POV: It’s Time to Regulate the Fertility Industry

The fertility industry is big business. There are more than 450 fertility clinics in the United States alone, and their assisted reproduction technology (ART) procedures result in about 50,000 live birth deliveries and 62,000 infants a year (some deliveries involve multiple babies). This is about 1.5 percent of all live births, but 5.7 percent of all low-birth-weight babies. Of ART babies, 36 percent are born prematurely (compared to 12 percent of non-ART babies). Multiple births can put both mother and babies at risk. Singletons account for about 55 percent of all ART infants, with 42 percent twins and 3 percent triplets or more. This compares to 97 percent of all non-ART births that are singletons. This incredibly high incidence of multiple births and premature infants in ART is a problem that has yet to be effectively addressed, although transferring single embryos seems likely to be the primary solution.

The fertility industry responds to a real need and helps many couples have children they could not otherwise have. Nonetheless, because of the intense desire on the part of patients...