Assisted Reproductive Technology in Australia and New Zealand 2009

Assisted Reproductive Technology in Australia and New Zealand 2009 presents information on all assisted reproduction technology (ART) treatments that took place in 2009 and the resulting pregnancies and births. It is the eighth report using data from the Australian and New Zealand Assisted Reproduction Database (ANZARD) implemented in 2002.

The report presents specific data on clinical pregnancies and live births, and how they vary by treatment type, cause of infertility, women’s age and number of embryos transferred. Also included is information on birth outcomes such as multiple birth, gestational age, birthweight, and perinatal mortality.

The report will be particularly useful to healthcare professionals, governments, academics and researchers with an interest in ART treatment and outcomes and for people undergoing or considering treatment through ART.

ANZARD was transformed from a cycle-based data collection to a woman-based data collection for treatments undertaken during 2009 (ANZARD2.0). This allows reporting of the number of women undergoing treatment and number of cycles per woman in a treatment year.

The report on Assisted reproduction technology in Australia and New Zealand 2009 has three components:

1. The report is published and available in both electronic and printed formats.

2. Supplementary tables are available only in electronic format.

3. Report profile is available in both electronic and printed formats.

Highlights

In 2009, there were 70,541 assisted reproductive technology (ART) treatment cycles undertaken in Australian and New Zealand. Of these cycles, 17.2% resulted in a live delivery (the birth of at least one liveborn baby). In total, 12,127 liveborn babies were born following ART treatment undertaken in 2009.

The most important recent trend in ART treatment has been the reduction in the rate of multiple birth deliveries, with the multiple delivery rate falling from 14.1% in 2005 to 8.2% in 2009. This trend has been associated with an increase in the proportion of ART treatment cycles using single embryo transfer, from 48.3% in 2005 to 69.7% in 2009. Importantly, the substantial decrease in multiple deliveries has been achieved while the clinical pregnancy rate has remained stable, at around 22%.