What to Look for in a Fertility Clinic

If your doctor hasn’t been able to explain why you and your partner can’t get pregnant, you may be ready to try IVF treatment. Several infertility clinics offer the procedure, but costs can vary.

Some clinics have a money-back guarantee or shared-risk program. Others break out fees for the different aspects of IVF, such as cost of cryobanking or using an egg agency or surrogate (which includes medical and legal fees).

Ask the clinic about its success rates. These will likely be based on averages over multiple cycles, rather than individual patient characteristics like age and ovarian reserve.

Once your natural cycle has been suppressed by medication, a procedure called egg retrieval will be performed to harvest the eggs. This can be risky because it involves inserting a needle through the vagina to access sacs that contain each egg, called follicles. This can cause complications including infection, bleeding or damage to a blood vessel.

If you use donated sperm or eggs, the clinic should have a legal team that can help with donor contracts and surrogacy agreements. Some also have a mind-body workshop series, which feature group discussions and activities that promote relaxation and wellness throughout the IVF process.

Some infertility clinics require that known egg donors undergo a psychological evaluation and medical screening before donating their eggs. Other clinics will let you work directly with a cryobank or agency to obtain frozen or fresh eggs. This can save money on IVF-related fees but could result in fewer eggs or embryos.

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