Fertility treatments and the young women who use them: An Australian cohort study

Abstract

BACKGROUNDIn Australia, fertility treatment is partly or wholly reimbursable under federal benefits schemes, without restrictions on age, number of treatment cycles or existing family size. In this study, we aimed to characterize the potential need for and use of fertility treatments in a population-based cohort of young Australian women.METHODSWe conducted structured interviews with 974 members of a cohort constructed by tracing all female infants born at a single general hospital in Adelaide between 1973 and 1975. The main outcome measures were pregnancy history, difficulty becoming pregnant and assistance sought to become pregnant.RESULTSOf 657 women aged 3032 who had sought pregnancy, 24..