As Fertility Partnership gathers momentum, we’re continuing to use a variety of methods to spread the word about our clinic’s unique mission and services. I am thrilled that our second cycle has twice the number of patients as our first, but I still cannot help but wonder why OB/GYNs don’t more readily refer patients to fertility doctors. I have a unique perspective on this issue, because I am sure I am one of the few obstetricians who was engaged in IVF while also practicing general obstetrics and gynecology.
The fact of the matter is that many obstetricians don’t want to refer onward. Several reasons come to mind, most of them involving good intentions. First, they know how expensive advanced reproductive technology is and want to solve the problem for their patients much more affordably using simpler, less expensive measures. Some don’t refer because they simply enjoy being a doctor and want to be involved in the “healing process.” From personal experience, I can tell you there’s no greater thrill than calling a patient who’s struggled to have a baby and saying to them, “Guess what? You’re pregnant!”
I am sure there are those doctors who just don’t like admitting they don’t know what to do when a patient can’t get pregnant, so they simply say, “Well, let’s just give it a few more months.” Also, there sometimes is a concern that if they refer their patient out to a fertility doctor, the patient will never come back - their doctor-patient relationship will be undermined by the process, or the specialist will send the successfully pregnant patient to a high risk obstetrician or to another physician who is a better referral source.
In the end, precious months are often wasted. Clomid is given inappropriately, for the wrong reason, and for too long. With the recent study from the University of St. Andrews and Edinburgh University in Scotland that found a woman loses 90 percent of her egg quantity by age 30, we should all be concerned about not wasting valuable time. I built the Fertility Partnership with a goal of developing strong relationships with referring doctors so that many of the obstacles to timely reproductive care can be overcome. We will not price-gouge their patients, we will communicate well with the referring doctor and ensure the patients return to them if the patients choose to, and we will work with the doctors who want to solve the problems in their own practice. It’s just one of the reasons our name is Fertility Partnership.
