How to select the best IVF center

Pursuing fertility treatment is a massive step for any couple suffering from infertility. It also involves a commitment of money and time to ensure a safe and successful process. Therefore, you must follow some crucial steps to find the best IVF centre for your treatment.

Deciding on the right hospital for your fertility treatment is a subjective decision and is rather challenging.

It would be best to consult your doctor, local support group, and anyone else who has taken treatment earlier for feedback and recommendations.

We have picked out some valuable tips to help you choose the best IVF centre.

Many people aren’t familiar with IVF centres in different flavours or categories, depending on various factors. One must know that two clinics are not alike, and the treatment you may receive may be entirely different. Every type has its advantages and disadvantages, with no class being better than another. Choose according to your needs. Here’s the list:

Sole practitioners –Usually, it is a small clinic run by a single doctor, with basic facilities for treating infertility, along with other gynaecology and obstetrics treatment. They are dependent on other IVF centres for some advanced treatment options.

Small practices that have limited infrastructure – These are slightly bigger clinics with their andrology labs, pharmacies, and a small IUI setup. They may or may not have operation theatres for minor procedures. 1 or 2 doctors manage these with skeletal staff.

Full-service Individual practices – IVF centres with almost all facilities but only one unit. These generally tend to have a set of consultant doctors, visiting or full-time embryologists, and a star doctor. They are well known in their geographical area and reasonable practice.

Fertility Chains – These are similar to individual practices but have many centres set up in multiple locations. These have a battery of doctors, embryologists, a panel of specialists, high-end laboratories, a good team of embryologists with robust SOPs, systems, protocols, audit mechanisms, and strong QA and QC.

University-based Setups – These are usually academic-oriented and will train doctors, embryologists, and research projects. They tend to work on the latest protocols and attend to the most complicated cases.

Hospital-based Setups – IVF centres are set up inside existing multi-speciality hospitals, where infertility is one more department amongst many other departments.

Each of them has its benefits. 1 and 2 tend to be lower cost, less waiting time, but not all services will be available under one roof. The team there may not be well versed in all aspects of fertility treatment. The 3rd one (Individual IVF Centres) will undoubtedly be better than 1 and 2. Still, they may not have the best team or the collaboration required for best outcomes between multiple specialists of different departments.

IVF chains provide the best outcomes as there are multiple branches and good specialists who can collaborate and consult their seniors, and peers deliver remarkable results. But they also tend to have more workload so that waiting times may be more. Costs are also higher in chains as there will be stringent protocols and strong corporate governance. University-based setups are more academic and may also disadvantage student trainees in certain aspects of

Try to collect as much information about the clinic you consider for your treatment. You can check out the past reviews and even meet past customers if they are on your contact list to learn about their experience with the clinic. It would be best to visit the place yourself to look at their services and environment. While you visit the place, make sure to check out the following

• What types of equipment do they use?

• What resources does the centre offer?

• What lab facilities do they provide?

• How comfortable are you with the doctor and the support staff?

• How transparent are they with their costs and treatment process?

You can check the success rate of infertility clinics/ IVF centres by asking more about their success rates and what percentage of a surety they provide for the success. Usually, the success rates are mentioned on their official websites, but you should verify the actual numbers yourself to check their credibility. Any top IVF centre in India will be happy to share this with their patients, giving them constant assurance and necessary guidance.

In India, it is observed that individuals drop their plan to visit the fertility hospital due to expenses of treatment, medicines, and lab investigations. But nowadays, there are many payment alternatives available in the area of IVF without compromising quality treatment. For instance, your health insurance policy may cover some aspects of medicine or other related procedures, which will overall decrease the fee. Many options are available to convert your treatment cost into EMI payments at very little or no interest. Choose a centre that can help you with the process to take advantage of these options.

Going through the fertility process involves a roller coaster ride of emotions. Hopefully, the steps mentioned above help educate your stress while choosing an IVF centre to begin your parental journey.

Also, try to make some lifestyle changes, eat healthily, start meditation to maintain your calmness, and stay motivated. Talk to your doctor about any issue you are facing; their advice will ease your unnecessary stress.