More older women turn to IVF
(cz) Women in their 40s hoping to defy their biological clock are trying for test-tube babies in increasing numbers despite a one in 10 chance of success per treatment cycle.
Births of test-tube babies are booming, spurred by Medicare changes after earlier Government moves to discourage older couples from undergoing a treatment with little chance of success.
The average age of women having fertility treatment in 2005 was 35.5 years, slightly higher than three years previously. But the proportion of women older than 40 having treatment increased by a full percentage point to 15.3 per cent, Australian Institute of Health and Welfare figures published today show.
Babies conceived through assisted reproduction in Australia jumped overall to 8500 last year, a rise of nearly 40 per cent in two years, said Michael Chapman, an adviser to the institute on fertility statistics.
The Federal Government had proposed to limit Medicare payments to women older than 42 having fertility treatment because of very low success rates. more…
From: »The Sydney Morning Herald«