Ask 11 Questions
- How many stimulated and thawed cycles does the clinic perform each year?
- How does the clinic report its success rates?Pregnancy Rate? Clinical Pregnancy Rate? Live Birth Rate (LBR) ? It should be LBR as it is the ultimate criterion of success-a baby in your arms.The denominator ( out of how many and what type of procedures is the success rate calculated) is absolutely essential information.It will have a very significant effect on the success rate that is quoted.
Is it per IVF cycle completed,which will give a higher rate of success than per IVF cycle started because some cycles will be cancelled as a result of poor response to ovarian stimulation, no eggs being collected, no eggs fertilizing, embryos stopping growing or not being of good enough quality to be transferred, or being chromosomally abnormal,and in the case of thaw cycles the frozen embryo may not survive thawing.
The question that ultimately needs to be answered is “If I start a stimulated cycle what are my chances of taking a baby home?”
- At my age with the reason for my infertility, what are the chances of taking a baby home after one stimulated cycle? Two stimulated cycles? Three stimulated cycles?
- Is the clinic ISO accredited? If not, by whom is it independently accredited?
- Does the clinic offer Pre-Implantation Genetic Screening (PGS), and is the cost per embryo tested or per stimulated cycle?
- What is the total cost of
Cancelled cycle?
Stimulated cycle and embryo freezing?
Stimulated cycle and fresh embryo transfer?Stimulated cycle,fresh embryo transfer and embryo Freezing?Thaw cycle?Frozen embryo storage? - Is supportive counseling provided, and does it attract additional cost?
- Does the clinic perform all embryo transfers under ultrasound control?It makes a difference.
- Does the clinic perform trial embryo tranfers to ensure there are no difficulties on the day of the actual embryo transfer?It makes a difference.
- Are all stimulation protocols individually formulated, and all egg collections and embryo transfers performed, by a fertility specialist?
- Under what circumstances does the clinic recommend not using your own eggs?
