Assisted Reproductive Technology (ART)

2006 ART Report Overview Section One

Where are U.S. ART clinics located, how many ART cycles did they perform in 2006, and how many infants were born?

Although ART clinics are located throughout the United States, generally in or near major cities, the greatest number of clinics is in the eastern United States. Figure 1 shows the locations of the 426 reporting clinics. The fertility clinic section of this report, arranged in alphabetical order by state, city, and clinic name, provides specific information on each of these clinics. The number of clinics, cycles performed, live-birth deliveries, and infants born as a result of ART all have increased steadily since CDC began collecting this information in 1995 (see Section 5). Because in some cases more than one infant is born during a live-birth delivery (e.g., twins), the total number of infants born is greater than the number of live-birth deliveries. CDC estimates that ART accounts for slightly more than 1% of total U.S. births.

Figure 1: Location of ART Clinics in the United States and Puerto Rico, 2006.

Number of ART clinics in the United States in 2006	483
Number of ART clinics that submitted data in 2006	426
Number of ART cycles reported in 2006	138,198*
Number of live-birth deliveries resulting from ART cycles started in 2006	41,343
Number of infants born as a result of ART cycles carried out in 2006	54,656
* Note: This number does not include 69 cycles in which a new treatment procedure was being evaluated (see Figure 2)

What types of ART cycles were used in the United States in 2006?

For 72% of ART cycles carried out in 2006, fresh nondonor eggs or embryos were used. ART cycles that used frozen nondonor embryos were the next most common type, accounting for approximately 16% of the total. In about 12% of cycles, eggs or embryos were donated by another woman. A very small number of cycles (less than 0.1% of the ART cycles carried out in 2006) involved the evaluation of a new treatment procedure. Because of the small number, cycles in which a new treatment procedure was being evaluated are not included in the total number of cycles reported in the national report or in the individual fertility clinic tables. Thus, data presented in subsequent figures in this report and in the individual fertility clinic tables are based on 138,198 ART cycles.

Figure 2: Types of ART Cycles—United States, 2006.

How old were the women who used ART in the United States in 2006?

The average age of women using ART services in 2006 was 36. The largest group of women using ART services were women younger than 35, representing 39% of all ART cycles carried out in 2006. Twenty-three percent of ART cycles were carried out among women aged 35–37, 19% among women aged 38–40, 10% among women aged 41–42, and 10% among women older than 42.

Figure 3: ART Use by Age Group—United States, 2006.

How did the types of ART cycles used in the United States in 2006 differ among women of different ages?

Figure 4 shows that, in 2006, the type of ART cycles varied by the woman’s age. The vast majority (96%) of women younger than 35 used their own eggs, whereas only 4% used donor eggs. In contrast, 21% of women aged 41 to 42 and more than half (55%) of women older than 42 used donor eggs. Across all age groups, more ART cycles using fresh eggs or embryos were performed than cycles using frozen embryos.