Evaluating Fertility Clinics

If you are having trouble becoming pregnant and you nor your partner can figure out why, it may be time to visit a fertility clinic. These specialized medical centers can provide some of the most advanced treatments and procedures in order to bring a healthy baby to couple that had once thought their chances of conceiving were non-existent. The most tumultuous part about picking a fertility clinic is choosing the one that will suit you best.

Just like any other industry, the fertility clinic industry is a competitive one and clinics are vying for your business all the time. Most clinics attempt to get you through the door with “guaranteed success rates” and reduced prices on certain treatments, and while these deals may be great, there is more to be aware of and concerned with than just money and prices. Before choosing a clinic, a couple should do a little bit of research to see just how good a certain fertility clinic is and how they stack up against other clinics in the area, the state, and in the country or world.

Do the Success Rates Speak the Truth?

In the previous section we briefly touched on how most clinics attempt to lure you into choosing them by claiming high success rates on infertility treatments such as IUI or IVF. Some clinics claim success rates as high as and exceeding 90%, but just because they printed those figures on a billboard or flyer does not make them true.

Before blindly picking a clinic simply because they stated that their success rates were higher than any other clinics, check their facts and make sure that their advertisement was being truthful. Each and every clinic reports information to the Center for Disease Control (CDC) each year in the United States, and this is just one of the places where you can begin to do your fact checking. In the process of evaluating a specific fertility clinic, you may also happen across other bits of information that can make your decision regarding the clinic easier.

What is Considered a “Success”? 

Let’s say that you did your fact checking, and in the process found out that your fertility clinic was actually being quite truthful in their public advertisements. This is obviously a good sign, but one good sign does not mean your journey is over. In fact, finding out that your clinic has high success rates means that your evaluation has just begun.

To begin to critically analyze success rates, one must first define what a success is. If a couple is seeking 1 healthy child and ends up with 6 babies being born at once, is that a success? Strictly speaking, it is, because at the end of the day the goal of that fertility treatment was to yield you a child and it did exactly that (only it gave you 5 extras in the process). In reality though, not many people plan to have or are even able to take care of 6 children effectively. This is the problem that has plagued fertility clinics all over the world for many years now. All too often a simple fertility treatment goes slightly awry and even though it seemed to have gone off without a hitch, the doctor may bring you the news that you may need a bigger car.

To find out how many instances of multiple births happen at a particular clinic, the CDC would be a good place to start your search, but it may not give you all the answers that you are seeking. To really find out about the fertility clinic in question, you are going to have to go to the internet and other sources to find out how often they produce multiple births.

Are the Numbers Skewed?

If you know anything about fertility, you probably know that as you age your body becomes less and less fertile. Additionally, aging women suffer a fertility loss that is exponentially more dramatic for them than it is for males of the same age. In fact, men do not really have to worry about the potency of their sperm until after the age of 40 and in some cases 45.

The reason the age of successful pregnancies matters is because if a fertility clinic is sporting an average success rate of 85%, but all of the patients are under the age of 25, the 85% success rate would be meaningless to a 32 year old woman.

Some clinics specifically market to younger women solely to pad their numbers and make their clinics look good. You cannot really fault them for taking this approach (because it is a great business model), but if a clinic is marketing to 20-something year olds it will not be of any use to a woman who has aged beyond 35. So the next time you read that a certain clinic has an outrageously high rate of success with their treatments, look a bit deeper into those numbers.

Tying it All Together

Understandably, the above sections are a lot of information to take in at once, but all the information provided could mean the difference between you having a single healthy baby and you becoming the next Octomom. Failing to evaluate a prospective clinic before choosing to go ahead with treatment from it is a pitfall that many unwary couples get trapped in.

The best way to begin your evaluation is to compile a list of all your possible fertility clinic selections, and then rank them from most feasible to least feasible (feasible can mean price, distance, and even staff). Once you have your list of clinics then it becomes time to check out information on the CDC’s website as well as other information from various other sources that are built to help people just like you. With a little bit of effort and common sense you will be on your way to facilitating your dream of having a healthy baby boy or girl.

