Our Success Rates
For over twenty-one years at Waterstone Clinic, we have helped our patients create their families. We are very proud of our world-class success rates and our international reputation for excellence. The absolute best way to understand your particular chance of successful treatment is to talk to one of our Fertility Specialists. Our consultants will explore your test results with you and discuss your unique likelihood of success with us.
What are my chances of having a baby with IVF/ICSI treatment and a blastocyst transfer at Waterstone Clinic??”
We have had a success rate of over 10,000 babies and counting.
It’s not always easy to decipher and compare success rates. At Waterstone Clinic, we use the ultimate measure of success, which is a baby born from treatment. When 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 from that same egg collection.
We present our success rates in this way so that it has a real application for patients. IVF treatment has been transformed by vitrification, the freezing technique used at Waterstone Clinic. More and more babies are born every year from frozen embryo treatments: last year, over 50% of babies born in the clinic were born from 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 measuring its success. It also allows us to compare ourselves in a very exact way to leading clinics in the UK and USA.
While many factors influence success rates, the most significant predictor of success is the age of the intending mother. Here are our success rates by age group for blastocyst transfers in an IVF/ICSI cycle for the period 2019 to 2021, and IUI treatment.
A 2019-2021 Statistics for IVF/ICSI Treatment showing the likelihood of a live birth from an egg collection including frozen embryo transfers.
We have had a success rate of 10,000 babies and counting.
This IUI Treatment statistics demonstrates the likelihood of a live birth for a patient from IUI under 35 years of age with normal fallopian tubes and no significant endometriosis
Our team at Waterstone Clinic always strives to be the best, both in Ireland and internationally. The Irish government does not require clinics to officially publish their success rates, however, the UK and USA do, and we use their official reported statistics to compare our clinic against international leaders.
We compare each age category against the USA and UK averages (sources: CDC, 2020 and HFEA, 2018).
The HFEA is the Human Fertilisation & Embryology Authority, a Government regulator responsible for fertility clinics in the UK. SART is the Society for Assisted Reproductive Technology, the primary organisation of professionals dedicated to assisted reproductive technology treatments in the USA. The CDC is the Centre for Disease Control and Prevention that collates success rates in ART.
| Ages | >35 | 35 – 37 | 38 – 40 | 40 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Waterstone Clinic 2019 -2021 | 54.3% | 54.3% | 54.3% | 54.3% |
| USA Average | 53.7% | 53.7% | 53.7% | 53.7% |
| UK Average | 35% | 35% | 35% | 35% |
Waterstone Clinic was the first clinic in Ireland to introduce the open-system technique of egg vitrification in Ireland, providing patients with the gold standard and establishing an exemplary benchmark to achieve remarkable outcomes.
When eggs are frozen for many years, it is important to consider survival rates and the potential of those eggs to lead to successful pregnancies. This consideration should be central for any clinic offering egg freezing, as they must be able to demonstrate their clinical results if they are offering cryopreservation services.
Waterstone Clinic has extensive experience, delivering a highly effective treatment regimen of using frozen eggs through our imported donor egg programme. Partnering with a European donor recruitment clinic, we import frozen donor eggs that have been frozen using an agreed identical technique to our own. The team at Waterstone Clinic then thaws the eggs, fertilises them, and transfers the embryos to patients within our Clinic.
In an analysis of more than one hundred completed cycles from 2020 to early 2023, our team has demonstrated an egg survival rate of more than 90% from over 1,000 eggs and a live birth rate from each collection of frozen eggs that exceeds 65%.
The team at Waterstone Clinic has an unwavering dedication to evidence-based practices and exceptional results. We are proud to offer egg cryopreservation services that are unparalleled in Ireland
Comparing IVF clinic success rates is an important step in choosing the right fertility clinic for your needs. Success rates can vary widely from one clinic to another, and understanding how to evaluate and compare them can help you make an informed decision.
Here is a guide to interpreting success rate:
Understand the terms: Success rates should ideally be reported in terms of live birth rates per IVF cycle. Clinics may present pregnancy rates and not the live birth rate per egg retrieval cycle or per embryo transfer cycle. The below explains terms used:
- Positive Pregnancy Test: This is the very earliest success point, where a positive result is seen on a pregnancy test. It is not guaranteed at this point that the pregnancy is healthy or that it will proceed normally.
- 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 approx. 5%
- Live Birth: A baby born following treatment.
Analyse Success Rates by Age: Age is a significant factor in IVF success. Fertility declines with age, so clinics should report success rates by age group. Look for data specific to your age group as this can provide a more accurate comparison.
Consider Multiple Years of Data: IVF success rates can vary from year to year due to a variety of factors. Consider looking at success rates over several years to identify trends and consistency in performance.
Compare Success Rates for Specific Procedures: If you are considering procedures such as egg freezing, preimplantation genetic testing (PGT) or egg donation, enquire about success rates for these specific treatments at your chosen clinic.