“A relationship without trust is like having a phone with no service. And what do you do with a phone with no service? A relationship without trust is like a car without gas, you can stay in it all you want, but it won’t go anywhere.” ― Author Unknown

One of the most important choices you will make besides freezing your eggs is picking your fertility doctor, clinic, and lab. It is a combo choice. The doctors cannot work without a lab and the lab is useless without the doctors. They must go hand in hand. I cannot stress enough the importance of finding the right doctor/lab combo—not just a good reproductive endocrinologist, but technically advanced lab as well.

Start by finding the right physician who will listen and be supportive. You want a doctor who you feel comfortable with, will coach you through the process, who has good support staff, and who forward thinking. Start off by knowing your goals and find a specialist who will help you achieve them.

Next most of us do not think much about the embryology lab side when choosing a fertility clinic, but the quality of the lab is just a crucial as choosing the physician. Over the years technology advancements have significantly improved. However there is a difference freezing and thawing eggs verse embryos. Egg freezing and thawing is less forgiving than embryos are. Finding a lab that has adapted to those new techniques, upgraded equipment, and employ skilled embryologists is crucial to maximizing the best results for your egg freezing cycle and getting pregnant later down the line. Don’t be afraid to ask those hard questions. Identifying the experience programs and clinics is crucial to your success.

What methods do you use to determine which fertility clinic to choose? First start by doing your online research and homework. Before you ever step foot into the fertility clinic, check the clinics websites, read reviews, watch YouTube videos, check out what others have to say about that clinic. Create a list of physicians and labs that you think would be best fit your needs. If you feel like you need outside help to get you started, third party opinion, or hand-holding to lead you in the right direction than look no further than Great Possibilities agency now called Nest Egg Fertility. Nest Egg‘s is a mission focused group to help you find a doctor, clinic, lab, and help negotiate the rates or cost associated with egg freezing.

Another great online tool and resource to start your discovery process is the federal database by the National Centers for Disease Control and Prevention that contains the success rates of fertility centers around the country called SART. Now take these numbers with a grain of salt. Coming from a previous sales reps that sold to a majority of these major United States clinics, there are solid reason why some times the numbers do not make sense. All in all however the numbers are a great tie breaker if you are stuck between one or two clinics and helping you choose which one to commit to. Also realize most of this data is mostly calculating the active couples trying to get pregnant verses the smaller population of women or cancer related patients choosing to egg freezing. The data does not distinguish between the difference so keep that in mind.

SART releases a report each year, whereas the CDC releases its report every other year in order to record a live birth rate (as opposed to a clinical pregnancy rate). These statistics are updated every few years and depends on both the number of cycles and demographic of women coming into their clinic. Rates are important, but they are not the end all be all. What is more important after you narrow down the doctors and clinics is to ask the right questions and meet as many people involved with your care as possible.

Word of mouth, personal experiences, and choosing a fertility clinic that you trust should rank above all else. You want to make sure all of questions are answered, directions are clear, and if you have an emergency you know the right person to get help from. You are investing a good chunk of money with this fertility clinic, so make sure you feel comfortable and trust the people that you are working with. Would you go to a banker, financial advisor, tax accountant or any other professional if you didn’t trust them? Probably not, so don’t choose your fertility center any different.

Here are some good questions to ask when making this choice:

• –Ask the clinic to explain their standard operating procedure for chain of custody of sperm, eggs, and embryos—both fresh and frozen.
• –Is the physician board-certified and lab accredited?
• –Does the doctor and the lab have a good working relationship?
• –What is the communication work-flow structure from the doctors to nurses to lab?
• –What recent updates or new technology has the lab invested in and when?
• –How many years have the embryologists been working for this lab?
• –What do others have to say about their experiences at this clinic?
• –Do they have any public testimonials from patients or can you talk to them?

Physician specific questions to ask:

• –How does your clinic communicate with patients?
• –How does on-call rotations work?
• –What resources do you have for patients, counseling, support, etc?
• –Where did the doctor complete their medical training, are they board-certified, how long have they been practicing?
• –What has the turn over with the staff been like?
• –Whom do I call if I have a problem after hours or on weekends?

Lab specific questions to ask:

• –Is the lab accredited?
• –How many cycles per year?
• –How many egg freezing and thawing procedures has the clinic done?
• –What are the current success rates at that clinic for thawing vs implantation vs pregnancy?
• –How many years has the person who will be freezing and thawing my eggs had doing this procedure?
• –How new is the equipment?
• –What updates have been made?
• –Does the lab and embryologists regularly perform ICSI, assisted hatching, PGD, egg vitrification, chromosomal screening of embryos?
• –Does your lab perform day 5 blastocyst transfers or day 3 transfers?
• –What is the air quality and control management like?
• –What are some safeguards and quality control protocols and quality controlled?

Well-informed and knowledgeable patients have the best experiences. It is important to listen to your gut and trust your intuition. The treatments alone can be taxing on your emotions and a stressful experience apart from your daily busy life. Check out Nicole Lapin‘s recorded journey or Nikki Goldstein‘s documentary about her egg freezing experience. You want to feel comfortable and supported. Your medical provider along with the IVF lab you should be one you trust and understand. Consider both the integrity of the fertility clinic and evaluate your rapport relationship that has developed with your doctor to find that personalized care.

So tell me about what you are thinking. Did these questions help? Does this give you the right information that you need? Did I forget anything that maybe you discovered that I should have covered? What else do you feel like you need to know about to feel confident to take action? What other concerns might you be thinking about?