ECU Among Nation’s Best for in Vitro Fertilization

Dr. Cal Hayslip

GREENVILLE, N.C.  —   East Carolina University has one of the nation’s most successful programs for helping women become pregnant through in vitro fertilization.

At ECU Women’s Physicians, 68.8 percent of embryo transfers resulted in live births for women under 35 during 2008, according to the Society for Assistive Reproductive Technology, which collects fertility clinic data nationwide. Nationally, the average success rate in 2008 for women 35 and younger was 47.3 percent, according to SART. ECU had an overall success rate of 56 percent for all women undergoing IVF regardless of age.

That success rate ranked ECU fourth in the country and first in North Carolina for 2008. In North Carolina, the next best success rate was at Wake Forest University and the nation’s top fertility clinic that year was in Houston. There are nearly 500 IVF centers in the U.S.

“We’ve had an established program that has concentrated on continued quality improvement and higher pregnancy rates,” said Dr. Cal Hayslip, medical director of reproductive endocrinology and infertility services at ECU. “In the past year, some of that hard work has been realized.”

ECU’s program began in 1993. In 2008, the most recent year for which figures are available, a total of 81 women underwent IVF treatment at ECU. More information about ECU’s in vitro fertilization services is online at http://www.ecu.edu/cs-dhs/ecuphysicians/women/infertility.cfm. More information about SART and IVF clinic success rates are online at http://fertilitysuccessrates.com.