One in eleven children born in Denmark last year were conceived thanks to fertility treatment, DR reports.

According to the Danish Fertility Association, in 4,839 of the total of 55,873 cases, parents needed fertility treatment to help them create their baby.

Søren Ziebe, the head of a fertilisation clinic at Rigshospital in Copenhagen, considers this phenomenon a big problem for Danish society.

"We have to recognise it as a widespread disease and we have to start talking about prevention," Ziebe told the broadcaster.

First-time mothers too old
From 1993 to 2013, the number of births in Denmark fell by 17 percent, Statistics Denmark reports. 

At the same time, the average age of first-time mothers increased from 27.2 to 29.1 during the period.

Ziebe believes it is particularly the late age of first-time mothers that is the reason more couples need the assistance of fertilisation clinics to have a baby. 

He explains that women are most fertile when they are 20 years old. When they are 30 years old, their chances of conceiving drop by half, and when they turn 37, their chances to get pregnant are halved again.

The state should intervene
According to Ziebe, both parents and the state should encourage young people to have children early – for instance, while they are still studying.

"We have to tell our boys that they need to get their act together and grow up before they turn 45. Because the girls they love and want to have children with won't be able to have them at that age," Ziebe told DR.