Prague - More than three million babies have been born following fertility treatment since the birth of the first IVF child nearly three decades ago, according to a report released on Wednesday.

Louise Brown made medical history when she was born in Britain after her mother had in-vitro fertilisation (IVF).

Since then the number of children conceived each year through assisted reproductive technologies (ART) has risen from 30 000 in 1989 when data was first collected to 200 000 in 2002.

"The... report covers two-thirds of the world's ART activity, so the total number of ART cycles in the world can be estimated at one million a year, and the number of ART babies produced at around 200 000 a year," said Dr Jacques de Mouzon of the International Committee for Monitoring Assisted Reproductive Technologies (ICMART).

The ICMART report shows the average pregnancy rate using fresh embryos was 25,1 percent and the delivery rate was 18,5 percent.

"However, these rates varied from 13,6 percent to 40,5 percent for pregnancy, and 9,1 percent to 37,1 percent for delivery," Dr de Mouzon said.

Fertility treatments were most available in Israel and Denmark, which also have among the highest percentage of ART babies. It was lowest in Latin America where fewer than 0.1 percent of births were due to ART.

"There is a real inequality between the different countries, and this is due to money," said Dr de Mouzon.

"Some countries provide free cycles of IVF, while in others, couples cannot have ART unless they can pay for it, for example through medical insurance."

The report released at the European Society of Human Reproduction and Embryology (ESHRE) meeting also showed that fertility clinics are moving towards transferring only one embryo during treatment to reduce the number of multiple births.

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Baby boom after fertility treatment - Independent Online