Notes for owners · Industry playbooks
What an IVF clinic should say when a couple asks about success rates
Every couple asks about success rates before they book. This post sets out how the front desk and the doctor can answer honestly, without a number that misleads, and what to put in writing.
The GullySales team · Updated 6 Oct 2026 · 6 min read
Rules for this trade differ by state and professional body, and they change. Check the current position with your own council or adviser before you act on anything here.
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A couple asking about success rates wants to know whether this clinic is worth the money, the injections and another try. So the honest reply is not a percentage. It is a plain statement that chances depend on the woman's age, the diagnosis, the husband's reports and what has been tried before, that the doctor will tell them what she sees once she has read the reports, and a date to meet her. A clinic that says this, writes it down and sends it on WhatsApp usually sounds more trustworthy than the one that quotes a high figure on the phone.
Why this question arrives first
It is the one question a couple can ask a stranger without saying anything personal. They have been through ovulation tracking, perhaps an IUI that did not work, and a gynaecologist has named two or three centres. Before they tell a receptionist anything about themselves, they ask the number that lets them compare.
The front desk feels the pressure. Say nothing and the couple hangs up unsure. Quote a figure and the clinic has made a claim the doctor may not stand behind for that particular couple. The way out is a prepared answer, not a clever one.
What goes wrong when the front desk improvises
Three things happen again and again.
A receptionist, wanting to be helpful, says "most of our patients conceive". The couple, who may be forty and carrying a failed cycle behind them, hears a promise. When the cycle does not work, the clinic is the one that "said".
Another receptionist says "the doctor will tell you" and nothing else. True, but cold, and the couple ends the call knowing nothing new.
A third passes the call to the doctor, who is in the middle of a scan. The couple is told to call back. They do not.
What a good answer sounds like
Write it once, with your doctor, and put it on a card at the desk. It has four parts: an acknowledgement that the question is fair, the reasons chances differ from couple to couple, what the doctor will look at, and the next step.
For example, a standalone centre in a district town might put it like this: "That is the right thing to ask. It differs a good deal between couples, mostly by age, by the reason you have not conceived and by what has been tried. Dr Rao will read your reports. Then she will say what she thinks your chances are, and what could improve them. Could you come on Thursday? Please bring every report, including the husband's semen analysis."
Nothing in that is a promise, and nothing in it is evasive. It also asks for the husband's report, which is the test most often left until later.
What to put in writing
A call is forgotten. A message is read by the family. After the call, send one WhatsApp message from the clinic's number, not from anyone's personal phone.
| Include | Leave out |
|---|---|
| Doctor's name, day and address of the consulting room | Any percentage or "high success" claim |
| The list of reports to bring, in the order the doctor reads them | Opinions on what treatment the couple will need |
| One line saying chances are discussed after the reports are read | Comparison with another centre |
| Who to message if they need to change the day | Anything that would embarrass a couple if the phone were picked up by a relative |
Ask the couple, at the first contact, which number is safe to use and what time suits them. Many cannot be called at home. Respecting that is a part of the answer, and it is why the follow-up pages on this site spend time on privacy in follow-up for fertility clinics.
The estimate is the second place trust is won or lost
After success rates, couples ask about cost. A single package figure that leaves out medicines, freezing or a further transfer creates a different kind of disappointment later. Put what the figure covers and what it does not on one page, in the couple's language, and hand it over at the consultation. The couple can then show it to the family without you in the room.
This is the stage where couples go home and decide, so it deserves the same care as the first call. Our notes on how couples choose an IVF centre cover how estimates and referrals shape that decision.
Reviews will repeat whatever the desk said
Couples read reviews as closely as they read qualifications. A review that says "they promised it would work" is more damaging than one complaining about the waiting time. If the desk and the doctor say the same careful thing, the reviews tend to say it as well. How you reply to a critical review matters too, and patient privacy limits what you can say in public. See the reputation management page for fertility clinics.
What a clinic may publish
Rules on what a fertility clinic may say in an advertisement, and whether it may publish outcomes at all, differ by state and body and change, so check with your own council or adviser before a number or a claim reaches the website, a banner or a message template. When in doubt, explain how chances are assessed and leave the figure to the consultation.
What to do next
Sit with your doctor and write the answer to the success-rate question on one card, in the words she is willing to stand behind. Then pull the last twenty enquiries from the clinic phone and the WhatsApp number and note, for each, what the couple was told and whether they came. If you would like us to look at that with you, the free audit is a 90-minute call on how enquiries reach you and what happens to them, followed by a written, scored report.