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- One in 80 children born in Britain today is a test tube
baby, according a major study into fertility care across Europe.
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- The first study of its kind found France, Germany and
Britain carry out more than half of all IVF treatments. The success rate
is consistent across most of the continent with an average of 22 per cent
of treatment cycles resulting in a live birth.
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- But the number of twins, triplets and multiple births
varies considerably between countries, with more multiple births in southern
and eastern Europe. In America, the success rate for test tube babies is
higher, with about 26 per cent of treatment cycles leading to a live birth.
But America also has a far higher proportion of multiple births, the study
found.
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- The preliminary findings were presented at the European
Society of Human Reproduction and Embryology in Bologna by Dr Karl Nygren
of the Sofia Hospital in Sweden. The full report, with a breakdown of IVF
success rates in different European countries, will be published later
in the year.
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- Information from 18 European countries was compiled on
IVF treatment that took place in 1997. In Britain, 34,000 cycles of IVF
were carried out, resulting in 8,727 births - 1.2 per cent of all babies
born that year. But the proportion of test tube babies is higher in Scandinavia.
In Denmark, 2.6 per cent of all babies are the result of IVF treatment,
while in Finland the figure is 2.4 per cent.
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- The availability of treatment also varies enormously
across Europe. It is highest in Scandinavia and the Netherlands. In Finland,
there are 1,532 treatments per million people, in Denmark 1,448 and in
Britain 583. Dr Nygren said: "We need to treat some of these figures
with caution, because different countries within Europe have different
data reporting systems and in some cases data were missing.
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- "However, our report does show that Europe is leading
the world in IVF treatment, and it is possible to draw some interesting
comparisons between different European countries."
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- The success rate for IVF rises if doctors transfer three
or more embryos in one go. But that also increases the risks of a multiple
pregnancy and associated dangers for the mother and babies. In America,
where almost all IVF is privately funded, doctors transfer more embryos
than in Britain. Dr Nygren said some of the Scandinavian countries had
the best IVF treatment because the number of multiple births was lower.
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- * Obesity halves the chances of a woman becoming pregnant
with IVF treatment, the conference was told. The figures came from a study
at the University of Maryland in Baltimore involving 70 women who were
clinically overweight and 69 women who were not.
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