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 Fertility Partnership is very much like the basic philosophy of Disney - it's all about creating an experience for the people who matter most to you. In Disney's case, it's their guests. In our case, it's our patients. From the very beginning of planning Fertility Partnership, we were laser-focused on creating a different kind of fertility clinic - one that was entirely centered around the patient experience. We looked at every step our patients took with Fertility Partnership, whether it be the website, a phone call or even a billboard, and did all we could to ensure it would reflect our desire to be patient-focused. 

So I had to chuckle a little when I read this article about Disney now giving seminars to health care executives and doctors regarding translating the "Disney experience" to their hospitals and practices. I love being ahead of the curve! I'm also a little sad that so many health care providers are just now understanding what a great patient experience really is, and I'm still shocked when I hear stories from some of our patients who've experienced the other end of the spectrum - one where they're treated as irritants in a medical team's day rather than the whole focus of the practice. 

We're just going to stay focused on providing the best possible care - physically and emotionally - to you. Please let us know what we can do to improve your experience, and we'll keep working hard to take the best possible care of you on your fertility journey.

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One of the surprises of our first year at Fertility Partnership has been the number of people who have traveled long distances to receive infertility care from us. We’ve had patients fly in from both coasts (in fact, our first babies were just born on the East Coast!) and, incredibly, as far away as Nigeria to take part in our unique blend of compassionate, high-tech, lower-cost IVF.

I really shouldn’t be surprised. In a recent survey, 74 percent of American women age 25 to 45 said they would consider traveling outside the United States to receive fertility treatments. While I’m excited that patients from all over the map are responding to Fertility Partnership’s philosophy of care, I’m also saddened that people seeking infertility care are finding it necessary to travel such long distances – even out of the country – for quality, yet affordable help. To be away from the comforts of home, family and friends at what can be an emotionally and physically draining time is not an easy decision, but when you hear stories like one told by a California patient of ours, you understand why patients choose to travel.

This particular patient was lucky enough to have family here in Missouri, so she literally picked up and moved from California to go through IVF with Fertility Partnership. She made the decision to do so after evaluating many IVF clinics on the West Coast, as well as watching friends go through infertility treatments with local clinics. One neighbor’s experience was typical: she’d spent $75,000 for three rounds of IVF and, devastatingly, never conceived. Our patient decided that, even with a move to the Midwest, the Fertility Partnership experience offered the right combination of quality fertility care at a more reasonable cost.

I’m thrilled to report that patient conceived with her first IVF cycle – for a fraction of the cost her West Coast neighbors and friends were charged, and she’s now enjoying her twin pregnancy with her family in Missouri. While her situation isn’t typical – not everyone has family here, I realize – it is indicative of the lengths people will go to in an effort to find the best assisted reproductive technology for them. In fact, we’ve just had a St. Louis couple who were planning to go all the way to the Czech Republic for IVF find us and decide to stay and receive treatment here at Fertility Partnership.

It’s also part of what Fertility Partnership is trying to change about infertility care. When we have almost three-fourths of women saying they’d consider going outside the United States for health care – any health care – there’s a big problem that needs fixing. A July Newsweek.com article asked the perfect question: “Why is IVF so expensive in the United States?” As Fertility Partnership proves, it doesn’t have to be. It is possible to provide the highest quality fertility care with sincere compassion at a lower cost. We do it for our patients every day.

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(Note: We welcome Fertility Partnership Executive Director Andria Simckes as a guest blogger.)

As Fertility Partnership grows its practice and continues to reach out to people of all ethnicities, we find ourselves battling some deeply held fears and beliefs about infertility in the African-American community. This is personally frustrating to me, because one of my key goals with helping my husband start Fertility Partnership was to lower the infertility rate among people of color. While overall, approximately one in seven couples experience infertility, the rate is 1.5 times higher in the African-American community, and that’s not acceptable to me.

