Assisted Fertility Treatments

The most recent statistical data on assisted reproduction in Finland. The statistics include trend data from 1992 onwards.

Assisted Fertility Treatments 2008-2009

In 2008, more than 8200 IVF and ICSI treatments and related FETs were started. This was 5.6 per cent more than in 2007. Preliminary data indicate that treatments will continue to rise in 2009 (+0.5%). The number of treatments has grown by about 19 per cent over the past ten years, and this is partially explained by an increase in frozen embryo transfers (FETs). FETs account for more than 40 per cent of all IVF treatments.

The 2008 statistics on infertility treatments are the first that reflect the effects of the Act on Infertility Treatments, which entered into force on 1 September 2007. The Act lays down provisions on the donation and storage of gametes and embryos for use in assisted reproduction treatment. According to the Act, a person who may have been born from a donated gamete or embryo shall, upon attaining the age of 18, be entitled to learn the identity of the donor. It was thought that this amendment would decrease the availability of donated gametes.

In 2008, the number of treatments with donor oocytes increased by 9.6 per cent on the previous year. This was a much smaller increase than in 2002-2006. The availability of donor oocytes limits the number of treatments. The use of donor sperm in IVF and ICSI treatments and FETs fell by 23.5 per cent on 2007 (Figure 1).

In the first half of 2007, presumably in anticipation of the entry into force of the Act on Infertility Treatments, there were far more treatments with donor sperm than normally. However, there were 3.1 per cent more treatments using donor sperm in 2008 than there were in 2006. According to an estimate from the National Supervisory Authority for Welfare and Health, most of the treatments using donor sperm that have been carried out since the entry into force of the new legislation have been using sperm from a Danish sperm bank.

A total of 1898 infants were born in 1724 deliveries as a result of the IVF treatments performed in 2008 (including treatments using donor gametes). This is 2.9 per cent of all deliveries in 2008 and 3.2 per cent of all infants born during that year. The slight drop in the percentage is largely due to a rise in the overall birth rate.

Figure 1. Infertility treatments using donor gametes in 1992-2008.

^{No data on donor sperm and donor embryos was collected before 2001.
Data has been collected on inseminations since 2006.}

• Tables (pdf, 29 kt)
• Tables (xls, 164 kt)
• Whole statistical summary (pdf, 308 kt)

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