When researching fertility clinics, consumers commonly attempt compare centers based on their pregnancy and birth rates. As such, we would like to offer some guidance in interpreting these data:
- Numbers can be manipulated by statistical means and it is for this reason that the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention urges consumers not to compare clinics based on pregnancy and birth rates.
- Centers can bar couples with a lower probability of pregnancy from their clinic thereby giving a false impression of their pregnancy rate.
- Age is an important factor to consider when looking at pregnancy rates in that women more advanced in their reproductive years have a lower probability of pregnancy regardless of the therapy employed.
Pre selecting patients with the use of restrictive criteria will enhance pregnancy rates. This leads to the denial of some couples from treatment so that they do not affect the center’s pregnancy rate.
At the George Washington MFA IVF Center, we care for our patients at every age and provide access to treatment without restrictions. We are physicians not statisticians.
