IVF Success Rates: The Questions You Should Be Asking

'We have an 80% success rate.' If a clinic has said this to you, read this article before you proceed. That number almost certainly does not mean what you think it means.

The problem with published success rates

IVF success rates can be reported in many different ways — per cycle started, per egg retrieval, per embryo transfer, or as a cumulative rate over multiple cycles. A clinic quoting 'per embryo transfer' rates will always appear to perform better than one quoting 'per cycle started' — because failed retrievals and cancelled cycles are excluded from the calculation.

Additionally, clinics that accept difficult cases — older patients, poor responders, repeat failures — will have lower raw success rates than those that cherry-pick candidates. A lower published rate at a centre that treats complex cases may reflect greater clinical skill, not lesser.

What to ask instead

Ask for live birth rates — not pregnancy rates. A positive pregnancy test is not a baby. Ask about rates for your specific age group and diagnosis. Ask whether the centre treats difficult cases, and what their approach is when a first cycle fails. Ask about the quality of their laboratory and embryology team — these are the variables that matter most to outcomes.

What we tell our patients

At Ahana, we give every patient a personalised assessment of their likely outcomes — not a headline figure. We explain what the variables are, what we can and cannot control, and what a realistic plan looks like. That conversation takes longer. It is also the only honest one.