International Survey of ART Released

The International Federation of Fertility Societies (IFFS) has just released Surveillance 2010, the 5th edition of a triennial global survey of the assisted reproduction industry. The 138-page report is available here as a pdf. It is a pre-print of a publication by Fertility and Sterility, and was released in association with the 20th World Congress on Fertility and Sterility, held in Munich last week.

The most striking difference from the 2007 edition is the number of countries represented—105, up from 59 last time. The information is clearly of varying quality, as the authors acknowledge. For instance, the number of centers reported worldwide is in the range 4077–4456, since different reports from the same country often vary. Even in the U.S., the reported number is not definite (450–480), while the Indian figure of 500 is not just suspiciously round, it's certainly a massive underestimate, according to Sama, the Resource Group for Women's Health—their response, in a meeting with CGS last week, was that they knew of that many in one region alone.

Nevertheless, for all its shortcomings, IFFS Surveillance 2010 is the most valuable collection of global data available. Among many other subjects, it includes discussion of:

• ART legislation and guidelines: 35 countries have neither. (!)
• Rates of multiple birth and embryo transfer: "slow progress" in reducing them (see also Jennifer Rogers' discussion here).
• The use of PGD: banned in Algeria and Switzerland, practiced in 71 countries under widely varying legal circumstances.
• Gender selection (a new chapter, so there is no data on changes in use): banned in 43 countries, explicitly allowed in only 15, but apparently practiced in 26, though there are irreconcilable "inconsistencies in the responses."

There is much more. In the near future, the most relevant regulatory data will be incorporated in BioPolicyWiki, but the Report itself will clearly reward close study.

Previously on Biopolitical Times:

• ASRM Report Denies Regulatory Reality
• Made in India
• Struggling to Control Fertility Tourism
  
• Strong reactions from fertility docs to potential regulation