Treatment Services

Controlled Ovarian Stimulation -- this is done to help a woman ovulate. If a woman is ovulatory, the medication is given to help her ovulate multiple eggs during the month so as to increase her chances that one of the eggs will fertilize and result in a viable pregnancy.

Cycle Monitoring -- women being treated with fertility medication are monitored with blood testing and ultrasound exams to ensure that they are having an appropriate response to their medication.

Intrauterine Insemination (IUI) -- commonly known as artificial insemination, IUI involves washing and concentrating a fresh sample of sperm for direct placement inside a woman's uterus as she is getting ready to ovulate. IUI is often performed for unexplained infertility, mild male factor infertility and for women who do not have a male partner. Donor sperm is frequently used for IUI if the partner has no sperm or if there is no male partner.

Surgery for myomas (fibroids), polyps, ovarian cysts or growths (e.g., dermoid), endometriosis and adhesions (scar tissue)

In vitro fertilization (IVF) -- involves stimulating a woman to produce multiple, mature eggs simultaneously by having her take injectable fertility hormones. Ultrasound exams are performed to monitor the woman's response to the medication and to assess the appropriate time for harvesting the eggs. Eggs are collected during an egg retrieval which is performed under anesthesia with ultrasound guidance. Eggs are then fertilized with sperm inside the embryology lab.

Insemination -- a method of fertilizing eggs during IVF. It involves placing a concentrated sample of washed sperm around each egg in the lab and letting the sperm fertilize the egg on its own

Intracytoplasmic sperm injection (ICSI) -- an alternative way to fertilize eggs during IVF treatment. The embryologist pushes a sperm through the egg's shell to fertilize the egg. This procedure is most often performed for male factor infertility, a prior unsuccessful fertilization with conventional insemination or for unexplained infertility.

Day 3 embryo transfer -- involves placement of embryos inside a woman's uterus three days after the egg retrieval. Embryos are usually between 4 and 8 cells and are graded by the embryologist based on their appearance. This procedure is typically done under ultrasound guidance to optimize the proper embryo placement.

Blastocyst transfer -- when the embryo transfer is performed on day 5, an advanced stage embryo called a blastocyst is transferred. The advantage of waiting until day 5 is that fewer embryos can be transferred to achieve a pregnancy thereby decreasing the risk of multiple pregnancy.

Assisted hatching -- in certain situations prior to transferring embryos, the embryologist will make a small slit in the embryo's shell to enhance the likelihood that the embryo will be able to break out of its shell and implant into the uterus.

Embryo cryopreservation -- freezing of embryos: This is offered when there are extranumerary embryos during an IVF cycle or if a patient is not yet ready to proceed with an embryo transfer.

Frozen embryo transfer -- after a woman's uterus is prepared with hormones, frozen embryos can be thawed and transferred for pregnancy.

IVF using an egg donor -- the highest pregnancy rates from assisted reproductive technology are achieved with IVF using an egg donor. The intended mother's uterus is prepared for pregnancy with hormones. In the meantime, the egg donor takes fertility medication to help her to produce multiple, mature eggs simultaneously. The egg donor then undergoes an egg retrieval and all of the eggs collected are donated to the intended parents. Sperm are then used to fertilize the eggs and an embryo transfer is performed 3 or 5 days later.

Preimplantation Genetic Diagnosis (PGD) -- involves removing one to two cells from a day 3 embryo to detect a particular disease or to check for a chromosomal imbalance. PGD can only be performed on embryos formed during IVF treatment.