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Reproductive Medicine Reports
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Quality Care
Reproductive Medicine Center Reports
Birth Rates in the Reproductive Medicine ClinicThe staff of the Reproductive Medicine Center believe in helping couples through technology, teamwork and compassion. In our efforts to help couples achieve success in creating a family, we are aware that infertility treatments have been criticized for creating pregnancies of high order multiple gestations (triplets or more).
| Multiple gestations put mothers and babies at risk for serious health problems. The mothers are at risk for preeclampsia, premature labor requiring prolonged bed rest or hospitalization, gestational diabetes, anemia and placental problems. The babies are at risk for complications such as preterm birth, respiratory distress syndrome, intracranial hemorrhage, cerebral palsy, blindness and death. |
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Visit the website for the Society of Assisted Reproductive Technology for national and individual reports on success rates for in vitro fertilization. |
At the Reproductive Medicine Center, we take a conservative approach. We have achieved high levels of success for our in vitro fertilization (IVF) couples, while limiting the number of multiple gestations.
In 2010, our clinic transferred on average 1.9 embryos per embryo transfer, while maintaining a high delivery rate of 49 percent per transfer attempt (for women under age 35). To further reduce the risk to baby and mother, we recommend a single embryo transfer to our patients whenever appropriate. In women younger than 35 years of age, 10 percent of our embryo transfers involve an elective single embryo transfer while maintaining a high delivery rate of 55 percent. Having a single embryo transfer reduces the chance that a high risk twin or triplet pregnancy may result, which can lead to complications during the pregnancy that may impact the health of mother and baby.
At the Reproductive Medicine Center, we are aware that most health insurance plans do not cover infertility services for our patients. To help minimize the out-of-pocket expenses for couples, we generally do not require repeat testing unless the test results from earlier testing were ambiguous or outdated. Patients are encouraged to provide prior medical records, so the physician can review results of prior testing to avoid repeating tests. Our reproductive endocrinologists and fellowship-trained urologist recommend testing that is tailored to the individual.
Patients who are pursuing treatment at the Reproductive Medicine Center are required to have limited screening before pursuing IVF or insemination. General health screening will be recommended for all patients including but not limited to infectious disease screening for HIV & hepatitis, thyroid studies, and basic hormone function tests. Most of these tests are covered by insurance regardless of whether the patient has infertility coverage or not. Recommended testing may be declined by the patient after proper informed consent.
The Reproductive Medicine Center has attempted to keep the cost of our therapies as low as possible by making the fee for IVF services below the market average. A usual and customary cycle of standard IVF costs $12,000 to $13,000 (excluding stimulation medications).
A couple’s decision to have a child is a very personal choice. When a couple needs to seek the help of a fertility specialist, the Reproductive Medicine Center believes the couple’s desires should dictate the care they receive. Our physicians create a plan of care and provide recommendations to the couple; it is ultimately the couple’s decision as to which therapies they wish to pursue.
Sometimes couples are faced with very difficult decisions about what is most important to them. Some couples believe that being genetically related to the child is critical while others believe that experiencing a pregnancy and getting an opportunity to parent a child is more important than genetics. We will present all possible options to each couple but the decision on what is acceptable always remains with the couple.
When the decision is made to use donor eggs, the age of the donor is the most important factor for success. To optimize the egg quality, the Reproductive Medicine Center only accepts women age 34 or under into our egg donation program. Most patients who pursue egg donation are older or have premature ovarian failure. The increase in success rate with donor eggs over the use of a woman’s own eggs when she is beyond age 37 can be seen in the 2010 Reproductive Medicine Center statistics below.
Although the majority of couples who seek treatment through the Reproductive Medicine Center are married, the clinic does not discriminate according to marital status, sexual orientation, race, ethnicity or income.
Last Review Date: July 2, 2012 Online Editor(s): Richard Petre |
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