Understanding the Inability to Conceive

The inability to conceive can mean number of different problems and medical conditions that can be found in both men and women. In the past the popular belief was that a couple’s problems in this area could only be attributed to the female partner, but with advances in medical science we now know that it can be brought on by male partner, female partner, or both partners.


Before a couple can go to a fertility clinic and treat their problems they must first educate themselves on everything they need to know. Without the proper briefing a lot of couples would end up agreeing to pay for expensive treatments that they do not actually need or simply be confused by every word the doctors are saying to them.

What Causes The Inability to Conceive?

This is the first question out of most couple’s mouths because unlike a broken arm or the chicken pox, you cannot typically visibly see the cause. This is because fertility problems happen within your body and typically have no painful symptoms or clear warning signs. Most couples discover their inability to conceive after unsuccessfully attempting to become pregnant for a time period of at least 6 months. After multiple attempts to become pregnant the next step a couple takes is to visit their local fertility clinic or family doctor and begin asking questions.

Fertility Problems in Females

For women who are 35 or older, the reason for their problems with conception may be a very simple one; age. Something a lot of people do not know is that as you grow older, your overall fertility begins to decrease. This happens to both men and women as they age, but the decline of fertility tends to be much more aggressive in females than it is in males. By age 40 most women are considered to be on the verge of being completely infertile, but men of the same age are more than likely going to be able to facilitate a healthy pregnancy. If you catch the problem early enough, there are plenty of fertility treatments that exist to be able to help you become pregnant but your chances of success decrease with each passing day so it is important to act quickly.

Another common cause of problems with fertility in women is the lack of ovulation and egg production. If a woman does not ovulate that means that a healthy egg is never produced and a pregnancy has 0 chance of being created. In response to the lack of ovulation in females there are many different fertility drugs that supply a woman with the hormones she is missing in order to ovulate. If these simple drugs do not do the trick, there are also simple fertility treatments that can help a woman ovulate.
Sometimes a woman is able to ovulate, but the egg(s) which she produces are deficient in some way or another. Often times the problem with the egg lies within the formation, for example, the outer layer of the female egg is so thick that any and all sperm are unable to penetrate it, thus eliminating the possibility of fertilization. Just like in the aforementioned situation, there are plenty of drugs that help a woman produce healthy eggs and treatments that go hand in hand with these drugs as well.

These are just some of the reasons a woman may be considered to be infertile, but with today’s advances in medicine and technology, for almost every fertility problem there is at least one fertility solution whether it be in the form of a fertility drug or fertility treatment. To find out all about the different types of treatments and drugs for female conception problems, check out the abundance of information we offer on the other pages of our site.

Fertility Problems in Males

Men that experience fertility issues are a bit different than issues women have for obvious reasons, and because of that many of the treatments and procedures are completely different for men than they are for women. Problems to conceive for men can be caused by age, but some men have been known to still be fertile at the age of 50 and beyond so age is less of a factor than it is in female problems.

The main causes of male fertility problems lie within the genre of sperm production and formation. Many men either have a problem producing abundant and plentiful supplies of sperm whereas others are able to produce sperm but the sperm themselves are not well formed. Both of these issues are very serious and can be the reason a couple is unable to become pregnant, but just like many of the aforementioned situations these too have a plethora of solutions.

When a man is unable to produce enough sperm to fertilize a female egg naturally then it comes time to address possible alternatives to impregnating his female partner. One of these solutions is a procedure called ICSI, or Intracytoplasmic Sperm Injection, where a doctor takes a single sperm and injects it directly into a female egg. This process is different than natural fertilization because, for one, it happens outside the body, and instead of thousands of sperm vying to fertilize the egg, there is just one that is injected.

If the problem with the sperm lies in its formation, then this is an entirely new and different scenario. If a man’s sperm is misshaped or missing parts it can affect its effectiveness completely. For example, sometimes a man’s sperm is perfect in every way except that the tail is missing or ineffective. If this is the case then a doctor will likely prescribe medication in order to help fix the problem. If a fertility specialist is unable to solve your sperm formation problem, then you may have to look into other alternatives such as making use of sperm from a donor.

