Consent and Confidentiality – Fertility Informed

CONSENT

Patients are required to sign consent forms prior to each treatment cycle for IVF, ICSI, FET, AI, sperm/embryo/egg freezing, surgical sperm collection, donor and surrogacy procedures so that patients and the fertility clinic concur on the procedures to be undertaken.

Patients generally don’t have to sign consent forms for ovulation tracking. Some fertility clinics require patients to sign consent forms for ovulation induction treatments especially if it involves FSH medication.

Patients may place any specific conditions into these consent forms as long as they are within the policies of the fertility clinic they are attending. Patients may also vary or withdraw from these consents at any time prior to enacting the specified procedures.

Patients should be fully aware of the options for treatment, the risks and side effects, the success rates and details of the procedures they are likely to undertake. Their fertility specialist should discuss a treatment plan for their cycle and some fertility clinics provide the opportunity to also attend an information session at the clinic to further consolidate their understanding of their treatment plan.

CONFIDENTIALITY

It is a legislative requirement that all data concerning patients’ procedures must be kept confidential and are only available to the fertility clinic staff and the accreditation bodies that monitor fertility clinics in order to ensure standards of conduct . Accreditation bodies may ask to see some patient files. All fertility clinic staff and accreditors are bound by professional confidentiality requirements (see Intro>Accreditation).

However, non-identifying treatment data (without patients’ names or full addresses) is made available for studies into the long term effects of ART procedures.

For instance, it is a requirement for certification of fertility clinics that information on some ART procedures is provided to the National Perinatal Epidemiology and Statistics Unit. The data set is called ANZARD (Assisted Reproductive Technology in Australia and New Zealand), and this is provided annually on all IVF and donor insemination procedures performed by RTAC certified clinics in Australia and New Zealand. The data provided is like a mini-census, and although no individual identifying data is provided, the patient’s date of birth, postcode, and initials are provided as part of the data submission. This data allows location, age and patient centric statistics to be provided to clinics, patients and governments for planning and comparison purposes.