Infertility - Reproductive Medicine - About Us - Bronx - Westchester - New York - Montefiore Medical Center

Our goal at Montefiore's Institute for Reproductive Medicine and Health is to provide the highest quality diagnostic and therapeutic services, so that each individual or couple can leave with one healthy baby. Our innovative approach fuses together emotional support, financial counseling, board-certified reproductive professionals with years of experience treating a wide variety of complications, and our vast resources and research.

Patients tend to diligently compare "success rates" when searching for the right reproductive medicine destination for their needs. However, the phrase "success rates" is actually rather complex.

Most would interpret a success rate as at least one live birth resulting from fertility treatment, right? What some professionals at other centers won't tell patients is that they strongly encourage them to proceed immediately with IVF (in vitro fertilization), even if these patients could otherwise conceive with more simplistic and less costly approaches. This tends to bolster success rates, as IVF does yield the most success per attempt when compared to other treatments. Yet if you were a patient that could likely conceive without the burden of the cost and stress associated with IVF, wouldn't you want to know what your other options were, and make the decision yourself?

An ethical issue that comes into question is when some facilities transfer a sizable number of embryos back to the woman, and as a result, cause more multiple pregnancies (i.e. twins, triplets, etc.). This may sound acceptable—even inviting to some couples; however, multiple births propose more risks to the mother and the fetuses. Yet that too will increase a reported success rate.

However, for every patient at Montefiore's Institute for Reproductive Medicine and Health that undergoes IVF, we have approximately 3-4 patients that experience a medical management cycle that does not involve IVF. Yes, these patients get pregnant at a slightly lesser rate than that of IVF patients; yet they incur less expense, less potential complications and we are delighted to report a very normal pregnancy rate among them. We think we're doing a great service by analyzing every individual case, educating couples about their options, and offering a treatment plan that works best for them.