Assisted Reproduction · Registries and Reporting
RRM Academy Synopsis
Sweden's National IVF Registry Tracks Birth Rates By Age
A national Swedish registry tracked every clinic's IVF cycles from 2016. About 2 out of 10 fresh IVF cycles with a couple's own eggs led to a baby, and the odds fell fast with age.
Key Findings
- Putting back just one embryo instead of two became far more common: 69.6% of fresh embryo transfers in 2007, versus 82.2% by 2016, with a couple's own eggs.
- The report ties years of more single-embryo transfers to a falling multiple-birth rate: 3.1% for fresh cycles in 2016, and twins made up 2.8% of all IVF births.
- Counted per embryo transfer (one or two embryos put back), 31.2% of fresh attempts and 28.6% of frozen ones using a couple's own eggs resulted in a baby.
- When couples used a donor egg, roughly 28% of fresh attempts ended in a baby; the donor's age mattered more than the recipient's.
- A fresh IVF cycle begun by a woman under 30 ended in a baby 28% of the time; for a woman 42 or older, that dropped to 6%.
Interpretation
This comes from Sweden's IVF quality registry. The registry counted results; it did not run a controlled comparison. So no single birth-rate change can be pinned on one cause. Small clinics or small age groups give shakier numbers, a limit the source names when it flags uncertainty in the clinic charts. The source only tracks IVF, donor-gamete, and insemination cycles. The report says nothing about other paths to pregnancy.
RRM Context
Reports like this show IVF's own numbers, in plain terms. Most cycles using a couple's own eggs did not end in a baby, and age was the strongest single factor in the outcome. Restorative reproductive medicine asks a different question: why is this couple infertile, and can that cause be treated? A registry this size makes IVF's real, age-driven odds easy to see.
Key figures
Treatment activity, 2016
| Measure | Value | Source |
|---|---|---|
| IVF clinics operating in Sweden, 2016 | 17 | Introduction |
| Public IVF clinics operating, 2016 | 6 | Introduction |
| Private IVF clinics operating, 2016 | 11 | Introduction |
| Share of clinics reporting to the Q-IVF registry, 2016 | 100% | Introduction |
| Assisted reproduction treatments started, all types, 2016 | 21,145 | Table 2 |
| Fresh IVF/ICSI cycles started, all gamete types, 2016 | 12,810 | Table 2 |
| Freeze cycles started, all gamete types, 2016 | 6,297 | Table 2 |
| Freeze cycles started with own gametes, national total, 2016 | 6295 | Figure 1 |
| Fresh cycles started with own gametes, public clinics, 2016 | 4691 | Figure 1 |
| Freeze cycles started with own gametes, public clinics, 2016 | 2778 | Figure 1 |
| Fresh cycles started with own gametes, private clinics, 2016 | 7483 | Figure 1 |
| Freeze cycles started with own gametes, private clinics, 2016 | 3517 | Figure 1 |
| Fresh IVF/ICSI cycles started with own gametes, excluding PGD, 2016 | 11,954 | Table 1 |
| Share of started treatments that were fresh IVF/ICSI cycles, 2016 | 60.6% | Figure 2 |
| Share of started treatments that were freeze cycles, 2016 | 29.8% | Figure 2 |
| Share of started treatments that were donor insemination (AID), 2016 | 6.9% | Figure 2 |
| Share of started treatments that were own-oocyte freezing, 2016 | 1.8% | Figure 2 |
IVF births in Sweden, 2016
| Measure | Value | Source |
|---|---|---|
| Children born through IVF and their share of all Swedish births, 2016 | 5,182 (4.3%) | Introduction |
Treatment outcomes, 2016 (fresh IVF/ICSI cycles, all gamete types)
| Measure | Value | Source |
|---|---|---|
| Cycles reaching oocyte retrieval, fresh IVF/ICSI, 2016 | 11,851 | Figure 4 |
| Cycles reaching embryo transfer, fresh IVF/ICSI, 2016 | 9,754 | Figure 4 |
| Cycles achieving clinical pregnancy, fresh IVF/ICSI, 2016 | 3,374 | Figure 4 |
| Cycles resulting in delivery, fresh IVF/ICSI, 2016 | 2,809 | Figure 4 |
IVF outcomes with own gametes, 2016
| Measure | Value | Source |
|---|---|---|
| Clinical pregnancies, fresh cycles, own gametes, 2016 | 2142 | Table 1 |
| Clinical pregnancies, freeze cycles, own gametes, 2016 | 2149 | Table 1 |
