Fertility clinics are

medical clinic Medicine is the science and practice of caring for a patient, managing the diagnosis, prognosis, prevention, treatment, palliation of their injury or disease, and promoting their health. Medicine encompasses a variety of health care practic ...

s that assist couples, and sometimes individuals, who want to become

parent A parent is a caregiver of the offspring in their own species. In humans, a parent is the caretaker of a child (where "child" refers to offspring, not necessarily age). A ''biological parent'' is a person whose gamete resulted in a child, a male t ...

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 achieve conceptions and

pregnancies Pregnancy is the time during which one or more offspring develops ( gestates) inside a woman's uterus (womb). A multiple pregnancy involves more than one offspring, such as with twins. Pregnancy usually occurs by sexual intercourse, but can ...

Clinic staff

Fertility clinics are staffed with trained personnel including reproductive endocrinologists, embryologists,

sonographer A sonographer is an allied healthcare professional who specializes in the use of ultrasonic imaging devices to produce diagnostic images, scans, videos or three-dimensional volumes of anatomy and diagnostic data. The requirements for clinical p ...

nurse Nursing is a profession within the health care sector focused on the care of individuals, families, and communities so they may attain, maintain, or recover optimal health and quality of life. Nurses may be differentiated from other health c ...

s, lab technicians and administrative staff. Additional specialists from

acupuncture Acupuncture is a form of alternative medicine and a component of traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) in which thin needles are inserted into the body. Acupuncture is a pseudoscience; the theories and practices of TCM are not based on scientif ...

hypnotherapy Hypnotherapy is a type of mind–body intervention in which hypnosis is used to create a state of focused attention and increased suggestibility in the treatment of a medical or psychological disorder or concern. Popularized by 17th and 18th cen ...

, and

nutrition Nutrition is the biochemical and physiological process by which an organism uses food to support its life. It provides organisms with nutrients, which can be metabolized to create energy and chemical structures. Failure to obtain sufficient n ...

may also be part of the team. You will need one person for each 150 cycles of ICSI (Intra-Cytoplasmic Sperm Injection)/IVF (''In Vitro'' Fertilization). If you are less than that you may have problems, if you have that you do not have problems unless some people are not able to work (pregnancy or diseases) and if you have more than that you are in optimal conditions.

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 refers to the process of obtaining semen from human males or other animals with the use of various methods, for the purposes of artificial insemination, or medical study (usually in fertility clinics). Semen can be collected via ...

is a standard diagnostic test to ascertain problems with the

semen quality Semen quality is a measure of male fertility, a measure of the ability of sperm in semen to accomplish fertilization. Semen quality involves both sperm quantity and quality Cryptorchidism, hypospadias, testicular cancer and poor semen quali ...

, while females may undergo a number of tests including an ovulation analysis, x-ray of fallopian tubes and uterus, and laparoscopy. They may also perform

ultrasound Ultrasound is sound waves with frequency, frequencies higher than the upper audible limit of human hearing range, hearing. Ultrasound is not different from "normal" (audible) sound in its physical properties, except that humans cannot hea ...

s by a sonographer and advanced pregnancy tests.

Treatment

Treatment may include ovulation induction, surgical interventions,

artificial insemination Artificial insemination is the deliberate introduction of sperm into a female's cervix or uterine cavity for the purpose of achieving a pregnancy through in vivo fertilization by means other than sexual intercourse. It is a fertility treatment ...

, such as

intrauterine insemination Artificial insemination is the deliberate introduction of sperm into a female's cervix or uterine cavity for the purpose of achieving a pregnancy through in vivo fertilization by means other than sexual intercourse. It is a fertility treatm ...

(IUI),

in vitro fertilization In vitro fertilisation (IVF) is a process of fertilisation where an egg is combined with sperm in vitro ("in glass"). The process involves monitoring and stimulating an individual's ovulatory process, removing an ovum or ova (egg or eggs) ...

(IVF), or the use of an

egg donor Egg donation is the process by which a woman donates eggs to enable another woman to conceive as part of an assisted reproduction treatment or for biomedical research. For assisted reproduction purposes, egg donation typically involves in vitro ...

or a

sperm donor Sperm donation is the provision by a man of his sperm with the intention that it be used in the artificial insemination or other 'fertility treatment' of a woman or women who are not his sexual partners in order that they may become pregnant by h ...

. In vitro fertilization is the most well known of the assisted reproductive technology procedures performed at a fertility clinic. Advanced male infertility treatments such as TESA (Testicular Epididymal Sperm Aspiration) is also provided by fertility clinics these days.

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 compiles statistics.Patient Benefits
Society of Assisted Reproductive Technology (SART)
/ref> Fertility clinics are often compared by these IVF success rates. However, it is 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 A medical drama is a television show or film in which events center upon a hospital, an ambulance staff, or any medical environment. Most recent medical drama (film and television), dramatic programming go beyond the events pertaining to the chara ...

s set in a fertility clinic include ''Inconceivable'', which ran for two episodes in 2005 before being cancelled, and ''The Family Man'', a British series in three parts. Furthermore, ''Private Practice'' is set in a clinic that offers fertility services to a large extent. The ''

Gilmore Girls ''Gilmore Girls'' is an American Comedy drama, comedy-drama television series created by Amy Sherman-Palladino and starring Lauren Graham (Lorelai Gilmore) and Alexis Bledel (Rory Gilmore). The show debuted on October 5, 2000, on The WB and beca ...

'' character

Paris Geller Paris Eustace Geller is a fictional character on the television series ''Gilmore Girls'' and its spin-off ''A Year in the Life'', played by Liza Weil. Paris is introduced as an ambitious high-school student from a wealthy family, who was raised ...

was revealed to be running a fertility clinic of her own in the revival series '' Gilmore Girls: A Year in the Life''.

References