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How IVF Success Rates are Reported

In vitro fertilization (IVF) is an infertility treatment that is effective in helping many couples achieve their dreams of having a healthy child.

IVF Success rates When you visit an infertility clinic for a consultation, one of the questions you’re likely to ask is in regards to that clinic’s success rates, or the rate of successful pregnancies. You might think that a clinic’s success rate is a cut-and-dry percentage, when in fact some clinics manipulate their reporting practices to make their program appear more successful than it is.

Best Reporting Practices

When you ask the infertility doctor about his or her clinic’s IVF success rates, it’s always a good idea to ask how the clinic arrived at those numbers. Some programs only report how many clinical pregnancies were achieved in relation to the number of embryo transfers that were performed. Unfortunately, not all pregnancies are brought to term. This percentage may also include pregnancies that ended in miscarriage. Choose an infertility clinic that follows honest, open reporting practices. The way clinics should report their success rates is by disclosing their live birth rate, which is typically lower than the rate of clinical pregnancies. This honest manner of reporting is required by the Society for Assisted Reproductive Technology (SART).

Candidate Considerations

Another way in which a dishonest infertility clinic may manipulate its success rate is via its candidacy selection. After undergoing screening tests to diagnose problems associated with infertility, many couples are stunned to learn that the clinic is turning them away and denying them treatment. This often occurs when the woman’s follicle stimulating hormone (FSH) levels are undesirable, which can indicate greater difficulty in achieving pregnancy. A reputable clinic will accept patients regardless of these infertility factors.

Here at Dallas IVF, our team of infertility experts prides itself on its open, honest reporting practices and in accepting patients deemed by other infertility clinics to be “poor candidates.” We strictly follow national guidelines when reporting data to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and SART to help our patients make an informed decision. Dallas area couples who have been struggling to conceive a child are invited to schedule a consultation with our infertility clinic by calling (214) 297-0020.