Over three per cent of births in the UK in 2023 came from in vitro fertilisation. On average, every UK school classroom has one child conceived through IVF.
There were 20,700 IVF births in the UK in 2023, up from 8,700 in 2000, according to the Human Fertilisation and Embryology Authority (HFEA).
The rise has been attributed to single patient customers and female same sex couples, and there has also been a rise in older patients opting for IVF.
IVF cycles funded by the NHS declined from 35 per cent in 2019 to 27 per cent in 2022/23.
HFEA’s chairwoman said that the new figures show the “changing landscape of the UK fertility sector”.
The HFEA report said: “IVF births are making up a higher proportion of all UK births over time, increasing from 1.3% in 2000 to 3.1% in 2023…
“This means around one in 32 UK births in 2023 were via IVF – roughly one child in every classroom – compared to one in 43 in 2013.”
IVF cycles see many human embryos discarded in the process, which is why IVF is considered unethical by pro-life groups, including SPUC.
174,622 embryos were discarded during or after the process in 2017. The number of embryos destroyed between 1991 and 2017 totalled 2,753,560.
There are also concerns about the commercial practices of the IVF industry itself.
Earlier this year, HFEA criticised the industry for pushing non-essential and unproven add-ons to patients undergoing IVF.
A Department of Health and Social Care spokesperson also slammed such “unnecessary treatments” as “unacceptable… We are also currently considering advice from the HFEA about priorities for law reform covering their regulatory powers.”
In 2021, the Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) and FHEA jointly issued new guidelines to tackle the dishonesty of the IVF industry, which was also found to be exaggerating IVF success rates.
In 2023, an IVF whistleblower won her case of unfair dismissal after being sacked by a Glasgow clinic that she said was misleading patients about the prospects of success.
“[I] asked too many questions, tried to take care when implementing changes, raised numerous items of concern, tried to prevent further risky stretching of the system and tried to ensure the lab team work as safely as possible”, whistleblower Ann Henderson stated.
Judge Brian Campbell ultimately ruled in favour of “Ms Henderson’s belief that she was making her disclosures in the public interest”.
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