PMA for all: only 21 children born since the law was voted, many pregnancies in progress

A low figure, but one that should explode in 2023. According to figures published this Wednesday by the Biomedicine Agency, 21 babies born to couples of women or single women have been identified in France since the PMA vote for all. This statistic is the first of its kind, following the passage by parliament of the bioethics law on June 29, 2021, which opened PMAs to all women.

contacted by the parisian, Silvia Álvarez, a gynecologist in Paris and a member of the group of private centers AMP (medical assistance for procreation), tempers this data. “You have to admit that 21 births is not much. We also have to see what the 444 evolutionary pregnancies that were counted on December 31 are going to give ”, she said.

“Standardization process”

In addition, beyond simple births, Claire de Vienne, reference doctor for the biomedical agency, the structure that frames the donation of gametes and medically assisted procreation or “PMA”, indicates that the most important thing is still the number of requests of LDCs.

In total, some 22,800 requests for first medical assistance consultations for procreation with sperm donation from couples of women and single women were identified since the entry into force of this law.

“We were surprised by the magnitude of the requests and now we are going to enter a normalization process”, Claire de Vienne is delighted.

About 14 months of waiting

In detail, in 2022 alone, about 9,300 applications for the first consultation of an AMP with sperm donation for the benefit of female or single couples were registered in the first semester, followed by a Draw with 5,800 applications in the second semester.

The truth is that the treatment time of ART with sperm donation continues to vary greatly from one center to another. The average time is stabilizing, however, and it was estimated at 14.4 months at the national level, from the making of the appointment to the first attempt, continues the organization that intends to reduce this time with the opening of new centers dedicated to this activity.

In fact, in the coming months, the number of 21 births will increase dramatically.

In addition, since the entry into force of the law, nearly 2,000 MPA attempts have been made for the benefit of couples of women (47%) or single women (53%). And as of December 31, 2022, nearly 5,600 people were waiting for a MPA with sperm donation, including 36% of female partners and 38% of single women.