Blog entries

Fertility Week: So How Do We Bring Down the Cost of IVF

Dr. Simckes — Wed, 25 Apr 2012 15:47:46 +0100

Recently it was calculated that approximately 125 IVF cases per 1 million capita are performed in in the USA during the course of a year. In most of the major westernized countries in Europe they are performing between 400 – 500 cases per 1 million capita. That is just one ...

Unexplained Infertility: Why Won't It Work?

Mon, 16 Jan 2012 03:09:43 +0100

Unexplained infertility is by far the most frustrating of all conditions I see. To get this diagnosis, all the testing patients have undergone show that everything is normal. There are adequate sperm for the male, and female patients seem to be ovulating or “making eggs.” The “plumbing” has been checked through an ultrasound and hysterosalpingogram, or “dye test,” and there are no abnormalities. We cannot find a medical reason for failure to conceive.

I have sat before many pati...

Another Study Links IVF to Cancer: Is There Cause for Alarm?

Tue, 01 Nov 2011 15:24:04 +0100

It’s another week and another “IVF linked to cancer” study: a recent study from the Netherlands has raised the possibility that in vitro fertilization may heighten the risk of ovarian cancer in patients who have undergone the fertility treatment. Obviously this is going to cause great concern in a large and growing population of patients who've accessed advanced reproductive care – but as always, I’m urging caution as you consider this study.

First, it is important to state that the r...

IVF and Breast Cancer: Is There a Link?

Tue, 25 Oct 2011 14:46:32 +0100

I’ve been following the events surrounding E! News personality Giuliana Rancic’s recent diagnosis of breast cancer with much concern. There is so much at stake here for women trying to build a family, and Ms. Rancic’s unfortunate diagnosis could be used to confuse many people.

Obviously I hope all goes well for Ms. Rancic. For those unfamiliar with her story, Ms. Rancic’s fertility specialist ordered a mammogram for what appears to be screening purposes and found what is believe...

IVF Cycle Giveaway at MIA Conference

Tue, 18 Oct 2011 14:02:03 +0100

If you’ve been following this blog or Fertility Partnership, you probably know that I created this clinic specifically to help as many people as possible have the baby of their dreams at the most affordable cost that I could provide. I’m proud of the success we’ve had in doing that since we opened in December 2009; most notably, not only has Fertility Partnership offered IVF approximately 30 percent lower than the national average, but other St. Louis area fertility clinics have lowered...

Obesity and Infertility: One Potential Solution

Fri, 23 Sep 2011 12:25:29 +0100

Recently, yet another major article was published in the fertility literature that demonstrates the negative impact of being severely obese on infertility treatment outcomes. Piggybacking on that, Canada is currently debating whether obese women should even be allowed to undergo In Vitro Fertilization (IVF). As we have long known, being extremely obese (i.e. a BMI over 50) greatly impacts a woman’s chances to conceive. Obesity reduces the body’s ability to respond well to fertility medic...

Fibroids: What's a Potential Mother to Do? (Pt. 2)

Tue, 06 Sep 2011 13:49:14 +0100

The best way to start managing fibroids is to have an ultrasound, preferably by a fertility specialist or a sonographer specifically skilled in assessing if and how fibroids may impact fertility. As the doctor who is potentially going to be operating on the patient, I always do my own sonograms – I truly believe it improves the outcome for patients. Doing my own sonograms, I can decide whether or not the fibroids are impacting fertility, whether they could impact pregnancy, and the best way t...

Fibroids: What's a Potential Mother to Do? (Pt. 1)

Mon, 29 Aug 2011 20:32:13 +0100

Having just had a number of patients with fibroids as their major cause of infertility, it’s the perfect time to talk about this frustrating and widespread problem.

First, we really do not have an accepted theory as to why or how fibroids come about. We know that they are more common in certain races (for example, as many as 40 percent of African-American women have fibroids) and can run in families, so there is most surely a genetic component. But while the researchers try to figure ...

What do Disney and Fertility Partnership have in common?

Mon, 25 Jul 2011 02:20:00 +0100

Note: While Dr. Simckes is on vacation, we welcome as a guest blogger Fertility Partnership Marketing Director Mistie Thompson.

At first blush, it's rather hard to imagine what Fertility Partnership and Disney could possibly have in common. One is officially The Happiest Place on Earth, and the other - let's be honest, no matter how nice we work to make it - is not somewhere anyone who wishes to have a baby wants to find themselves.

But really, the philosophy behind Fertil...

In Vitro Maturation (IVM) - the Holy Grail of Infertility Treatments

Tue, 12 Jul 2011 12:56:48 +0100

Ever since the 1930s, science and medicine have been searching for an effective way to collect immature eggs from the ovaries and mature them in the lab so they can be successfully fertilized. In Vitro Maturation – or IVM – has captured the imaginations of various researchers but results to this point have never been reliable or consistent. Over the years there have been scattered successes, and one estimate is that there are 500 or so babies born this way. Unfortunately, results were s...

