Five important questions to ask when you evaluate an Assisted  Reproductive Technology Program:

1. What is the live pregnancy rate for patients your age?
   Ask 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.
   
   
2. Ask about the program's success with cryopreservation.
   Ask 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.
   
   
3. 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.
   
   
4. 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.
   
   
5. 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.