ABSTRACT
About 10–28 per cent of 25- to 45-year-old women who have tried to conceive a baby experience infertility one or more times (Gunnell and Ewings 1994, Schmidt and Münster 1995, Schmidt et al. 1995, Sundby and Schei 1996). Only about 5 per cent of the women in western countries will remain involuntarily childless because of infertility problems (Schmidt and Münster 1995). Not all infertile couples seek medical treatment: only about 25 per cent have sought treatment in USA (Hirsch and Mosher 1987), 50 per cent in Denmark and England (Gunnell and Ewings 1994, Schmidt et al. 1995), and around 90 per cent in Scotland (Templeton et al. 1991). The modern reproductive technologies are effective in contrast to earlier methods of treatment. They offer a realistic possibility for the infertile couple to become parents. Results from all the public fertility clinics in Denmark (1994) show that about 50–60 per cent with in vitro fertilisation (IVF) or intracytoplasmic sperm injection (ICSI) treatment and about 80 per cent with donor insemination will become parents. The female patients’ mean age was 34 years and mean duration of infertility was five years.
