Births after assisted conception are continuing to increase in
Australia, according to a report released today by the Australian
Institute of Health and Welfare.
The rise is occurring with increasingly successful use of a
technique known as intracytoplasmic sperm injection (ICSI), as well
as 'conventional' in-vitro fertilisation (IVF) and gamete
intrafallopian transfer (GIFT) techniques.
Assisted Conception Australia and New Zealand 1998 and
1999, by the AIHW's National Perinatal Statistics Unit at the
University of New South Wales, shows that there were 3,873 births
after assisted conception in Australia in 1998, a 10.2% increase on
the previous year.
The Director of the National Perinatal Statistics Unit, Dr Paul
Lancaster, said that the number of treatment cycles for all types
of assisted conception increased by more than 60% since the early
1990s.
'Probably of greatest interest to couples considering assisted
conception is that when all techniques of assisted conception are
put together, births occurred in 15.9% of treatment cycles,' Dr
Lancaster said.
Intracytoplasmic sperm injection accounted for 47.1% of embryo
transfer cycles in 1999, compared with just under 20% in 1994.
'Another finding was that about 8% of assisted conception
mothers were aged 40 years or more-compared with just over 2% of
all mothers giving birth.'
'Similarly, about 25% of assisted conception fathers were 40 or
over compared with 10% of all Australian fathers.'
Multiple pregnancies (i.e. twins, triplets, etc.) occurred in
about 20% of all IVF and GIFT pregnancies, compared with only 1.5%
of all pregnancies in Australia. There was considerable variation
in multiple pregnancy rates among the 38 IVF and GIFT units in
Australia and New Zealand (range 13% to 26%).
1 June 2001
Further informationt:
Dr Paul Lancaster, NPSU, tel. 02 9382 1047 (w), or tel.
02 9427 0112 (h)
Media copies of the report: Publications Officer,
tel. 02 6244 1032.
Availability: Check the AIHW Publications
Catalogue for availability.