Threatened Fertility: are Fertility Clinic Success Rates Accurate?

TORONTO - Many couples struggling with infertility look to fertility-assisted reproductive technologies to conceive a child. When evaluating fertility clinics, many would-be parents look for success rates or pregnancy rates. However, those statistics may not be what people think they are.

Amber Willdig has tried IVF to conceive a child. She hasn’t had any luck so far, even though based on her age, she is supposed to have a 70 per cent chance of success.

While age is a major factor in determining success, it’s not everything, says Dr. Christopher Newton, a psychologist at the London Health Sciences Centre. In fact, the chances of success are very individual to each patient. Newton says many couples over-estimate their chances of pregnancy, particularly older couples.

“So you will have some patients say 'Well yes, I’m 40 but I’m a young 40, I’m healthy,'” says Newton.

Dr. Art Leader, fertility specialist at the Ottawa Fertility Centre, says when it comes to success rates “you don’t know if they are reporting all the cases, you don’t know how accurately they’re reporting the cases. So...