FIRST FERTILITY CLINIC REPORT ISSUED

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention today released the first consumer report on the pregnancy success rates of fertility clinics, as required by the Fertility Clinic Success Rate and Certification Act of 1992 authored by Sen. Ron Wyden (D-OR). The report provides information that will help patients and health care providers make informed decisions about assisted reproductive technology (ART).

The report was prepared jointly by CDC, The Society for Assisted Reproductive Technology (an affiliate of the American Society of Reproductive Medicine), and RESOLVE, a consumer organization. The report will be produced annually.

"This report addresses two important questions that infertile couples frequently ask," said Dr. James Marks, Director of CDC's National Center for Chronic Disease Prevention and Health Promotion. "What are the chances of having a child using assisted reproductive technology?, and where can patients go for this treatment?"

"For many couples the dream of having a child is not easily realized," said Dr. Lynne Wilcox, Director of CDC's Division of Reproductive Health. "Our hope is that this report will help these couples make a more informed decision."

The report uses self-reported data about outcomes of ART treatments initiated in 1995 from 281 fertility clinics throughout the U.S.

Key findings include:

In 1995, almost 60,000 cycles of ART were carried out in the U.S. (59,142) resulting in 11,315 live births (deliveries where at least one infant is born alive).
The live birth rate per cycle for fresh, nondonor eggs was 19.6 percent.
Thirty-seven percent of all live births resulting from ART were multiple births compared with two percent in the general population.
Age is the most important patient factor in determine success using a woman's own eggs: rates declined after age 34 and are 0 after 46.

The national report presents overall success rates and shows how they are influenced by certain patient and treatment characteristics. It can give couples a good idea of what their average chances are of having a child by using ART.

A woman's chances of having a pregnancy and a live birth by using ART is related to a clinic staff's expertise, the quality of its laboratory and a variety of factors outside the clinic's control. Factors outside a clinic's control covered in this report include the woman's age, the cause of the infertility and the number of children that the woman has already had. Other factors that may also be important in affecting success rates for which data were not available include the length of time that infertility has been a problem and the number of previous unsuccessful ART attempts.

The report is published in three volumes based on geographic region. Each volume contains three parts: a national summary that uses the information from all the reporting fertility clinics to provide an in-depth national picture of ART; fertility clinic reports that provide ART success rates for 259 clinics in the U.S.; and a appendix containing a glossary of terms used in the national and clinic reports, an explanation of how the age-standardized rates were calculated, and the names and addresses of the reporting clinics in the geographic region.

CDC emphasized that the decision to use ART involves many factors in addition to the success rates presented in this report. Before beginning treatment consumers may wish to examine financial, psychological and medical issues as well as a clinic' location, counseling and support services, and staff rapport.

CDC also plans early next year to publish in the Federal Register proposed model standards for laboratories doing assisted reproductive technology. These standards, also required by the Fertility Clinic Success Rate and Certification Act, could be used by states and accreditation organizations to certify embryo laboratories that choose to participate. These proposed standards would be open for public comment.

A copy of the full report, titled "1995 Assisted Reproductive Technology Success Rates: National Summary and Fertility Clinic Reports" is available by contacting RESOLVE at 1-888-299-1585 or www.resolve.org or from the CDC web site, specifically at www.CDC.gov./nccdphp/drh/arts/index.htm. People with questions about ART may also contact RESOLVE.

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Note: HHS press releases are available on the World Wide Web at: http://www.dhhs.gov.

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