WOMEN over 45 undergoing IVF are using donor eggs more often than their own for the first time, figures show.
New 2012 data from the Human Fertilisation and Embryology Authority (HFEA) revealed older women were more likely to use donor eggs from other women, most often younger.
The HFEA report also showed that the number of same-sex female couples receiving IVF treatment increased by more than a third between 2010 and 2011.
A total of 766 cycles of IVF were carried out in women who had a female partner in 2011 - 205 more than in 2010, a 36.5% increase. This resulted in 265 babies being born.
Meanwhile, 1271 cycles using donor sperm were performed in women who had female partners in 2011 - 243 more than in 2010, a 23.6% increase. As a result, 161 babies were born.
In 2012, 47,422 women in the UK underwent IVF or a procedure where sperm is injected directly into the egg - intra-cytoplasmic sperm injection - a slight rise on the previous year.
Why are you making commenting on The Herald only available to subscribers?
It should have been a safe space for informed debate, somewhere for readers to discuss issues around the biggest stories of the day, but all too often the below the line comments on most websites have become bogged down by off-topic discussions and abuse.
heraldscotland.com is tackling this problem by allowing only subscribers to comment.
We are doing this to improve the experience for our loyal readers and we believe it will reduce the ability of trolls and troublemakers, who occasionally find their way onto our site, to abuse our journalists and readers. We also hope it will help the comments section fulfil its promise as a part of Scotland's conversation with itself.
We are lucky at The Herald. We are read by an informed, educated readership who can add their knowledge and insights to our stories.
That is invaluable.
We are making the subscriber-only change to support our valued readers, who tell us they don't want the site cluttered up with irrelevant comments, untruths and abuse.
In the past, the journalist’s job was to collect and distribute information to the audience. Technology means that readers can shape a discussion. We look forward to hearing from you on heraldscotland.com
Comments & Moderation
Readers’ comments: You are personally liable for the content of any comments you upload to this website, so please act responsibly. We do not pre-moderate or monitor readers’ comments appearing on our websites, but we do post-moderate in response to complaints we receive or otherwise when a potential problem comes to our attention. You can make a complaint by using the ‘report this post’ link . We may then apply our discretion under the user terms to amend or delete comments.
Post moderation is undertaken full-time 9am-6pm on weekdays, and on a part-time basis outwith those hours.
Read the rules hereComments are closed on this article