SART and CDC IVF success rate reports
The Centers for Disease Control is a US Government agency. It publishes IVF success rates annually for all reputable fertility clinics.
- The Society for Assisted Reproductive Technology(SART) also publishes success rate reports annually with the same IVF and egg donation statistics as CDC. SART releases its report about a year sooner though so I always begin with them when evaluating a clinic.
The best way to increase the success of IVF is by having procedures done at a high quality program.
- The CDC website currently has success rates for all reputable IVF clinics for 2007.
- The SART website currently has success rates for all member clinics for 2008.
- US clinics show IVF live birth rates ranging from about 10% to over 60% – for women under age 35.
- Therefore, patients should go to these websites and check success rates for any fertility clinic they might consider.
Things to consider when comparing clinics-
1. The number of cycles. There is nothing wrong with not being a monster IVF clinic but you need a clinic that is very familiar with the biopsy process for PGD. Some clinics have an embryologist on staff and that person actually performs the biopsy there onsite and does the FISH analysis as well. Other clinics perform the biopsy themselves in their lab and then send out the slides with the cells on them(your embryos do not leave their lab) to an outside lab where the analysis is done. Either approach is acceptable as long as they are very comfortable with eh handling of the embryos and the biopsy to retrieve the cell. You cannot always go by the percentage listed of PGD cases either on the SART report. Some clinics don’t do a lot of PGD but it does not mean that their embryologist is not skilled. You have to ask these questions at your consult.
| Fresh Embryos From Non-Donor Oocytes | <35 | 35-37 | 38-40 | 41-42 |
| Number of cycles | 273 | 187 | 168 | 63 |
| Percentage of cycles resulting in pregnancies | 48.4 | 36.9 | 32.1 | 22.2 |
| Percentage of cycles resulting in live births | 40.7 | 31.6 | 24.4 | 11.1 |
| (Reliability Range) | (34.8 – 46.5) | (24.9 – 38.2) | (17.9 – 30.9) | (3.4 – 18.9) |
| Percentage of retrievals resulting in live births | 42.9 | 35.5 | 27.5 | 14.3 |
| Percentage of transfers resulting in live births | 46.1 | 38.8 | 30.1 | 15.6 |
| Percentage of cycles with elective single embryo transfer | 7.9 | 2.6 | 2.9 | 0 |
| Percentage of cancellations | 5.1 | 11.2 | 11.3 | 22.2 |
| Implantation rate | 33.1 | 22.1 | 14.8 | 8.2 |
| Average number of embryos transferred | 2.2 | 2.6 | 3.0 | 3.8 |
| Percentage of live births with twins | 28.8 | 33.9 | 24.4 | 2 / 7 |
| Percentage of live births with triplets or more | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 / 7 |
2. Regarding pregnancy statistics, the most important statistic in this section is the percentage of LIVE BIRTHS. The percentage of cycles resulting in pregnancies is great but those include anyone with a positive beta test which includes chemicals, ectopics, etc and the data you are really seeking is what is the chance that I am going to bring home a baby! So, focus on the live brith rate.
3. Another key piece of information is the stat that tells you how many embryos on average were transferred to achieve that live birth rate. Typically, the number will fall between the 2-3 embryo range. The fewer embryos on average transferred and the higher the live birth rate the better.
4. Finally, always check the rate of twin and triplet pregnancies. Twins are an acceptable outcome and a known risk going into IVF IF you choose to transfer two embryos. Remember, these stats are compiled from infertile women. A triplet pregnancy is really considered a failure in the IVF world and very high risk for both mother and babies. If the clinic you are looking at has a high rate of triplet pregnancy, then their birth rate is largely inflated due to transferring too many embryos.
www.sart.org – SART Reports
http://apps.nccd.cdc.gov/art/marquee.aspx – CDC Reports