The 18th REDLARA Latin American Congress of Assisted Reproduction took place April 28 to May 1 in Foz do Iguaçu, Brazil. The city sits at the border of Argentina, Brazil, and Paraguay, an intentional location for a congress built around regional connection. REDLARA represents more than 200 accredited fertility centers and over 90% of clinics performing assisted reproductive techniques across the region. It is the leading scientific gathering for reproductive medicine in the Global South.
This year's sessions captured a field moving in two directions at once: rapid advances in AI, lab automation, and precision medicine on one side, and stubborn challenges around cost, regulatory consistency, and patient access on the other. Carrot attended to build relationships with regional clinical leaders and to understand how employer-sponsored fertility benefits can address the support needs that clinicians and policymakers raised throughout the week. Here’s what stood out.
Understanding the LATAM fertility landscape
Latin America's fertility care landscape looks different from Europe and North America. The clinical guidelines developed by ESHRE and ASRM don't map cleanly onto the region. That has real implications for how new technologies and care models need to be adapted.
Brazil handles roughly 40% of assisted reproduction procedures across Latin America. Argentina and Mexico each account for about 18%. The average age at which patients in the region seek fertility treatment is approximately 38. That shapes what clinics focus on. They make the most of limited biological resources, with growing use of donor eggs and embryos and higher rates of single embryo transfer.
Cost is the central barrier. ART is expensive relative to local incomes, and most patients in the region cannot afford it. That makes patient education, financial support, and care guidance especially important. The Latin American Registry of Assisted Reproduction (RLA), REDLARA's regional outcomes database, plays a key role in building the evidence base for protocols tailored to LATAM patients, which global guidelines can't provide.
This is also why Carrot's global coverage model — built to meet members where they are, across more than 195 countries — is designed with exactly these kinds of regional differences in mind.
AI transitions from experimental to operational with some caveats
AI came up in nearly every area of clinical practice at REDLARA 2026:
- Embryo selection
- Sperm analysis
- Oocyte assessment
- Stimulation protocols
- Ultrasound interpretation
The broad consensus is that AI makes embryology more consistent and reduces variability in how different clinicians assess the same sample. This can meaningfully affect outcomes.
But the enthusiasm came with real warnings. Several speakers cautioned that clinics may be adopting AI tools based on marketing claims rather than evidence validated in their own patient populations. The most significant clinical trial on the topic, published in Nature Medicine, found that AI and experienced embryologists performed about the same. That finding should give both skeptics and early adopters pause. Legal accountability is also unresolved. If an AI-assisted decision leads to a poor outcome, the medical director is fully responsible. There is currently no framework for holding AI vendors accountable.
The field was described as being in "version 1.0,” i.e. early, but moving in one direction. The standards haven't caught up yet. For Carrot, the goal has always been AI in service of better, more personalized care, which is the foundation of Carrot Intelligence, our proprietary AI platform built on the industry's deepest fertility datasets.
Male factor infertility: a critical and historically under-evaluated variable
Session after session made the same point: male factor infertility has been under-assessed for too long, and a basic semen analysis is not enough.
Sperm DNA fragmentation (SDF) received significant attention. High SDF is linked to lower IVF success rates, and that effect is stronger in older women and those with fewer eggs. That makes evaluating both partners early — and together — a clinical priority. Obesity, stress, smoking, environmental toxins, and endocrine disruptors were all named as contributors to declining male reproductive health, particularly across many LATAM patient populations.
One finding stood out for its practical implications: male fertility factors can improve meaningfully within three months of the right intervention. Lifestyle changes, clinical evaluation, and counseling in that window can make a real difference. It remains one of the most underused opportunities in reproductive care, and one that Carrot's men's health support is built to address.
Access and equity remain the region's defining challenge
The clearest tension at REDLARA 2026 was that new reproductive technologies keep advancing, but they keep reaching the same well-resourced urban clinics. Smaller practices, public health systems, and lower-income patients are being left further behind.
Brazil's ANVISA regulatory model was held up as a regional example of how to balance innovation with patient safety. Still, meaningful inconsistencies across LATAM's national health authorities remain. Argentina's deteriorating funding situation was raised as a warning of how fast access can erode.
Patient education and emotional support also came up repeatedly as unmet needs. Patients are arriving at clinics with expectations shaped by social media, including demand for AI tools that haven't been validated for their situations. Speakers stressed that honest, clear communication between clinicians and patients influences whether patients stay engaged and follow through on their care.
Employer-sponsored fertility benefits have a direct role to play here. They can provide the education, guidance, and financial support that public health systems across the region largely don't offer.
Looking ahead
REDLARA 2026 made clear that Latin America is working to bring scientific progress and access to care closer together. The conversations Carrot was part of reinforced that clinicians and policymakers in the region are actively looking for the kind of support infrastructure that comprehensive fertility benefits can provide.
Latin America is one of the most dynamic fertility markets in the world. Carrot's work to build regional presence and strengthen partnerships with the people shaping how fertility care evolves in LATAM is part of a broader commitment to better access and better outcomes for members wherever they are.
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