Prague, April 7 (CTK) – One-quarter of women who seek treatment at reproductive medicine clinics in the Czech Republic are over 40, doctor Milada Brandejska, head of the in vitro fertilisation (IVF) programme at the Gennet clinic in Prague, told reporters on Thursday.
In 2013, from when the latest statistical data are available, 2393 babies were born after IVF in the Czech Republic with a population of 10.5 million. The mothers of 1857 of them were under 34 years, while 976 mothers were between 35 and 39 years and 106 were older.
“Time is our major enemy in solving reproduction problems. The optimal age for reproduction is 23-25 years. People should be educated and know that assisted reproduction will not save everything,” Brandejska said.
Since 1989, the average age of primiparas in the Czech Republic has increased by more than five years to around 28 years now.
According to the available statistics, a woman under 34 years has a 23.5-percent chance to conceive in one IVF cycle, while the chances are decreasing to 16.8 percent for women aged 35-39 years and 5.6 percent for those over 40.
“Health insurers cover four IVF cycles to women until 39 years of age, while women can undergo the treatment until the age of 49 years. Our oldest primipara was 47 years,” Brandejska said.
However, even if the IVF cycle is covered by insurance, the patients often pay from 15,000-20,000 crowns extra per cycle for some medicines and special treatment methods.
