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The Booming Fertility Market

Be a Wise Consumer

By Julie Watson

With the birth of the McCaughey's septuplets, fertility care has been thrown into the spotlight in popular magazines, on radio and on television. With one in six couples now experiencing some sort of fertility challenge, competition in the industry has become fierce, as patients can sometimes spend tens of thousands of dollars in hopes of attaining that most precious treasure – a child. A recent article in The Wall Street Journal cited that the fertility industry now has "an estimated $2 billion or more in annual sales of drugs, devices and other treatments...with annual growth of 20 percent projected for the industry through the turn of the century."

Yet from a patient's standpoint, this booming industry brings with it potential pitfalls as well as new hope. Certainly, as the industry has grown, new procedures have made it possible for many couples to fulfill their dreams of an extended family. However, as with other fast growing industries, there are always those who will take advantage of the situation, or who will become involved in the industry where they lack the credentials.

As a former patient and now in the business of consulting others with fertility challenges, I often see so many patients not getting the proper medical care – sometimes even from doctors claiming to be "specialists." This is of particular concern because the term "infertility specialist" is a very gray term, at best. Almost any OB/GYN can call themselves infertility specialists if they have treated patients for infertility. The term is not recognized in the medical field, and thus no specific credentials are required to use it. Those doctors who have truly specialized in infertility are considered to be "Board-Certified in Reproductive Endocrinology."