Before beginning IVF or any other assisted reproduction treatment, future patients must get to know as much as possible about the clinic they want to attend. There are various clinics in Singapore that offer assisted reproduction techniques. IVF may only be carried out in centres with a licence to do so. Currently, 8 centres are active, including both restructured and private hospitals. In addition, you can find the list of private clinics that work in conjunction with the IVF centres.

A number of criteria by which you can choose the clinic are:

• Expertise of the gynaecologists.
• Distance from your home.
• Organisation of the clinic.
• Length of any possible waiting list.
• Your own experience of the clinic or that of others.
• Criteria for IVF (for example, age limit, weight).
• Success rates.
• What other disciplines form an integral part of the treatment team?

More information about the various clinics’ success rates in the year 2002 can be found in the MOH website www.moh.gov.sg. Make sure however that the way in which these figures have been compiled is explained to you, because these figures are not always comparable with each other. A clinic operating with a strict couple selection policy for IVF will, for example, be able to achieve higher success rates than a clinic which also wants to give a chance to couples with a bad prognosis (e.g. a higher age).

This list is a good starting point, but the number and type of questions that can be asked depends on individual problems and needs. Starting IVF treatment is not a decision that is to be taken lightly.