How is fertility rate calculated? Exploring the different factors
You often hear that each person is unique. Nowhere is this truer than in the area of fertility. The odds of conceiving and bringing home a healthy baby can vary depending on certain factors. Keeping this in mind, how is fertility rate calculated? The Fertility Center of Las Vegas is here to answer this question and explain how this answer affects fertility success rates at clinics around the country.
How is fertility rate calculated? Diving deeper into this question
Before we go any further, let’s go back to biology class. For conception to occur, you need strong sperm to fertilize a healthy egg, and you need a receptive uterus where the fertilized egg can implant. Infertility occurs when one of these requirements is missing.
Egg quality and quantity. As a woman ages, she has fewer eggs and more of those eggs have chromosomal abnormalities. Additionally, certain fertility issues and lifestyle choices like smoking can affect the eggs and/or interfere with ovulation (the monthly process of releasing an egg).
Sperm quality and quantity. Age also affects male fertility and sperm health, but the decline in fertility doesn’t happen as quickly as it does in women. Male-factor infertility can also lead to problems like a low or absent sperm count or issues with sperm delivery, such as erectile dysfunction and retrograde ejaculation.
Uterine environment. For a successful pregnancy to occur, the fertilized egg needs to implant in the uterine lining. However, issues like uterine fibroids and polyps and abnormal uterine shapes can lead to problems with implantation.
Thankfully, our Las Vegas fertility center offers highly effective treatments that can help overcome issues in all these areas. For example, in vitro fertilization (IVF) with intracytoplasmic sperm injection (ICSI) can help overcome a very low sperm count, while minimally invasive surgery can correct issues like fibroids and polyps.
How do these factors influence fertility success rates at a clinic?
When it comes to determining a fertility clinic’s success rates, experts consider the makeup of the clinic’s patient population. For example, a clinic’s success rates are divided into categories based on the age of the egg provider, because female fertility decreases over time. For a similar reason, clinics also separately report the success rates for cycles that used an egg donor or a gestational carrier. This is one of the best ways to get a clearer picture of a clinic’s success rates.
Contact us to schedule an appointment and learn more. We’re always here to answer questions like, “How is fertility rate calculated?”
