Access to Assisted Reproductive Technologies in Chile

Assisted reproductive technology (ART) is present in almost all Latin American countries. However, it is accessible only to few couples, those who have the economic capacity to cover out of pocket funding. The number of initiated cycles per year in Chile covers less than 4% of the population who would theoretically need treatment. It corresponded to 609 cycles per 1.000.000 women between 18 and 45 years in 2009. This is in contrast with the reality of several European countries, where the numbers can be as high as 20,000 cycles per million women in reproductive age. Although availability of ART treatments is a reality in almost every country in the region, this inequality in the access is mainly due to socioeconomic reasons, which are discussed in this article.