Fertility clinics are staffed medical clinics that assist couples, and sometimes individuals, who want to become parent

Parent

A parent is a caretaker of the offspring in their own species. In humans, a parent is of a child . Children can have one or more parents, but they must have two biological parents. Biological parents consist of the male who sired the child and the female who gave birth to the child...

s but for medical reasons have been unable to achieve this goal via the natural course. Clinics apply a number of diagnosis tests and sometimes very advanced medical treatments to obtain the desired conceptions

Fertilisation

Fertilisation is the fusion of gametes to produce a new organism. In animals, the process involves the fusion of an ovum with a sperm, which eventually leads to the development of an embryo...

 and pregnancies

Pregnancy

Pregnancy refers to the fertilization and development of one or more offspring, known as a fetus or embryo, in a woman's uterus. In a pregnancy, there can be multiple gestations, as in the case of twins or triplets...

.

Clinic Staff

Fertility clinics are staffed with highly trained personnel including Reproductive Endocrinologists, Embryologists, Sonographers, and Nurses. Additional specialists from Acupuncture, Hypnotherapy, and Nutrition may also be part of the team.

Diagnosis

Fertility Clinics look to both males and females for diagnosis of fertility problems. Diagnosis has shown that fertility problems arise 35% of the time from males, 35% from female, 20% from combined issues, and 10% from unexplained causes. For the male, semen collection

Semen collection

Semen collection refers to the process of obtaining semen from domestic animals or humans with the use of various methods, for the purposes of artificial insemination, or medical study . Semen can be collected via masturbation, prostate massage, artificial vagina, penile vibratory stimulation and...

 is a standard diagnostic test to ascertain problems with the semen quality

Semen quality

Semen quality is a measure of the ability of semen to accomplish fertilization. Thus, it is a measure of fertility in a man. It is the sperm in the semen that are of importance, and therefore semen quality involves both sperm quantity and quality...

. While females may undergo a multitude of tests including an ovulation analysis, x-ray of fallopian tubes and uterus, and laparoscopy.

Treatment

Treatment may include ovulation induction, surgical interventions, intrauterine insemination, in vitro fertilization or the use of an egg donor

Egg donor

Egg donation is the process by which a woman provides one or several eggs for purposes of assisted reproduction or biomedical research. For assisted reproduction purposes, egg donation involves the process of in vitro fertilization as the eggs are fertilized in the laboratory. After the eggs...

 or a sperm donor. In vitro fertilisation

In vitro fertilisation

In vitro fertilisation is a process by which egg cells are fertilised by sperm outside the body: in vitro. IVF is a major treatment in infertility when other methods of assisted reproductive technology have failed...

 is the most well known of the assisted reproductive technology

Assisted reproductive technology

Assisted reproductive technology is a general term referring to methods used to achieve pregnancy by artificial or partially artificial means. It is reproductive technology used primarily in infertility treatments. Some forms of ART are also used in fertile couples for genetic reasons...

 procedures performed at a fertility clinic.

Comparing Clinics

The Centers for Disease Control requires outcome data be reported to the Society of Assisted Reproductive Technology (SART) which is the organization that creates these statistics. Fertility clinics are often compared by these IVF Success Rates. However, it's important to note that SART puts a caution at bottom of each report that reads "Patient characteristics vary among programs; therefore, these data should not be used for comparing clinics.". A consultation with many fertility clinics is always a good option to get a more complete comparison for a patients specific situation and needs.

In fiction

Medical drama

Medical drama

A medical drama is a television program, in which events center upon a hospital, an ambulance staff, or any medical environment.In the United States, most medical episodes are one hour long and, more often than not, are set in a hospital. Most current medical Dramatic programming go beyond the...

s set in a fertility clinic include is Inconceivable

Inconceivable

Inconceivable is an American primetime television medical drama, which was broadcast on NBC. The program premiered on September 23, 2005. The show revolved around the professional and personal lives of those who work at the Family Options Fertility Clinic. The clinic is run by its co-founders ...

 which ran for two episodes in 2005 before being canceled, and The Family Man

The Family Man (British TV series)

The Family Man is a medical drama in three parts, centered on the successful Wishart Fertility Clinic which has recently celebrated its 2000th live birth. The patriarch of the clinic is Dr Patrick Stowe . The drama follows four couples facing a spectrum of fertility problems....

, a British series in three parts. Furthermore, Private Practice is set in a clinic that offers fertility services to a large extent.

See also

• Sperm bank
  Sperm bank
  A sperm bank, semen bank or cryobank is a facility that collects and stores human sperm mainly from sperm donors, primarily for the purpose of achieving pregnancies through third party reproduction, notably by artificial insemination...
  
  
• Sperm donor
• Egg donor
  Egg donor
  Egg donation is the process by which a woman provides one or several eggs for purposes of assisted reproduction or biomedical research. For assisted reproduction purposes, egg donation involves the process of in vitro fertilization as the eggs are fertilized in the laboratory. After the eggs...
  
  
• Surrogacy
  Surrogacy
  Surrogacy is an arrangement in which a woman carries and delivers a child for another couple or person. This woman may be the child's genetic mother , or she may carry the pregnancy to delivery after having an embryo, to which she has no genetic relationship whatsoever, transferred to her uterus...
  
  
• Third party reproduction
  Third party reproduction
  Third party reproduction refers to a process where another person provides sperm or eggs or where another woman provides her uterus so that a woman can have a child. Thus the reproductive process goes beyond the traditional father-mother model. However, the third party's involvement is limited to...
  
  
• Embryo donation
• Artificial insemination
  Artificial insemination
  Artificial insemination, or AI, is the process by which sperm is placed into the reproductive tract of a female for the purpose of impregnating the female by using means other than sexual intercourse or natural insemination...
  
  
• IVF
• Reproductive medicine
  Reproductive medicine
  Reproductive medicine is a branch of medicine that deals with prevention, diagnosis and management of reproductive problems; goals include improving or maintaining reproductive health and allowing people to have children at a time of their choosing...