Women alerted over IVF

Women are being lulled into having babies later in life because too much faith is being placed in reproductive technology, a doctor has warned.

Professor Christopher Haines, of Chinese University's obstetrics and gynaecology department, said the technology's success rate declined with a patient's age.

'Women nowadays are waiting longer to have babies. What happens is, I think, they tend to think in-vitro fertilisation [IVF] treatment is foolproof, so they think they can have babies later. But that is not the case,' Professor Haines said.

The number of unmarried women in Hong Kong in their 30s or 40s has almost quadrupled in 15 years. Statistics also show the average age for first marriages among women has risen from 23.9 in 1981 to 27.3 last year. The median age for first-time mothers has also grown from 25.1 two decades ago to 29.3 last year.

The general success rate of IVF is between 25 and 35 per cent before 35, but it drops to 14.1 per cent for women over 38.

The median age for women receiving IVF at Prince of Wales Hospital has risen from 34.4 years in 1997 to 35 last year. The oldest successful case involved a 44-year-old woman. Prince of Wales hospital began IVF in 1994. A total of 318 women became pregnant between 1997 and last year by the method.