Leaving The Gynecologist – How To Choose An ART Program

Most women have established trusting relationships with their gynecologist or obstetrician.  When the time comes to move on to a Reproductive Endocrinologist (RE) it can be frightening and confusing.  Most RE’s use Assisted Reproductive Technologies (ART) to assist women in conceiving a baby.  It can be extremely confusing for couples when trying to choose an ART program.  The change of doctor is necessary because the ART advances are progressing so quickly that a non-specialist cannot keep up with all there is to offer.  A big issue is trust.  It is imperative that the couple is able to trust their doctor and his methods.  ART procedures can be costly and trust that the doctor is doing only what is necessary but all that is necessary is of utmost importance.  There are twelve specific things to look for when choosing a fertility clinic and/or ART program.
1.    The length of time the program has been in existence.  Experience is extremely important.
2.    The program’s pregnancy success rates.  Some programs do not take patients who have a low chance of successful pregnancy so that their numbers of pregnancy to patient ratio is higher.  For this reason, it is important to look not only at the number of pregnancies achieved throughout the program but also look at the kind of patients that the doctors work with.
3.    The program must be a member of the Society for Assisted Reproductive Technology (SART).  SART requires their clinics to abide by and follow very specific ethical rules and guidelines.
4.    All of the doctors that are listed as participating in the program should be Board Certified in Reproductive Endocrinology and Infertility.  With the quickly changing technologies in infertility, it is next to impossible for gynecologists and obstetricians alone to stay up to date in the infertility specialty.
5.    The program should be affiliated with a hospital because these programs are more capable of coordinating testing and patient care with women’s cycles and larger numbers of patients.
6.    The clinic should provide psychological counseling services.  Infertility can be a very stressful time and the majority of couples need and will benefit from various levels of counseling.
7.    The program should accept insurance coverage and be skilled at dealing with insurance companies in order to get the best response possible from the individual insurance plans for each patient.
8.    The program should provide a wide variety of services and specialized services for their patients.  Many clinics will not provide treatment unless the patient has failed all other therapies and are ready for In vitro Fertilization.  In actuality, this practice just inflates the numbers of successful pregnancies for the program and does not have the best interest of the patient in mind.
9.    The program must provide treatment for male specific infertility.  Male infertility counts for half of all infertility diagnosis and therefore need on-sight treatment.
10.     Patients should look for programs and clinics that do at least 100 assisted reproductive cycles per year.  Programs in the 300 IVF’s per year range are considered exceptional.

It can be difficult to leave the comfort of the traditional gynecologist and enter the world of assisted reproductive technologies.  Choosing a program that meets the needs of the couple is most important and can help ease the difficulties that each infertile couple goes through in their journey to conceive a baby.