What is Assisted Reproductive Technology (ART)?

Narrator: The acronym for all fertility treatments, ART, stands for Assisted Reproductive Technologies.

But it also accurately describes the fine-turning that reproductive endocrinologists and embryologists make every day in the field of reproductive medicine.

Infertility has a multitude of causes, treatments, medications, and protocols. The balancing act of these treatments is the "art" in ART.

Expert: When we speak about reproductive endocrinology and couples with infertility, it's not a standard medical problem.

Dr. Brian Kaplan: There's a certain amount of trial and error. How's this woman going to respond to these fertility drugs? What dosing do you need? What protocol do you need?

Expert: It's a very different type of medicine from anything else. You're dealing with patients' dreams and what they've had for their entire lifetime. You're dealing with two individuals now as opposed to one.

Dr. John Rapisarda: And so part of the art of the whole specialty is hearing what the couple has to say, what they're comfortable with, and tailoring the therapy to meet their needs and their goals.

Narrator: On a day-to-day basis, the job of a reproductive endocrinologist is to monitor a patient very closely, pore over test data, and artfully tweak treatment plans to give the patient the best possible chance of achieving a pregnancy.