Problems with fertility can be caused, as you can see, by a variety different problems and can affect both men and women. If you think that you may be suffering from one or more of these problems your best option would be to contact your local fertility clinic and have them examine your fertility, after all they are the experts.

Coping With Problems While Trying to Get Pregnant

If you or your partner is suffering from fertility issues it can be one of the most difficult periods of your life. The day to day uncertainty of whether or not you will be able to have a child can bring about stress the likes of which you have never experienced. There is no one, right or correct, way to deal with the trials and tribulations that come along with male and female difficulties, but there are a number of different options you have. The most important thing that you should remember through it all is that you are not alone, there are thousands and thousands of other men and women in situations just like yours.

Get Your Mind Off Things

If you are suffering from conception problems and simply cannot get the thought out of your mind it can really begin to affect your personal life. All too often both men and women who are battling their fertility problems see their daily lives take a turn for the worse and they begin neglecting the things they love such as friends, family, and their other interests. It is easy to see how a person’s personal life can be negatively affected, but it is imperative that you try to overcome these negative side effects.

While this may be a time in your life where you would rather sulk and be left alone, doctors and specialists agree that it is at this time where you should be out doing things you enjoy in order to get your mind off of your medical condition. Go catch up with old friends or simply indulge in your favorite hobbies; anything that interests you can be a good escape from the mental torture that a lot of folks put themselves through. Telling someone to get their mind off things is a solution that may seem too simple to be true, but it can help immensely.

Seek Treatment

Being infertile is not a permanent thing in most cases and with most people. Problems can be overcome and are being overcome by people all over the world on a daily basis. We live in a day in age where medical science has advanced passed even our wildest imaginations. There are so many different types of treatments and medications that have been developed to treat and cure almost any type of conception trouble.

The first step in seeking treatment is to go see your local fertility clinic and set up an appointment with the doctor(s) there. At a fertility clinic the doctors can perform something called a diagnostic test which will help both them and you understand your body at a higher level. Once the cause of your difficulties are figured out, then the doctors can go about developing plans for treating your defficiencies.

Treatment is a general term that can mean anything from taking some medication all the way up to receiving a fertility treatment such as IVF, ICSI, or IUI. Obviously, the type of treatment you receive for your issues will depend on the severity of the case itself and the doctor or clinic you choose to go to.

Many couples actually shop around at different clinics before picking one to treat them because not every clinic is a cookie cutter mold of the last one. Clinics have different success rates and different treatment options and picking the one that is right for you is incredibly important and can have a direct impact on whether or not you become pregnant. Also before receiving treatment you should check out all of the different bits of information we have to offer you. We provide detailed descriptions of nearly every fertility treatment that includes expected duration, how the procedure is performed, and the recovery time (if there even is recovery time).

Seek Professional Medical Help

The whole ordeal can have quite the impact on your mental health. Many couples, after finding out that they may never be able to have a child, become a completely different person and slip into a deep depression. While this is a common occurrence, it should never be overlooked because mental stability is something we all need in life.

Something you can do to make sure that you are in good mental health is to visit a psychiatrist. Psychiatrists exist to help you cope with the happenings in your life and to address the situation more readily many fertility clinics staff at least one psychiatrist. Your psychiatrist can do a lot to help you remain yourself when coping with the mental siege that the problems with conception seem to wage on people’s minds.

Consider Adoption

Sometimes the health problems are not able to be overcome even with multiple treatments and a plethora of fertility drugs. This is a harsh reality, but a reality for some folks nonetheless. In many cases a couple views this as the end of their chances of having a child of their own but that does not have to be the case. Adoption is the next best alternative and while it may not be your first option, it may be your only option.



With that being said, it is important that you are adopting a child for the right reasons. Adopting a child simply because you want to have a child is fine, but if you can never see yourself fully loving and caring for an adopted child you are doing both the child and yourself a disservice.

Adoption can be done from anywhere in the world and in almost any circumstances. The type of adoption you choose can be domestic or international and there are of course differences with both options. Just like when preparing to receive fertility treatment you must do your research on adoption. The reason research is such a necessity is because there are thousands and thousands of laws surrounding adoption, and as you move from country to country these laws are constantly changing. Without the proper adoption education you can land yourself in a sticky situation that probably could have been easily avoided.

