SART Membership and Lab Accreditation: What They Mean

Two labels appear on every FertilityList clinic page: SART member and verified lab accreditation. Both come straight from the CDC’s clinic data.^[1] This guide explains what they mean, how common they are, and how to use them when comparing clinics.

What is SART?

The Society for Assisted Reproductive Technology (SART) is the US professional organization for clinics that provide IVF and related treatments. It is affiliated with the American Society for Reproductive Medicine (ASRM), which publishes clinical practice guidance for the field.^[4] Clinics that join SART agree to follow the society’s membership standards and to report their treatment data.

In the CDC’s 2022 data, 361 of 451 reporting clinics (80%) were SART members.^[1]

What is “verified lab accreditation”?

IVF depends on the embryology laboratory, where eggs are fertilized, embryos are grown, and eggs and embryos are frozen and stored. Labs can be accredited by outside organizations that inspect their procedures, staffing and quality control. In its clinic data, the CDC records whether a clinic’s lab accreditation was verified: “Yes”, “No” or “Pending”.^[2]

In 2022, 404 of 451 reporting clinics (89.6%) had verified lab accreditation, and 4 were listed as pending.^[1]

How the two overlap

Status (2022)	Reporting clinics
SART member and verified lab accreditation	346
Neither SART member nor verified accreditation	31
All reporting clinics	452

Most clinics have both. A small group has neither.^[1] On each clinic page the two appear in the “Services reported to CDC” panel.

Are SART clinics bigger?

In the CDC data, the median SART-member clinic performed 628 ART cycles in 2022, compared with 207 for the median non-member clinic.^[1] Membership is more common among larger practices. Size is not the same as quality, but it is one of the components of the FertilityList Score.

States where membership is less common

Among states with at least five reporting clinics, these have the lowest share of SART-member clinics:^[1]

State	SART members	Verified lab accreditation	Reporting clinics
Alabama	60%	80%	5
California	64%	88%	85
Missouri	67%	89%	9
Florida	69%	85%	26
Arizona	80%	100%	10
Georgia	80%	100%	10
Hawaii	80%	100%	5
Kansas	80%	60%	5
Maryland	80%	80%	5
New York	80%	75%	44

Why the embryology lab matters so much

In IVF, a large part of the work happens outside the body. After retrieval, the lab assesses the eggs, fertilizes them (sometimes by injecting a single sperm into each egg, called ICSI), grows the embryos for several days, and decides with the physician which embryos to transfer or freeze. Frozen eggs and embryos may then be stored for years. Each step depends on equipment, temperature and air quality control, trained staff and careful record-keeping. Outside accreditation is one way to check that these systems are in place.

The CDC data also shows how much modern IVF depends on freezing. Nationally, most transfers in 2022 used frozen embryos, which means most patients rely on a lab’s freezing, storage and thawing processes, not only on its ability to grow embryos.^[1] This is one reason questions about storage safety belong in any clinic consultation.

How to check a clinic yourself

1. Open the clinic’s FertilityList page. The “Services reported to CDC” panel shows SART membership and lab accreditation as reported for 2022, with a link to the CDC source dataset.
2. Check the reporting history. The key-facts box shows how many of the last three CDC reporting years the clinic reported. Consistent reporting is a basic sign of a stable practice.
3. Ask the clinic for current details. Ask which body accredits the lab and when the last inspection took place. A clinic should be able to answer clearly.
4. Look at the numbers behind the rates. Labels are a starting point. Outcomes by age, and the number of cycles behind them, tell you more about results.

How FertilityList uses these labels

Professional standards make up 15% of the FertilityList Score: half for SART membership and half for verified lab accreditation, both as reported to the CDC. We give them a modest weight on purpose. They signal a commitment to shared standards and outside inspection, but they do not measure outcomes. Outcomes carry 50% of the score. See the methodology.

What these labels do not tell you

• They are not a guarantee. Membership and accreditation say a clinic met certain standards when assessed. They do not predict any patient’s result.
• Non-membership is not a red flag by itself. A clinic may choose not to join SART for business or administrative reasons. Ask the clinic directly.
• Status can change. Our data reflects what clinics reported to the CDC for 2022. Confirm current status with the clinic.
• They cover the clinic, not each doctor. Individual physicians have their own board certifications, which these labels do not show. You can ask a clinic about its physicians’ training and certification.

The CDC cautions that clinic comparisons may not be meaningful because clinics treat different patients.^[3] The same caution applies to these labels.

Questions to ask

1. Are you currently a SART member?
2. Which organization accredits your embryology lab, and when was the last inspection?
3. Who directs the lab, and how many embryologists work there?
4. How do you monitor the tanks that store frozen eggs and embryos, and what alarm and backup systems do you have?

For more, see questions to ask a fertility clinic.

Browse clinics by state to see each clinic’s SART and accreditation status alongside its CDC outcomes.