International Federation of Gynecology and Obstetrics

Europe is currently leading the way in terms of assisted reproduction technologies and has been the home of the majority of all initiated cycles, a study has found.

A study by the European IVF Monitoring Group (EIM) into women's health issues found that, in 2008, a total of 479,288 treatment cycles were initiated across 32 European countries, compared to 142,435 in the US and 56,817 in Australia and New Zealand.

Across those clinics where deliveries were reported, a total of 90,000 babies were born in 2007.

Dr Jacques de Mouzon, chairman of the European Society of Human Reproduction and Embryology's EIM division, claimed that the number of cycles conducted across many developed countries has risen by between five and ten per cent in each of the last five years.

"The reverse trend from IVF to intracytoplasmic sperm injection (ICSI) continues with now 67.5 per cent of fresh cycles using the latter technology, although the efficacy of ICSI in terms of pregnancy rates is the same as standard IVF," he added.

In other news, women over the age of 40 may soon get access to free IVF treatment on the UK's NHS in order to reduce age discrimination.

Posted by Paul Robertson