About 70 per cent of 35-year-old women in Spain have no children

About 70 per cent of 35-year-old women in Spain are childless, according to the Spanish Fertility Society (SEF), which says that at this age women's fertility naturally reduces and many seek treatments in order to become pregnant.

The SEF explained this during the presentation of its national congress, and stressed the need for policies which favour more births because Spain is one of the countries with the lowest birth rates, although it is a "leader" in terms of assisted reproduction.

Figures from SEF's National Register of Activity show that in 2015, the last year for which data is available (the latest ones will be published this summer), 36,318 babies were born following fertility treatments, of whom 29,366 were born in Spain, accounting for seven per cent of all deliveries.

The other 6,952 babies were born to couples or women who had travelled to Spain for the fertility treatments, because of the excellent reputation of experts in this country and because the legislation here is more flexible, for example in matters such as ovule donation.

The register also shows a nine per cent increase in these treatments compared with the previous year, and the figures make Spain a leader in Europe and third in the world after the USA and Japan.

Experts predict that the number of treatments will rise, because Spanish women tend to postpone motherhood to a later age. In fact, the average age of patients undergoing these treatments is 37.

The figures show that 47 per cent of in vitro fertilisation cycles using the patients' own ovules are carried out on patients aged between 35 and 39, while 67 per cent of the treatments using donated ovules are carried out on women over 40. In total, 70 per cent of in vitro fertilisations in Spain in 2015 used the patients' own ovules, and in 30 per cent of cases they were donated.