Twice as many women now having fertility treatment

Twice as many women are now having fertility treatments than 15 years ago, reports the Telegraph.

Figures released by the Human Fertilisation and Embryology Authority (HFEA) show that in 1992 14,057 women underwent fertility treatment, such as IVF, and in 2007 this figure rose to 36,648. It’s thought more awareness of the treatments available, as well as advances in technology have caused the rise.

The average age for a women to undergo treatment has also risen, from 33 to 36, as more women choose to have a career before having children. Around one in six or seven couples will experience fertility problems, although many go on to conceive a child naturally.

the chairperson HFEA, Professor Lisa Jardine said: “When we started regulating the fertility sector, the types of treatment available was extremely limited, as was people’s access to it. So, for many people treatment simply wouldn’t have been an option.

“However, times change and technologies continue to develop. For example, donor insemination may once have been the only option for couples with male factor infertility. But with the development of ICSI, couples now have another option which uses their own gametes (eggs and sperm).”

See more of the figures here…

This entry was posted on Thursday, April 16th, 2009 at 11:17 am and is filed under Career, Health, Work/Life Balance. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.