Projecting the Contribution of Assisted Reproductive Technology to Completed Cohort Fertility

Ester Lazzari , Wittgenstein Centre for Demography and Global Human Capital

Assisted reproductive technology (ART) is having an increasing influence on the fertility trends of high-income countries characterised by a pattern of delayed childbearing. However, knowledge about the relationship between ART and completed fertility is limited and the extent to which delayed births are realized later in life through ART remains unexplored. Using data from Australian fertility clinics and national birth registries, the aim of this study is twofold: to project the contribution of ART for cohorts of women that have not yet completed their reproductive life; and to estimate the role played by ART in the fertility recuperation process. The proportion of children born after ART treatment is estimated to increase from 2.1% among women born in 1968 to 4.8-5.8% among women born in 1986. ART is projected to substantially affect the extent to which childbearing delay will be compensated at older ages, indicating that its availability may become an important factor in helping women to fulfil their reproductive plans later in life.

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 Presented in Session 67. Infertility and Reproductive Health