ART refers to any infertility treatment that uses advanced technology to combine sperm and eggs outside the body in a laboratory. ART is a powerful technology that has had a profound impact on infertility care over the past two decades. More than 1 million babies have come into the world via ART procedures.

At any given time in the U.S., there are a million people who require IVF, usually because of profound fertility problems such as damaged fallopian tubes or extremely low sperm counts. But of those million, only about 60,000 undergo the procedure each year.

The average U.S. cost for one cycle of IVF is $7,800. Few insurance companies cover infertility treatment and types of coverage vary greatly depending upon the plan and the state. There is no federal mandate to offer infertility treatment, and only 10 states mandate that health insurance companies cover some type of infertility treatment. Due to the average cost of IVF, it may have a deep impact on a couple's financial well-being. Medicaid does not finance infertility treatments.

Fertility treatment has become a big money making business. Spending on IVF has swelled by 50% over the past five years and in 2002, Americans spent $2.7 billion on fertility treatments. Infertility clinics have over the last two decades grown by 20% every year. Welcome to the business side of making babies. More than one percent of all births in the U.S. are IVF babies and more than half-a-million embryos live frozen in American IVF clinics.

The Society for Assisted Reproductive Technology (SART) an affiliate of the American Society for Reproductive Medicine (ASRM) is at the forefront to address the changes in infertility treatment and assisted reproduction that have occurred since its most recent report in 1994. SART and ASRM continue to collect and disseminate outcomes data of ART therapies. SART members are held to professional standards, and their members follow strict guidelines in data collection and reporting, so that the results somewhat easy to understand. SART members (extensive self-regulation by the profession) have extensive requirements for its members, including educational and certifications requirements for staff. The majority of infertility practitioners have undergone specialty training and board certification in obstetrics and gynecology, and many have completed additional subspecialty fellowship training and certification in Reproductive Endocrinology. SART works with government agencies such as the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and patient groups to establish quality assurance standards, to provide proper guidelines and educational information. SART reports annual fertility clinic data to the CDC.

Another organization at the forefront is The InterNational Council on Infertility Information Dissemination (INCIID – pronounced "inside") that helps individuals and couples explore their family-building options. INCIID provides current information and immediate support regarding the diagnosis, treatment, and prevention of infertility and pregnancy loss. They also offer guidance to those considering adoption or childfree lifestyles.

Physicians who specialize in infertility care, like all physicians, are licensed to practice by the states where they work.  The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approved all medications and devices used in the clinic.  The FDA also requires all facilities that handle reproductive tissue to register with them, and has issued draft regulations for the handling of those tissues. Another federal agency, the CDC collects and report the outcomes from ART procedures from clinics throughout the country. This unique resource allows patients to examine the outcomes from each clinic one at a time.

On October 24, 1992, HR-4773, the Fertility Success Rate and Certification Act (FSRCA) of 1992 was signed into law. The administration and enforcement of FSRCA was placed under the jurisdiction of the CDC, which also became responsible for collating and publishing the data. A goal of the process is to provide data collection and reporting that is consumer oriented and addresses the information needs of consumers. These reports include clinic-specific pregnancy success, data variables such as the age and diagnosis of couples undergoing IVF, number of ART initiations, egg retrievals and embryo transfers.