Recent study proposes that the average age of mothers using assisted reproductive technology (ART) is moving up from 34.4 years to 35.4 years, on the other hand their chances of giving birth to twins or triplets is sliding down. On an average, father’s age is consistent to 38 years. According to a study done by Australian Institute of Health and Welfare (AIHW), out of 41,904 deliveries by assisted reproduction, more than 6000 resulted in live deliveries. And half of the women used their fresh eggs, with about 22 per cent resulted in a baby. However, success rates differed according to the age of the women. According to Professor Michael Chapman, clinical adviser to the AIHW’s prenatal statistics unit, ‘Women aged 25-29 years achieved more successful outcomes, with 34.7 per cent of transfer cycles achieving a live delivery. While women aged 40 years and over had a success rate of 7.8 per cent’. (where cycle refers to the process undergone to create a successful pregnancy). The result demonstrated the rising number of single babies from 80% to 82.8% whereas the figure of twin and triplet births declined. Prof Chapman said, ‘This increase reflects a change in the number of embryos transferred per cycle’. Statistically: 1. Single embryo transfers rose from 28.4 in 2002 to 40.5 in 2004. 2. Out of 8038 ART babies, 71.4 were singletons. 3. Nearly one quarter were prematurely born. 4. Out of the total ART babies, one fifth has low birth weight.
