US IVF Success Rates

When planning a US surrogacy journey, intended parents understandably want to work with the fertility clinic that will give them the best chance of a positive pregnancy. It is only natural to want to work with medical professionals whose success rates are the highest, but there are a lot of other factors that come into play and a lot of decisions that impact whether you ultimately have a healthy baby. In reality, fertility clinic success rates are only a small piece of the puzzle that makes up success.

What else is important when planning a successful US surrogacy journey?

Surogacy in the US is professionally managed and typically involves surrogacy agencies, egg donation agencies, attorneys, escrow agents, UK lawyers and more. There are many organisations and professionals involved and many for you to choose from. We can support you with exploring your options and connecting you with the professionals who will support you in the best way possible, based on your needs and individual circumstances.

Egg/sperm donor selection

If you aren’t able to use your own eggs or sperm, you will need to find a donor to support you. A lot of intended parents find that our support through this process is invaluable; where to find a donor, what to look for in a donor, what qualities they should have apart from the obvious physical ones and how do you narrow down the search. The health and age of your donor will affect your chances of success in fertility treatment as well as the clinic you choose.

Using your own eggs/sperm/embryos

If you are able to use your own eggs or sperm, you will need to think about making a treatment plan. Should you create embryos with a UK clinic and then ship them to the US, or should you go through the IVF process with your chosen clinic in the US? If you have already created embryos here in the UK, can you ship them to the US, what is involved and how long does it take? We can talk you through the various options and help you decide the best way forward for you.

Surrogacy agency choice

You will need to find a surrogate who can safely carry and grow your precious embryo into a healthy baby, while also having a good relationship with you. Finding an agency that understands how international surrogacy works is key. We can help you narrow down what is important to you in your surrogate match and in your surrogacy journey, make recommendations of agencies we believe will meet those expectations and support you in finding the best US surrogate for you.

When thinking about agency choice, we will also help you to understand which agencies will work well with any US fertility clinic that you have chosen. The clinic will need to make sure your surrogate is able to carry a pregnancy safely and successfully and will apply certain criteria and screening. Clinics and agencies that have experience of working together will make the process much smoother and the agency will know in advance what criteria your surrogate will need in order to be cleared by your clinic to move forward.

The time it takes to match with a surrogate

One of the biggest draws for intended parents pursuing a surrogacy journey in the US is quicker match times, giving you certainty that you will have a chance of a baby within a reasonable timeframe. Agencies in the US are able to predict with more accuracy how long it will take for you to be presented with a potential surrogate match, and this wait time is significantly less than a wait in the UK, on average 6 months but can also be quicker.

What else affects fertility clinic success rates?

There are a few factors that determine the success rates of IVF and not all of them are directly related to the clinic itself. Generally speaking, fertility treatment for surrogacy is more likely to be successful in the US than in the UK because there is a more favourable environment.

Age of egg donor

IVF success rates generally decline as the age of the woman whose eggs are being used increases. Between the ages of 24 to 34 women have the highest likelihood of a successful pregnancy with IVF. Egg donors in the US are typically much younger than UK donors, and this increases the number and quality of eggs retrieved and leads to more embryos being created and higher success.

Chromosome testing as standard

It is more common for embryos created in the US to undergo PGT-A testing, where this is less common in the UK. This is a test conducted once the embryos have reached blastocyst stage and can determine the chromosomal make-up of the embryo. This testing gives a good indication of the health of the embryo. Research in the US has shown that embryos with a chromosomal abnormality are more likely to result in either an unsuccessful embryo transfer or a miscarriage. By selecting those embryos that don’t show chromosomal abnormalities, the clinicians are using the embryos likely to give you the highest chance of success.

Surrogate

Your surrogate will also play a big factor in the success rates of a journey. In the US, surrogates undergo a lengthy preparation and screening process, with both surrogacy agencies and fertility clinics applying rigorous screening to ensure that surrogates are the best candidates to carry your baby. Surrogates know exactly what it is they are entering into and are thoroughly checked by medical professionals meeting guidelines set by the American Society of Reproductive Medicine before being allowed to move forward to a match. They will have given birth to at least one child of their own and will be confirmed healthy and safe, both medically and psychologically.

What are the US clinic success rates?

Fertility clinics in the US report and verify data on the number of assisted reproduction cycles and outcomes during each calendar year. An example of where they can be accessed is on the CDC’s website. This data however is often a few years out of date, as it takes a significant amount of time to gather and process.

Although a US fertility clinic’s success rates might initially seem to be the biggest question if you are considering a US surrogacy journey and want to give yourself the best chance of success, in fact it is a part of a big puzzle and there are many other factors you need to consider. We can support and guide you not just with choosing the best fertility clinic, but also through each stage of the process, recommending professionals based on your needs, preferences and own circumstances.