Professor Luk Rombauts,who heads the peak body,the Fertility Society of Australia and New Zealand that funded the research,said an increased use of frozen embryos had resulted in more successful IVF outcomes as all frozen embryos were genetically tested.
“You can’t do genetic testing and put them back in fresh. You have to freeze them to wait for the results,so that’s an enormously strong bias towards better outcomes. You have a 50 per cent success rate regardless of age,” he said.
“And there certainly have been suggestions that if you put a number of[thawed embryos] back in,especially into a natural cycle where we don’t use any stimulation at all,the idea is that,because it’s natural,that lining is more natural,and therefore,that’s going to lead to better pregnancy rates.”
A record number of babies were born via IVF in 2021,analysis of the data reveals;20,690 across both countries,a boost of 12 per cent to the 2020 figures of 18,462. That means that one in 18 children born in Australia,and one in 27 born in New Zealand,were conceived through assisted reproductive treatment (ART).
After three complete assisted reproductive cycles,women were found to have between 53.6 and 63 per cent chance of achieving a live birth,the report found,while success rates decreased with age;women aged between 30 and 34 had at least a 67.8 per cent chance of achieving a live birth after three complete ART cycles,while women aged 40 and 44 had at least a 20.3 per cent chance.
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A record number of IVF cycles were undertaken in 2021,too,the research found,with 111,253 ART treatment cycles performed in Australia and New Zealand in 2021,an increase of 16.3 per cent on 2020. A third of recipient cycles were in single females or female-female couples and the average age of women undertaking IVF was 36.
The report found multiple births – that is twins or triplets – occurred in just 3 per cent of cycles. Women used their own eggs or embryos in almost 95 per cent of cycles.
There was also a sharp increase in the number of women choosing to preserve their eggs;a jump of 61.5 per cent from 2020 to 2021.
The data revealed that one in three women did not continue treatment after a failed cycle. Rombauts said a failed IVF cycle could impact deeply on the woman undergoing treatment.
“There are many reasons why women elect not to continue treatment,including the psychological,physiological and financial stress that can be associated with infertility and its treatment,” Rombauts said.
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