Assisted Reproductive Technologies
Assisted reproductive technologies (ART) are procedures that either place sperm inside the woman or uses donated eggs or employ techniques that retrieve eggs from the ovary and reimplant them. Fertilization may occur either in the laboratory or in the uterus. In the US, the number of live birth deliveries from ART increased by 128% between 1996 and 2002. More than 45,000 babies are now born in the US each year using assisted reproductive technologies.
The standard ART procedures are generally called artificial insemination (AI) and in vitro fertilization (IVF). To date no studies have compared the two approaches.
Choosing a Fertility Clinic
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Choosing a good fertility clinic is important. The government does not always regulate centers offering assisted reproductive techniques, and abuses have been reported, including lack of informed consent, unauthorized use of embryos, and failure to routinely screen donors for disease.
The clinic should always provide the following information:
- The live-birth rate (not just pregnancy success rate) for other couples with similar infertility problems. (Multiple births, such as twins or triplets, are counted as one live birth.)
- Such statistics should include high-risk women, such as those who are older or fail to produce eggs. (Some disreputable clinics give success percentages that exclude high-risk women from their total, thereby making the percentage of success much higher.)
Advanced fertility procedures and medications are extremely expensive and often not covered by insurance. Warning: Couples should be cautious about offers of rebates in the event of failure; the clinics offering them are often significantly more expensive than those that don't.
Artificial Insemination
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