by Veronica Spettmann


In vitro fertilization (IVF) is on the rise, Aunties. The UK's Human Fertilisation and Embryology Authority recently released figures that show an overall 5.9 percent increase in all types of IVF in 2010. Treatments with donated sperm increased from 1,615 cycles of IVF in 2009 to 1,963 cycles in 2010, a 21 percent increase. Women are increasingly aware of that pesky biological clock and single (straight) women aren’t about to let a lack of Mr. Right get in their way of having the family they desire. Gay women also turn to IVF to conceive.

In 2010, there were 45,264 women treated with either IVF or ICSI (intra cytoplasmic sperm injection, in which a single sperm is injected into an egg) in the UK. Seventy-four percent of these treatments involved women who were using their own fresh eggs. Seventeen percent of the treatments involved women using their own frozen eggs, which has become a popular option for women waiting until later in life to have children, though frozen eggs are overall less successful in IVF.

Of all of the women treated by IVF in 2010, the average age was around 35 years old, which is older than the average of women undergoing treatment in 1991. So if you’re worried that you may be getting too close to the end of your fertility age for treatment, think again. Women are waiting longer than ever to start families and seems like IVF is proving a choice for many.


Published: November 22, 2011