The fertility sector is booming

IVF accounts for around 9% of live births in Denmark, the highest proportion in any country. For average number of cycles undergone per woman, the winner is Israel. The fundamental reasons for the two countries’ pre-eminence are distinct: Danes are strong supporters of women’s and family rights and understand fertility as part of the package; Israel is, culturally and politically, much more pro-baby than other rich countries. The proximate reason, though, is more or less the same. In both countries the state makes IVF widely available and (nearly) free. Israel, in this respect the world’s most generous country, will in most cases pay for as much IVF as it takes to have two “take-home babies”.