To ensure that a patient receives high quality care, they should seek a doctor who has attained SART membership. The purpose of SART is to set the standards for the practice of IVF by providing its members with strict guidelines that optimize reproductive care for patients.

SART is the professional society for doctors and laboratory scientists who work together as a team to provide services in assisted reproduction. It is an affiliated society to the American Society for Reproductive Medicine (ASRM). SART is the place for these professionals to share information and experience. Many SART members meet on a regular basis at the annual ASRM meeting.

SART has rigorous requirements for membership. SART members must agree to:

• Report all their pregnancy data yearly. These data are subject to validation (a modified audit) by a team comprised of the CDC and the SART validation committee. This validation includes a site visit to the SART member’s clinic and review of the medical records.
• Embryo laboratory inspection and certification every two years by an outside agency, usually the Joint Commission on Accreditation of Healthcare Organizations (JCAHO) or the College of American Pathologists (CAP).
• Abide by all practice, laboratory, ethical, and advertising guidelines.
• All new practices must have a board-certified reproductive endocrinologist as medical director.

Patients seeking IVF services can be reassured that a SART member has satisfied these rigorous requirements.

SART data is typically published in the spring for the previous year.