Fertility Facts and
Figures 2008
HFEA Fertility Facts & Figures 2008
Contents
About these statistics ............................................................................................................... 2
Accessing our data .................................................................................................................. 2
The scale of fertility problems .................................................................................................. 3
Treatment abroad .................................................................................................................... 3
Contacts regarding this publication .......................................................................................... 3
Latest annual figures - 2008 .................................................................................................... 4
Live birth rates by age ............................................................................................................. 5
Fresh and frozen IVF cycles .................................................................................................... 6
Other IVF treatments ............................................................................................................... 6
Multiple births – background .................................................................................................... 7
Multiple births – figures ............................................................................................................ 8
Average age of women treated ................................................................................................ 9
Reasons for patients undergoing fertility treatment in 2008 ................................................... 10
About these statistics
The Human Fertilisation and Embryology Authority (HFEA) collects data about around 50,000
treatments performed each year in the UK fertility sector. Clinics are required by law to
provide information to the HFEA Register about all licensed fertility treatments they carry out.
Before publication, a validation process is performed on the data, and clinics are asked to
confirm its accuracy, for which they remain responsible.
The information collected and published by the HFEA is a snap shot of data provided by
licensed clinics at a particular time. This information may be subject to change as individual
clinics notify us of amendments.
The figures supplied in this document are derived from the HFEA data warehouse containing
Register data as at 24th November 2010 unless otherwise stated and include treatments
carried out between 1st January and 31st December 20081.
Our website, www.hfea.gov.uk, provides information about individual clinics, the fertility
treatments available and a full glossary of terms.
Accessing our data
We publish a version of our Register in an anonymised form on our website. The data can
be imported in to a spreadsheet or statistical package for analysis. The data is updated
periodically and you can choose to be notified when this happens.
1
Some minor changes may have been made to the data for individual clinics since then and these will be
reflected in the data provided on Choose a Fertility Clinic. Any changes are likely to be very minor and not
make a significant difference to the versions published in this document
2
Data extracted from the HFEA data warehouse containing Register data at 24 November 2010 unless otherwise stated
Publication date 08 December 2010 Version 1.0
HFEA Fertility Facts & Figures 2008
The scale of fertility problems
Infertility is defined as ‘failing to get pregnant after two years of regular unprotected sex’ by
the National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence (NICE).
After pregnancy, infertility is the most common reason for women aged 20–45 to see their
GP.
Fertility problems affect one in seven couples in the UK – approximately 3.5 million people.
Most couples (about 84 out of every 100) who have regular sexual intercourse (that is, every
2 to 3 days) and who do not use contraception will get pregnant within a year. About 92 out of
100 couples who are trying to get pregnant do so within 2 years.2
Treatment abroad
The HFEA licenses and regulates clinics in the UK only. We therefore have no information
about treatment cycles that occurred outside the UK. Clinics in other countries may, or may
not, be regulated to local standards and regulations.
The EU Tissues and Cells Directive sets out standards of quality and safety that should be
met within countries within the EU/EEA, but the HFEA recommends that in any case, wouldbe patients should research their chosen clinic thoroughly and ask about its standards of
treatment and care.
Further information about seeking treatment abroad can be found on our website.
Future publications
During 2011 we will implement a more formal publication schedule for our statistics. We plan
to publish a report around October covering the annual statistics from 2009, plus a more indepth analysis of one particular area of fertility treatment around April. This cycle should then
continue into the future.
Contact us regarding this publication
Media:
press.office@hfea.gov.uk
Statistical:
suzanne.hodgson@hfea.gov.uk
2
National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence (NICE). Fertility: assessment and treatment for people with
fertility problems. Clinical guideline 11. London: NICE; 2004.
www.nice.org.uk/nicemedia/live/10936/29269/29269.pdf
3
Data extracted from the HFEA data warehouse containing Register data at 24 November 2010 unless otherwise stated
Publication date 08 December 2010 Version 1.0
HFEA Fertility Facts & Figures 2008
Latest annual figures - 2008
The number of IVF cycles performed and the number of patients being treated has continued
to rise3,4. Intra-cytoplasmic sperm injection (ICSI – a technique used to overcome some
problems caused by the quality of sperm) represented 46% of all IVF treatment in 2008, a
slight decrease on that seen in 2007 (48%). The remainder was conventional IVF.
