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The impact of assisted reproduction on fertility trends in the Czech Republic

Jirina Kocourkova, Charles University In Prague
Anna Štastná, Charles University, Prague
Boris Burcin, Charles University in Prague
Ludek Sidlo, Charles University, Prague

The postponement of childbearing constitutes one of the main reasons for the increasing use of ART which, conversely, may well be one of the factors that is contributing to the increase in the female childbearing age. However ART acts to offset only a part of the effect of increasing infertility due to fertility postponement. The aim of this paper is to assess the recent demographic impact of the use of ART on fertility timing and the fertility level and its potential with respect to future fertility trends in the Czech Republic, a country with a relatively high proportion of ART live births (3.3 %). A unique database of mothers who gave birth in the Czech Republic between 2013 and 2017 was employed for the demographic analysis. We have quantified that during this period the increasing use of ART accounted for 18 % of the increase in the mean age of mothers at childbirth and the relative impact of ART on the TFR increased to 3 %. The estimation of the future impact of ART on the TFR showed that the percentage of ART live births may well approach 6.5% by 2034 should the low-fertility scenario become a reality.

Keywords: Fertility and childbirth

See extended abstract.

  Presented in Session 53. Correlates of Infertility and Assisted Reproduction