New data published
by HFEA for the first time today will give fertility patients an
in depth look at the likely success of their treatment.
Choose a Fertility Clinic, launched last year, gives patients a
clinic by clinic breakdown of success rates. The new in depth
analysis of national data being published today will give patients
a nationwide picture covering thousands of treatment cycles and
their outcomes.
Patients can now look in detail at information relevant to them:
by age, whether it is IVF or ICSI, fresh or frozen embryos, or
using their own or donor eggs. The information then covers the
patient pathway from the beginning of treatment right through to
the outcome including:
* of those who start treatment how many go on to have a
baby
* the likelihood of becoming pregnant with a singleton or
multiples
* what may happen to the pregnancy - singleton,
multiple or pregnancy loss
* and the outcome for the babies
born as a result of treatment including whether they are pre-term
or low birth weight
Carried out by the Oxford based National Perinatal Epidemiology
Unit, the analysis looks at IVF and ICSI treatment cycles which
took place in 2006. Over 13,000 babies were born that year as a
result of fertility treatment, 61 per cent were singletons, 38 per
cent were twins and one per cent were triplets or above.
Fertility treatment success rates for women 37 and younger are
much higher than for women over 37, as are the multiple birth
rates. The risk of losing one or both babies in multiple pregnancy
is also much higher for older women.
Prof Lisa Jardine, Chair of the HFEA, said:
"No
decision is more personal than a decision about your own
fertility. We want to help people make their choices by making
available as much evidence and analysis as we can provide. This
new set of data adds a whole new dimension to what is available."
This new information complements the data already published on
HFEA's Choose a Fertility Clinic site at: www.hfea.gov.uk/guide. As
well as its usefulness for patients the data will also be a
valuable source of information for fertility clinicians and researchers.
Ends Notes to editors
* The
2006 national data was first published in late 2008. NPEU has
worked on analysing the data over the past year. HFEA will
continue to carry out this in depth analysis of the data it
collects. Data from treatments carried out in 2007 was published
late in 2009. The NPEU report can be downloaded here
* Multiple births are the biggest health risk to mothers and
babies following IVF. This data pre dates the HFEA's
strategy to reduce multiple births. However, it emphasises the
importance of elective single embryo transfer for younger women
who are most likely to have a successful outcome to their
treatment, to minimise the risk of multiple pregnancy and promote
the birth of a healthy, single baby following fertility treatment.
For further information of the risks associated with multiple
births please see go to: www.oneatattime.org.uk
* The HFEA is the independent regulator for IVF treatment and
embryo research. Our role is to protect patients and the public
interest, to drive improvement in the treatment and research
sectors and to provide information to the public and policymakers
about treatment and research.
* The HFEA was set up in August 1991 as part of the Human
Fertilisation and Embryology Act 1990. The HFEA's
principal tasks are to license and monitor clinics that carry out
in vitro fertilisation (IVF), artificial insemination (AI) and
human embryo research. The HFEA also regulates the storage of
gametes (eggs and sperm) and embryos. See www.hfea.gov.uk for further details.
Contacts:
HFEA Press Office
Phone: 020 7291 8226
press.office@hfea.gov.uk