IVF cycles carried out in Malta last year will lead to the birth of 58 children, official figures show.

There were 246 IVF cycles at Mater Dei Hospital and private clinics in 2018, according to the Embryo Protection Authority’s annual report, resulting in 56 pregnancies, a success rate of around 23%.

Around 4% of these pregnancies failed, meaning the number of children born from the procedure (referred to as the ‘take-home baby rate’) was 18.7%, which is 1.9% higher than the previous year.

Health minister Chris Fearne said that, following the introduction of the new IVF law in October 2018, the vast majority of couples had opted to make use of the new provisions, fertilising the new maximum of five eggs.

Just seven out of the 34 couples who used IVF since the introduction of the new law opted against it.

The changes to the Embryo Protection Act included increasing the amount of eggs that could be fertilised, as well as opening eligibility up to same-sex couples and single parents.

The amendments proved controversial particularly in respect of the introduction of embryo freezing, which opponents said would undermine the protection of ‘life from conception’.