You will need to be familiar with the following terms in order to understand pregnancy rates.

Cycles initiated - The number of couples which began to take fertility medication for the purpose of doing IVF.

Retrievals - The number of couples who successfully completed the medication phase and had an egg retrieval performed NOT ALL COUPLES WHO START THE MEDICATION PHASE WILL MAKE IT TO EGG RETRIEVAL.

Transfers - The number of couples who successfully completed the medication phase, underwent egg retrieval, and had normal Fertilization and growth with the resulting transfer of at least one embryo to the uterus. NOT ALL COUPLES WHO UNDERGO AN EGG RETRIEVAL WILL HAVE EMBRYOS TO TRANSFER TO THE UTERUS

Male factor - Any abnormality in the semen that could results in lower fertilization rates. This includes low sperm counts, low sperm motility, or a high degree of morphologically abnormal sperm.

Egg factor - Any problem which a woman may have that lowers the quality of her eggs and therefore reduces the chance for a successful pregnancy. This category includes women of advanced age, elevated FSH (Follicle Stimulating Hormone), poor stimulation with fertility medications, and/or poor quality of the eggs when viewed under a microscope.

"Mature" Oocytes - Not all eggs that are retrieved during an ART cycle are capable of being fertilized, Viewing under a microscope determines those eggs which will be selected to attempt fertilization. The percentage of mature Oocytes can vary from patient to patient and cycle to cycle.

Fertilization Rate - The number of embryos which demonstrate NORMAL fertilization (two pronuclei seen) divided by the number of MATURE Oocytes which had sperm added or injected.

Clinical pregnancy rate - A pregnancy which has developed far enough along so that it can be visualized as a gestational sac on ultrasound. THIS DOES NOT INCLUDE PREGNANCIES OUTSIDE THE UTERUS (ECTOPIC) OR PREGNANCIES THAT DON'T REACH THE STAGE WHERE THEY CAN BE SEEN ON ULTRASOUND (SO-CALLED BIOCHEMICAL PREGNANCIES). We use clinical pregnancy rates as a standard for comparisons only. NOT EVERY COUPLE THAT HAS A CLINICAL PREGNANCY WILL DELIVER A BABY, SOME WILL STILL HAVE A MISCARRIAGE.