A total of 9,034 babies were born through in vitro fertilization (IVF) procedures subsidized by the Health Promotion Administration’s (HPA) fertility treatment subsidy program last year, the most since the program was launched in 2021.
Taiwan has a low birthrate, and despite last year being the Year of the Dragon — traditionally a year in which there are more births than the yearly average — only 134,856 babies were born, the lowest number of annual births, the HPA said yesterday.
Among them, 8,165 couples gave birth to 9,034 babies through IVF procedures subsidized by the HPA, up from 8,536 babies born in 2023 and the 7,083 born in 2022, it said.
Photo: CNA
The program has funded 24,653 births since it was launched in July 2021 and later expanded, including 657 couples who have two children through the program, while four couples have applied for a third child.
HPA Maternal and Child Health Division Deputy Director Tsai Wei-yi (蔡維誼) said that in the past, many women received multiple embryos during IVF, but that increased the likelihood of multiple births, which can have negative health consequences for the mother and the child.
To reduce the possibility of multiple pregnancies, the expanded subsidy program required that women aged 35 or younger only receive a single embryo, while women aged 36 to 44 would receive only up to two embryos in their IVF treatments, he said.
Through the program, the rate of singleton live births among couples in the subsidy program was 88.6 percent, the rate of full-term births (pregnancy of 37 weeks or more) was 75.8 percent and the rate of newborns with a birth weight of 2.5kg or more was 77.1 percent, Tsai said.
The figures increased 12.9 percent, 11 percent and 10.7 percent respectively compared with figures from before the program, he added.
As of the end of last year, more than 2,000 couples who gave birth to a child through government-subsidized IVF had applied to give birth to a second child, and 657 of them have already given birth to a second child, he said.
Four couples have been approved to receive a subsidy for a third child through the program, he said, adding that it was exciting news for a society with a low birthrate.
It also indicated that the program is helpful to infertile couples, allowing them to give birth to their ideal number of children, he said.
The median age of the mother in the program is 38, while for those who applied for a second or third child, the median age of the mother is 36, Tsai said.
That indicates that the earlier couples start IVF, the greater chances they have of receiving the subsidy for a second or third child, he said.
HPA Director-General Wu Chao-chun (吳昭軍) urged couples to make reproductive plans soon to meet the optimal childbearing age range of between 25 and 35.
Couples who have had a normal sexual life for more than a year and have not yet conceived a baby should seek medical advice as early as possible, the HPA said.
If a doctor determines that the couple would benefit from IVF, and either spouse is a Taiwanese citizen, the couple have a marriage registration in Taiwan and the wife is younger than 45 years old, they can apply for the subsidy at 103 HPA-contracted assisted reproduction institutions across the nation, it said.
The subsidy available is up to NT$150,000 per treatment for low-income households or low-middle-income households, up to NT$100,000 per treatment for general infertile couples for the first application and up to NT$60,000 per treatment for subsequent applications, it said.
The agency said couples can receive the subsidy up to six times if the wife is younger than 30 years old, and up to three times if she is aged 40 to 44.
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