by Tanya Lee

Created on: July 10, 2008

WHAT YOU SHOULD KNOW TO BEGIN YOUR SEARCH FOR A FERTILITY CLINIC

When it comes to infertility treatment, choosing the clinic that's right for you is an important step, because infertility diagnosis and treatment is an emotional roller coaster ride, and you want to be sure that you are in good, caring hands through the process.

I was fortunate that the clinic my primary care physician recommended to me was a good one, with an excellent reputation and great success rates. My RE (reproductive endocrinologist) is a world-renowned speaker on reproductive medicine, and even though he has a mile long list of accomplishments and credentials, the most important things to me with any doctor is their bedside manner....fortunately he and his staff excel with that and have been most encouraging through the treatment my husband and I needed, which was IVF w/ ICSI. *

So how should you begin your search for a good fertility clinic? You should start with asking your primary care physician and OB/GYN, and also find the clinics near you either in the phone book or online with your favorite search engine. Also, friends or acquaintances that have experience with infertility treatment are always a good source. Once you have a list of clinics, log onto www.cdc.gov, which is the Centers For Disease Control and Prevention, a federal agency that looks out for the health and safety of US citizens. The current link that will disclose success rates by clinic is http://apps.nccd.cdc.gov/ART2005/clinics05.asp. The information comes from the Assisted Reproductive Technology (ART) Report. Please note that this report will always be a year or two behind, as data takes a while to collect and compile.

Using the map, just click on the state in which the clinic you desire info about is located, and viola! you have access to all kinds of success rate data right at your fingertips that will allow you to compare one fertility clinic to the next. I was pleased to find that the clinic I was going to rated almost as high as the largest and most successful clinic in my area.

Success rate data aside, a few other things to consider when choosing a fertility clinic are:

* INSURANCE COVERAGE
Does the practice accept your insurance for anything that is covered?
* PAYMENT PLANS
Does the practice offer any payment plans that will help you to avoid putting the cost of
your treatment on high interest rate credit cards or having to seek a loan?
* TECHNOLOGY
Does the practice have the capability for the cryopreservation

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