Some five million babies have been born worldwide with the help of assisted reproductive technology (ART), with half of these born in the last six years alone.

ART includes methods such as IVF (in vitro fertilisation), during which a woman's eggs are fertilised with sperm outside the body in a test tube and then placed back inside her womb.

The first ART baby was born via IVF in the UK in 1978.

Now, the International Committee for the Monitoring of Assisted Reproductive Technology (ICMART) has assessed 10 international reports that have tracked the use of ART and estimated that five million babies have been born as a result.

Between the first birth in 1978 and 1990, an estimated 90,000 ART births had taken place worldwide. By 2000, this figure had risen to 900,000. By 2005, it had reached 2.5 million.

Since 2007, an estimated 1.5 million babies have been born in countries that report their figures to ICMART, while an estimated 900,000 have been born in non-reporting countries.

"This comprehensive report confirms that we now have over five million babies born through assisted reproduction. More than that, it shows that half of them have been born in the last six years.

"The number of babies born through ART is now about the same as the population of a US state such as Colorado, or a country such as Ireland. This is a great medical success story," commented Richard Kennedy of the International Federation of Fertility Societies.