Navigating Infertility Ads in Bengaluru: Watch out for red flags!

With so many infertility centers and specialists in Bengaluru, it can be hard to know what to believe. Added to this aggregators and online digital platforms are eyeing for a share of the pie. With minimal regulation in the field the consumer needs to safeguard themselves from making wrong choices. Beware of the following traps when you click on an ad for an infertility treatment provider in Bengaluru:

Unsubstantiated Claims- Evaluating Claims of "Best" Infertility Centers and Specialists:

The trend to call oneself the best IVF center in Bengaluru or the best IVF specialist in Bengaluru is on the rise on advertising campaigns and as keywords on webpage rankings. As patients are likely to search for these terms it places providers in front of customers.  Unfortunately, there are some clinics and specialists who make false or misleading claims of being the best infertility clinic or best infertility specialist in Bengaluru without any specific validation. By using objective data, such as their degree, experience and patient success stories, you can help to avoid these scams and choose a reputable clinic or specialist. Be cautious about awards as many of these can be purchased for a fee in todays world!

Misleading Success Rates:

Success rates for infertility depend on a variety of factors such as age, body weight, underlying diagnosis or cause for infertility, type of treatment etc. Many clinics provide misleading numbers such as 70 or 80% without providing substantial evidence. Success rates can be calculated in many ways too such as clinical pregnancy per transfer, live birth per transfer, cumulative clinical pregnancy rate or cumulative live birth rate. It is important to have a realistic understanding of success rates based on your age and condition. This can be done by using public tools and data bases such as IVF Success Estimator by CDC in the US.

Unproven Treatments

Many fertility centers in Bangalore talk about specialized treatments such as PGT, ERA (endometrial receptivity array), PRP, stem cells, immune therapy etc. Although these techniques may be helpful in a few patients many of them are considered as experimental and are not suggested for all. Promoting such treatments can create a false sense of hope. When patients are told that there is a treatment that can help them to conceive, they may be more likely to invest time, money, and emotional energy into the treatment, even if it is not likely to be successful

Here are some tips on how to evaluate these treatments:

• Research the specific treatment. Before you consider any treatment, it is important to do your research and learn as much as you can about it. This includes reading about the treatment online, talking to your doctor, and reading peer-reviewed studies. Understand how common these treatments are. Understand if they are experimental
• Look for peer-reviewed studies. Peer-reviewed studies are studies that have been evaluated by other experts in the field. These studies are more likely to be reliable than studies that have not been peer-reviewed. Medical peer reviewed studies can be found on databases such as PubMed and Cochrane. 
• Seek a second opinion from a qualified healthcare professional. If you are considering a treatment that is not well-known or that has not been proven to be effective, it is a good idea to seek a second opinion from a qualified healthcare professional. This will help you to make an informed decision about whether or not the treatment is right for you

Respect for Patient Privacy

Patients have a right to privacy, and this right includes the right to keep their medical information confidential. When patient details are displayed in ads without regard for privacy, it can violate this right. and should raise a red flag. Be cautious of centers putting photos and video testimonials of patients without regard for their privacy. Remember information on the internet stays forever once it appears there. Consider how comfortable you may be with such practices.