| Spontaneous abortions before week 22, fresh cycles, own gametes, 2016 | 447 | Table 1 |
| Spontaneous abortions before week 22, freeze cycles, own gametes, 2016 | 288 | Table 1 |
| Deliveries, own gametes, total, 2016 | 4,469 | Table 1 |
| Deliveries, fresh cycles, own gametes, 2016 | 2,642 | Table 1 |
| Deliveries, freeze cycles, own gametes, 2016 | 1,827 | Table 1 |
| Live born children, own gametes, total, 2016 | 4,531 | Table 1 |
| Live born children, fresh cycles, own gametes, 2016 | 2,679 | Table 1 |
| Live born children, freeze cycles, own gametes, 2016 | 1,852 | Table 1 |
Delivery rates, own gametes IVF, 2016
| Measure | Value | Source |
|---|---|---|
| Delivery rate per embryo transfer, fresh IVF, own gametes, 2016 | 31.2% | Figure 10 |
| Delivery rate per embryo transfer, freeze cycles, own gametes, 2016 | 28.6% | Figure 10 |
| Delivery rate per started cycle, fresh IVF, own gametes, 2016 | 22% | Figure 9 |
| Delivery rate per embryo transfer after single embryo transfer (SET), fresh IVF, own gametes, all ages, 2016 | 30% | Figure 11 |
| Delivery rate per embryo transfer after double embryo transfer (DET), fresh IVF, own gametes, all ages, 2016 | 22% | Figure 11 |
Embryo transfer practice, 2016
| Measure | Value | Source |
|---|---|---|
| Embryo transfers at blastocyst stage (day 5-6), fresh IVF, 2016 | 74% | Figures 8a-8b |
| Embryo transfers at blastocyst stage (day 5-6), freeze cycles, 2016 | 81% | Figures 8a-8b |
Complications, fresh IVF cycles started 2016
| Measure | Value | Source |
|---|---|---|
| Complications reported, fresh IVF cycles, 2016 | 162 | Table 3 |
| Complication rate among fresh IVF cycles, 2016 | 1.3% | Table 3 |
Multiple births, 2016
| Measure | Value | Source |
|---|---|---|
| Twin delivery rate, overall IVF, 2016 | 2.8% | Table 4 |
| Triplet delivery rate, overall IVF, 2016 | 0.1% | Table 4 |
| Twin delivery rate, fresh IVF, own gametes, 2016 | 3.06% | Table 4 |
| Triplet delivery rate, fresh IVF, own gametes, 2016 | 0.08% | Table 4 |
| Twin delivery rate, freeze cycles, own gametes, 2016 | 2.54% | Table 4 |
| Triplet delivery rate, freeze cycles, own gametes, 2016 | 0.11% | Table 4 |
Oocyte freezing and fertility preservation, 2016
| Measure | Value | Source |
|---|---|---|
| Oocyte freezing cycles started, all reasons, 2016 | 397 | Table 2 |
| Oocyte freezing cycles performed, all reasons, 2016 | 389 | Figure 23 |
| Oocyte freezing cycles for oncological indications, 2016 | 102 | Figure 23 |
| Oocyte freezing cycles for non-medical reasons, 2016 | 287 | Figure 23 |
Donor treatment, 2016
| Measure | Value | Source |
|---|---|---|
| Donor insemination (AID) treatments performed, 2016 | 1,452 | Figures 19-20 |
| Delivery rate per AID insemination, 2016 | 16.8% | Figures 19-20 |
| AID treatments performed at public clinics, 2016 | 867 | Figure 19 |
| AID treatments performed at private clinics, 2016 | 585 | Figure 19 |
| IVF cycles with donated oocytes started, total, 2016 | 342 | Figure 15 |
| IVF cycles with donated oocytes started, fresh, 2016 | 189 | Figure 15 |
| IVF cycles with donated oocytes started, freeze, 2016 | 153 | Figure 15 |
| IVF cycles with donated sperm started, total, 2016 | 758 | Figure 15 |
| IVF cycles with donated sperm started, fresh, 2016 | 447 | Figure 15 |
| IVF cycles with donated sperm started, freeze, 2016 | 311 | Figure 15 |
| Chance of a delivery per fresh treatment, own eggs with donated sperm, 2016 | roughly 35% | Report text |
| Chance of a delivery per fresh oocyte-donation treatment, 2016 | roughly 28% | Report text |
Trends, single embryo transfer rate 2007 to 2016
| Measure | Value | Source |
|---|---|---|
| Single embryo transfer (SET) rate trend, fresh IVF, own gametes, 2007 to 2016 | 69.6% to 82.2% | Figure 6a |
| Single embryo transfer (SET) rate trend, freeze cycles, own gametes, 2007 to 2016 | 76.7% to 97.5% | Figure 7b |
Registry scale and context
| Measure | Value | Source |
|---|---|---|
| Cumulative assisted reproduction treatments registered in Q-IVF, as of 2016 | almost 190,000 | How we collect data |
Our summary of the report's published figures, each citing its table, figure or section. The full report is at the publisher's link.