Women who are considering IVF treatment often wonder about the success rates for this treatment when choosing a program. This is perfectly understandable, since people want to know how likely they will be to get pregnant after treatment, but it is important to understand fully how success rates are measured.
Because people place so much emphasis on success rates, there is an incentive for fertility clinics to keep rates high. One way they can do this is by being very selective in the people they agree to treat. For example, success rates tend to fall away as age increases. This is partly because the risks of miscarriage are higher as women get older. Therefore, some clinics may decline to offer treatment to women over a certain age as a means of reducing the risk of failure.
Another factor that can affect success rates is the average number of embryos that are transferred during IVF. The higher the number of transferred embryos, the higher the likelihood of a positive outcome resulting in a pregnancy.
It is also important to understand that even the definition of successful IVF is open to interpretation. Some clinics will deem IVF successful if a hormone or serum test for pregnancy proves positive, while others will not claim a success until a sound heartbeat in the fetus can be detected.
Since the whole point of obtaining IVF is to have a child, statistics for actual pregnancies are not entirely meaningful. When IVF treatment results in a viable pregnancy, that does not mean the pregnancy will lead to an actual birth. There is always the possibility of a miscarriage.
There is no suggestion here that success rates published by any clinic are inaccurate or misleading. Clinics are perfectly entitled to be selective about the patients they choose to treat, and they are equally entitled to decline a patient because they believe the chances of success are low. There is an argument to be made that this is better for the patient mentally, physically and financially. Furthermore, any patient who meets a clinic’s selection criteria falls under the umbrella of that clinic’s success rate statistics.
At our fertility clinic in Tampa, FL, our success rates are among the highest in the entire country. If you have any questions whatsoever about our procedures and our success rates, please feel free to contact us. We will be glad to explain everything in full without obligation.