Unfortunately, historical experience makes it hard for African-Americans to ask for help, or to even trust help that’s offered, for such a personal issue. According to psychologist Dr. Marva M. Robinson, utilization statistics clearly show that African-Americans often only seek medical help in the event of an emergency. This is probably due to a long-held distrust of the medical establishment after historical abuses such as the Tuskegee research project and the experience of Henrietta Lacks.

Additionally, we as a community don’t want to talk about infertility because we don’t want to “admit” that we as women are “broken” or that our men are “less of a man.” I understand the sentiment, but if we want to find real answers to the health problems that we face, we have to move past this. This secrecy is causing an immense amount of pain – both physical and emotional – and holding us back from finding real answers.

I’m focused on working to find solutions to these problems and helping African-Americans throw off the shame of infertility to get the help our community needs, but I need your input to help make real progress. I’d love to hear your thoughts and ideas about this issue, either in the comments section of this blog post or by emailing me directly at adsimckes@fertilitypartnership.com. Let’s work together to reduce the soaring infertility rate in the African-American community.

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This week I met with a data expert to analyze our patient data, with the goal of better understanding who our patients are so that we can reach out to them and serve them even better. The analysis actually disclosed something very surprising. The average family income of our patients is within $200 of the median income of $53,189 for families in the St. Louis metropolitan statistical area (MSA). What does that mean? It means our patients are an accurate cross-section of the St. Louis metropolitan population, and that’s a big achievement.

While we do take care of doctors and lawyers, we're also providing fertility treatments for food servers and car wash attendants. I cannot tell you how good this makes me feel. In most clinics, the cost of IVF and other assisted reproductive technologies (ART) is still so high, it has remained a luxury of the wealthiest Americans. At Fertility Partnership, we have brought down the cost in the hope of making it more affordable for people across a wider range of economic levels. Now that we have hard data that shows we actually are bringing in patients who represent an average sample of the population of our area, we know we have achieved one of our goals, and that feels great!

But, we’re not resting on our laurels. We’re going to continue doing all we can to make fertility care as affordable and accessible to as many people as possible, while keeping our commitment to providing the highest quality of care with compassion and sensitivity. Thanks for helping us achieve our goals, and thank you for continuing to support our efforts to help our patients achieve their dream of having a baby.

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(Note: We welcome Fertility Partnership Executive Director Andria Simckes in writing her first guest post for Dr. Simckes' blog.)

Misperceptions are sometimes hurtful, occasionally dangerous, and often get in the way of getting what we really want in our lives. The misperceptions about African-Americans and infertility are a perfect case in point.

For example, it’s a common perception that black women are incredibly fertile. They couldn’t possibly have problems with infertility, right? Wrong. In fact, according to RESOLVE, the infertility rate among African-Americans is nearly 1.5 times higher than other races. Unfortunately, that’s a statistic that very few people, especially black women, know. As a result, they suffer in silence when they can’t conceive, believing – even more so than other ethnic groups – that they’re all alone in their infertility.

And what about black men? That infertility rate statistic includes them, too, but that’s an even more taboo topic than black female infertility. Black men are supposed to be virile and sexually powerful – they couldn’t possibly have infertility problems, could they? Yes, they can. About one-third of the time when couples are struggling with infertility, the problem lies with the man, no matter the ethnicity. But again, how many black men haven’t even taken a simple, relatively inexpensive test to see if there is a problem, simply because of the misperception?

As African-Americans, we need to take the lead in doing everything we can to shake off these harmful misperceptions about our fertility. We need to demand more medical studies to fully understand why African-Americans suffer from infertility in such inflated numbers – current research is woefully inadequate and doesn’t give doctors enough information on which to base effective treatment protocols. We need to do all we can to spread the word about the sheer prevalence of infertility in our communities, and share the good news that – in many cases – help is out there.

Finally, we need to strip the stigma away from infertility. If you are black and battling infertility, you are not alone. You do not need to hide it. You do not need to just hope it will go away. Doctors like my husband and clinics like Fertility Partnership are out there ready to help with compassion and understanding.  Support is available through websites like The Broken Brown Egg. Let’s crush these misperceptions and turn the lights on a situation that’s been hiding in the dark for far too long.

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