Assisted Reproduction · Registries and Reporting
RRM Academy Synopsis
Canada's 2010 IVF Registry Found a 27% Live Birth Rate
All 28 Canadian fertility clinics voluntarily reported to this registry in 2010, covering 18,454 ART cycles (IVF, frozen embryo transfer, and related procedures) from 13,713 women. Among IVF/ICSI cycles using a woman's own eggs, 27 out of 100 led to a live birth. Nearly 1 in 4 IVF births included twins or higher multiples.
Key Findings
- Live birth rate was 27.2% per IVF/ICSI cycle started using a woman's own eggs, 20.8% for a singleton birth, and 39.9% per cycle using donor eggs.
- In IVF/ICSI cycles, the multiple birth rate per delivery fell from 28.7% in 2009 to 23.8% in 2010, as clinics transferred fewer embryos and used more single-embryo transfer.
- In IVF/ICSI cycles, live birth rate per cycle started dropped with age: 37.6% under 35, 25.7% at 35-39, and 10.8% at 40 or older.
- Death of at least one baby per delivery was more than twice as likely after a multiple birth as a singleton birth (risk ratio 2.3, 95% CI 1.5-3.5).
- Preterm birth (under 37 weeks) occurred in 15.1% of singleton deliveries versus 69.4% of twin deliveries.
Interpretation
This is a national, voluntary registry report. The report is not a clinical trial. All 28 Canadian ART clinics submitted anonymized cycle data for 2010. The source records were not validated on site. The report describes what happened in these cycles. The registry does not test why outcomes changed. The small drop in pregnancy and birth rates followed a shift toward transferring fewer embryos. The link is an association; it was not tested as a controlled trial. Cycles with unknown delivery status were left out, including 145 IVF/ICSI cycles.
RRM Context
This registry counts what happens after IVF starts. The registry does not ask why a couple could not conceive. Restorative reproductive medicine works earlier. RRM looks for the cause before any cycle begins. The preterm birth and death numbers above compare singleton births to multiple births in general. They are not tied to one treatment choice.
Abstract
This tenth annual report of the Canadian ART Register (CARTR) covers ART cycles performed in Canadian centres in the 2010 calendar year and submitted to CARTR. All 28 Canadian assisted reproductive technology (ART) clinics participated in CARTR for 2010, and a total of 18,454 cycles was reported to CARTR. The report states that the IVF Directors Group of the Canadian Fertility and Andrology Society (CFAS) directs the CARTR programme, that participating ART centres support it financially, and that participation of ART centres in CARTR is voluntary. Clinical pregnancy, live birth and multiple birth outcomes are reported separately for IVF/ICSI cycles using the woman's own oocytes, IVF/ICSI cycles using donor oocytes and frozen embryo transfer (FET) cycles, along with trends in outcomes over four years and comparisons with other countries.