IVF successes are leading to a drop in adoption rates

Successes in IVF treatments are leading to a drop in adoption rates.

Almost one third of women under the age of 35 who undergo fertility treatment are successful. This rise in IVF improvements has led to an increase in people conceiving with the aid of fertility treatments, but has simultaneously led to a drop in adoption rates. The Daily Telegraph reports that adoption rates in England and Wales have fallen by 62 percent since the first so-called "test-tube baby" was born 40 years ago. Head of the Children and Family Court Advisory and Support Service, Anthony Douglas, told the publication that the adoption process is "far too slow." In England, a two-year wait is common when adopting a child. "IVF used to be around 7 percent successful and now it's around 30 percent. Adoption is competing with lots of other ways of having children," he said. Despite the fall in adoption rates, the number of children being put into care in England is still rising. A spokesperson for the Department of Education told the BBC that adoptions numbers had risen since 2011, but dropped again in 2016 and 2017. They said: "Every child deserves to have a loving, stable home that's right for them, and thousands of families have had their lives transformed by adoption. "We have invested £90m in the Adoption Support Fund and we are setting up Regional Adoption Agencies to further improve the time it takes for the child to go to live with their new family." The expected adoption wait time in Ireland is thought to be similar to that in England.