National Men's Health Week: Guys, Bite the Bullet & Get a Checkup

Tue, 14 Jun 2011 12:20:23 +0100

Ladies, beware: this post is for all the guys out there. Feel free to share it with all the men in your life, because I’m betting you want to keep them around as long as possible. Most of them, anyway.

Guys, here’s the deal. It’s National Men’s Health Week, which gives me a great excuse to talk directly to you. I know you don’t like going to the doctor. I’m a doctor and I don’t like going to the doctor. But sometimes you have to bite the bullet and do things you don’t want to do – tak...

Weekend Hours at Fertility Partnership

Tue, 24 May 2011 14:33:27 +0100

At Fertility Partnership, we're always looking for new ways to help increase access to infertility care. Sometimes our tactics follow one of our favorite sayings around here - "Go big or go home!" - and sometimes they're small but, hopefully, still helpful.

To that end, we're introducing weekend hours for new consultations at Fertility Partnership. One weekend a month for following dates in 2011, we'll have time set aside especially for potential new patients to visit with us wi...

Just Keep Swimming

Mon, 09 May 2011 01:06:14 +0100

Let's be honest - if you're battling infertility, Mother's Day is probably a holiday you'd be more than happy to skip. You may have chosen to "skip" it by taking a vacation, doing something completely non-family-focused (skydiving, skeet shooting, etc.), or by just hiding away in your house and ignoring the phone, emails and Twitter. Or, you may have put on your "brave face" and survived a moms-focused church service, family lunch or other celebratory event, probably suppressing the urge to s...

Live-Blogging: KC Infertility Conf. - Stress & Infertility

Sat, 30 Apr 2011 13:40:46 +0100

Next at the Kansas City Infertility Awareness Conference: Kerry Christifano, LPC regarding stress and infertility.

Stress is the result of anything we find threatening or harmful, and infertility certainly fits that description.
The media implies that infertility is your fault, and well-meaning but uneducated family and friends don't help.
Lots of bad information out there with people making many assumptions about stress and infertility. When you want to hear from family and friends, "H...

Live-Blogging: KC Infertility Awareness Conf. - Infertility 101

Sat, 30 Apr 2011 12:31:58 +0100

Dr. Ryan Riggs with the Reproductive Resource Center is going through his basics of infertility - an "Infertility 101" class. Key points:

If you're over 35 (Dr. Simckes actually lowers that to 30) and haven't conceived in six months of trying, go see a doctor.
Many people have multiple problems - everything from tubal issues to endometriosis to male infertility.
1 in 6 couples have trouble conceiving.
Even if everything is perfect, 25-year-old women and men will only have abou...

Live-blogging: Kansas City Infertility Awareness Conference

Sat, 30 Apr 2011 12:12:55 +0100

Good morning! We're in Kansas City today at the Kansas City Infertility Awareness Conference, where there's a full morning of speakers and activities on the agenda. We'll be live-blogging all the presentations, so keep checking back here and on Twitter and Facebook for updates.

Latest SART Statistics: The PCOS Story

Wed, 30 Mar 2011 16:46:03 +0100

Earlier this month, the Society for Assisted Reproductive Technology (SART) published 2009 statistics - the latest available - for in vitro fertilization (IVF) success rates. (Side note: Since Fertility Partnership opened in December 2009, our clinic is not included in these statistics.) There were a number of interesting findings in the report that I’ll be blogging about over the next few weeks, but what really caught my eye was the statistic that ovulatory dysfunction (i.e. Polycystic Ovari...

Infertility and National Endometriosis Awareness Month

Wed, 16 Mar 2011 17:22:47 +0100

For nearly 176 million women around the world, endometriosis means a daily battle with pain that can wreak havoc on almost every aspect of their lives, including their fertility. Defined as the migration and implantation of the uterine lining, or endometrium, outside the uterus, endometriosis often is an extraordinarily painful condition that can debilitate women from adolescence onward. Along with infertility, it can cause everything from painful periods to gastrointestinal and urinary tract...

Fertility Partnership's Latest IVF Success Rates

Wed, 02 Mar 2011 15:18:08 +0100

Once again, Fertility Partnership is thrilled to report that our patients are dreaming, believing and conceiving well above the national average. Our January success rates topped 50 percent, and we are beyond excited for each of our newly pregnant patients. Congratulations to each of you and enjoy every moment of your pregnancy – don’t forget to send us photos!

And for our patients who are still waiting for their dreams to come true, we hope you’ve already felt and continue to feel ou...

Infertility & Black History Month

Fri, 25 Feb 2011 17:46:10 +0100

Why would a fertility clinic talk about Black History Month? For Fertility Partnership, the question is “why wouldn’t we?”

From the beginning, we’ve been focused on increasing access to infertility care for everyone regardless of ethnicity, gender or socioeconomic status. We know that African-Americans are 1.5 times more likely to struggle with infertility, and we also know that they are less likely to reach out for medical care to help with infertility.

We’ve written before a...