Fitzgerald, O., Harris, K., Paul, R. C., & Chambers, G. M. (2017). Assisted Reproductive Technology in Australia and New Zealand 2015. National Perinatal Epidemiology and Statistics Unit. https://doi.org/10.26190/unsworks/30471
Fitzgerald O, Harris K, Paul RC, Chambers GM. Assisted Reproductive Technology in Australia and New Zealand 2015. National Perinatal Epidemiology and Statistics Unit; 2017. doi:10.26190/unsworks/30471
Fitzgerald, O., et al. Assisted Reproductive Technology in Australia and New Zealand 2015. National Perinatal Epidemiology and Statistics Unit, 2017.
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RRM Academy Synopsis
ART Success Rates in Australia and New Zealand Fell With Age in 2015
This 2015 registry of ART cycles in Australia and New Zealand found success fell steeply with age. About 38 out of 100 fresh embryo transfers in women under 30 ended in a live delivery. The figure was fewer than 1 out of 100 in women over 44. Across 77,721 initiated cycles, 18 out of 100 ended in one.
Key Findings
Of 77,721 ART cycles reported in Australia and New Zealand in 2015, 22.8% (17,726) led to a clinical pregnancy and 18.1% (14,040) ended in a live delivery.
Live delivery rates per embryo transfer fell with age: 38.4% (fresh) and 32.6% (thaw) for women under 30, versus 0.7% (fresh) and 7.6% (thaw) for women over 44.
A cohort of 16,355 women followed from their first autologous fresh cycle in 2013 had a 23.3% cycle-specific live delivery rate in cycle one, falling to 14.5% by the eighth cycle.
The multiple delivery rate fell 36%, from 6.9% in 2011 to 4.4% in 2015, as single embryo transfer rose from 73.2% to 85.7% of cycles.
14,791 babies were born from ART treatment in 2015 (14,655 liveborn); 78.8% of liveborn babies were full-term singletons of normal birthweight.
Interpretation
The document is a national registry report. It is not a controlled study. Every accredited fertility clinic in Australia and New Zealand must report its cycles here. So the numbers reflect real, system-wide practice across the whole two-country system. The figures are averages across many clinics, ages, and diagnoses. They cannot show why one couple's chances differ from another's. The 2013 cohort follows the same women through repeated autologous cycles. About one in four women who did not have a live delivery in a cycle did not return for another.
RRM Context
Registries like this one set the benchmark for IVF outcomes. Restorative reproductive medicine's own outcome record is often compared against numbers like these. The steep drop in live delivery rates after age 40 is shown here across a whole country's clinics. It matches other findings that egg quantity and quality decline well before a couple starts treatment. The finding supports checking underlying causes early, before repeated cycles accumulate.
Our editorial summary of this paper, not the article's abstract.
Key figures
Treatment activity, 2015
Measure
Value
Source
Total ART treatment cycles reported, 2015
77,721
Key results summary
ART treatment cycles reported, Australia, 2015
71,479
Key results summary
ART treatment cycles reported, New Zealand, 2015
6,242
Key results summary
Autologous cycles as a share of all ART treatments, 2015
94.5%
Key results summary
Frozen-thawed embryo use among autologous cycles, 2015
37.4%
Key results summary
Patient characteristics, 2015
Measure
Value
Source
Average age of women in autologous ART cycles, 2015
35.8 years
Patient age
Autologous-cycle women aged 40 or older, 2015
24.8%
Patient age
Pregnancy and birth outcomes, 2015
Measure
Value
Source
Clinical pregnancy rate per initiated ART cycle, 2015
22.8% (17,726)
Treatment outcomes
Live delivery rate per initiated ART cycle, 2015
18.1% (14,040)
Treatment outcomes
Clinical pregnancy rate per embryo transfer, all ART cycles, 2015
31.9%
Treatment outcomes
Live delivery rate per initiated autologous fresh cycle, excluding freeze-all cycles, 2015
17.0%
Treatment outcomes
Live delivery rate per embryo transfer, autologous fresh cycles, 2015
23.7%
Treatment outcomes
Live delivery rate per initiated autologous thaw cycle, 2015
25.3%
Treatment outcomes
Live delivery rate per embryo transfer, autologous thaw cycles, 2015
26.8%
Treatment outcomes
Pregnancy and birth outcomes by age, 2015
Measure
Value
Source
Live delivery rate per embryo transfer, autologous fresh cycles, women under 30, 2015
38.4%
Age-stratified outcomes
Live delivery rate per embryo transfer, autologous thaw cycles, women under 30, 2015
32.6%
Age-stratified outcomes
Live delivery rate per embryo transfer, autologous fresh cycles, women over 44, 2015
0.7%
Age-stratified outcomes
Live delivery rate per embryo transfer, autologous thaw cycles, women over 44, 2015
7.6%
Age-stratified outcomes
Babies born and multiples, 2015
Measure
Value
Source
Total babies born following ART, 2015
14,791
Babies born
Liveborn babies following ART, 2015
14,655
Babies born
Full-term singleton babies of normal birthweight, share of ART babies born, 2015
78.8%
Babies born
Five-year trend, 2011 to 2015
Measure
Value
Source
Multiple delivery rate, 2011 to 2015
6.9% to 4.4%
Multiple birth trends
Decrease in multiple delivery rate, 2011 to 2015
36%
Multiple birth trends
Single embryo transfer rate, 2011 to 2015
73.2% to 85.7%
Multiple birth trends
Live delivery rate per embryo transfer, 2011 to 2015
21.6% to 25.3%
Trends
Improvement in live delivery rate per embryo transfer, 2011 to 2015
17.1%
Trends
Our summary of the report's published figures, each citing its table, figure or section. The full report is at the publisher's link.