The 2005 Center for Disease Control (CDC) Clinic specific success rates were published in January 2007 www.cdc.gov/art/.  We were exceedingly pleased to see that our “take home baby” rates have remained well above average in the United States.  Very importantly, we were one of less than 10 programs out of 411 clinics reporting that electively transferred an average of less than 2 embryos per attempt in women under age 35 which is paramount to limiting multiple gestations.

We have now submitted our complete 2006 information as mandated by law and it is available below.  A comparison of clinic success rates may not be meaningful because patient medical characteristics and treatment approaches vary from clinic to clinic.  It will still be a year before this information is published by the CDC.  We publish all of our success rates and list them in the style of the CDC report.   An advantage of the CDC report is that the success rates quoted by a clinic are uniform. Be cautious about other clinics that use incomplete or contrived reporting in advertisements or web sites. A recent study of 289 clinic members of the Society for Assisted Reproduction (SART) with web sites reported that only 22% provided live birth or “take home baby” statistics  (Fertility and Sterility 2007;87:88-92). The CDC data is no substitute for a frank and open discussion between patient and physician.

Often better success rates are reported due to the high number of embryos transferred.  A useful exercise is to compare implantation rates.  A simple way to do this is to take the live birth rate per transfer and divide this by the number of embryos transferred.  For example a live birth rate of 40% divided by the average embryo transfer of 2 yields an implantation rate of 20%.  Of course to be completely accurate the number of twins and triplets also needs to be included, but the above formula gives a good comparison.  It would seem that transfer of 2 embryos with a pregnancy rate of 40% (implantation rate 20%) is superior to a transfer of 2.5 embryos with a 40% pregnancy rate (implantation rate 16%).

High order pregnancies, triplets and above, represent a clearly unacceptable risk of IVF.  The only effective way to control births is to limit the number of embryos transferred.  At C.A.R.S. we will not transfer over 2 embryos in women under age 38 and not over 3 embryos in women over 40. We are electively performing single embryo transfers with cryopreservation of the other viable embryos for later use.  We are aware that this practice can lower our apparent success rates, but we are convinced that this is in the best interest of all.

Additional information on success rates can be found in the articles Dr. Thatcher has written on this subject.

Art Success Rates — All That Glimmers
Reading Between the Line in the CDC IVF Clinic Reports

Also see IVF at C.A.R.S.

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