1-M babies born in U.S. using IVF or other assisted reproductive technologies: report

“Fewer embryos transferred leads to lower incidence of multiple birth: 80.5 percent of babies born from 2015 cycles were singletons; 19.1 percent twins; and fewer than one-half of one percent were triplets (or higher order),” the report said. (Photo: sabianmaggy/ Flickr)

WASHINGTON–At least one million babies have been born in the United States using in-vitro fertilization (IVF) and other assisted reproductive technologies, a new report has found.

The latest report was released this week by the U.S. Society for Assisted Reproductive Technology (SART), which started to collect data on assisted reproductive technologies (ART) in 1985.

For 2015, SART’s 371 member clinics, which represent more than 90 percent of the infertility clinics in the country, reported that they performed 213,004 treatment cycles, resulting in the birth of 67,818 babies.

Positive trends in treatment and outcomes continued in 2015, with 34.5 percent of procedures transferring a single embryo, compared to 27.2 percent in 2014, the report said.

“Fewer embryos transferred leads to lower incidence of multiple birth: 80.5 percent of babies born from 2015 cycles were singletons; 19.1 percent twins; and fewer than one-half of one percent were triplets (or higher order),” the report said.

In addition, with improvements in egg cryopreservation techniques, the use of frozen donor eggs has increased.

In 2014, 2,886 recipient cycle starts used frozen donor eggs, and this number rose to 3,215 in 2015, it said.

IVF was introduced in the United States in 1981, and according to SART, about one in every 100 babies born in the country was conceived using IVF and related treatments.

The world’s first IVF baby, Louise Brown, was born in Britain in 1978.