Assisted Reproduction Technology in Australia and New Zealand 2006

Assisted Reproduction Technology in Australia and New Zealand 2006 presents information on all assisted reproduction technology (ART) treatments that took place in 2006 and the resulting pregnancies and births. It is the fifth 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.

The report on Assisted reproduction technology in Australia and New Zealand 2006 has two components:

1. The report is published and available in both electronic and printed formats.
2. Supplementary tables are available only in electronic format.

Highlights

• There were 53,543 treatment cycles reported in Australia and New Zealand in 2006, including 90.8% were from Australian fertility centres and 9.2% from New Zealand centres. Of the treatment cycles in 2006, 22.6% (12,086) resulted in a clinical pregnancy, and 17.3% (9,277) resulted in a live delivery. There were 10,522 babies born to women who had fertility treatment in 2006.
• The average age of women who had fertility treatment in 2006 was 35.6 years, slightly older than the average age (35.2 years) in 2002. The proportion of women aged older than 40 years has increased from 14.3% in 2002 to 16.1% in 2006.
• The transfer of blastocysts has increased since 2002. The proportion of blastocyst transfer cycles accounted for 27.1% of all embryo transfer cycles in 2006. This was markedly higher than the 13.9% of all embryo transfers seen in 2002.
• Since the Australian and New Zealand Assisted Reproduction Database was established in 2002, there has been a continuous increase in the number of cycles where women received single-embryo transfers. Single-embryo transfer cycles accounted for 56.9% of embryos transfer cycles in 2006, compared with 48.3% in 2005, 40.7% in 2004, 32.0% in 2003 and 28.4% in 2002. The increase in single-embryo transfer cycles resulted in more singleton deliveries. In 2006, the proportion of singleton deliveries following embryo transfer cycles was 88.0% and, consequently, the proportion of twin deliveries was 11.7%, the lowest proportion ever reported.