Assisted Reprodution age limit and treatment cycles cap

Name and Constituency of Member of Parliament
Mr Louis Ng Kok Kwang
MP for Nee Soon GRC

Question No. 2786

To ask the Minister for Health (a) what is the rationale behind barring women above 45 years old from receiving in-vitro fertilisation (IVF) treatments in Singapore; (b) what is the rationale behind limiting the number of IVF fresh cycles for women above 40 years old; and (c) whether the Ministry is planning to review these restrictions.

Answer
1     The success rates of Assisted Reproduction (AR) procedures decrease and the likelihood of medical complications and adverse pregnancy outcomes increases, with maternal age. It is therefore important that patients are well informed of the risks and outcomes of such procedures.

2     To protect patients’ interests, the current age limit for AR procedures, including in-vitro fertilisation (IVF), is set at age 45. However, MOH considers appeals on a case-by-case basis.

3     In addition, the current IVF limit is set at 10 fresh cycles for women aged 40 and below, and 5 fresh cycles for women above 40. This is because there are increased clinical risks with multiple cycles of ovarian stimulation and oocyte retrieval. These risks include ovarian hyper-stimulation syndrome (OHSS), bleeding, and infection.

4     We recognise that recent advancements in AR technology have improved safety of AR procedures in general. The Government reviews these limits regularly and will take into account such technological advancements and other medical and social considerations, including the risk of chronic diseases, pregnancy or delivery complications, and continued low success rates of pregnancy and live births for women of higher maternal age.