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Facts and figures
Guide to Infertility
The HFEA Guide to Infertility is written for people who are having, or considering, fertility treatment and provides a wealth of information for anyone writing about these complex issues. Features of the Guide include the different fertility treatments available, how to choose the most suitable clinic and the financial and emotional costs of treatment.
Latest annual figures
Published in conjunction with the HFEA Guide to Infertility - treatment and success data based on treatment carried out in 2005.
Number of patients undergoing IVF 32,626 Number of cycles of IVF treatment 41,932 Number of patients undergoing Donor Insemination treatment 2,624 Number of cycles of Donor Insemination treatment 5,865 Number of children born through IVF 9,058 successful births
- giving rise to 11,262 childrenNumber of children born through Donor Insemination 606 successful births
- giving rise to 645 children
For a further breakdown of these figures, see the national live birth rates (directs you to our 'Find a Clinic' figures)
Regional statistics
Regional statistics based on treatments carried out in 2005. (PDF 70.5kb)
The scale of fertility problems
It is estimated that one in seven UK couples have difficulty conceiving - approximately 3.5 million people. Though the majority of these will become pregnant naturally given time, a significant minority will not.
Of 100 couples trying to conceive naturally
- 20 will conceive within one month
- 70 will conceive within six months
- 85 will conceive within a year
- 90 will conceive within 18 months
- 95 will conceive within two years
The National Institute for Clinical Excellence (NICE) define infertility as failing to get pregnant after a two years of regular unprotected sex.
Infertility is the commonest reason for women aged 20-45 to see their GP, after pregnancy itself.
Reasons for infertility
Percentage of IVF
treatment cycles
2000
2001
2002
2003
2004
2005
2006
% change
2000-05Male factor
27.6
29.7
31.5
31.8
31.9
32.6
32.5
+4.9
Tubal disease
19.1
17.6
16.7
16.1
16.2
15.7
15.3
-3.8
Multiple male and female factors
19.1
16.1
14.6
13.4
12.2
11.5
10.8
-8.3
Unexplained
17.5
19.1
19.1
19.8
21
21.7
23.1
+5.6
Ovulatory disorder
7.4
7.9
8.1
8.5
8.6
8.9
8.4
+1.0
Multiple female factors
5.7
5.6
6.0
6.5
6.2
5.9
5.5
-0.2
Endometriosis
2.5
3.0
3.0
2.8
2.8
2.9
2.9
+0.4
Other
0.8
0.7
0.7
0.8
0.8
0.7
1.1
+0.3
Uterine
0.2
0.3
0.3
0.3
0.3
0.3
0.4
+0.2
Treatment and success
The average success rate for IVF treatment using fresh eggs in the UK is
- 29.6% for women under 35;
- 23.6% for women aged 35-37;
- 18.2% for women aged 38-39;
- 10.0% for women aged 40-42;
- 3.2% for women aged 43-44;
- 0.8% for women aged over 44.
The average success rate for Donor Insemination treatment in the UK is
- 13.4% for women under 35;
- 9.7% for women aged 35-39;
- 3.9% for women aged 40-42;
- 1.7% for women aged 43-44;
ICSI represents 43% of all IVF treatment in the UK. The remainder is conventional IVF.
Around 1% of all births are the result of IVF and Donor Insemination.
In the UK, about 25% of IVF treatments are funded by the NHS.
The National Institute for Clinical Excellence (NICE) guidelines suggest that couples should be offered up to 3 cycles of IVF on the NHS if the woman is aged 23-39 years and the couple has an identified cause for their infertility, or have not conceived after 3 years.
NICE recommended that it was appropriate to fund IVF treatment when the chances of success were more than 10%.
The Government has said that, from 1 April 2005, all women with appropriate clinical need should have at least 1 cycle of treatment paid for by the NHS. Local health bodies will apply their own eligibility criteria.
A typical cost of a single cycle of IVF treatment alone is can range between £4,000 and £8,000. Some may include consultation fees and any recommended tests in the overall price. Other procedures, such as embryo freezing, may also be charged for separately.
There are currently 122 HFEA-licensed clinics in the UK, 57 of which see NHS patients.
The risk of treatment
The single biggest risk from IVF treatment is multiple births, and particularly triplet births. These carry potential health effects for both the mother and the unborn child.
Multiple birth babies are more likely to be premature and the babies below normal birth weight.
The risk of death before birth or within the first week is more than 4 times greater for twins and almost 7 times greater for triplets than for single births.
The incidence of cerebral palsy is approximately 5 times higher for twins and approximately 18 times higher for triplets than for single births.
Other risks include drug reactions, ovarian-hyperstimulation syndrome (OHSS) and ectopic pregnancy.
For more about risks see Risks associated with treatment
The information that we publish on our website is a snap shot of data provided to us by licensed centres at a particular time. This information may be subject to change as individual centres notify us of amendments. Before publication, we perform a preliminary validation process on the data, and ask the centres to confirm its accuracy for which they remain responsible.
The HFEA Guide to Infertility
Our guide to infertility treatment in the UK provides information about types of treatment, issues to consider and questions to ask clinics.
Download the guide or order one and we'll mail it to you.
Freedom of Information