The Society for Assisted Reproductive Technology (SART) has released its 2012 report on assisted reproductive technologies in the United States. SART’s 379 member clinics performed 165,172 cycles, or procedures involving IVF, in 2012. These procedures resulted in the birth of 61,740 babies, an increase of more than 2000 infants from 2011. There were an estimated 3.9 million babies born in the US in 2012, thus IVF babies now constitute over 1.5% of all births. This is the largest number of cycles, of babies and percentage of babies born through IVF ever reported.
In addition to the higher number of children born, several other positive trends maintained momentum in 2012. There were fewer embryos per cycle transferred and an increase in elective single embryo transfer. This led to a reduction in the number of twin and triplet births. Reducing multiple births, which can be risky for both mothers and children, has been a major focus of SART and the American Society for Reproductive Medicine (ASRM) over the last decade.
“We are proud to present our data on IVF outcomes again this year. Our members go to a great deal of time and expense to enable us to collect this information. They know the value of this unique resource. Better information leads to better informed patients and physicians, and better treatments. Most importantly, better data leads to more and healthier babies,” stated Charles Coddington MD, President of SART.
For further details, please go to www.sart.org
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