Will my treatment be successful?

I am aged 37 or younger. Following IVF/ICSI treatment and a blastocyst transfer, what are my chances of pregnancy at Waterstone Clinic?

I am aged 38 or older. Following IVF/ICSI treatment and a blastocyst transfer, what are my chances of pregnancy at Waterstone Clinic?

We measure success differently to many other clinics. The success rate that matters most to us and to our patients is the number of babies born following treatment, called the “live birth rate”.

Our patients want to know: “if I have fertility treatment, what is the chance I will have a baby?”  

While many factors influence success rates, the most significant predictor of success is the age of the intending mother. Below are our success rates looking at the most common treatments, IVF/ICSI and IUI (a more simple intervention).

To put the success rates in perspective, a couple with no fertility issues at age 35 attempting to conceive without intervention have around a 2% chance of conceiving on their own each month.

 

Why are our most recent success rates from 2017?

It’s not always easy to decipher success rates, and we must be clear about what we understand as “a cycle” and what we understand as success. At Waterstone Clinic, we use the ultimate measure of success, which is a baby born from treatment. While reporting the rates of success from our IVF/ICSI cycles, we look at a complete cycle, which spans from the initial egg collection to any frozen embryo transfers that take place within 2 years from that same egg collection.

“We present our success rates in this complete way so that it has a real application for patients”, explains Dr John Waterstone. “IVF treatment has been transformed by vitrification, the freezing technique we use at Waterstone Clinic. More and more babies are born every year from frozen embryo treatments: last year, 42% of babies born in the clinic were born via frozen embryos. Patients can now have their families from one cycle of IVF, so it makes sense to look at each IVF/ICSI treatment as a whole when discussing its success. It also allows us to compare ourselves in a very exact way to leading clinics in the UK and USA.”

To compare our rates, we must present our data in the same way as the official statistics from the UK and USA. The most recent HFEA and SART reports are from 2017. The HFEA (UK) includes a time frame of one year post egg collection, and SART (US) includes frozen embryo transfers up to two years post egg collection. Both the HFEA and SART use the same measure of success as we do: a baby born from treatment, so the time period is not complete until 9 months after the final date for embryo transfer, i.e. up to Sept 2020.

Detailed International Comparisons

In a detailed comparison of our success rates, below are statistics in each respective age category against the UK average (source: HFEA, 2017) and the US average (source: SART, 2017). Waterstone Clinic exceeds or closely matches the rate in each category.

Comparison with the UK live birth rate per egg collection (2017) in an IVF/ICSI cycle, incl. frozen embryos transfers within 12 months

Comparison with the US live birth rate per egg collection (2017) in an IVF/ICSI cycle, incl. frozen embryos transfers within 24 months

It’s not always easy to understand what statistics mean for you personally. The absolute best way to understand your particular chance of successful treatment is to talk to one of our consultants.

When you compare success rates across clinics, it is important to understand the data being presented, and each of the success rates being quoted. It is common to see clinics quote “pregnancy rates”, but we would advise caution as pregnancy rates are higher than live birth rates due to the incidence of natural pregnancy loss.

Types of Success:

• Conception/Positive Pregnancy Test: This is the very earliest success point, where a positive result is seen on a pregnancy test
• 6 Week Pregnancy Scan: This is an early pregnancy scan two weeks after the positive test. A pregnancy sac should be visible on ultrasound and this is a positive sign of pregnancy. It is not guaranteed at this point that the pregnancy is healthy or that it will proceed normally. 
• Clinical Pregnancy (8 Week Scan): This is an early pregnancy scan a month after the positive pregnancy test and two weeks after the pregnancy sac can be seen. At this scan, you should see fetal heart activity. If a fetal heartbeat can be seen at 8 weeks, the rate of pregnancy loss at this point is less than 5%.
• Live Birth: This is the ultimate success rate, a baby born following treatment.

These numbers can be a lot to navigate: we are always happy to help and discuss your individual likelihood of success at our clinic.

Deciding which clinic will give you the best chance possible to have your family can be confusing. Here is a list of things to consider when choosing a clinic.