These are just some of the ways you can cope with your fertility problems, and remember, even if it seems like the end of the road…it isn't…there are always other alternatives.

Discovering Treatments to Increase Your Chances

As a couple, finding out that you are suffering from fertility issues can seem like the end of the road, but it doesn't have to be. If you and your partner are unable to become pregnant after trying for a period of time of at least 6 months then you should definitely head to your local fertility clinic and have the doctors perform a diagnostic test to determine what is causing your health issue.

After the diagnostic test is complete your doctors can begin to formulate a plan as to how they are going to combat your troubles to conceive. Most often, and if your condition is severe enough, the doctor will recommend that you receive a treatment such as IVF or IUI as he or she feels that these procedures may do a fantastic job at correcting your trouble to conceive.

Types of Procedures

Like most things in the medical field, the chances of an average, every day individual understanding the inner workings of a treatment are very slim. Luckily, you and I do not need to understand the inner workings and the procedures themselves are typically straightforward and easy to understand.

Surgical procedures are the ones that involve a doctor physically entering the body (whether through and orifice or through an incision). In a surgery like the one that happens during IVF Treatment doctors must physically enter the female patient and retrieve eggs for the treatments to be able to work. This is a surgery, but all in all it is fairly painless and quickly completed. In most cases, the treatments that require surgery are typically the more severe ones and your doctor will give you a lot of information about what to expect beforehand.



If your internal reproductive organs are what is preventing you from facilitating a healthy pregnancy your doctor may prescribe fertility medicines in order to help correct the internal problems. If medicine alone is unable to cure your problem or help you, then it becomes time for a more invasive, complete surgery. One example of a time when a relatively invasive surgery cannot be avoided is in the case of a reverse vasectomy. This is so because in order to reverse a vasectomy the doctor must physically go inside the patient and reconnect the vas deferens. In women there are plenty of reasons why an invasive surgery must be used, but each fertility issue is different therefore so too are the treatments that treat them.

Medicines Used

This may seem completely unlike most treatments that you have received throughout your life, but sometimes infertile couples only need fertility medication in order to overcome their problems. The type of fertility medication and how much of it is required depends on the severity of your conception trouble as well as your age. Some medicines that could be useful for someone in their 20s may be completely useless for someone in their 30s, because of this, doctors and scientists have been working tirelessly to come up with medicines that can treat or at least help treat nearly all types of problems.

Continuing with the medicines used for infertile couples, some medicines are administered in different fashions. For example, some of these drugs can be taken only by way of needle and for those of you that are petrified of needles this obviously becomes a problem. Like many other pharmaceuticals, the drugs given to folks suffering from difficulties can come in pill form, liquid form, and in some cases injection form. Luckily with advances in medical science most of these medications and drugs can be found in a variety of different forms.

Multiple Attempts

When heading into treatments, a lot of couples think that they will, without a doubt, end up walking away with a healthy child on their first attempt. The reality of the matter is that many couples see no success on their first attempt at certain fertility treatments and are instead forced to try the same treatment a number of different times before either abandoning it or moving on to another treatment. It is wise to take a clinic's success rates into account before you decide on a clinic as well.

IVF treatment is one of the treatments that couples can go through multiple times if results were not yielded the first time. There have been stories of couples receiving an IVF treatment as many as 6 different times before they saw positive results. With that being said you are probably wondering how much money these treatments will cost. Typically, 6 treatments of IVF would be enough to make a guy like Bill Gates cringe, but nowadays many clinics and insurance providers are offering packages where you receive multiple IVF treatments for a reduced price. This not only gives you less to worry about should a procedure fail, but it also saves you money in the process. And anyone dealing with issues can attest to any amount of saved money can go quite a long way.

At the end of the day almost every type of treatment is able to be repeated if it does not work the first time. In fact, some treatments have a higher chance of success the 2nd or third time through than they did on the first attempt alone.

Your Clinic

Let’s say you are going to need to receive an IVF treatment in the near future. Obviously you will be taking the proper precautionary steps, but one step that is left out a lot of the time is check the credentials of the clinic who is about to perform your procedure.

