2019 National ART Summary

Introduction to National Summary

Data from clinics in the United States that use assisted reproductive technology (ART) to treat infertility are a rich source of information about the factors that contribute to a successful ART treatment—the delivery of a healthy infant. Pooling the data from all reporting clinics provides a national picture that could not be obtained by examining data from an individual clinic.

The National ART Summary section includes data from the 448 US fertility clinics in operation in 2019 that provided and verified data on the outcomes of all ART cycles started in their clinics. ART cycles include any process in which (1) an ART procedure is performed, (2) a woman has undergone ovarian stimulation or monitoring with the intent of having an ART procedure, or (3) frozen embryos have been thawed with the intent of transferring them to a woman. For example, an ART cycle could include an embryo transfer from a previously frozen embryo. Another cycle could include stimulation, egg retrieval, and embryo transfer.

Of the 330,773 new ART cycles reported in 2019, a total of 209,687 (63%) were started with the intent to transfer at least one embryo. Among these 209,687 cycles, there were 171,206 embryo transfers. These embryo transfers resulted in 95,030 pregnancies, 77,998 live-birth deliveries (delivery of one or more living infants), and 83,946 infants. The other 121,086 cycles (37%) were banking cycles, where eggs or embryos were cryopreserved (frozen) and stored for potential future use. The 330,773 new ART cycles started in 2019 do not include 10 research cycles that were designed to evaluate a new treatment procedure.

A patient’s chances of having a pregnancy and live-birth delivery when using ART are influenced by many factors. Some of these factors are patient-related, such as the patient’s age or the cause of infertility. Others are clinic-related, such as a clinic’s patient selection practices. The national data include information on many of these factors, which can give potential ART users an idea of the average chances of success.

Average chances, however, do not necessarily apply to a particular individual or couple. To help patients estimate their chance of having a baby through in vitro fertilization (IVF), the most common type of ART, CDC developed the IVF Success Estimator. This tool uses information about the experiences of women and couples with similar characteristics to estimate a person’s chance of having a baby. These estimates are based on the available data and may not be representative of an individual patient’s specific experience. In addition, the IVF Success Estimator does not provide medical advice, diagnosis, or treatment. Couples should talk with their doctor about their specific treatment plan and potential for success. This estimator tool is available at www.cdc.gov/art/ivf-success-estimator.

The National Summary Table in this section provides a full snapshot of clinic services, clinic profiles, patient characteristics, and ART success rates. It combines information from all individual clinic data summaries presented online in ART Fertility Clinic Success Rates using the calculations described .

The National Summary Figures include ART cycles started in 2019 as described above and ­­­provide information about patients who use ART, their reasons, and the types of procedures performed. They also provide data on pregnancy and infant outcomes and 10-year trends of the types of procedures performed and pregnancy outcomes. The figures include ART cycles that used fresh or frozen embryos from a female patient’s own eggs or eggs from another woman (donor eggs). The National Summary Figures are based only on ART cycles performed in 2019 and cannot be used to calculate cumulative success rates.