20063
20074
2008
% change
2007-2008
In vitro fertilisation (IVF) 5
Number of cycles
44,275
46,829
50,687
Up 8.2%
Number of patients
34,855
36,861
39,879
6
Up 8.2%
Number of babies
born through IVF
10,242 successful
births giving rise to
12,596 babies
11,091 successful
births giving rise to
13,672 babies
12,211 successful
births giving rise to
15,082 babies
Births up
10.1%, babies
up 10.3%
IVF live birth rate per
cycle started
23.1%
23.7%
24.1%
Up 0.4%
Multiple birth rate
following IVF
22.7%
23.0
23.2%
Up 0.2%
Number of DI
treatment cycles
4,225
3,881
3,938
Up 1.5%
Number of patients
2,106
1,779
1,916
Up 7.7%
Number of babies
born through DI
455 successful births
giving rise to 489
babies
Donor insemination (DI)
442 successful births
giving rise to 472
babies
451 successful births
giving rise to 487
babies
Births up
2.0%, babies
up 3.2%
DI live birth rate per
cycle started
10.8%
11.4%
11.5%
Up 0.1%
Multiple birth rate
following DI
6.8%
6.6%
7.8%
Up 1.2%
3
2006 figures published 2 October 2008
4
2007 figures published 30 September 2009
5
IVF figures include all IVF, ICSI, PGD, PGS, natural cycles, treatments using donated eggs and those where
fresh and frozen embryos were transferred in the same cycle.
6
Some women have more than one treatment cycle in a year. For this reason the number of treatment cycles
started is always greater than the number of women starting treatment each year.
4
Data extracted from the HFEA data warehouse containing Register data at 24 November 2010 unless otherwise stated
Publication date 08 December 2010 Version 1.0
HFEA Fertility Facts & Figures 2008
Live birth rates by age
The likelihood of getting pregnant following IVF or DI treatment is strongly linked to the age of the woman being treated. On average, a
woman aged under 35 is substantially more likely to conceive than a woman who is older.
Full live birth rates by age, treatment type and centre are published regularly and in more detail on our Choose a Fertility Clinic website.
Figure 1a: Average live birth rate for IVF using own fresh eggs
35
7
Figure 1b: Average live birth rate for Donor Insemination
35
2007
25
20
15
10
25
20
15
10
5
5
0
0
35-37
38-39
40-42
43-44
Over 44
2007
30
Percentage live births per cycle
Percentage live births per cycle
30
Under 35
2008
2008
Under 35
35-39
Woman's age at start of cycle
Data includes IVF and ICSI but does not include natural cycles, PGD cycles
or cycles where both fresh & frozen embryos were used in the same cycle
43-44
Over 44
Woman's age at start of cycle
7
IVF Live Birth Rate
40-42
DI Live Birth Rate
Age:
Under 35
35-37
38-39
40-42
43-44
Over 44
2007
32.3%
27.7%
19.2%
11.9%
3.4%
3.1%
2008
33.1%
27.2%
19.3%
12.5%
4.9%
2.5%
Age:
Under 35
35-39
40-42
43-44
Over 44
2007
14.3%
12.1%
4.6%
1.4%
0%
2008
15.3%
11%
4.8%
1.1%
0%
5
Data extracted from the HFEA data warehouse containing Register data at 24 November 2010 unless otherwise stated
Publication date 08 December 2010 Version 1.0
HFEA Fertility Facts & Figures 2008
Fresh and frozen IVF cycles8
Just over 80% of IVF cycles were fresh cycles, the remainder used frozen embryos.
Fresh IVF
Frozen IVF
Number of cycles
39,334
8,959
Number of patients
33,520
7,792
Number of births
10,010
1,618
Number of babies
12,480
1,855
Under 35
33.1%
22.2%
35-37
27.2%
17.8%
38-39
19.3%
15.8%
40 and over
10.7%
11.9%
Live birth rates by age:
8
Cycles where the patient’s own eggs used only. This data includes IVF and ICSI but does not include natural
cycles, PGD cycles or cycles where both fresh and frozen embryos were used in the same cycle
Other IVF treatments
Donated eggs – 63 clinics offered this treatment in 2008.
Number of cycles
1,700
Number of patients
1,511
Number of births
485
Number of babies
630
Live birth rate
28.5%
Read more about egg donation on our website
Pre-implantation Genetic Diagnosis (PGD) – 10 clinics offered this treatment in 2008.
Number of cycles
214
Number of patients
182
Number of births
54
Number of babies
66
Live birth rate
25.2%
Read more about PGD on our website
6
Data extracted from the HFEA data warehouse containing Register data at 24 November 2010 unless otherwise stated
Publication date 08 December 2010 Version 1.0
HFEA Fertility Facts & Figures 2008
Multiple births – background
Risks of multiple births
Multiple births (twins and triplets) are the single biggest health risk associated with fertility
treatment. Multiple births carry risks to both the health of the mother and the babies:

Mothers have a higher risk of miscarriage and other complications in pregnancy

The babies are more likely to be premature and to have a low birth weight

The risk of death within the first week of life is more than four times greater for twins
than for a single baby

The risk of cerebral palsy is five times higher for twins and 18 times higher for triplets
than for a single baby
Minimising the risks of multiple births
For this reason, the HFEA restricts the number of embryos that can be transferred in IVF to a
maximum of two for women under 40; and three for women aged 40 or over who are using
their own eggs (for those using donated eggs, the maximum is two because these eggs will be
from donors who are not older than 35). However whilst this has effectively reduced triplet
births, the proportion of twin births remains high. The only way to reduce the risk of multiple
births is to transfer just one embryo (single embryo transfer) in the patients who are most
likely to get pregnant and therefore also most at risk of having twins.
