More than 20,000 applications for in vitro fertilization (IVF) subsidies have been approved since a program supporting those seeking the fertility treatment was expanded on July 1 last year, the Health Promotion Administration said yesterday.
The number of IVF procedures performed in the second half of last year was 58.14 percent higher than in the previous year, the agency said.
The Ministry of Health and Welfare last year expanded the program, originally only offering subsidies to low-income and lower-middle-income married couples with problems conceiving, to any married couples in the nation, as long as at least one partner is Taiwanese and the prospective mother is younger than 45 years.
Photo courtesy of the TSRM and the FSROC
First-time applications can receive up to NT$100,000 (US$3,611) per procedure, while low-income and lower-middle-income couples can receive up to NT$150,000, the agency said, adding that the number of sanctioned facilities offering IVF treatments has since the expansion risen from 19 to 92.
Applications of 20,592 couples have been approved in the six-month period, with 8,969 having completed the procedure and their cases reviewed, agency data showed.
As of Monday, paid subsidies totaled NT$779.53 million, the data showed.
Chen Li-chuan (陳麗娟), a senior technical specialist in the agency’s Maternal and Child Health Division, said that 28,216 IVF procedures have since the expansion been performed on women younger than 45 years, up 58.14 percent from the same period in 2020.
The number of procedures on women aged 40 to 44 increased by 4,031, or 71.7 percent, while the number of IVF recipients in the 38-to-39 age bracket rose by 1,855, or 58.54 percent, she said.
Age is a major factor determining whether the procedure is successful, Chen said.
Between 1998 and 2019, 47.7 percent of IVFs on women aged 35 or younger that used the couple’s own eggs and sperm led to live births, she said, adding that the rate fell to 19.5 percent when the woman was aged 41 or 42.
Studies have also suggested that women aged 35 or older are at increased risk of infertility, miscarriage, carrying a fetus with chromosomal disorders and complications during pregnancy, she said, adding that male fertility also declines with age.
The agency encouraged married couples who want to have children to make plans early and to seek medical attention if they have been trying to conceive for a year without success.
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