The Authority for the Protection of the Embryo received a record amount of applications for assisted pregnancy in 2022, a report compiled by the authority showed.

Last year, the authority approved 1,510 applications from heterosexual couples, same-sex couples and single persons, a 68% increase on the number of applications filed in 2021.

The majority of these were for IVF cycles, oocytes stumulation cycles, use if IUIs, and the preservation of embryos and sperm.

EPA chief executive officer Simone Attard said that from 274 IVF cycles, 90 resulted in a pregnancy, with 32 children being born and another 44 women still pregnant. The take home baby rate in 2022 is 27.74%, which is 7.12% higher than 2021 and 12.3% higher than 2020.

The report also shows that five pregnancies resulted from IUI procedures with the father’s sperm, while another three resulted from sperm donated by third parties. In 2022, 23 foreign sperm donors were approved for use in Malta.

Health Minister Chris Fearne said that amendments to the laws increased the opportunity for couples and single persons to become parents.