§ Mr. WigleyTo ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland how many sets of(a) twins, (b) triplets, (c) quadruplets, (d) quintuplets and (e) sextuplets were born in Northern Ireland in each year from 1990 to 1993; what was the total number of maternities in Northern Ireland in each year; and how many multiple births of each type in each year were conceived as a result of (i) in-vitro fertilisation, (ii) gamete infra-fallopian transfer and (iii) other forms of assisted conceptions.
§ Mr. AncramThe information requested is set out in the table.
1990 1991 1992 19931 Sets of (a) Twins 267 315 258 293 (b) Triplets 5 6 8 9 (c) Quadruplets — — — — (d) Quintuplets — 1 — — (e) Sextuplets — — — — Maternities 25,338 26,058 25,425 24,828 (i) IVF2 (a) Twins 12 11 4— 4— (b) Triplets 2 1 4— 4— (ii) GIFT3 1 Provisional. 2 These figures are the results of IVF by year of conception. 3 GIFT was available in Northern Ireland in only 1986 and 1987. 4 Not known.