Facts and figures

HFEA Guide to Infertility

The HFEA Guide to Infertility is written for people who are having, or considering, fertility treatment. It can also provide a wealth of information for anyone writing about these complex issues. Features include the different fertility treatments available, how to choose the most suitable clinic and the financial and emotional costs of treatment.

Download (PDF) or order a copy free of charge.

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Latest figures

The following facts and figures are available as a PDF document with a number of additional detailed tables.

Facts and Figures 2006 - Fertility Problems and Treatment

Latest IVF figures - 2006

The figures shown below (published 8 October 2008) are based on treatments carried out between 1 January and 31 December 2006. Figures given here include all IVF, ICSI, PGD, natural cycles, treatments using donated eggs and those where fresh and frozen embryos were transferred in the same cycle.

How many women have IVF treatment?

34,855 women had IVF treatment in 2006, an increase of 5.6% on the previous year.  These women had 44,275 cycles of treatment in 2006, an increase of 6.8% on the previous year.

How many babies are born following IVF treatment?

There were 10,242 successful births in 2006 (up 13.1%).  Because some of these births were twin or triplet births, this means that 12,596 babies were born (up 11.9%).

How successful is IVF treatment?

Every woman is different; your chances of becoming pregnant will depend on a number of factors, such as your age and the cause (if known) for why you are not conceiving naturally.  The latest figures (2006) show that 23.1% of all IVF treatments resulted in a live birth, up 1.5% on the previous year. See below for success rates for various age groups.

What is the average IVF success rate for my age group?

The average success rate for IVF treatment using own fresh eggs in the UK in 2006.  The figure for 2005 is shown in brackets for comparison.

  • 31% for women under 35   (29.6%)
  • 26.4% for women aged 35-37  (23.6%)
  • 18.6% for women aged 38-39  (18.2%)
  • 11.1% for women aged 40-42  (10%)
  • 4.6 % for women aged 43-44  (3.2%)
  • 4.0% for women aged 44+   (0.8%)

Further detailed breakdowns by age group (including figures for frozen cycles) can be viewed in Facts and Figures 2006 - Fertility Problems and Treatment or in Find a Clinic - click the ´national success rates´ tab in the page for any clinic.

How many twins or triplets are born following IVF?

The latest figures how that 22.7% of treatment cycles resulted in a multiple birth, down 1.3% on the previous year. See below for more information about multiple births following fertility treatment.

Where can I find figures for previous years?

Further charts, graphs and tables providing details of treatments carried out since the HFEA was established in 1991 can be found in the HFEA's long term data report 'HFEA Data 1991-2006'.

Latest donor insemination (DI) figures - 2006

The figures shown below (published 8 October 2008) are based on treatments carried out between 1 January and 31 December 2006.

How many patients have donor insemination treatment?

2,106 women had donor insemination treatment in 2006, down 19.8% on the previous year. These women had 4,225 cycles of donor insemination treatment, down 28.0% on the previous year.

How many babies are born following donor insemination?

There were 455 successful births following donor insemination in 2006 (down 25%).  Because some of these births were twins or triplets, this means that 489 babies were born(down 24.2%).

How successful is donor insemination treatment?

Every woman is different; your chances of becoming pregnant will depend on a number of factors, such as your age and the cause (if known) for why you are not conceiving naturally. The latest figures (2006) show that 10.8% of all DI treatments resulted in a live birth, up 0.5% on the previous year. See below for success rates for various age groups.

What is the average donor insemination success rate for my age group?

The average success rate for donor insemination treatment in the UK in 2006.  The figure for 2005 is shown in brackets for comparison. 

  • 13.5% for women under 35   (13.4%)
  • 9.2% for women aged 35-39  (9.7%)
  • 5.3% for women aged 40-42  (3.9%)
  • 1.2% for women aged 43-44  (1.7%)
  • 0% for women aged 44+  (0%)

Further detailed breakdowns by age group can be viewed in Facts and Figures 2006 - Fertility Problems and Treatment or in Find a Clinic - click the ´national success rates´ tab in the page for any clinic.

How many twins or triplets are born following donor insemination?

The latest figures how that 6.8% of treatment cycles resulted in a multiple birth, up 0.5% on the previous year. See below for more information about multiple births following fertility treatment.

Where can I find figures for previous years?

Further charts, graphs and tables providing details of treatments carried out since the HFEA was established in 1991 can be found in the HFEA's long term data report, 'HFEA Data 1991-2006'.

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Additional figures

ICSI represents 47% of all IVF treatment in the UK in 2006. The remainder is conventional IVF.

