Thursday, February 04, 1999
Tristate fertility clinics have below-average success rates
BY TIM BONFIELD
The Cincinnati Enquirer
Most fertility clinics in Ohio, Kentucky and Indiana fall short of national averages for successful births.
But Tristate couples are less likely than average to end up with twins, triplets or more babies after fertility treatments, according to statistics posted on the Internet that were released late Tuesday by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
The report examines about 300 fertility clinics whose treatments produced more than 20,600 babies in 1996. The Enquirer compiled information about 21 clinics in Ohio, Kentucky and Indiana, including three in Cincinnati.
• Of those 21 clinics, six exceeded the national average for multiple births.
• Twelve of the 21 clinics fell short of the national birth rate of 28.7 percent for women under 35, the most common group of women seeking in-vitro fertilization.
• Birth rates range from 10 percent to 36.6 percent.
• Nationwide, 38 percent of all IVF births involved twins or more. The figures were even higher — 42.1 percent — for women under 35.
In Cincinnati, the Bethesda Center for Reproductive Health and Fertility posted the highest birth rates and multiple-birth rates. Rates at the Greater Cincinnati Institute for Reproductive Health at Christ Hospital were slightly below the average.
Christ Hospital's program is the biggest in town, performing 733 IVF treatments in 1996. Bethesda performed 167 treat ments while the University of Cincinnati Center for Reproductive Health performed 69 treatments.
Patients should be cautious when comparing the data, said Dr. Lynne Wilcox, director of CDC's Division of Reproductive Health.
“Success largely depends on the age of the woman, the cause of infertility and previous births,” she said.
In addition, clinics can vary widely in deciding how long to continue treatments, a factor not fully measured in the CDC report, yet which can affect birth rates.
“Because of these many factors, the average chances published in the report do not necessarily apply to a particular individual or couple.”
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