‘1.7 million IVF embryos wasted in 21 years’

London: Millions of human embryos created for in-vitrofertilization (IVF) pregnancies in the UK are being thrown away unused, according to official figures. 
    The shocking figures show that for every woman who conceives a child through IVF, 15 embryos are made, and almost half of them are discarded during or after the process. Over 1.7 million IVF embryos have been thrown away since records began 21 years ago, the Daily Mail reported. 
    The figures were gathered by UK's fertility industry regulator, the Human Fertilization and Embryology Authority (HFEA), which has recorded IVF processes since 1991. Statistics released by UK health minister Lord Howe show that 3,546,818 human embryos have been created since August 1991. These have produced only 235,480 "gestational sacs" — evidence of successful implantation. As a result, 93% of all embryos created — more than 3.3 million — are never used to generate a pregnancy. Among the embryos created, 839,325 were put into storage for future use and 2,071 were stored for donation to others. A further 5,876 were kept for research. PTI