home :: infertility

Selecting Your Assisted Reproductive Technology Program

Selecting your artificial reproductive technology (ART) program is an important step in addressing your infertility struggles. There are several questions in regards to credibility, cost, convenience, and details of the program. Below is a series of questions to help guide you in selecting your ART program.

Find an Infertility Specialist in Your Area

In Regards to Credibility:

• Does the program adhere to the guidelines set forth by the American Society for Reproductive Medicine (ASRM)?
• Is the program a member of the Society for Assisted Reproductive Technology (SART)?
• Is the IVF lab accredited by the College of American Pathologists and SART or by the Joint Commission on Accreditation of Healthcare Organizations?
• Are the physicians board certified in reproductive endocrinology and infertility?
• Does the program report its results to the SART Registry and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention?

In Regards to Cost and Convenience:

• What pre-cycle screening tests are required, how much do they cost, and will my insurance cover these tests?
• How much does the ART procedure cost, including drugs per treatment cycle?
• Do I pay in advance? How much? What are the methods of payment?
• If applicable, will you submit any bills to my insurance company?
• How much do I pay if my treatment cycle is canceled before egg recovery? Before embryo transfer?
• What are the costs for embryo freezing, storage, and transfer?
• How much work will I miss? How much will my partner miss?
• Do you help arrange low-cost lodging, if needed?

In Regards to Details About the Program:

• How many physicians will be involved in my care?
• To what degree can my own physician participate in my care?
• What types of counseling and support services are available?
• Whom do I call day or night if I have a problem?
• Do you freeze embryos (cryopreservation)?
• Is donor sperm available in your program? What about donor eggs or embryos?
• Do you have an age or basal follicle stimulating hormone (FSH) limit?
• Do you consider ICSI? If so, when? What is the cost?
• Do you do assisted hatching? If so, when? What is the cost?
• How many eggs/embryos are transferred?

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) is a good source of information to obtain ART outcomes for each reporting program in the United States. This information was released in 2000, so it is important to find out if there have been any significant changes in the program since the most recent report including:

• Personnel changes
• Changes in the approach to ovarian stimulation, egg retrieval, embryo culture, or embryo transfer
• Change in the number of cycles
• Change in the miscarriage rate, live birth rate per cycle started, or the multiple pregnancy rate