For the first time in the history of Assisted Reproductive Technology in Australia and New Zealand, it is estimated that more babies are born from IVF treatment using frozen embryos, rather than fresh embryos.

According to a report for The Assisted Reproductive Technology in Australia and New Zealand, released by UNSW’s National Perinatal Epidemiology and Statistics Unit (NPESU), 7,412 live deliveries resulted from frozen embryos compared to 6,628 from fresh embryos.

The number of live births from frozen embryos is increased by 64% since 2011.

Respectively, from 2011 until 2015, the increased delivery rate for cycles that transferred a fresh embryo is 24%, while the increased live delivery rate for frozen embryos is 20.6% to 26.6%.

The report shows a 6% rise in the number of IVF treatment cycles performed in 2015 compared to the number performed in 2014, with 77,721 cycles reported from Australian and New Zealand clinics (71,479 and 6,242 respectively).

There were 13,344 babies born following IVF treatment in Australian clinics and 1,447 in New Zealand clinics in 2015.

There is also a decrease in the rate of multiple deliveries, from 6,9% in 2011 to 4,4% in 2015.

It is important to note that the first Australian IVF baby was born in 1980, and since then over 200,000 IVF babies have been born, allowing many thousands of couples to become parents.