Time to update our Over 40 Birth Statistics Quote

It's time to update this quote:

"In 2009, there were 105,827 live births in the United States to women ages 40 through 44 -- 7,320 live births to women 45 to 49 -- 569 live births to women 50-54.
In 2009, there were only 783 live births to women over 43, using donor eggs.""

Checking the 2018 birth stats today at the CDC and I found:

Age of mother

Women in their 40s -- The birth rate for women aged 40–44 was 11.8 births per 1,000 women in 2018, up 2% from 2017; the rate for this group has risen almost continuously since 1985. The number of births to women in their early 40s rose 2% from 2017 to 2018.

Women aged 45-49 -- The birth rate for women aged 45–49 (which includes births to women aged 50 and over) was 0.9 births per 1,000 women in 2018, unchanged from 2017. The number of births to women aged 45 and over was also unchanged from 2017 to 2018.

Women aged 50 and over -- There were 959 births to women aged 50 and over in 2018, up from 840 in 2017. The number of births to women in this age group has generally increased since 1997 (from 144 births), when data for women aged 50 and over became available again. The birth rate for women aged 50–54 rose to 0.9 births per 10,000 women in 2018, from 0.8 in 2017.

TOTAL (40-54) : 126,956 live births

NOTE: In this report, tables labeled 45-49 years, 45-54 years, and 50-54 years include births to mothers up to age 64.

Next I went to SART, who has the 2017 IVF and Donor Egg rates in the US:

Fresh Embryos From Non-Donor Oocytes
Number of cycles : (41-42) 12,258 (over 42) 8,652

Percentage of cycles resulting in live births : (41-42) 12.8 (over 42) 4.4

Total live births : (41-42) 1,569 (over 42) 381

TOTAL (over 40) : 1,950

Donor Oocytes (all ages)

Number of transfers : (Fresh Donor Eggs) 3,146 (Frozen Donor Eggs) 3,013 (Donated Embryos) 1,697 (Thawed Embryos) 12,481

Percentage of transfers resulting in live births : (Fresh) 49.2 (Frozen) 43.1 (Donated Embryos) 42.8 (Thawed Embryos) 46.2



Total Live Births : (Fresh) 1,548 (Frozen) 1,298 (Donated Embryos) 726 (Thawed Embryos) 5,766

TOTAL births by Donor Egg/Embryos (all ages) : 9,338

Source: www.Sartcorsonline.com

Picture credit: CDC.gov

How old were the women who used ART in the United States in 2017?Figure 3: The largest group of women using ART services were women younger than age 35. These women represented approximately 38% of all ART cycles performed in 2017. About 20% of ART cycles were performed among women aged 35–37, 19% among women aged 38–40, 10% among women aged 41–42, 7% among women aged 43–44, and 6% among women older than age 44. The average age of women using ART services in 2017 was 36.

How did the types of ART cycles used in the United States differ among women of different ages?
Figure 4 shows that, in 2017, the percentage of ART cycles in which a woman used her own eggs declined with age, while the percentage of ART cycles using a donor egg increased with age. The vast majority (96%) of women younger than age 35 used their own eggs (nondonor), and about 4% used donor eggs. In contrast, 35% of women aged 43–44 and 68% of women older than age 44 used donor eggs.

Was the use of donor eggs or embryos higher among older women undergoing ART?
The percentage of cycles performed with donor eggs increased sharply after age 40. Among women older than age 48, for example, approximately 86% of all ART cycles used donor eggs. Eggs produced by women in older age groups form embryos that are less likely to implant and more likely to result in miscarriage if they do implant.

Number of live-birth deliveries to women using Donor Egg older than 44 in 2017: 654

Source: CDC.gov/art

So the updated quote will become:

"In 2018, there were 126,956 live births in the United States to women ages 40 through 54 -- 959 of those live births to women 50-54.
In 2017, there were only 654 live births to women over 43, using donor eggs."

Category: AMA, Donor Egg, Old Eggs, Too Old