Switching IVF clinics? The records to bring to your first consult

Moving to a new IVF clinic is common: a move, a second opinion, insurance, or simply a fresh start. The first consult usually goes better when the new team can see what has already been done. This checklist covers what to gather and what to ask. Your new clinic will tell you what it actually needs, so treat this as a starting point and check with them.

Before you call: ask your current clinic for a full copy

Request your complete records from every clinic and lab you have used, not only what the portal shows. In the US, providers have up to 30 days to respond (HHS), so start early. Many clinics can also send records directly to the new clinic if you sign a release.

The checklist

Baseline fertility tests

• AMH, FSH, estradiol and other hormone tests, with the date and the lab’s reference range on each report
• antral follicle count from ultrasound, with the date
• thyroid and other blood tests your clinic ordered

Each treatment cycle

• a cycle summary: dates, protocol, medications and doses
• monitoring results: scan dates, follicle counts and sizes, hormone levels
• the retrieval report: eggs retrieved and how many were mature
• the embryology report: fertilization method, embryo development and grades as written by the lab
• genetic testing results for embryos, if done
• transfer notes and pregnancy test results

Imaging and procedures

• reports from uterine or tubal evaluations, such as an HSG, saline sonogram or hysteroscopy
• operative reports from any related surgery

Partner and genetic tests

• semen analysis reports, if relevant to your treatment
• genetic carrier screening results
• infectious disease screening, with dates; clinics often ask for recent ones

Medications

• the medications used in each cycle, and anything you remember about side effects or reactions, written down plainly

Questions to ask

• New clinic: which records do you want before the consult, and in what format?
• New clinic: which of my previous tests can you use, and which will you repeat?
• Both clinics, if you have frozen eggs or embryos: what records, consent forms and storage details are needed if I want to move them or keep them where they are?

Make it easy to read

A stack of 200 pages is hard to use in a 30-minute consult. Put the files in date order, and add a one-page summary on top: your cycles, key dates and the main results, each with the lab’s range. Our guide to organizing IVF records and cycle template walk through it.

Where Backstory fits

Backstory, coming soon to iPhone and Android, reads your reports from every clinic and puts them on one timeline, then turns it into a one-page summary you can email to your new doctor before the visit. Every number links back to its original report, so the clinic can check the source. It organizes your records; it doesn’t interpret them or give medical advice.

This article is about organizing records. It isn’t medical advice. Talk to your doctor or clinic about your results and treatment.