In January 2009 the HFEA introduced the following policy to promote single embryo transfer
and minimise the risk of multiple births from IVF treatment:
- The HFEA sets a maximum multiple birth rate that clinics should not exceed; this is lowered
each year with an ultimate aim is 10% multiple births.
- The Year 1 (2009) target was 24% multiple births and the Year 2 (2010) target is 20%. The
Year 3 (2011) target will be set in December 2010.
- All centres have their own strategy setting out how they will not exceed the maximum multiple
birth rate.
The data presented in this report is for treatments started in 2008, before the policy was
introduced. However the most recent pregnancy data shows that the multiple pregnancy rate
has decreased as centres carry out more single embryo transfers in patients most at risk of
conceiving a multiple pregnancy.
National strategy: ‘One at a Time’
The HFEA policy is part of a wider national strategy to reduce the risk of multiple births from
fertility treatment involving representatives from professional bodies, patient groups and NHSfunding bodies. The ‘One at a Time’ campaign provides centres with the tools to change their
clinical practice, works to improve NHS funding of fertility treatment, provides information to
patients and aims to share best practice across the sector.
Read more about reducing the risk of multiple births from fertility treatment on the One at a
Time website
7
Data extracted from the HFEA data warehouse containing Register data at 24 November 2010 unless otherwise stated
Publication date 08 December 2010 Version 1.0
HFEA Fertility Facts & Figures 2008
Multiple births – figures
All types of IVF9
Multiple births are generally more common in younger women. The high rate of multiples in
women aged over 44 is thought to occur because they are more likely to be treated with
donated eggs which will have come from younger women.
Number of births
by age
Singleton
Births
Multiple
Births
Proportion of live births
which were multiples
Under 35
4,555
1,694
27.1%
35-37
2,509
681
21.3%
38-39
1,259
255
16.8%
40-42
813
136
14.3%
43-44
143
31
17.8%
Over 44
97
38
28.1%
9
Includes all IVF, ICSI, PGD, PGS, natural cycles, treatments using donated eggs and those where fresh and
frozen embryos were transferred in the same cycle.
Donor insemination
Number of births
by age
Singleton
Births
Multiple
Births
Proportion of live births
which were multiples
Under 35
232
25
9.7%
35-37
111
6
5.1%
38-39
47
3
6.0%
40-42
24
1
4.0%
43-44
2
0
0.0%
Over 44
0
0
0.0%
8
Data extracted from the HFEA data warehouse containing Register data at 24 November 2010 unless otherwise stated
Publication date 08 December 2010 Version 1.0
HFEA Fertility Facts & Figures 2008
Average age of women treated10
The average age of women treated in 2008 was 35.2 years for IVF and 35.1 years for donor insemination (DI). This has not changed
since 2007.
Since 1991 the average age of women treated has increased 1.6 years from 33.6 for IVF, and 3.2 years from 31.9 for DI.
Around two thirds of women treated in 2008 were aged 37 or under (64.9%).
Figure 2: How the average age of women treated has changed for IVF and DI
Figure 3: Age of women starting treatment in 2008
43-44, 3.8%
Over 44, 1.7%
40-42, 13.9%
Under 35,
40.3%
38-39, 15.6%
35-37, 24.6%
10
Data correct at 08/10/2010
9
Data extracted from the HFEA data warehouse containing Register data at 24 November 2010 unless otherwise stated
Publication date 08 December 2010 Version 1.0
HFEA Fertility Facts & Figures 2008
Reasons for patients undergoing fertility treatment in 200811
Approximately equal numbers of patients sought treatment for male (29.7%) or female (28.5% in total) factors. A further one in ten
patients received treatment because of both male and female factors. Nearly a quarter of patients treated had unexplained infertility.
Figure 4: Reasons for seeking fertility treatment in 2008
11
Patients receiving IVF treatment only; ‘other factors’ includes those with numerous multiple diagnoses. These figures do not sum precisely to 100%, this is
because of missing data (0.8%) and the effects of rounding. Data correct at 08/10/2010
10
Data extracted from the HFEA data warehouse containing Register data at 24 November 2010 unless otherwise stated
Publication date 08 December 2010 Version 1.0