While most clinics may offer an IVF treatment, some clinic are flat out better and more effective at offering the treatment than others. By doing a little bit of research you can find out what type of treatments a particular clinic is known for and if your clinic has not gotten good reviews about the treatment you need, then maybe it is time to reconsider things and start looking for a new fertility clinic. These are just a few of the many things that you should consider and understand when looking to receive fertility treatment.

Fertility Treatments, Clinics, and Success Rates

When a couple that is suffering from conception problems would like to seek treatment, there is going to be a lot of different things weighing on their mind. One of these things is whether or not a fertility treatment will even end up yielding a successful pregnancy and a healthy child. While there is no definite treatment that will work for every couple 100% of the time, there are treatments and clinics that are better than others and can give you a better opportunity of conceiving a child.

Couples can do a lot for themselves in order to ensure the best possible chance of conceiving a child through use of fertility treatments are fertility clinics. The only problem is that many couples will not put in the effort it takes to become fully aware of how they can put themselves in the best possible position to walk away from treatment with a healthy child.

Picking the Right Clinic

Something that many couples overlook when it comes to receiving fertility treatments is the clinic that they choose to receive treatment from. Much like grocery stores, beauty salons, and even sporting goods stores, fertility clinics are all different and offer different products and services. If you really like a specific fertility clinic but they do not offer the treatment you need, then it is obviously not going to be a smart decision to pick that clinic as your primary one.

In addition to treatment selection, some clinics are flat out better than others. Clinics gain reputations, both good and bad, quite quickly and those reputations stick with them for a while. Before picking a clinic you should do your research and find out what past patients have to say about the clinic you are considering. Thanks to technology there are hundreds and hundreds of websites that offer reviews on clinics from patients who actually received treatment there. Sure, every single patient is different, but if you begin to see a lot of negative feedback being thrown in the general direction of a particular clinic then it would be a wise decision to stay away from it.

Additionally, each year clinics release the numbers of treatments that they have given out and the outcome of these treatments. The clinics who gain a reputation for outputting many positive fertility treatment results are the ones who will have a large fan base and will bring in new customers all the time. Clinics with a shaky track record will be fairly easy to spot and thus avoid. We have made an article to help you compare fertility clinics, read more about it in 'comparing fertility clinics'.

The last thing you should do when visiting fertility clinics is to take a trip into the clinic and see things for yourself. By meeting the doctors and staff that will potentially be assisting you, you are gaining first hand experience about what you can expect when it comes time to make official visits and receive treatment. Someone’s opinion on an internet blog is fine, but until you see the clinic for yourself you are completely relying on someone else’s opinion.

Fertility Treatment Success Rates

If you are about to undergo a certain fertility procedure, you are going to want to be enduring the treatment that has the highest likelihood of giving you a child. The problem with this is that as a patient you do not always have the luxury of picking which treatment you receive because some treatments are more fitting for your specific situation than others. For example, while IVF treatment may have incredibly high rates of success when performed at your clinic, IVF treatment may not be what your issue requires.


Once your fertility doctor figures out exactly what treatment will work for you, he or she will then give you a bit of insight into the success rates of that treatment. The problem with success rates is that while they may give you a good idea as to your chances of having a healthy child, they are not a guarantee and your results may be different than other people who were in similar situations.

New fertility treatments, and treatments that are a derivative of already existing treatments are popping up all the time and the general rate of success amongst fertility treatments is rising. On top of that, even if one treatment fails on the first attempt, many procedures are able to be completed multiple times. For example, there are stories of women who have gone through IVF treatment as many as 5 or 6 times before seeing positive results. Even though you may not see success on your first or even your second attempt through a fertility treatment, there is always hope of trying again or moving on to a different type of treatment.

Wrap Up

At the end of the day the main thing that you should take away from this is that no matter how good a fertility treatment is claimed to be, it is not going to work 100% of the time ever. The only thing you can do to improve your chances of seeing success from a fertility treatment is by picking a reputable clinic and agreeing to a treatment that is known to produce positive results.
Finding a reputable clinic is as easy as an internet search or scrolling through the telephone book. The worst mistake you can make is by settling on the first clinic you find, because even though that clinic may be convenient in one way or another, it is not necessarily going to be the clinic that will help you most effectively.
By doing your research and reading about the treatment(s) you are to receive and the clinic(s) that you are going to visit you can ensure that you won’t be in for any unwanted surprises. Research is the most important part about giving yourself a high rate of success for fertility treatments, but it is also one of the most overlooked aspects too.

