Hunting for the Right Fertility Clinic? Know What to Look For

As more and more people turn to fertility clinics to meet their conception needs, knowing how to choose the right clinic has never been more important. However, with so many options available, the selection process can easily become overwhelming. Whether you are new to the fertility clinic industry or a veteran, how you select your fertility clinic can make or break your fertility goals. Read on to find out what steps should be taken to ensure you find the right provider.

Self-evaluate your fertility clinic needs

Before you start your fertility clinic search, begin with a self-evaluation. Consider factors such as your price point for fertility treatments, cultural preferences and your psychological readiness for reproductive treatments. Your personal self-evaluation will be critical to narrowing the scope of your fertility clinic search.

What is the fertility clinic's accessibility IQ?

After you are armed with a self-evaluation, the first factor to consider in your search is the overall accessibility of the clinic. A clinic's location, hours of operation, staffing quality and available services are all part of a clinic's accessibility IQ. A clinic may have all the bells and whistles in terms of treatment success rates, but if the clinic is located 3,000 miles from your current location and staff members are rude when you call, you may want to consider a different provider.

Considerations to make when analyzing a clinic's fertility specialists

The next factor to consider in your search is the qualifications and experience of the clinic's fertility specialists. A good fertility clinic will have fertility specialists who are certified by local or national fertility boards, such as the American Society for Reproductive Medicine. In addition, specialists should have several years of experience at the board-certified level. Also, consider the type of patients who are standard for the clinic's fertility specialists. If the patients who frequent a clinic tend to only need basic fertility treatments, the fertility specialists may not be adequate for more intricate fertility services.

What is the fertility clinic's success rate?

Most fertility clinics claim a high success rate for the fertility treatments they perform. To separate truth from fiction, the treatment success rates for a fertility clinic should be verified against national fertility databases. The Society for Assisted Reproductive Technology (SART) maintains a database of all the fertility clinics in the United States. SART's clinic data includes provider information, clinic services and a clinic's fertility success rate.

A fertility clinic's success rate is determined by the number of its treatments that result in live births. However, there are some caveats for how fertility success statistics can be gathered. A high live birth rate does not necessarily mean a clinic's procedures are noteworthy. Some clinics massage their live birth statistics by avoiding difficult fertility treatments and patients. The best way to spot clinics that exaggerate their success rates is by speaking with former clinic patients. By speaking with former patients, you can gauge whether the clinic tends to take on individuals who already have a high likelihood of conceiving. You can also determine whether the clinic is indiscriminate in its case load.

Finalizing your fertility clinic decision

A good fertility clinic is not a one-size-fits-all process. A fertility clinic that may have been wonderful for a family friend may not turn out to be the best fit for you. Ultimately, your fertility clinic "best fit" will be a location perfectly intersecting your individual preferences with high-quality treatment.