Analysis
Human Interest
Healthcare worker who got special clearance to fly on 9/11 meets baby she helped save
Nancy Flanders
·Spotlight Articles
SHOCKING: Number of lives lost to IVF now surpasses those lost to abortion
A report released by the Society for Assisted Reproductive Technology (SART) earlier this year exposed a dark reality of in vitro fertilization (IVF): in adults' quest to create children, most of the children they create using IVF will not survive.
As the number of IVF cycles increases year after year, so does the number of lives lost to the process — and it's staggering. The total number of lives lost as a result of IVF is now surpassing the number of lives lost to induced, elective abortion each year.
More children are now dying from the IVF process than are dying from abortion in the U.S.
In 2023, there were 432,641 IVF "cycles" at 371 reporting clinics, but only 95,860 babies were born.
Of those, there were 167,178 cycles involving new egg retrievals and first time egg transfers in 2023. Using a conservative average of nine embryos created per retrieval, that would be about 1,504,602 embryos.
About half of all embryos created will not survive to the blastocyst stage (752,301), and, of those who do, about half will not pass genetic testing (376,151), totaling 1,128,452.
In addition, 54,596 embryos transferred from previously retrieved eggs and frozen embryos in 2023 did not survive to birth.
In comparison, there were 1,037,000 reported abortions in the US in 2023.
As reported by the American Society for Reproductive Medicine (ASRM), "The total number of IVF cycles performed at the 371 reporting SART member clinics increased from 389,993 in 2022 to 432,641 in 2023." That's an increase of 11%. But the number of babies born from IVF totaled just 95,860, an increase of only 4.45% (91,771 in 2022).
Where are all of those other children?
According to SART, which is an affiliate of the pro-abortion ASRM, the number of IVF cycles carried out in the U.S. continues to rise at a faster rate than the number of live births associated with IVF.
Reproductive Medicine Associates offers this chart detailing an example of the process:
For comparison, the IVF company Alfie offers this breakdown:
Based on these charts, there is an average of 10-12 embryos created per IVF cycle, but fertility businesses often list anywhere from seven embryos up to as many as 17 per cycle. Not every "cycle" counted by SART in 2023 was a new cycle that began with egg retrieval and not every egg retrieval resulted in embryos, therefore, its embryo transfer numbers were lower than the number of "cycles" by over 160,000.
About 101,448 cycles involved the use of previously created and frozen embryos or previously frozen eggs (SART appears to count these together), including donor eggs and embryos.
Looking at the data from SART, there were 167,178 cycles involving new egg retrievals in 2023. Using a conservative average of nine embryos created per retrieval, that would be about 1,504,602 embryos.
Fifty to 70% of those embryos are estimated to have not survived to the blastocyst stage and about half of those are estimated to have not passed the genetic testing stage. If at least 50% did not survive to the blastocyst stage (752,301) and, of those, 50% did not pass genetic testing (376,151) and were likely discarded, meaning an estimated 1,128,452 embryos died before having the chance to be transferred to their mothers.
For those who were transferred "fresh" in 2023, depending on the mother's age, anywhere from 61% to 96% did not survive to birth.
Of the remaining estimated 376,150 who did survive beyond the blastocyst stage and beyond genetic testing, SART states that 91,360 were automatically "banked" for "future use," as was the parents' plan when they began the process. We also know that only 95,860 were born in 2023.
Of embryos transferred after being frozen and thawed, anywhere from 43% to 80% did not survive to birth.
What does all of this mean?
Of about 101,448 second, third, or subsequent embryo transfers, about 54,596 did not survive to birth in 2023.
Of the first time embryo transfers, an estimated 1,250,271 of those created did not survive to birth.
Overall, an estimated 1,304,867 embryos appear to have died during the IVF process in 2023.
In comparison, according to Guttmacher, 1,037,880 abortions were committed in the US in 2023.
The number of humans dying during the IVF process each year has surpassed the number of humans dying from abortion each year in the U.S.
The mere fact that more than half of the IVF embryos won't make it beyond the initial first steps after fertilization, including the health screening, should be enough to prove that IVF is not about creating life but about controlling it, determining which lives are accepted as valuable and worthy and which are automatically destroyed for being deemed 'subpar.'
A process marketed as "pro-life" can never involve the deliberate destruction of human life. No human being deserves to be graded, labeled, and destroyed for not living up to expectations or to be treated as a commodity aimed at fulfilling a fertility clinic's desire to give clients a "quality product."
Editor's Note 4/6/26: This article was updated using new data.
Live Action News is pro-life news and commentary from a pro-life perspective.
Our work is possible because of our donors. Please consider giving to further our work of changing hearts and minds on issues of life and human dignity.
Contact editor@liveaction.org for questions, corrections, or if you are seeking permission to reprint any Live Action News content.
Guest Articles: To submit a guest article to Live Action News, email editor@liveaction.org with an attached Word document of 800-1000 words. Please also attach any photos relevant to your submission if applicable. If your submission is accepted for publication, you will be notified within three weeks. Guest articles are not compensated (see our Open License Agreement). Thank you for your interest in Live Action News!
SHOCKING: Number of lives lost to IVF now surpasses those lost to abortion
A report released by the Society for Assisted Reproductive Technology (SART) earlier this year exposed a dark reality of in vitro fertilization (IVF): in adults' quest to create children, most of the children they create using IVF will not survive.
