What questions should I ask when choosing a fertility treatment center?

If you decide to undergo fertility treatments and are choosing a treatment center, here are some questions you may want to ask:

• What is your center's clinical pregnancy rate? While this information is available online at the Society for Assisted Reproductive Technology (SART) website, keep in mind that the success rates of an in vitro fertilization (IVF) center depend on many factors. A comparison of clinic success rates may not be meaningful because the patient characteristics and treatment approaches vary from clinic to clinic.
• What exclusion criteria does your center use to select women for in vitro fertilization?
• What is the cancellation rate of women my age? Centers that have a very low cancellation rate may be highly selective in who they accept as patients.
• How many embryos does your center routinely implant for IVF? Centers that implant more than two or three embryos may have good pregnancy rates, but they will also have more multiple pregnancy rates, which can be risky to mother and babies.
• What are your center's success rates for different types of procedures, particularly those I might face? Figures should represent live birth rates, not just pregnancies.
• Is your center still working with the same laboratory and specialists as when the statistics were generated?
• What research and possible scenarios should we consider when deciding how far to go with fertitlity treatment?