The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) recently released data showing that in 2022, only 93,289 live births resulted from over 435,426 cycles of Assisted Reproductive Technology (ART) – just 22.5%.
The most common form of ART is in vitro fertilization (IVF), and the CDC report acknowledges that other types of ART are “rarely performed.” These IVF cycles were performed on 251,542 unique patients from 457 clinics throughout the US that provided data to the CDC.
Out of the 435,426 ART cycles performed in 2022, 42.6% were done for the purposes of egg or embryo banking and not related to any infertility issues.
Further, the number of surrogates used to carry the pregnancy is climbing. In 2013, 2.6% of all embryo transfer cycles used a surrogate, which means 3,517 surrogates were used that year. In 2022, that percentage climbed to 4.7% with more than 9,700 surrogates used.
The Christian Post notes that “Estimating that a single IVF cycle produces about seven embryos, that equates to more than 3 million embryos produced through IVF for that year. Other estimates place the annual number even higher.” The CDC reports that 86% of the embryo transfers performed were single embryos, meaning that based on current estimates, the majority of embryos produced are left behind – likely either frozen, discarded, or destroyed.
Medical experts estimate that at least 1.5 million embryos are currently frozen across the United States.
Back in May, the Trump administration announced a proposal to dramatically increase the availability of IVF through insurance across the United States. The proposed plan would enable employers to offer “standalone” coverage of IVF as a health benefit, similar to vision or dental plans, with a lifetime cap of up to $120,000 dollars.
If this proposal is approved, it is estimated that more than 743,000 individuals would take advantage, meaning anywhere from 3.7 to 7.4 million embryos (or more) could be created just from this pool of clients. Most of these embryos would never make it to pregnancy.
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