A total 273 IVF cycles were carried out among 228 couples in Malta last year, 202 of them at Mater Dei Hospital, according to the annual report of the Authority for the Protection of Embryos, tabled in the House today.

These resulted in 64 pregnancies, with seven mothers suffering a miscarriage, 14 had a child and 43 are expecting. They include five couples expecting twins and one couple expecting triplets. Forty-three couples went through two cycles, and one couple through three.

There were 23 couples who did not have an embryo to transfer, 150 couples had two embryos, 46 had one embryo and 53 had three.

Also last year, 58 IVF babies were born, 44 of whom - 23 girls and 21 boys, through cycles carried out in 2015. Fourteen - nine boys and five girls, were born through cycles in the beginning of last year.