Large Percentage of American Women Have Limited Access to Advanced Fertility Services

A new study by researchers at the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine and the University of Michigan finds that nearly 40 percent of women of child-bearing age have little or no access to assisted reproductive technology clinics. These clinics provide sophisticated advanced fertility services such as in-vitro fertilization.

Researchers used population data from the U.S. Census Bureau and information on assisted reproductive technology clinics from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. The statistics show that 29 percent of women in the 20-to-49 age group live in areas where there are no assisted reproductive technology clinics. Another 11 percent of women in the age group live in an area where there is only one such facility.

John A. Harris, an assistant professor of obstetrics, gynecology and reproductive sciences at the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine and the lead author of the study, explains that “infertility is by itself a difficult issue for couples to face emotionally and financially. Based on geography, many couples who are trying to start families may have only one clinic nearby where they seek these services, and many women with infertility do not have any nearby access to these services at all, adding additional anxiety during an already stressful time of life.”

The paper, “Geographic Access to Assisted Reproductive Technology Health Care in the United States: A Population-Based Cross-Sectional Study,” was published on the website of the journal Fertility & Sterility. It may be accessed here.