Using Babies to Keep Score
February 20th, 2009
Nothing else really needs to be said about the octuplet Mom, but this CNN article reveals some very interesting information about the fertility business.
Saleh and other fertility experts say they think they know why Kamrava [the Octuplet Mom's doctor] chose to implant so many embryos. The CDC keeps statistics on fertility doctors and their success rates, and Kamrava’s is significantly below the national average.
Nationally, when doctors implant embryos, they manage to achieve a live birth 38.7 percent of the time, according to the CDC data. But Kamrava achieved a live birth 10 percent of the time, according to CDC data for his clinic.
“He has terrible statistics,” says Miller. Other doctors say he had to put in a large number of embryos to get any success at all.