Births resulting from assisted reproductive technology: comparing birth certificate and National ART Surveillance...

This report compares data on births resulting from assisted reproductive technology (ART) procedures from 2011 birth certificates with data from the 2011 National ART Surveillance System (NASS) among the subset of jurisdictions that adopted the 2003 revised birth certificate as of January 1, 2011, with information on ART.

Birth certificate data are based on 100% of births registered in 27 states and the District of Columbia. NASS data included all ART cycles initiated in 2010 or 2011 for which a live birth in 2011 was reported. The same reporting area was used for both data sources and represents 67% of all births in the United States in 2011. A ratio was computed by dividing the percentage of births resulting from ART procedures for NASS data by the percentage for birth certificate data. A ratio of 1.0 represents equivalent levels of reporting. Because this reporting area is not a random sample of births, the results are not generalizable to the United States as a whole.

Overall, the percentage of births resulting from ART procedures was 2.06 times higher for NASS data (1.44%) compared with birth certificate data (0.70%). The ratio for each jurisdiction varied from 1.04 for Utah and Wisconsin to 7.50 for Florida. Higher-risk groups had more consistent reporting. between data sources [e.g., triplet or higher-order multiples (1.36) compared with singletons (2.11)].

Births resulting from ART procedures appear to be underreported on the birth certificate; however, the magnitude of underreporting varied by jurisdiction and maternal-infant health characteristics.