Association between maternal race and the use of assisted reproductive technology in the USA

Ebeh, Dandison Nat; Jahanfar, Shayesteh

Despite advances in the field of infertility medicine and its availability, disparities affect the accessibility status worldwide. Racial disparities could potentially affect the utilization of assisted reproductive technology (ART). We aimed at studying the association between maternal race and the use of ART treatment in the USA. We analyzed a secondary dataset (2017 Natality) obtained from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. This cross-sectional study acquired information on maternal race as well as ART utilization from women living within the reporting States and US territories. We analyzed the data using descriptive, bivariate, and regression analysis. A total of 3,864,754 live births out of 325,719,178 US races and origin populations were reported for the 2017 review year. A total of 42,846 women who had a live birth reported utilization of ART out of 67,554 respondents. The Chi-square test showed a statistically significant association between maternal race and the use of ART treatment, p value 0.01. Unadjusted regression odds of the utilization of ART at 95 % confidence interval (CI) was 87% higher among non-Hispanic Asian women as compared to the non-Hispanic White. We also found higher odds for maternal age 35–54 years 2.41 (95% CI 2.34–2.49), maternal education (above college degree) 1.36 (95% CI 1.31–1.42), and non-smoking status 2.44 (95% CI 2.02–2.94). Compared to the non-Hispanic white race, the adjusted regression odds were lower for all other racial/ethnic minorities except for the non-Hispanic Asian 63% (95% CI 1.09–2.44) and non-Hispanic mixed race 59% (95% CI 0.81–3.10) subgroups. The study finds the utilization of ART in the USA to be associated with maternal race.