Assisted Reproductive Technology Report Released - Brief Article

AORN Journal, August, 2001

Assisted reproductive technology (ART) resulted in the birth of more than 28,000 infants in 1998, according to a Jan 12, 2001, news release from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). These findings are part of the fourth annual report on fertility clinic success rates prepared by the CDC, the American Society for Reproductive Medicine, the Society for Assisted Reproductive Technology, and RESOLVE, a national consumer organization that helps people with infertility issues.

Couples with infertility problems increasingly are turning to ART for help with conception. The report shows 360 clinics in the United States conducted more than 80,000 ART cycles. In an ART cycle, human eggs are fertilized with sperm in a laboratory then transferred to the woman's uterus. Approximately 25% of such cycles resulted in birth for women using their own eggs.

The report shows that a woman's age is one of the most important factors in determining whether she will have a birth with ART using her own eggs. The birth success rate for women who use their own eggs begins to decline in the early thirties. The decline is more rapid from the mid-thirties onward.

Women who choose to use donor eggs had approximately a 40% chance of giving birth regardless of age, according to the report. Approximately 51% of women using donor eggs had a live, singleton birth, and 18% had an adverse outcome (eg, ectopic pregnancy, induced abortion, miscarriage, stillbirth).

Approximately 31% of all ART deliveries in 1998 were multiple births. Multiple births occur in less than 3% of the general population. Many risks, such as cesarean section and hemorrhage for the mother, and preterm delivery, low birth weight, death, or long-term disability for the infant, are associated with multiple births.

Fourth Annual Assisted Reproductive Technology Report Released (news release, Atlanta: Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Jan 12, 2001) 1-2, http://www .cdc.gov/od/oc/media/pressrel/r010112.htm (accessed 15 Jan 2001).