Total numbers of embryos lost during in-vitro fertilization

The objective of this study is to investigate the number of lost, viable embryos during Assisted Reproductive Treatments (ART), particularly in-vitro fertilization (IVF). The polarizing debate defining the beginning of human life presents the possibility of criminality associated with ART. Data from the CDC’s ART database spanning 1996-2020 was categorized into donor and non-donor, frozen and fresh, by state and by maternal age. In total, there were 2.6 million lost viable embryos across the years studied, making this a leading cause of death in the US, if life is legally determined to begin at conception. We defined viable as any embryo that a trained technician cleared for transfer to a woman’s uterus. There was considerable variation in embryo loss rates across states. Fourteen states had statistically significantly higher loss rates than average, while 27 states had significantly lower (p<0.05). A stricter legal definition of personhood did not correlate with higher rates of lost embryos in that state. There were also notable discrepancies in loss rates across individual clinics for the same given year, with some clinics having a 0% loss rate and others nearing 100%. Clinic-by-clinic variation indicates that there are significant differences in technique and experience and that traveling across state lines to receive reproductive healthcare may be driven by both legal and clinical outcomes.