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SART 2011 IVF Success Rates

As a follow up to my post earlier this week about the 2011 donor egg cycle statistics, I wanted to also report on some interesting notes in the non-donor (or own egg) IVF Statistics.

It is a bit more cumbersome to analyze the data for regular own egg IVF cycles (aka non-donor) because it is broken down by age category, whereas the donor statistics are all lumped together.

Although the total number of cycles didn’t change so much in 2011, we can see that the national data reported shows a slight lowering of live birth rates from fresh IVF cycles in the under 35 and 41 – 42 year old categories, with a slight improvement in the 38 – 40 and >42 age ranges, and no change in the 35 – 37 age range.  I created a chart comparing relevant data from 2011 and 2010 reports below for easy reference:

SART 2011 Report Data by age range:

US National Data

<35

35-37

38-40

41-42

>42

Fresh IVF Cycle/Live Birth %

40.1

31.9

21.6

12.2

4.2

# Fresh IVF Cycles

39721

19930

20130

10277

6033

Thawed Embryos/Live Birth %

39.3

35.7

30.3

24.5

16.5

# Thawed Embryo Transfers

13480

6665

4956

1781

1284

SART 2010 Report Data by age range:

US National Data

<35

35-37

38-40

41-42

>42

Fresh IVF Cycle/Live Birth %

41.7

31.9

22.1

12.5

4.1

# Fresh IVF Cycles

39473

20250

20706

9650

5546

Thawed Embryos/Live Birth %

38.7

35.1

28.5

21.4

15.3

# Thawed Embryo Transfers

11858

5865

4411

1521

1088

What should be noted is that those are all national averages, meaning that a lot of clinics have far better success rates and many have far lower success rates.

The data geek in me thought it might be interesting to compare the national averages of live birth rates per own egg IVF cycle to the success statistics of the top 5 clinics in each age category:

SART 2011 Cycle/Live Birth  %

<35

35-37

38-40

41-42

Top 5 Clinic Success Rate Range

69.2 – 78.9

60.7 – 76.9

50.0 – 53.6

33.3 – 35.3

US National Average

40.1

31.9

21.6

12.2

Did you find it shocking that the success rates of the top clinics in every age category are nearly double and in some cases triple the success rates of the national averages?  Remember, we’re not comparing the top to the bottom, we’re comparing the top to the average!  That is pretty significant, and should be one of the considerations of anyone undergoing IVF.

Of course, no discussion of US clinic success rates is complete without the obligatory disclosure: A comparison of clinic success rates may not be meaningful  because patient medical characteristics and treatment approaches may vary from  clinic to clinic.   What this really means is that you shouldn’t rely on statistics alone, because clinics that take on difficult patient cases might not have the best success rates as the result.  There are many other reasons that data might vary from one clinic (and by doctor within a clinic), so it should be just one piece of the overall clinic consideration. Also note that not all US clinics have their data listed in SART, some due to glitches in sending the data, others who elect not to report to them because they feel that it is not a fair or accurate representation to be used for evaluating a clinic.

If you want to check out the success rates of your clinic or look at reports from various clinics in state, here’s a link to the SART data http://www.sart.org/find_frm.html

Another great resource is the website Fertility Success Rates, they offer a great tool for seeing at a glance the top clinics nationally or in any state and age category.

If you want some help deciphering the success rates or discussing what they might mean to you, I offer a low cost clinic selection service consultation to help analyze the statistical data along with your priorities and assist you with selecting a clinic in the US or abroad.

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