In vitro fertilization (IVF) births totaled 10,236 in 2018, a record and an increase of 646 from a year earlier, National Health Insurance Administration (NHIA) data showed.
With 180,656 babies born in 2018, about one in every 18 liveborn infants was from the IVF procedure, the data showed.
Taiwanese Society for Reproductive Medicine executive council member Chen Hsin-fu (陳信孚), who is a physician at National Taiwan University Hospital’s Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, said that the situation in Taiwan is similar to the global trend.
Former society director Lee Hsin-yang (李新揚), who is superintendent of Usoon Fertility Center, said that IVF babies are as healthy as naturally conceived babies, so couples who are having fertility issues should seek medical advice as early as possible.
IVF combines sperm and an ovum outside the body, with resulting zygotes placed in the uterus to facilitate pregnancy.
As more people are getting married later and more women are working, the average age of mothers giving birth for the first time has risen from 29.83 in 2008 to 32.12 last year, with more than one-third aged 35 or older.
The average age of women who received IVF treatment was 32.7 in 1998, rising to 37.3 in 2018, with most of the women being about 35 years old, the NHIA data showed.
Pregnancy and live birth rates decrease with increasing age of the woman. About 25 percent of women who undergo IVF give birth successfully if the recipient is 34 years old, but the rate drops to about 10 percent if the recipient is 40 or older, the data showed.
Ovarian problems are the cause in more than 30 percent of female infertility cases.
There were 2,317 live-born IVF children in 1998, increasing to more than 10,236 in 2018, with the sex ratio being 109 males per 100 females, the data showed.
More than 70 percent were single pregnancies, the data showed.
Chen Li-chuan (陳麗娟), director of the Health Promotion Administration’s Maternal and Child Health Division, said that couples who are trying to conceive should do so as early as possible, with the preferred age range being 25 to 35, while IVF treatment is best conducted before the woman is 34.
Young married couples should do fertility planning, Chen Li-chuan said, adding that if they are not able to get pregnant within a year, they might have a fertility issue, which might be because of the man or the woman, so “they should seek medical attention together.”
Meanwhile, data from the Executive Yuan’s Gender Equality Committee showed that more than 80 percent of women aged 30 to 39 were working last year, so oocyte cryopreservation has become more common.
As the freezing technology has improved, there is a rising trend of women undergoing the procedure, Chen Hsin-fu said.
The procedure is best done before the woman reaches 35 years old, but it is not recommended for women under 30 years old, unless they have a family history of premature ovarian failure or are about to undergo chemotherapy, he said.
Tri-Service General Hospital Gynecology and Obstetrics Department physician Liu Yung-liang (劉勇良) said that fertility rates from oocyte cryopreservation depend on the age of the woman as well as her health.
ALIGNED THINKING: Taiwan and Japan have a mutual interest in trade, culture and engineering, and can work together for stability, Cho Jung-tai said Taiwan and Japan are two like-minded countries willing to work together to form a “safety barrier” in the Indo-Pacific region, Premier Cho Jung-tai (卓榮泰) yesterday said at the opening ceremony of the 35th Taiwan-Japan Modern Engineering and Technology Symposium in Taipei. Taiwan and Japan are close geographically and closer emotionally, he added. Citing the overflowing of a barrier lake in the Mataian River (馬太鞍溪) in September, Cho said the submersible water level sensors given by Japan during the disaster helped Taiwan monitor the lake’s water levels more accurately. Japan also provided a lot of vaccines early in the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic,
Kaohsiung Mayor Chen Chi-mai (陳其邁) on Monday announced light shows and themed traffic lights to welcome fans of South Korean pop group Twice to the port city. The group is to play Kaohsiung on Saturday as part of its “This Is For” world tour. It would be the group’s first performance in Taiwan since its debut 10 years ago. The all-female group consists of five South Koreans, three Japanese and Tainan’s Chou Tzu-yu (周子瑜), the first Taiwan-born and raised member of a South Korean girl group. To promote the group’s arrival, the city has been holding a series of events, including a pop-up
TEMPORAL/SPIRITUAL: Beijing’s claim that the next Buddhist leader must come from China is a heavy-handed political maneuver that will fall flat-faced, experts said China’s requirement that the Dalai Lama’s reincarnation to be born in China and approved by Beijing has drawn criticism, with experts at a forum in Taipei yesterday saying that if Beijing were to put forth its own Dalai Lama, the person would not be recognized by the Tibetan Buddhist community. The experts made a remarks at the two-day forum hosted by the Tibet Religious Foundation of His Holiness the Dalai Lama titled: “The Snow Land Forum: Finding Common Ground on Tibet.” China says it has the right to determine the Dalai Lama’s reincarnation, as it claims sovereignty over Tibet since ancient times,
Temperatures in some parts of Taiwan are expected to fall sharply to lows of 15°C later this week as seasonal northeasterly winds strengthen, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said today. It is to be the strongest cold wave to affect northern Taiwan this autumn, while Chiayi County in the southwest and some parts of central Taiwan are likely to also see lower temperatures due to radiational cooling, which occurs under conditions of clear skies, light winds and dry weather, the CWA said. Across Taiwan, temperatures are to fall gradually this week, dropping to 15°C to 16°C in the early hours of Wednesday
RSS