One in every 18 babies in Australia are now born through IVF, with a record high number of births recorded in the latest data.
The annual report from medical researchers at the University of New South Wales found a record 18,594 babies were born in Australia as a result of IVF treatment in 2021, with more than one in three women (37.1%) who completed their first cycle of IVF giving birth.
The report, released Friday, is based on the data which all 95 accredited IVF clinics operating across Australia and New Zealand are required to submit to the Australian and New Zealand Assisted Reproduction Database (Anzard).
The latest report shows treatments undertaken in 2021, and births that occurred both in 2021 and 2022, the lead author of the report and director of the National Perinatal Epidemiology and Statistics Unit at UNSW, Prof Georgina Chambers, said.
The 102,157 cycles of IVF performed in Australia in 2021 was a 17% increase on 2020, with an average of two cycles for each woman, the report found.
Of those treatments, 11.9% were undertaken...