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Research and data

Publication update: Fertility Trends

An interim report looking at treatments for 2020 using provisional HFEA data was published in May 2022 (Impact of COVID-19 on fertility treatment 2020) and we expect to publish the next Fertility Trends by summer 2023.

All HFEA licensed clinics are required by law to provide us with their fertility treatment and outcomes data. We store this in our Register, thought to be the largest database of fertility treatment in the world. In 2021, we launched a new data submission system for clinics and migrated our data to a new database. This means we now need to upgrade our systems to enable us to make better use of our data for patients, clinicians and researchers – this work is due to be completed in winter 2022/23.

The HFEA will not be publishing our usual annual Register update – Fertility Trends – in 2022. The most recent analysis of success rates is Fertility Trends 2019 (published in May 2021).

Impact of COVID-19 on fertility treatment 2020 - thumbnail

Impact of COVID-19 on fertility treatment 2020

This report looks at changes in UK fertility treatment during the COVID-19 pandemic, including treatment numbers, funding, and donation.

View the Impact of COVID-19 on fertility treatment 2020.

National Patient Survey report 2021

National Patient Survey 2021

Survey of UK fertility patients, 2 November – 7 December 2021.

View the National Patient Survey report 2021.

Previous editions

Multiple births in fertility treatment 2019

This report looks at changes in multiple births over time, including differences by patient age, egg source, ethnicity and funding.

View the Multiple births in fertility treatment 2019.

Previous editions

Ethnic diversity in fertility treatment 2018

This report looks at how access to, and outcomes of fertility treatment, differ by ethnic group.

View the Ethnic diversity in fertility treatment 2018 report here.

Family formations in fertility treatment 2018 (published September 2020)

This report covers UK in vitro fertilisation (IVF) and donor insemination (DI) statistics for heterosexual, female same-sex and single patients.

View the Family formations in fertility treatment 2018 report here.

Egg freezing in fertility treatment (released September 2018)

Our egg freezing report covers the trends and figures relating to egg freezing and the use of thawed eggs in fertility treatment from 2010 to 2016.

When looking at success rates for frozen eggs, numbers tend to be quite low. The technology for egg freezing has also improved over the years which means older data isn’t comparable to current success rates. We advise patients to look at success rates for fresh IVF cycles with patients using their own eggs in their age band. We consider these rates to be more reliable as there are much higher numbers of fresh embryo transfers each year compared to egg freezing. This information can be found in Choose a Fertility Clinic and in our Fertility Trends report.

Download the full report (PDF 784 KB)

Download the patient friendly version of the report (PDF 1.07 MB)

Download the supplement to the report (PDF 92 KB)

Download the data sheet of this report (XLSX 56 KB)

Adverse incidents in fertility clinics: lessons to learn

The vast majority of fertility treatments are carried out without any problems occurring but, as in any clinical setting, mistakes can happen. Most people understand there are risks associated with any kind of healthcare, but they also rightly expect healthcare professionals to learn from those mistakes.  

This annual report provides details of clinic incidents, allowing clinics to learn from each other and improve patient care.

 

Review date: 14 December 2024