§ Mr. WigleyTo ask the Secretary of State for Scotland what were the total numbers of sets of (i) twins, (ii) triplets, (iii) quadruplets, (iv) quintuplets and (v) sextuplets born in Scotland in each year since 1980 and the total number of maternities in Scotland in each year; and how many 499W multiple births of each type in each year were conceived as a result of (a) in-vitro fertilisation, (b) gamete intra-fallopian transfer and (c) other forms of assisted conception.
Twin Triplet Type of birth Quadruplet Quintuplet Sextuplet Total maternities 1980 658 4 — — — 68,689 1981 611 7 — — — 68,865 1982 607 6 — — — 65,963 1983 677 2 — — — 64,776 1984 665 10 — — — 64,800 1985 681 9 — — — 66,342 1986 721 10 — — — 65,456 1987 721 10 — — — 65,839 1988 706 9 1 — — 65,842 1989 677 13 2 — — 63,090 1990 731 16 1 — — 65,556 1991 709 24 2 — — 66,630 19921 808 15 — — — 65,307 1 Provisional. Information on the number of multiple births in Scotland attributed to assisted reproduction is not available. Some information on these matters is published in the first annual report of the Human Fertilisation and Embryology Authority, and in earlier annual reports of the interim licensing authority, copies of which are available in the Library.