OH, BABY

Hospitals ramp up IVF Capacity as more seek medical help to conceive

- Theresa Tan

Singapore is ramping up the capacity of in-vitro fertilisation (IVF) facilities at public hospitals as the number of couples seeking medical help to have a baby is expected to keep growing.

About 10,500 cycles of assisted reproductive technology (ART) treatments were carried out in Singapore in 2022, the latest data available.

This is a 14 per cent increase from about 9,200 cycles in 2020, and an 81 per cent jump from about 5,800 cycles in 2013, a spokeswoman for the Ministry of Health (MOH) told The Sunday Times.

ART treatments refer to IVF and its variations, such as intra-cytoplasmic sperm injection and gamete intrafallopian transfer.

In response to a parliamentary question in April, Health Minister Ong Ye Kung said KK Women's and Children's Hospital (KKH) and Singapore General Hospital (SGH) plan to increase their capacity for ART treatments progressively over the next few years. National University Hospital (NUH) renovated its IVF laboratory in 2022 to increase its capacity.

When the expansion plans are completed, the ART capacity across the three hospitals will increase by about 20 per cent, he said in the reply to Nee Soon GRC MP Louis Ng, who asked if public hospitals are planning to increase their capacity to carry out ART treatments.

Doctors say the demand for medical help to have a baby has increased due to various reasons, such as a greater awareness and acceptance of IVF here.

Associate Professor Yong Tze Tein, head of SGH's Department of Obstetrics and Gynaecology, said: "With greater awareness, there is also less taboo about (the) difficulty of conceiving, and more couples are open to come for help." 

Professor P.C. Wong, head of NUH's Division of Reproductive Endocrinology and Infertility, said that couples are marrying at a later age, and as fertility declines with age, more couples require help conceiving.