Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask Her Majesty’s Government what assessment they have made of research published in the British Medical Journal Open that success rates advertised on the majority of IVF websites are misleading, and the call by Professor Adam Balen, that published data should include live birth rates for different age groups and multiple pregnancy rates.

The Human Fertilisation and Embryology Authority (HFEA) has advised that the most recent twelve month period for which the Authority holds verified outcome data is 1 July 2013 - 30 June 2014. The HFEA has defined in vitro fertilisation (IVF) as including all fresh and frozen IVF and intra-cytoplasmic sperm injection cycles, including those using donor gametes. During that period 27.2% of IVF treatments resulted in a live birth.

The HFEA has also advised that it is aware of the research published in the British Medical Journal Open. The HFEA currently provides guidance to fertility clinics on how they should present their data and HFEA inspectors conduct an audit of every clinic’s website every two years upon inspection, and will raise any website issue with clinics in between inspection times as they arise.

The HFEA will soon change the way it publishes birth statistics on its own website and plans to review the guidance to clinics in the coming year.