Infertility treatment encompasses a wide range of possibilities, of which IVF is only one option.  It is not the treatment of choice for everyone.  However, while in the past, IVF was often considered the last common pathway, today, due to a myriad of factors, IVF is regarded as one of the mainstays for helping couples achieve the goal of a healthy family.   In the final analysis, it is our individualized approach to treatment and our emphasis on putting patients at the forefront that has distinguished SFS from the rest of the IVF community.  We recognize and encourage patients to undergo a thorough evaluation prior to beginning IVF treatment to identify and mitigate any detrimental factors that could adversely affect treatment outcomes.     

SFS physicians have helped fashion the entire field of IVF:

• We were the first in the world to introduce complete chromosome embryo karyotyping (Preimplantation Genetic Screening /testing for Aneuploidy -PGS/PGT-A) to identify those embryos that are most likely to propagate viable pregnancies (embryo “competency”) and in so doing vastly improve IVF efficiency and outcomes, especially in women who are older, possess diminished ovarian reserve (DOR), “unexplained” IVF failure, or recurrent pregnancy loss (RPL).
• We were first to identify a link between the ultrasound-determined quality and thickness of the endometrial lining and IVF outcome and how a poor endometrial lining may be improved through the administration of medication (vaginal sildenafil aka Viagra).
• SFS doctors were also among the first to recognize and treat the immunologic implantation dysfunction (IID) that may underlie recurrent pregnancy loss (RPL) or recurrent failed implantation.    
• We introduced a procedure known as “prolonged coasting” to prevent the risk (in certain patients) of developing the life-threatening condition known as severe ovarian hyperstimulation syndrome (OHSS).
• We believe immunomodulation of the endometrial lining in the presence of immunologic problems contributes to our higher success rates in many difficult cases, often where other programs have failed. In some instances, we have had patients with numerous (as many as 20 previous IVF failures) who succeeded through IVF with our doctors.

Medicine is often an art as well as a science. We do not presume to imply that the approach presented in this book is the only formula to achieve the goal of a healthy child.  We wish to make available to patients our many years of experience in helping couples to go from infertility to family.  We hold that it is not the role of the physician to tell patients what they must do. Rather, it is our responsibility to provide enough information so couples can make informed choices and given those choices, to offer safe passage on a difficult journey.

If you think you may need infertility treatment, we invite you to access our web site where you can access an enormous amount of written and audio-visual information.  Also, through this site you can communicate anonymously and directly with SFS as well as with other couples in a similar predicament to you.  Good luck on your “journey to family”, and may it be a short, easy, and successful one.