Current status of assisted reproductive technology in Korea, 2011.
OBJECTIVE
The number of assisted reproductive technology (ART) clinics, ART cycles, clinical pregnancy rate (CPR), and number of newborns conceived using ART have steadily increased in South Korea. This aim of this study was to describe the status of ART in South Korea between January 1 and December 31, 2011.


METHODS
A localized online survey was created and sent to all available ART centers via email in 2015. Fresh embryo transfer (FET) cases were categorized depending on whether standard in vitro fertilization, intracytoplasmic sperm injection (ICSI), or half-ICSI procedures were used. Thawed embryo transfer (TET) and other related procedures were surveyed.


RESULTS
Data from 36,990 ART procedures were provided by 74 clinics. Of the 30,410 cycles in which oocytes were retrieved, a complete transfer was performed in 91.0% (n=27,683). In addition, 9,197 cycles were confirmed to be clinical pregnancies in the FET cycles, representing a pregnancy rate of 30.2% per oocyte pick-up and 33.2% per ET. The most common number of embryos transferred in the FET procedures was three (38.1%), followed by two (34.7%) and one (14.3%). Of the 8,826 TET cycles, 3,137 clinical pregnancies (31.1%) were confirmed by ultrasonography.


CONCLUSIONS
While the overall clinical pregnancy rate for the TET cycles performed was lower than the rate reported in 2010 (31.1% vs. 35.4%), the overall CPR for the FET cycles was higher than in 2010 (33.2% in 2011 and 32.9% in 2010). The most common number of embryos transferred in FET cycles was three, as was the case in 2010.
I-one Center, Seoul Women's Hospital, Bucheon, Korea.
Gyoung Hoon
GH
Lee
I-one Center, Seoul Women's Hospital, Bucheon, Korea.
Hyun Jin
HJ
Song
Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Pusan National University School of Medicine and Medical Research Institute, Pusan National University Hospital, Busan, Korea.
Kyu Sup
KS
Lee
Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Medical Research Center, Seoul National University College of Medicine, Seoul, Korea.; The Institute of Reproductive Medicine and Population, Medical Research Center, Seoul National University College of Medicine, Seoul, Korea.
Young Min
YM
Choi
Assisted reproductive techniques; Surveys