Europe may turn to free fertility treatments to boost birthrates

Providing fertility treatment to more women could help offset Europe’s demographic crisis, the RAND Europe think tank said on Monday. On average, women in European countries now have less than two children. It ranges from a high of 1.9 in Ireland and France to a low of 1.3 in Spain and Italy. (2.1 is needed to replace current population) In Israel, where there is no limit on the number of free fertility treatments, eight percent of babies are conceived through in-vitro fertilisation (IVF).