Older women are being exploited by IVF clinics “trading on hope”, the UK fertility watchdog has warned.

Sally Cheshire, chairwoman of the UK’s Human Fertilisation and Embryology Authority (HFEA), told the Daily Telegraph that some private clinics were using “selective success rates” to target older women. IVF is less likely to be successful as a woman gets older.

Since 2004 the number of women in their 40s undergoing fertility treatment has doubled to over ten thousand. The latest HFEA figures show that, among those using their own eggs, out of 2,265 embryo transfers in 2017, just 75 women aged 43 to 44 ended up with a baby.

For those over 44, the success rate was even lower – amounting to 1% between 2004 and 2017.

Mrs Cheshire told the BBC that some women were not being told their “realistic chance of success” when sold the treatment. She said all UK clinics needed to be “transparent” about the costs involved, as well as the likely outcome.