The effect of the 2004 Italian legislation on perinatal outcomes following assisted reproduction technology.

OBJECTIVE: To assess the perinatal outcomes of the first three years under the 2004 Italian reproductive legislation obligating transfer of all embryos resulting from insemination of < or =3 oocytes. STUDY DESIGN: We compared the perinatal results of clinical assisted reproductive technology (ART) pregnancies during the three years following the new Italian legislation with the previous three years. RESULTS: There were 583 and 571 clinical pregnancies during the respective periods. Before the law, the overall embryonic and fetal loss rates were significantly higher resulting in a significantly lower rate of live born infants and significantly fewer clinical pregnancies with at least one live born infant. Quadruplet and quintuplet pregnancies were entirely eliminated following the 2004 law but the neonatal mortality rate was not different between the two study periods. CONCLUSION: The 2004 Italian infertility legislation led to improved quantitative and qualitative outcomes of ART.