Australia IVF - In Vitro Fertilisation - Infertility Treatments Information

According to UNSW researchers, In vitro fertilisation (IVF) is three to four times less cost-effective in women aged 40 years and over.

The paper, which is the first comprehensive costing study on the topic in Australia, has just been published in the electronic version of the Medical Journal of Australia (MJA).

“Debate on IVF funding has been hindered by a lack of economic studies of IVF treatments and outcomes in Australia,” said the lead author, Ms Georgina Chambers, researcher in the School of Women’s and Children’s Health.

The report, which is co-authored by Dr Tessa Ho, from the School of Public Health and Community Medicine and Dr Elizabeth Sullivan from the School of Women’s and Children’s Health, shows that the direct health care cost of non-donor IVF is $32 903 on average for each live birth. This cost rises to $182 794 for women aged 42 years and over.

The research found average costs in Australia for each IVF cycle using fresh or frozen embryos are similar to estimates from the UK and Europe, but are much less than US estimates.

“However age is not the only determinant of treatment success - other factors such as the duration of infertility are important. In making policy decisions, we need to consider community values, ethical practice and clinical factors, as well as economic costs,” said the authors.

UNSW researchers have announced promising developments in IVF. According to a report commissioned  by the Australian Institute of Health and Welfare (AIHW), the number of babies born using Assisted Reproductive Technology (ART) has almost tripled in the past ten years, with the total number of babies born increasing by 8.6 percent between 2002 and 2003, .

The report, Assisted Reproduction Technology in Australia and New Zealand 2003, conducted by the Perinatal Statistics Unit (NPSU) at UNSW, also shows the proportion of multiple pregnancies has decreased leading to fewer babies being born prematurely or with a low birth weight.

The report finds better outcomes due to a number of factors including the use of fresh embryos and women embarking on ART at a younger age.

Almost one in four (23.7 percent) of embryo transfer cycles where women used their own fresh embryos resulted in the successful delivery of at least one live baby, while the figure for women who used their own frozen embryo was 15.2 percent.

“When we look at the ages of women who used their own fresh embryos, women aged 25-29 years achieved more successful outcomes, with 35.1 percent of embryo transfer cycles achieving live delivery, while women aged 40-44 years had a success rate of 9.5 percent,” said Professor Michael Chapman, head of the School of Women’s and Children’s Health.

The average age of women undergoing ART treatment in 2003 was 35.2 years.

We just launch a new Forum for Australia IVF Discussion and other infertility treatments. This new IVF Message Boards currently based on these topics:
General IVF Discussions
IVF Success Stories
Negative Results
Alternative Infertility Treatments
General Parenting
and IVF International

If you have any enquiry or want to ask opinion from other user , this IVF message  board is the best media to use. And If you have any other topics you want to suggest to be added in this Forum, please post it in this page as well.