Kiwis lead world in safe practice of IVF

New Zealand and Australia are world leaders in safe IVF but fewer Kiwis can access it because the country's eligibility criteria are tough on women over 35.

According to a report released on Thursday on assisted reproductive technology in the two countries, their rates of IVF multiple births are among the lowest in the world.

Multiple births are considered the greatest health risk to mothers and babies born through IVF, and multiple embryo transfer increases this risk.

Australia has a rate 6.6 per cent, while New Zealand recorded 5.2 per cent.

Data on IVF undertaken in 2012 and the babies born that year and 2013 shows 76.3 per cent of Kiwi and Aussie cases involved single embryo transfer.

In comparison, multiple births occur in about 30 per cent of IVF treatments in the United States, and 18 per cent in the United Kingdom.

"These results make Australia and New Zealand the safest region in the world for women to have IVF," says Mark Bowman, president of the Fertility Society of Australia (FSA), which funded the study.

Dr Bowman said the countries recorded the lowest multiple birth rates of any region in the world while also maintaining consistently high success rates.

The report shows IVF treatment cycles have increased from 61,929 in 2008 to 70,082 in 2012 in both countries.

This represents 13.7 cycles per 1000 women of reproductive age in Australia, compared with 5.7 cycles per 1000 women in New Zealand.

Read this article:
Kiwis lead world in safe practice of IVF