Comparing Fertility Clinics

Receiving the news that you, your partner, or both of you are suffering from conception difficulties can be a trying experience. Most people take the ability to facilitate a healthy pregnancy for granted so when that ability is absent in them most couples become understandably distraught. Luckily for them we live in a day in age where fertility medicine and science is at a level that has never been reached before. 
Fertility clinics are a big reason why many of these hopeless, distraught couples end up battling through their trouble and end up giving birth to a healthy child or children. With the advances in science and medicine that we witness today, fertility clinics are becoming more readily available while at the same time offering care that is improving on a daily, weekly, and yearly basis. But before you seek the services of a particular fertility clinic it is imperative that you do a little shopping around. Pick a handful of fertility clinics that you deem appropriate and review them based on things like past customer reviews, treatments offered, and the experience of the clinic’s staff. If you cover all your bases and do the appropriate amount of research before jumping into it, your fertility treatment experience will not only be pleasant, it will be fruitful as well.

Clinics and Insurance

For many couples one of the main aspects of a fertility clinic that they weigh in on most is how well the clinic is able to interact with your insurance provider. You see, in the past nearly every insurance provider and plan denied customers who were seeking treatments because they did not see fertility treatments as being necessary to be covered in insurance plans. While that practice is slowly changing (both by choice and governmental force in some regions), many insurance companies still do not cover a majority of treatments and services offered by fertility clinics.

By shopping around and making in depth comparisons of fertility clinics you can find out which clinic will not only offer you the best service, but offer you that service at an affordable price with maximum insurance coverage. Before jumping into any fertility treatments it would also be wise to have a conversation with your insurance provider simply to see and understand where you fall as far as treatment coverage goes.

In the past there have been horror story after horror story of couples who failed to do their research and end their fertility treatment process with a bill that they could not even come close to being able to afford.

Clinics and Surgery

A fact that gets lost amongst many couples looking for a fertility clinic to utilize is that every clinic is not the same at all. For some reason the popular belief is that each and every fertility clinic is a cookie cutter mold of the last, but in reality nothing could be further from the truth.

Just like one sporting goods store is not exactly like another, fertility clinics too differ from town to town, state to state, and country to country. The differences you may experience could be anything from a clinic that caters specifically to one gender or a clinic that only specializes in certain treatments. Regardless of a clinic’s specification, it is going to take some research and shopping around to determine which fertility clinic will fit your individual needs.

The surgeries and treatments offered at fertility clinics vary depending on gender, so if you are a woman who is seeking an IVF treatment, going to a fertility clinic that specializes in vasectomy reversal or other male fertility procedures would not make much sense. Little things like learning the surgical background of a clinic can be immensely helpful when deciding upon which fertility clinic that you should use. Check if clinics offer sperm and egg donation as well, it will be an indicator of how far their expertise reaches.

Clinic Experience, Lifetime

Whenever you are watching sports or any other type of competition, analysts and experts consistently comment on the importance of experience. The athletes that have been in the Olympics once or twice before will not suffer from the same pregame jitters and nervousness as the athlete who is making their Olympic debut and because of that many would give the competitive edge to the seasoned Olympic veteran.

Fertility clinics work in much the same fashion; the longer a clinic has been practicing, the more experience it has and the more likely it is that they will offer you the utmost quality of care. While this is the case a lot of the time, it is important to remember that just because one clinic has been operating longer than another does not automatically make that clinic “better.” A newer clinic can offer the same great service as longstanding clinics but it would be wise to put newer clinics under heavier scrutiny simply because longevity means a lot in this industry.
Another great thing about clinics that have been around for a long time is that they will have years and years of records that you can refer to. What I mean by this is that you can see the historic success rates of a particular treatment at this clinic over the course of the clinic’s existence. Choosing clinics with consistently higher rates of success is an obvious choice every time.

