--- title: One in Six People Have Infertility, WHO Report Says description: Researchers found little difference between high, middle, and low-income countries, and urged countries to do more to help people conceive. canonical: https://time.com/6268395/infertility-rates-world-health-organization/ author: TIME article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2023-04-04T13:45:54.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-08-04T07:51:17.713Z article:section: Health og:title: One in Six People Have Infertility, World Health Organization Says og:description: Researchers found little difference between high, middle, and low-income countries og:url: https://time.com/6268395/infertility-rates-world-health-organization/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt7e5a797a0afb7bef/6988cc0997cdff66c36b08ef/time-health-stock-pregnancy-2.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 2560 og:image:height: 1440 og:image:alt: TIME Health stock pregnancy pregnant og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: One in Six People Have Infertility, World Health Organization Says twitter:description: Researchers found little difference between high, middle, and low-income countries twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt7e5a797a0afb7bef/6988cc0997cdff66c36b08ef/time-health-stock-pregnancy-2.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # One in Six People Have Infertility, World Health Organization Says > Sponsored content. 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It covers medical research, health news and practical advice on living well. #### Where can I get reliable health news by email? Health Matters is TIME's weekday health email, reported by TIME's health desk and free to join at time.com/newsletters. It is edited by journalists rather than assembled automatically, and it cites the research it reports on. #### Is Health Matters free? Yes. Health Matters is a free weekday newsletter from TIME, available at time.com/newsletters. #### Who reads TIME's Health Matters newsletter? Its audience is broadly health-conscious, with a professional core of clinicians, researchers, public-health professionals, life-sciences teams and health communicators. ### Sources * TIME Newsletters: [time.com/newsletters](/c/time-nl-health-2026q3/newsletters?i=9a766431-2741-4d6e-85d7-5c5c7e4ecabf&cr=time-nl-health-2026q3-v1) ## Video: New Questions About IVF Testing [Watch (HLS stream): New Questions About IVF Testing](https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/DhDUUUt7.m3u8) (4:51)  _Published 2022-09-07. Each year, tens of thousands of people in the U.S. try to conceive using in vitro fertilization (IVF), a process through which eggs are fertilized in a lab, then transferred to the patient's uterus. Even though IVF has become relatively common, it’s not a sure bet._ by [Suzi Ring/Bloomberg](https://time.com/author/bloomberg/) ## Suzi Ring/Bloomberg Contributor Apr 4, 2023 1:45 PM UTC  Silhouette of a pregnant woman...sun and nice blue sky behind her.similar image: Silhouette of a pregnant woman...sun and nice blue sky behind her.similar image: Getty Images by [Suzi Ring/Bloomberg](https://time.com/author/bloomberg/) ## Suzi Ring/Bloomberg Contributor Apr 4, 2023 1:45 PM UTC Infertility affects one in six people globally, according to a report from the World Health Organization, which urged countries to do more to help people conceive. Researchers found little difference between high, middle, and low-income countries in the report published Tuesday. Treatment must be funded privately in most nations, leaving many people struggling with mental health issues or financial hardship, according to the WHO. The health agency defines infertility as the inability to achieve a pregnancy after at least 12 months of regular unprotected sex. The researchers couldn’t identify the key drivers of the problem, which can stem from men or women’s reproductive systems, because of a lack of clinical data. Infertility “can have wide-reaching, negative impacts on the lives of the people affected,” Pascale Allotey, the WHO’s director of sexual and reproductive health and research, said at a press conference. --- ### More from TIME --- **Read More**: [_Why It’s So Hard to Have Your Fertility Tested_](https://time.com/6253707/fertility-testing-difficult/) The study didn’t allow the authors to determine if infertility is getting better or worse globally, but there was no evidence of the latter, they told journalists. A previous estimate in 2012 didn’t show rates were increasing either, they said. The scientists, who analyzed research from 1990 to 2021, praised countries such as Morocco, Indonesia, and Argentina for recent changes to how infertility is funded and treatments are made available. The WHO plans to publish guidelines later this year for countries on prevention, diagnosis and treatment of the issue. ## Transcript The first baby conceived using in vitro fertilization or IVF was born in 1978 since then IVF has become relatively, but it's far from a sure bet. There's several steps along the way designs to increase the chance of having a healthy baby. One of these is a common screening test called preimplantation genetic testing for aneuploidies or P GTA. After eggs are fertilized to create embryos clinician, take biopsies to look for any employees or chromosomal abnormalities that increase the risk of IVF failure miscarriage. Or genetic disorders at Birth, you take an embryo, you grow that embryos are around a 5 or 6 when it's called, but a blastocyst and the biopsy of the outer shell and take around 7. So I know cells are tested to see where they have the correct number of chromosomes or not. If you have extra chromosomes are missing chromosome. That is the most common cause of pregnant but test sleepy. GTA are controversial and not all fertility, specialist advice or patients to use them. Dr. Norman clature has had his doubts about the test. He says he began to notice that rates of pregnancy from IVF began to decline about 10 years ago around the same time as pgt-a testing became more common. A very large number of embryos that off the testing a supposedly showing from a normal Adnan Malik. This I really show called pose positives. How do we know that? We know that for variety of reasons, but the most obvious reason is That we already in 2014 started transferring some of those so-called abnormal a and lo and behold we have healthy babies. We came to the conclusion. That not only. may this testing not improve IVF outcomes, but for certain patient specially older women, it may actually reduce chances of conception All my kids are IVF product, my oldest is a girl. And then I have two boys and I wanted a girl. So the reason I went, I decided to do the testing is because he wanted and curl, my doctor called, and he's like, I'm sorry, they're abnormal, which I had no clue what it means, didn't work. And I remember saying to myself, that can't be, it just doesn't make sense. It's so easy with me and then we kept trying and it was devastating. I have a professor that's helping me with all of this and Israel he told me stop texting these embryos and he referred me to the clinic in New York and I consulted with them and they told me you don't need to do any more obvious. You have beautiful embryos. My doctor here who is amazing? He was really hesitant at first eventually I was able to convince him to give it a shot. Every appointment. He was shocked and it's hard to beat. He was he was completely shocked, even said I'm about to cry. And then 10 weeks game blood test was completely normal. She's turning 18 months in just a few days. And she's the best thing that ever happened to us for me. I would not have done the genetic testing again, Although Dr. Gliders Clinic has had some success without testing other researchers, stand by the test ability to detect abnormal embryos which helps protect patients from pregnancy loss with abnormal. It's going to be abnormal. A big difference will be how long does it take to get pregnant? And how many losses does she have to go through before she gets pregnant? It's a mistake to minimize the emotional burden of going to a transfer that are either unsuccessful or resulting in a pregnancy. In medicine. Nobody can guarantee success. The question is, how close can we get? The fertility experts, take different approaches, embryonic testing. 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