies. It has already decreased, because of a decrease in the number of transferred embryos, but is still high in many countries.

Questions are raised on the reason for the ICSI increase, which, if not justified by male infertility or fertilization failure in previous ART cycles, resuls in higher costs and, eventually, higher risks, with no gain.


Source:
Reuters Health Information © 2009
Jun 04, 2009, by Will Boggs, MD
Cited from May 28th issue of Hum Reprod 2009.
Available at: http://www.medscape.com/viewarticle/703905_print; downloaded on: 6/13/2009 7:44:23 PM