Artificial insemination on the rise – men more affected by infertility

In Switzerland, nearly 2,500 children were born after artificial insemination. That is 13 percent more than last year, according to new figures from the Federal Bureau of Statistics (BFS) on Thursday.

According to this, every thirtieth child born in 2021 will be the result of in vitro fertilization, where laboratory doctors fertilize female eggs with male sperm outside the body.

In total, about 6,900 couples sought medical help to have children in 2021. This corresponds to an increase of 11 percent compared to last year. In 2021, 111 couples received in vitro fertilization treatments with a sperm donation and 60 children were born alive.

On the other hand, the number of multiple births after pregnancies with medical supervision has fallen sharply compared to previous years. In 2017 that was still more than 15 percent in births, in 2021 it will be only 4 percent.

The majority of women who underwent artificial insemination were between the ages of 35 and 39. In general, women’s ages ranged from 20 to 51 years, while men ranged from 22 to 74 years.

The main reason for artificial insemination was infertility. More than 98 percent of initial treatments were performed for this reason. The remaining two percent underwent artificial insemination because of the risk of transmitting serious disease.

In about 35 percent of cases the infertility affected the man, in 27 percent of the couples the focus was on the infertility of the woman. In the remaining cases, both partners were infertile or the cause was unclear. (cst/sda)