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Florida Institute for Reproductive Medicine |
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Evaluating an ART
Program
Five important questions to ask when you
evaluate an Assisted Reproductive Technology
Program: - What is the live pregnancy rate for
patients your age?
As how many embryos are being transferred to a patient your age.
Some clinics may appear to have higher live pregnancy rated simply
because they are transferring inordinately high number of embryos.
While this will produce a higher up front pregnancy rate, it
subjects the patient to a high incidence of triplets and higher
order multiples. The majority of patients less than 35 years of age
should have no more than two or three embryos transferred at any
one time. With older patients we know that implantation rates do go
down and it may be appropriate to transfer more than three or four
embryos.
- Ask about the program's success with
cryopreservation.
As what the live pregnancy rate is for patients your age. Again,
ask how many embryos are being transferred to accomplish this
pregnancy rate. There are many programs that have had little, if
any, success with cryopreservation. This greatly reduces a couple's
chance of obtaining a pregnancy. A good cryopreservation program is
probably the single most important discriminating factor among IVF
programs.
- If your infertility is due to a
significant male factor, ask what the clinic's experience has been
with ICSI (intracytoplasmic sperm injection) in vitro
fertilization.
Clearly this is the technique of choice for moderate to severe male
factor infertility. Do not simply ask the infertility pregnancy
rate, but ask how many babies have actually been born and how many
couples have actually gone through the procedure.
- Is the program a member of SART (the
Society of Assisted Reproductive Technology)?
As a member of SART, a program agrees to publish its pregnancy
data, and agrees to be audited if requested. If pregnancies are
being quoted from a program, insist on seeing the CDC/SART
registry, or alternatively you can check this site on your own
at http://www.cdc.gov/nccdphp/drh/art.htm.
- Ask for the cost for the procedure
recommended for you.
Find out the total cost including medications as if insurance
covered absolutely nothing. The average cost for in vitro
fertilization nationwide is around $9,000 to $15,000. GIFT and ZIFT
tend to run about $1,000 to $1,500 more. Cost will obviously be
higher in certain parts of the country. Get representative quotes
from several different programs in your region.
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