Chapter three, success rates. In the last episode, I spoke about how important it is to understand a clinic's success rate. To me, the most logical one on which to gauge a clinic is the live birth rate. As this is the result that we all want, to bring home a baby. And this is why understanding the rates that we are told is so important.

IVF clinics generally combine pregnancy rates with their successful transfer rates. When in fact what you need to understand is how important the difference between the two is and why. To make it less complex, the moment an embryo implants into the uterus wall, The cells start to release a hormone into the blood called HCG, human chorionic gonadotropin.

Post embryo transfer, the IVF clinic will do two blood tests and a vaginal ultrasound. The first blood test confirms the presence of HCG. Indicating a successful transfer, and the second will show the evolution of this hormone level. Then, a key difference. The vaginal ultrasound, or the heart beat scan, gives a confirmation of pregnancy.

Confused? Totally understandable, because I was too. Back when I did this, clinics would implant two embryos, with the aim of a single baby, with a higher likelihood of having twins. Improvements in technology and an increased understanding of the whole process has led to higher results, so most clinics today will only do a single embryo transfer.

As a perfect example, I am a father of twins. Two embryos were transferred and twins were born. So this is the equivalent of a 100 percent successful embryo transfer, pregnancy, and live birth rate. If two embryos had been transferred and a single baby born, then you would be right to assume a 100 percent success rate.

But you now know that this is a 100 percent successful transfer rate with a 50 percent live birth rate. Very different things. So, instead of, like me, just relying on CNN to choose your clinic, You can see why success rates are important. IVF clinics have a very similar methodology around embryo creation, but their results can differ drastically.

So how can you check the data? First, every US clinic must report their success rates to either SART, the Society for Assisted Reproductive Technology, Or to the CDC, the Center for Disease Control and Prevention, which allows you to compare against the national average and against other IVF clinics.

Second, ask the clinic for their published success rates. When a clinic is open and transparent about the way they calculated their numbers and they are willing to share the methodology, Then you know that is a good clinic. Remember though, choosing your clinic is not just about effective treatment. It is about a team effort with compassion, exceptional emotional support, and a thorough understanding of the whole process.

Three questions to ask at this point. Question one. What are the clinic's successful transfer and live birth rates? Question two, have you compared your clinic against other clinics and against the national average? Question three, is your clinic open about how they calculated their results?