When I first began thinking about opening Fertility Partnership back in 2007, I knew I wanted to do things a little differently than many other fertility clinics in the U.S. I wanted to create a refuge for people stuck in the nightmare of infertility, and I wanted to make that refuge available to as many people as possible, regardless of their ethnic, cultural or economic backgrounds.

Why? Because I’d tried to comfort too many sobbing patients over the years who needed fertility treatments and couldn’t afford them. Because I’d seen too many patients mortgage their homes, take leave from their jobs, and leave the comfort of their extended families to travel abroad and get more affordable IVF in other countries. Because I knew in many cases fertility medicine had the tools to help, but not the cultural sensitivities or the compassion for the unique issues faced by minority patients.

It took a few years, but I’m grateful to everyone who helped transform Fertility Partnership from a thought into reality. Today, after nearly nine months in business (a meaningful amount of time for doctors like me!), Fertility Partnership is honored to care for women and men from all ethnic, cultural and economic backgrounds. Whether a celebrity or an “Average Joe” from the heartland, our compassion and our determination to provide the highest quality care at the most affordable price possible remains the same.

Along the way, we’ve run into our fair share of detractors and naysayers – people both in and out of the fertility care industry who said it couldn’t be done. Interestingly, I’ve found that the people who’ve protested the loudest are those who most strongly wish to keep the status quo in the fertility industry. I don’t, because I know we can do better for our patients – in terms of both quality and cost. Fertility Partnership is living proof of that, and I’m grateful to all the patients who have given us the opportunity to put our philosophy into highly successful action. I hope the entire fertility care industry will join us in continuing to work to increase access to fertility care for everyone, regardless of ethnicity, culture or economic status.

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As politicians continue to sling mud over health care reform in Washington, Fertility Partnership is taking what I think will be a slightly faster path in an effort to change the system. Our mission is simple: we want to help more couples afford fertility treatments and achieve their dreams of having a baby, especially those who’ve largely been ignored by the medical establishment. Among the most neglected groups – minority ethnicities such as African-Americans and Latinos.  

Too many people feel as if fertility care, including in vitro fertilization (IVF), is out of reach. For many, Fertility Partnership is changing that. We are dramatically bringing down the costs – not nickel-and-diming patients – and we’re talking with people who have never before been reached with this message.

Last year, $4.4 billion was spent in the fertility industry, but few minorities accessed these services. Sometimes the block is cultural, sometimes religious, and sometimes it’s a language barrier, but most often it’s just too much money. We don’t have concrete numbers on minorities that are using fertility services, but we do know it’s very limited. It's certainly not helped by the information one finds on the Web. If you look at infertility blogs or the websites for the big fertility clinics nationwide, minorities are virtually non-existent.

Fertility Partnership wants to make high-quality health care affordable. The cost of fertility treatments has come down dramatically, but the savings are not being passed along to patients. There’s no point in having this remarkable technology to help families have babies if the average person can’t afford it, and there’s certainly no point in ignoring large sections of our country’s population who need fertility services.

Fertility Partnership exists to help everyone – no matter what their ethnicity, culture, religion or sexual orientation – begin the family of their dreams. If you belong to a community or religious group that would like to hear more about fertility care in general or specific infertility issues related to your group, please contact our office or email me at esimckes@fertilitypartnership.com This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it . I welcome any opportunity to share more and help make fertility care accessible and affordable to all.

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