Comparing Success Rates

Though Houston Fertility Institute has a high success rate, it's generally not a good idea to choose a fertility clinic based solely on its high success rate, as Dr. Gill explains.

DR. JIMMY GILL: We at the Houston Fertility Institute are very proud of our excellence success rates. However, these success rates can be confusing in looking at comparing clinics to clinics. The Society for Assisted Reproductive Technology has put out a bulletin stating that comparing success rates between clinics may not be a viable option because there are differences in characteristics of patients and treatment protocols between clinics. For example, some clinics may not treat difficult patients or may not treat older patients in order not to lower their success rate. Some clinics may use certain techniques to weed patients in and out of programs, such as borderline FSH levels or Clomid challenge tests. Other programs may take patients who can get pregnant with easier cycles or easier procedures and push them into doing in-vitro fertilization in order to raise success rates. So success rates have to be looked at very carefully and not the individual success rates, but the practice patterns of the practice itself. We at Houston Fertility Institute are proud of the fact that we give every patient an individual plan and an individual success rate, which is important to the patient.