To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer how many sets of (a) twins, (b) triplets, (c) quadruplets, (d) quintuplets and (e) sextuplets were born in England and Wales in each year since 1990; how many maternities there were in each year; and how many multiple births in each category were conceived as a result of (i) in vitro fertilisation, (ii) gamete intra-fallopian transfer and (iii) other forms of assisted conception. [39969]

The information on multiple maternities and all maternities is given in the table.

Number of maternities in England and Wales
	1990	1991	1992	1993	1994	1995
Twins	7,934	8,160	8,314	8,302	8,451	8,749
Triplets	201	208	202	234	260	282
Quadruplets	10	10	8	12	8	7
Quintuplets	—	2	1	—	—	—
Sextuplets	—	—	—	1	—	—
Total number of maternities with multiple births	8,145	8,380	8,525	8,549	8,719	9,038
All maternities	701,030	693,857	683,854	668,511	659,545	642,404

The Office for National Statistics does not collect information about assisted conceptions when births are registered. Some information about multiple births following these treatments is contained in annual reports made by the Human Fertilisation and Embryology Authority to the Secretary of State for Health, copies of which are in the Library.