Every patient should have completed a basic infertility evaluation. Because of the physical, emotional, and financial demands of ART, these advanced procedures generally are used in patients who have tried all less complex and less expensive methods of correcting their infertility. The majority of patients in IVF programs suffer from tubal factor, male factor, unexplained infertility or certain inherited genetic diseases. ART candidates who will be using their own eggs should be under 44 years of age and should have:

# No evidence of premature menopause
# At least one accessible ovary, and
# A normal uterus

Menopause and ovarian function are irrelevant for candidates using donor eggs. Donor egg recipients should be under 50 years of age and have a normal uterus. All IVF candidates should be in good health and have no medical conditions that would pose a serious health risk to themselves or the child they would carry.