Going alone or with your wife? HFEA report shows increasing diversity among those seeking treatment
27 Nov 2024
Fertility treatments for female same-sex couples and single patients have more than doubled since 2012, according to the latest report by the Human Fertilisation and Embryology Authority (HFEA), the UK’s fertility regulator.
Dr Thanos Papathanasiou, Medical Director and CEO of Bourn Hall, says the figures are evidenced by experiences at the clinic.
He says: “We are definitely supporting more same-sex patients and single women now than even a few years ago and this has created an opportunity to offer them more treatment options.
“One example, shared motherhood, where one partner produces the eggs and the other carries the pregnancy, is now often requested.”
Donated eggs give over 35’s higher chance of success
The report also highlights that the average age for single women requiring treatment is older than that of those in relationships, and that this is increasing the requirement for donated eggs.
Dr Papathanasiou explains: “Donated eggs are from younger women with good fertility, so offer success rates equivalent to those of women under 35. The AMH test can give an indication of the amount of eggs that might be available for fertilisation. If the store is low, then we may recommend that using donated eggs would give a higher chance of success, for someone who is starting a family later in life.”
The clinic does support patient choice and many women want to try to conceive with their own eggs, and if this doesn’t result in a pregnancy it can bring closure.
Greater diversity
With the Joy Netflix movie just released, the impact of IVF as a ground-breaking medical treatment that has helped millions of people become parents is clearly demonstrated in the report.
The HFEA Family formations in fertility treatment 2022 report also revealed an increase in people accessing fertility treatment with a surrogate – this is an option for women unable to carry a pregnancy as well as for same-sex male couples.
Julia Chain, Chair of the HFEA said:
“In the UK, different family groups can access a wide range of reproductive options when starting their fertility journey. While the number of female same-sex couples and single patients having fertility treatment continues to rise, we continue to see lower rates of NHS-funded treatment.
“While the HFEA does not regulate funding, we encourage those who commission fertility services to review their eligibility criteria and consider whether these have an adverse impact on access to treatment and we hope that this report will generate further discussion.
“We also encourage healthcare providers to make sure the information they provide represents the diversity of families and patients accessing treatment, so that everyone can receive an inclusive experience.
“This is the first time we have published data on who is having surrogacy treatment. Although the HFEA has a limited role in surrogacy arrangements and the number of surrogacy cycles is comparatively small, accounting for less than one per cent of IVF treatments in 2022, we are able to provide a snapshot of the different family types undergoing surrogacy.”
Findings from the report include:
- Although most IVF treatments in 2022 were among opposite-sex couples (89%), the proportion of treatments among female same-sex couples and single patients more than doubled from 2012 to 2022, from 2% to 4%, and 2% to 6%, respectively.
- The data also shows that female same-sex couples and single patients had the highest success rates of any patient group (they are less likely to have an underlying infertility issue).
- Surrogacy cycles accounted for 0.4% of all IVF treatments in 2022, with the number of surrogacy patients increasing from 130 in 2012 to 230 in 2022. Opposite-sex couples made up at least 39% of surrogacy cycles, with other family types making up the other 61%. This is the first year this data has been available.
- From 2018-2022, 89% of all egg freezing cycles were single people – however, more opposite-sex couples thawed eggs for treatment (85%), followed by single patients (13%) and female same-sex couples (2%).
For more information on the HFEA report visit the HFEA website.
Bourn Hall success stories
‘Solo IVF’ – Sarah’s story
It was during lockdown that Sarah began to take stock of her life: single and independent, she loved her work as a nursery manager, surrounded by children, but she realised with a shock that if she wanted to fulfil her dream of being a mum she would need to take action.
“I’ve always wanted to be a mum, but I am also very, very independent,” says Sarah. “I have never met the right person and I just enjoy being on my own.
“I know a number of people who have gone to Bourn Hall and been successful so that is where I started. I knew very little about fertility treatment, but I knew I would need to go it alone.”
Sarah is now mum to daughter Esme after donor conceived IVF at Bourn Hall.
See Sarah talking about her story
‘Shared motherhood IVF’ – Gemma and Vic’s story
Gemma says: “We knew that we wanted to share the experience of having a child, so when we saw the option of shared motherhood IVF we instantly fell in love with the idea. Then we found that Bourn Hall offered this and thought it was perfect for us.
“Vic really wanted to be a mum but didn’t want to carry the pregnancy, and I was very keen on using Vic’s eggs.
“It all happened very quickly. In May we decided to go ahead and by July Vic was having her eggs collected. They did all the tests, got us both on medication to synchronise our cycles and did the embryo transfer a few days after the collected eggs were fertilised.”
The couple are now parents to son Arthur who was born in March this year.
‘Surrogacy was my only chance of a baby’ – Chloe’s story
“I have a condition called MRKH, which basically means that my womb and the top part of my vagina is underdeveloped,” says Chloe. “I still have my ovaries so can produce eggs, but I will never be able to carry a baby myself.
“I know other women who have MRHK and they haven’t been able to have IVF, due to the position of their ovaries and because there are few specialists that can do the trans-abdominal egg retrieval. It was just amazing that Bourn Hall had someone.
“I was really pleased to get eight eggs, because we didn’t know if they would find any. Four of the eggs formed embryos with my husband Christopher’s sperm and they were all frozen.
“Once we found our surrogate, she would have a Frozen Embryo Transfer with our embryos, so there would be no genetic link with the surrogate.”
Chloe and Christopher are now parents to son Matthew after their IVF with a surrogate worked first time.
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