Around 1.4% of all births and 1.7% of all babies born in the UK are the result of IVF and donor insemination.

The current number of licensed clinics has increased since 2006.  The HFEA now also licenses clinics offering treatments such as Intra Uterine Insemination (IUI) using husband´s or partner´s fresh sperm, and Gamete Intra Fallopian Transfer (GIFT).  These came under HFEA regulation following the introduction of the EU Tissues and Cells Directive in July 2007.

In Sept 2008, there were 116 HFEA-licensed treatment clinics in the UK, 91 of which state that they see NHS patients (further details on Find a Clinic).  In 2006, the year to which these latest statistic relate, there were 85 licensed treatment clinics for DI and IVF.

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The scale of fertility problems

The National Institute for Clinical Excellence (NICE) define infertility as failing to get pregnant after two years of regular unprotected sex.

Infertility is the commonest reason for women aged 20-45 to see their GP, after pregnancy itself.

A typical cost of a cycle of IVF treatment alone is approximately £5000. This figure is may vary depending on the various consultations, drugs and tests that may be required for an individual´s treatment. Procedures such as embryo freezing and ICSI may also be charged separately.

It is estimated that around one in six or one in seven UK couples have difficulty conceiving - approximately 3.5 million people. Although 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

A table showing estimates of the number of people experiencing fertility problems in each region is available in Facts and Figures 2006 - Fertility Problems and Treatment

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Reasons for infertility

The list below gives the reasons for infertility inas indicated on patient registration forms for IVF treatment.

  • Male factor - 32.5%
  • Female factor - 32.5%
  • Multiple male and female factors - 10.8%
  • Unexplained - 23.1%
  • Other factors - 1.1%

More detailed figures can be found in Facts and Figures 2006 - Fertility Problems and Treatment.

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NICE guidelines and NHS provision

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 recommend that it is appropriate to fund IVF treatment when the chances of success are more than 10%. See http://www.nice.org.uk/

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.

In August 2008, the Department of Health´s expert group on commissioning NHS infertility provision published an interim report on the barriers to the implementation of the NICE fertility guideline. This can be downloaded from http://www.dh.gov.uk/

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Multiple births - the single biggest risk of treatment

The single biggest risk to mothers and babies following 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.

In 2006, 22.7% of IVF births were a twin or a triplet, down from 24% in 2005. For all UK births in 2006 (including naturally conceived births) only 1 in every 66 were twins or more.
Additional figures for multiple births can be viewed in Facts and Figures 2006 - Fertility Problems and Treatment or go to Find a Clinic and click the 'national success rates' tab on the page for any clinic.

One at a Time

In June 2008, doctors, embryologists, nurses, other clinical staff, patient groups and the HFEA launched a new national strategy to reduce the number of multiple pregnancies. 

Those involved in the development of the national strategy believe that change will only be facilitated through improved funding for assisted conception treatment.

Focusing initially on IVF, the strategy aims to reduce the rate of multiple births from the 2005 national average of 24 per cent of all IVF births to 10 per cent over three years. In the first year (from January 2009), all clinics will be expected not to exceed the 24 per cent maximum.

The strategy includes:

  • the One at a Time website - provides authoritative information for professionals and patients; 
  • a series of regional workshops for health professionals; 
  • new professional guidelines published by the British Fertility Society (BFS) and the Association of Clinical Embryologists (ACE), setting out professional best practice.

For further information visit http://www.oneatatime.org.uk/

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Further information

Statistics

The figures provided on this page can be found with additional detailed tables in Facts and Figures 2006 - Fertility Problems and Treatment.

Information about and success rates for individual clinics can be found by using Find a Clinic.

For historical data providing information ontreatments and trends since the HFEA was establishment in 1991, see the HFEA long term data report.  This is available in both PDF and Exel formats.

The latest published numbers of sperm and egg donors can be found here.

Other information

A good place to start is the HFEA´s Guide to Infertility.  It has been written for people who are starting or thinking about fertility treatment and looks at various treatments, provides information on what it is like for a patient undergoing these treatments and where to get further information.

The tabs at the top of this page ("For Patients" and "For Donors and the Donor Conceived") will take you to a series of links where FAQs about various issues around treatment are answered.  Other tabs will take you to areas of the site that explain more about the HFEA and how we regulate clinics and embryo research.

The HFEA publishes various factsheets, report and other publications.  Find out more here.

Journalists who have further questions can contact the HFEA´s media team.

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About HFEA data

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.

 

Last updated: 12 November 2008