Surrogacy Statistics
Let’s talk numbers! Yes… numbers. Not always the most exciting topic, however they help us gain important insight into our topics of interest. Today we will make it all about surrogacy!
32 years have passed since Baby M was born in the first “known” case of surrogacy in 1986. That makes surrogacy still a relatively new technology. To keep track of success rates, the CDC uses the National ART Surveillance Program. “Between 1999 and 2013, about 2% (30,927) of all assisted reproductive technology cycles used a gestational carrier. The number of gestational carrier cycles increased from 727 (1.0%) in 1999 to 3,432 (2.5%) in 2013.” Also, “Approximately 16% of intended parents using a gestational carrier were not US residents.” We can’t wait to see what the numbers are for the more recent years!
Want to know what the age of those gestational carriers were, according to the ASRM website on Table 1 from 2009-2013, 24.9% under age 30, 33.4% ages 30 to 34, 6.2% ages 35-37, 7% ages 38 to 40, 4% ages 41-43, 2% ages 44 and older with 34.2% of the data missing. Table 1 also shows the number of embryos transferred for ART treatment procedures with 1 embryo transferred at 21.5%, 2 at 60.4%, 3 at 13.6%, and 4 and above 4.6%. Anecdotally, many carriers and RE’s seem to be shifting preference to one embryo transfer in recent years, so it will be interesting to see how the numbers update 4 to 5 years later. How the number of embryos transferred relates to multiple birth numbers and implantation rates is also worth exploring. Here are the numbers for 2009-2013 according to on Table 2 on the ASRM website, implantation rate among transfers for Gestational Carrier with fresh nondonor ooctyes was 30.3%, resulting in 41.5% live births, 30.3% being multiple live births. This in comparison to implantation rates among transfers for Gestational Carriers with fresh donor ooctyes was 53.3%, resulting in 60.5% live births, 42.5% being multiple live births. The Nongestational carrier numbers are slightly lower than those of a gestational carrier.
What about Texas? On the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention website, 26 clinics were found, on this site you can access each clinic’s individual numbers from 2015. One disclaimer to note is concerning the limited data related to using a gestational carrier; the information contained in the chart is related to all different types of ART cycle.
There you have! The numbers currently surrounding surrogacy. Comparing the success rates of various trends and protocols helps us to understand the best way to move forward as the technology continues to evolve. We are so excited to see the next reports!
Special thank you to Amanda Armstrong, Business Reference Collection Specialist at the Denver Public Library for helping find these statistics.