Assisted reproductive technology: official data on the application of the Italian law.

In 2004, the Italian parliament enacted Law 40/2004, which established new rules for assisted reproductive technology and included a very long and detailed list of restrictions. Since its enactment, the law has given rise to heated discussion at a national and international scientific level. In June 2007 a report presented to the Italian parliament published data from the National Institute of Health regarding the application of the law in 2005. From an overall comparison of data from the years 2003 (before Law 40/2004) and 2005, it emerges that the situation has been significantly altered by the application of this law. These data clearly demonstrate a drop in the percentage of pregnancies, and a consequent drop in the number of children born; a higher percentage of treatments that do not reach the transfer stage or that have a low possibility of success (non-elective embryo transfer); a decrease in the number of oocytes inseminated but an increase in the number of embryos transferred; a higher incidence of multiple births, with consequent immediate and future negative effects for the children and their mother; an increase in the number of pregnancies with a negative outcome.