A total of 306 babies were born as a result of IVF procedure since 2013, Health Minister Chris Fearne said in answer to a parliamentary question on Monday.

Asked by PN MP Claudio Grech how many babies had been born through this process, and how many were born through oocyte freezing, Fearne replied that since 2013, 258 babies were born from IVF cycles which used fresh oocytes and a further 48 were born using frozen oocytes.

The data, which runs to 2018, is split on a year-by-year basis and shows that 2015 was the year in which most babies were born through an IVF procedure – with the statistic standing at 72 – while there were 62 and 61 babies respectively born in 2016 and 2017.  There were 43 babies born through IVF in 2018 – the same number as in 2014.

In reply to a separate parliamentary question, also asked by Grech, Feare tabled data from the Embryo Protection Authority which showed that 249 IVF cycles were carried out in 2018 – 205 of which were at Mater Dei Hospital and 44 at St. James Hospital. 

IVF cycles started being carried out at Mater Dei Hospital in 2015, the data shows while St. James Hospital has been doing them since 2013.

Fearne noted that statistics for IVF services are only available since the aforementioned authority was set up in 2013, but the service used to be carried out for a number of years prior without regulation and without any statistics being gathered.