As the number of IVF cycles increases year after year, so does the number of lives lost to the process — and it's staggering. The total number of lives lost as a result of IVF is now surpassing the number of lives lost to induced, elective abortion each year.
More children are now dying from the IVF process than are dying from abortion in the U.S.
In 2023, there were 432,641 IVF "cycles" at 371 reporting clinics, but only 95,860 babies were born.
Of those, there were 167,178 cycles involving new egg retrievals and first time egg transfers in 2023. Using a conservative average of nine embryos created per retrieval, that would be about 1,504,602 embryos.
About half of all embryos created will not survive to the blastocyst stage (752,301), and, of those who do, about half will not pass genetic testing (376,151), totaling 1,128,452.
In addition, 54,596 embryos transferred from previously retrieved eggs and frozen embryos in 2023 did not survive to birth.
In comparison, there were 1,037,000 reported abortions in the US in 2023.
As reported by the American Society for Reproductive Medicine (ASRM), "The total number of IVF cycles performed at the 371 reporting SART member clinics increased from 389,993 in 2022 to 432,641 in 2023." That's an increase of 11%. But the number of babies born from IVF totaled just 95,860, an increase of only 4.45% (91,771 in 2022).
Where are all of those other children?
According to SART, which is an affiliate of the pro-abortion ASRM, the number of IVF cycles carried out in the U.S. continues to rise at a faster rate than the number of live births associated with IVF.
Reproductive Medicine Associates offers this chart detailing an example of the process:
For comparison, the IVF company Alfie offers this breakdown:
Based on these charts, there is an average of 10-12 embryos created per IVF cycle, but fertility businesses often list anywhere from seven embryos up to as many as 17 per cycle. Not every "cycle" counted by SART in 2023 was a new cycle that began with egg retrieval and not every egg retrieval resulted in embryos, therefore, its embryo transfer numbers were lower than the number of "cycles" by over 160,000.
About 101,448 cycles involved the use of previously created and frozen embryos or previously frozen eggs (SART appears to count these together), including donor eggs and embryos.
Looking at the data from SART, there were 167,178 cycles involving new egg retrievals in 2023. Using a conservative average of nine embryos created per retrieval, that would be about 1,504,602 embryos.
Fifty to 70% of those embryos are estimated to have not survived to the blastocyst stage and about half of those are estimated to have not passed the genetic testing stage. If at least 50% did not survive to the blastocyst stage (752,301) and, of those, 50% did not pass genetic testing (376,151) and were likely discarded, meaning an estimated 1,128,452 embryos died before having the chance to be transferred to their mothers.
For those who were transferred "fresh" in 2023, depending on the mother's age, anywhere from 61% to 96% did not survive to birth.
Of the remaining estimated 376,150 who did survive beyond the blastocyst stage and beyond genetic testing, SART states that 91,360 were automatically "banked" for "future use," as was the parents' plan when they began the process. We also know that only 95,860 were born in 2023.
Of embryos transferred after being frozen and thawed, anywhere from 43% to 80% did not survive to birth.
What does all of this mean?
Of about 101,448 second, third, or subsequent embryo transfers, about 54,596 did not survive to birth in 2023.
Of the first time embryo transfers, an estimated 1,250,271 of those created did not survive to birth.
Overall, an estimated 1,304,867 embryos appear to have died during the IVF process in 2023.
In comparison, according to Guttmacher, 1,037,880 abortions were committed in the US in 2023.
The number of humans dying during the IVF process each year has surpassed the number of humans dying from abortion each year in the U.S.
The mere fact that more than half of the IVF embryos won't make it beyond the initial first steps after fertilization, including the health screening, should be enough to prove that IVF is not about creating life but about controlling it, determining which lives are accepted as valuable and worthy and which are automatically destroyed for being deemed 'subpar.'
A process marketed as "pro-life" can never involve the deliberate destruction of human life. No human being deserves to be graded, labeled, and destroyed for not living up to expectations or to be treated as a commodity aimed at fulfilling a fertility clinic's desire to give clients a "quality product."
Editor's Note 4/6/26: This article was updated using new data.
Live Action News is pro-life news and commentary from a pro-life perspective.
Our work is possible because of our donors. Please consider giving to further our work of changing hearts and minds on issues of life and human dignity.
Contact editor@liveaction.org for questions, corrections, or if you are seeking permission to reprint any Live Action News content.
Guest Articles: To submit a guest article to Live Action News, email editor@liveaction.org with an attached Word document of 800-1000 words. Please also attach any photos relevant to your submission if applicable. If your submission is accepted for publication, you will be notified within three weeks. Guest articles are not compensated (see our Open License Agreement). Thank you for your interest in Live Action News!
Human Interest
Nancy Flanders
·
Analysis
Cassy Cooke
·
Analysis
Cassy Cooke
·
Analysis
Cassy Cooke
·
International
Cassy Cooke
·
Analysis
Cassy Cooke
·Human Interest
Nancy Flanders
·
Issues
Nancy Flanders
·
Issues
Nancy Flanders
·Human Interest
Nancy Flanders
·
Abortion Pill
Nancy Flanders
·