Success rate reporting varies widely between clinics, which makes comparison difficult. The most meaningful metric is the live birth rate per initiated cycle — meaning the number of babies born divided by the number of patients who started a stimulation cycle, including those whose cycles were cancelled, those who had no embryos to transfer, and those whose transfers failed.

Rates reported “per transfer” are higher but less complete — they exclude patients who never reached transfer. A clinic that only accepts good-prognosis patients and cancels difficult cycles will show higher per-transfer rates than one that treats all patients. That’s not always better medicine.

Questions worth asking any clinic:

• Is this rate per initiated cycle or per transfer?
• Does it include all age groups or only patients under 35?
• Is it a clinical pregnancy rate or a live birth rate?
• How many cycles does this rate represent?

The single most important factor in IVF success with own eggs is the patient’s age at the time of egg retrieval — not the age at transfer. As women age, the proportion of chromosomally abnormal eggs increases substantially: around 20–25% of eggs are abnormal at age 30, rising to 50–60% by age 40, and over 80% by age 43.

This is why accumulating more eggs — through DuoStim or consecutive stimulation cycles — can make a meaningful difference for older patients or those with low ovarian reserve. More eggs mean more chances to find the chromosomally normal ones.

For patients who cannot use their own eggs due to age or ovarian failure, egg donation changes the equation entirely: donor eggs from young women (typically 20–30 years old) bring the pregnancy rate back up to 60–65% per transfer, regardless of the recipient’s age.

Egg donation achieves a clinical pregnancy rate of 60–65% per embryo transfer at CEGYR, consistent with outcomes reported by leading centers internationally. Because donor eggs come from young, screened women, the chromosomal quality is high — and the recipient’s age has minimal impact on the outcome.

When PGT-A is added to egg donation cycles (testing donor embryos before transfer), the per-transfer rate remains at 60–65%, but the miscarriage risk decreases further. This combination is offered in the Plan PGT-A, which guarantees a minimum of 10 mature eggs and includes full genetic testing of all blastocysts.

A single IVF cycle rarely tells the complete story. The cumulative probability of achieving a live birth — across all embryos from a retrieval cycle — is higher than what any single transfer rate suggests. Planning for a realistic number of attempts, understanding your ovarian reserve, and deciding whether genetic testing adds value for your specific situation are conversations Dr. Glujovsky has from the first consultation.

The goal is not to set expectations around a number — it’s to design the right plan for your biology, your timeline, and your priorities.