Abstract
The International Federation of Fertility Societies (IFFS) is a federation of national membership societies that have an interest in the clinical and research aspects of reproduction and fertility. IFFS is a non-governmental organization (NGO) in official relations with the World Health Organization (WHO). Copyright 2019 by International Federation of Fertility Societies (IFFS). All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced by any means without the prior written consent of the IFFS. The designations employed and the presentation of the material in this publication do not imply the expression of any opinion whatsoever on the part of the IFFS concerning the legal status of any country, territory, city or area or of its authorities, or concerning the delimitation of its frontiers or boundaries. The editorial board members and survey respondents are responsible for the views and comments, respectively, expressed in this publication and they do not necessarily represent the decisions, policy, or views of the IFFS. Number of centres Legislation and policy guidelines Insurance coverage Marital status and same sex and single parenting policy Number of embryos for transfer in assisted reproductive technology (ART) Cryopreservation Posthumous reproduction Donation and anonymity of donors Oocyte maturation Micromanipulation Welfare of the child and identity rights Fetal reduction and sex selection Preimplantation genetic testing Surrogacy Cross border reproductive care Human pre-implantation embryo research Status of the embryo Conclusions The triennial Surveillance project, initiated in 1998 by Drs. Howard Jones, Jr and Jean Cohen, continues to evolve, now with a new name, the International Federation of Fertility Societies’ Surveillance (IFFS) 2019: Global Trends in Reproductive Policy and Practice, 8th Edition. The new name more accurately reflects the scope and focus of the project, and makes the report more accessible to a global audience, particularly those seeking this information online. IFFS is a non-state actor (NSA) in official relations with the World Health Organization (WHO), and the publication of Surveillance serves as part of the IFFS’ WHO mandate. The 2019 version has several major changes. Some chapters have been expanded, and some topics have been combined to eliminate redundancies. The number of chapters has been reduced from 24 to 18, but all previous topics and questions have been retained. The 2018 online questionnaire was the sole source of data for IFFS Surveillance 2019: Global Trends in Reproductive Policy and Practice, 8th Edition. The online questionnaire was further refined, and was again administered by Medtech for Solutions®. The refined questionnaire consisted of 94 questions, in English, with translated versions available. On average, it took 90 minutes (cumulative on-site time) to complete. The survey was accessible online from February 1 through March 31, 2018. Although a few responses were accepted shortly after the deadline, they reflect the practices of assisted reproductive technology (ART) (also called assisted reproductive treatment) through that time. Respondents representing 97 countries (22 more than in 2015) registered online at the website, and all provided at least some responses to the 2018 questionnaire, enough to be included in the analysis. There were 27 more usable responses than in the 2015 survey, in which 26 responses were new to Surveillance. Responses were not received for all questions, and this is reflected in the variations in amount of data submitted for the individual queries. The percent positive response is given for all answers, for that particular query. For specific questions, participants could answer “yes’, “no” or “unknown” if the respondent did not know the answer to a particular query.