How we evaluate clinics
What we will not do
- No clinic can pay for placement. If that ever changes, this page will say so before it changes.
- We never rank on raw success rate. The CDC warns that patient selection distorts raw rates — a clinic can look better by turning away harder cases. Our scoring credits clinics for treating harder patients, not for avoiding them.
- Clinics without sufficient reported data are "not rated," never ranked low by default.
Corrections
Clinics and patients can report errors. Verified corrections publish within five business days.
Scoring components
361 clinics are rated; 61 are "not rated." A clinic is rated only if CDC data includes numeric live-birth rates for at least 2 age bands AND at least 20 total cycles in the reporting year. Clinics below that bar are "not rated" — never ranked low by default.
| Component | Weight | How it's scored |
|---|---|---|
| Outcomes vs. national benchmark (age-stratified) | 50 | Live births per intended egg retrieval, compared to the national rate within each CDC age band and weighted by the clinic's retrieval volume per band. Low-volume clinics are shrunk toward the national average so small samples can't top or bottom the list on noise. Scored as a percentile among rated clinics. |
| Case-mix credit | 15 | Share of cycles for patients 38 and older, relative to the national share. Clinics that treat harder patients score higher; clinics that keep rates up by selecting easier patients do not get credit for it. Scored as a percentile among rated clinics. |
| Accreditation | 20 | SART membership (50) and verified embryo-lab accreditation (50), both as reported to the CDC. |
| Volume | 15 | Total cycles per year (log-scaled percentile). Volume correlates with lab quality and process maturity, and makes reported rates statistically meaningful. |
Not yet scored
- Pricing transparency & financing options. Weight 0 until phase-2 enrichment data lands (clinic websites).
- Patient experience (review volume × rating). Weight 0 until phase-2 enrichment data lands (Google Places).
Known limitations
- Donor-egg outcomes are reported by CDC but not yet scored.
- The over-40 band likely needs separate weighting; currently it shares the volume-weighted outcome composite.
- Case-mix uses age only; diagnosis mix (e.g. diminished ovarian reserve) is a candidate refinement.
Methodology version 2026-08-03.1. All outcome data: CDC NASS 2022 Final ART Summary. Success rates vary with patient age, diagnosis, and clinic patient-selection practices; comparisons across clinics may not be meaningful (CDC).