5 Million Babies Born Through Assisted Reproduction

About 5 million babies have been born through Assisted Reproductive Technologies (ART) such as IVF (in-vitro fertilization) since 1978. Out of these, around 2.5 million infants were born within the last six years.

This figure has been revealed by the ICMART (International Committee for the Monitoring of Assisted Reproductive Technology). Above 50 fertility organizations are represented by ICMART globally. Ten international reports recording the use of ART helped ICMART in estimating the total number of births that took place using the technique.

This figure was revealed in the 69^th Annual Meeting of the American Society for Reproductive Medicine, which took place in Boston.

"This comprehensive report confirms that we now have over 5 million babies born through Assisted Reproduction. More than that, it shows that half of them have been born in the last 6 years," Richard Kennedy, an IFFS (International Federation of Fertility Societies) Board member, stated in a news release.

"The number of babies born through ART is now about the same as the population of a U.S. state such as Colorado, or a country such as Lebanon or Ireland. This is a great medical success story," Kennedy added.

United Kingdom's Louise Brown was the first baby born with the help of ART in 1978. Approximately 90,000 ART births took place worldwide by 1990. The population of these ART babies reportedly increased to 2.5 million by 2007, followed by about 1.5 million more births through assisted reproduction. Apart from this 900,000 more such births took place in non-reporting countries.    

In IVF, sperm is injected into the female's egg directly in a lab dish. This technique is said to raise the risk of intellectual disability and autism in infants, according to a report.

Each IVF attempt costs around $12,000 to $17,000, as reported by the National Institutes of Health. The first private IVF bank was recently launched in the U.K. on September 17, 2013, to aid women in attaining motherhood, according to a report.

The reproductively challenged women seeking help from this private IVF bank will have to pay around £3,000 (approx. $4774) for the donor eggs and pay £5,000 (approx. $7957) more as cost for IVF.