Sperm and Egg Donation

For couples all over the world, egg and sperm donations become an integral part in them becoming pregnant and conceiving a child. The reason for this is because one half, or both halves, of a partnership may be unable to produce healthy sperm or eggs. If a couple is unable to produce both healthy eggs and sperm a healthy pregnancy will never be able to be carried out and alternative options will need to be considered.

One of these other options is to be the recipient of an egg or sperm donation. By making use of a donor’s eggs or sperm a couple can wholly increase their chances of having a child and this can turn a seemingly lost hope into a dream realized.

Being the Recipient

As the recipient of an egg or sperm donation you are endeavoring into a path of fertility treatment that not many people often venture down. The thought of someone else’s egg or sperm being the impetus for the creation of your child is an intense thought that is hard for many couples to wrap their heads around.

The reason for a sperm or egg donation may be because one or both partners is unable to produce a healthy semen or egg sample and therefore would be unable to conceive a child naturally. If the woman is unable to produce eggs completely, she will be the recipient of a donor egg and the process of in vitro fertilization will begin. Everything in the IVF process is normal with the only difference being that the egg in use is of another woman, not the one who wishes to become pregnant. It works the same way when a man is unable to produce a semen sample and must rely on donor sperm.
As the recipient of a donor egg or sperm your are entitled to a few things including an extensive background and health check of the person who is donating the egg. Recipients will be able to choose the donor they wish to receive from and will be able to learn and know all about their health, age, and even what they look like. In some cases the donors and recipients will meet prior to the actual egg or sperm donation; this of course must be agreed upon by both parties.

Typically, the hardest part about being the recipient of a sperm or egg donation is dealing with the fact that you are unable to provide sperm or eggs of your own. The fact that you must rely on the donation of another person in order to become pregnant is enough to make most people feel inadequate or insufficient. The mental struggle that this can cause can be extraordinary and too much for some people to handle. Before receiving an egg or sperm donation it is important to make sure that you are in the right state of mind to be doing so .

Being the Donor

Being the donor of eggs or sperm is another side of the coin that many people do not even consider. The joy you can bring a family by donating an egg or sperm is so immense that you may not even realize it all.

For men, donating semen is one of the simplest processes around. Once you are approved all you have to do is venture down to your local sperm bank where you will be given a private room and a cup that you are supposed to ejaculate into. The approval process is, as you would expect, quite rigorous and not just anyone can donate sperm. Sperm donations are only accepted from the healthiest individuals and even the slightest health hiccups can mean that your donation will not be accepted.
In many parts of the world sperm and egg donors are financially compensated for doing so. On top of the joy you receive from helping another couple achieve their dream of having a child, you can also be given money for donating too.

How Donor Eggs are Utilized

Once you donate and egg/sperm, or receive eggs/sperm, you will probably want to know what the eggs and sperm are going to be used for and how they are going to be used. Most typically the donor eggs and sperm are used in conjunction with an IVF treatment. The reason for this is because in order for donor sperm to fertilize an egg or for a donor egg to be fertilized by sperm the process must take place outside of the body.

The chances of a woman becoming pregnant by way of a donor’s eggs or sperm are typically a bit higher than through a normal IVF treatment alone because only the healthiest eggs and sperm are selected to be used during an IVF treatment with donor eggs or sperm. With healthier eggs and more potent sperm the likelihood that you will have to receive multiple IVF treatments is quite slim.

Wrap Up

All in all, using donor sperm and eggs is not as much as an undertaking as it sounds like. The biggest issue that must be overcome is the fact that couples must cope with the eggs and/or sperm being from someone outside the partnership. This is a saddening fact, but it is a fact nonetheless and unless a couple would like to remain childless, they have no choice but to turn to sperm and egg adoption.

Before making the first step towards adoption you should, as always, do your research. Find out the different options that different clinics offer and you must assuredly check the laws and regulations in the region which you live in. Because things like egg and sperm donation are relatively new practices, there are a lot of new rules and regulations that are being created surrounding the practice. This bit of information becomes especially important when you are dealing with donations that are happening on an international level. Do as much research as possible so you can avoid coming across any unwanted surprises later down the road.