Donor egg

by

Test your fertility trivia knowledge!

Do you know how many women and their partners in the U.S. have fertility problems? How about what are the main factors that influence a women’s ability to conceive?

SGF Nurse

Attain Fertility®  is holding their Fertility Trivia Challenge. Now through December 8, every time you correctly answer their daily fertility trivia question, you will be entered to win $2,500. Then, try your luck at their Instant Win Game for a chance to win a variety of great prizes, including a Kindle Fire.

SGF Nurse



Attain Fertility® is the nation’s largest fertility network, with over 40 practices, 130 locations and 180 Reproductive Endocrinologists in 34 states and the District of Columbia. Shady Grove Fertility Center is a proud member of the Attain Fertility network.

If you having trouble conceiving, you may need to speak with a fertility specialist. Please call 1-877-971-7755 or click here to learn more.

by

Fertility Fact: About 10% of all IVF Cycles in the United States are Donor Egg

SGF Nurse

According to the Society of Advanced Reproductive Technology (SART), in 2010 – the most recent national data available – 10.6% of all reported cycles were donor egg. To think of it in actual numbers, that is 15,504 out of the 146,693 IVF cycles performed in 2010 were donor egg!

When we look back over the last several years, the proportion of donor egg to IVF cycles has not changed.  Each year since 2003, the percentage of donor egg cycles has steady right around 10.5% of cycles. In 2007, the highest number was reported with just over 11% of IVF cycles used donated eggs.

In 2010, about 15%  of Shady Grove Fertility’s IVF cycles used donor egg. SGF is proud to have the largest donor egg program in the country, providing approximately 6% of all the donor egg cycles nationally.

In addition to being the largest program, Shady Grove Fertility is also one of the most selective. Only about 3% of all donor applicants make it through to the donation process, leaving only the most qualified women in our donor egg database.

View our fresh donor database.

View our new frozen donor database.

To schedule a New Patient Appointment with Shady Grove Fertility please call 1-877-971-7755 or click here.

by

Robert J. Stillman, MD, Shady Grove Fertility Medical Director, and Lisa Schap, Canadian Patient Liaison, discuss in depth the process and unique benefits of Canadian patients seeking Donor Egg treatment at SGF. The International Donor Egg Team will work with you to make travel and treatment streamlined and ensure that your time with us is positive. If you would like to learn more about our International Donor Egg program, please call 1-877-971-7755 or 301-545-1390. Or if you would like us to contact you, please submit this form and we’ll call you!

by

SGF Nurse

by Dr. Howard McClamrock

Back to Basics

Recently some colleagues and I from Shady Grove Fertility’s Baltimore offices held a seminar on the topic of Understanding Fertility. The seminar was well attended and there were some great questions and discussions afterward. During a one-on-one discussion following the presentation, an attendee commented that she didn’t realize she could “come to Shady Grove Fertility” for anything other than IVF (in vitro fertilization). She was at the beginning stages of considering treatment and she wanted to know options but didn’t feel she was ready for more advanced fertility options at this point.

It was interesting and a really poignant comment because one of the reasons we did this seminar and named it simply “Understanding Fertility” is because we realize sometimes there can be mixed messages regarding what we do (and don’t do) at SGF.

> Join us for our “Getting Started” webcast on June 26, 2012.

Fertility is a big topic, there is a lot of jargon and acronyms specific to the industry. Sometimes those of us practicing the discipline need a reminder that patients seeking our assistance in the beginning stages of their journey largely have a limited understanding of the processes and terminology. We tend to speak about diagnosis, success rates and protocols, ovarian function and FSH levels. Our patients however, are thinking in terms of negative pregnancy tests, irregular cycles and the anxiety associated with a failure to conceive. They need to start at the beginning, and that is exactly what we do at Shady Grove Fertility.

Understanding Fertility

SGF Nurse

There are some specific indicators and conditions that are obvious barriers to conception and raise a red flag to patients and referring physicians. Voluntary sterilization, hysterectomy or prior exposures to chemotherapy to treat various forms of cancer are more obvious conditions which most people realize require the input of a specialist. The more subtle indicators (or sometimes no indicator other than not becoming pregnant) can cause patients reason to pause and wonder if they should see a specialist or take another path such as just giving it more time or seeking help from their primary care or gynecological physician.

To help clarify things, I’d like to offer the following tips:

– Nationally recognized standards state that infertility is defined for women under the age of 35 as 12 months of unprotected intercourse without conception. For women over 35 it is defined as 6 months of unprotected intercourse without conception. If you stopped taking birth control a few years ago but haven’t been actively “trying” you should also consider speaking to your doctor just to be sure everything is okay.

– There are many OB/GYN offices and primary care doctors who are able to assist with the beginning testing or even preliminary treatment for those having difficulty becoming pregnant. Depending on your insurance plan you many need to start with your gyn or primary care physician before being referred to a specialist.

– There are also many insurance plans which don’t require a referral to see a specialist so you should check into your plan specifically in order to understand the requirements. At SGF we never require a referral, we just work within the parameters of what insurance requires.

– SGF is a full service fertility center. We are able to help patients from the very beginning. We perform diagnostic testing, non invasive techniques such as timed intercourse, low tech treatments such as non medicated (or lightly medicated) insemination all the way through to the more invasive processes such as in vitro fertilization or donor egg treatment cycles.

– Many people are surprised to learn that SGF does just as many non invasive insemination cycles as we do IVF cycles. Our expertise is in treating patients using the right treatment with the best success rates at the least expense.

Fertility is all we do at Shady Grove Fertility. We have 29 board certified specialists completely dedicated to the field of reproductive endocrinology. Our experience, expertise and team approach ensure that we are providing the absolute best advice, care and outcomes available, no matter where you are in your fertility journey.

Call 1-877-971-7755 to schedule your new patient appointment or click here.

by

SGF Nurse

An exciting event is taking place on Saturday, May 12 at the Hilton in Tysons Corner from 8am-2:30pm.

The A Family of My Own Fertility & Adoption Conference is a great local event for those interested in learning more about fertility and adoption options in the area.

Shady Grove Fertility is happy to team up A Family of My Own to share information about fertility treatment. Three SGF team members will be speaking at the event:

  • Jeanne E. O’Brien, MD, of SGF’s Rockville office, will be providing information about donor egg treatment.
  • Kathy Houser, Supervisor of our New Patient Center, will be sharing information about the many financial options available for patients.
  • Heidi Hayes, Donor Program Director, will be speaking from the patient perspective and is uniquely qualified as she has gone through both the adoption and donor egg process.

If you have been considering fertility treatment or thinking about adoption, this event will help figure out potential next steps to take. Or if you are interesting in learning about the latest medical advances or ways to incorporate a more holistic approach to infertility, the conference is the place for you.

Over 30 family building professionals will be at the conference available to answer all your questions.

Event Info:

A Family of My Own Fertility & Adoption Conference
Saturday, May 12, 2012
8:00am-2:30pm
Hilton McLean Tysons Corner
7920 Jones Branch Drive McLean, VA 22102
Register online!
Walk-ins welcome.

$20 registration fee per person. A portion of the fee will be donated to Resolve: The National Infertility Association. Free parking.

by

SGF Nurse

NBC Washington – View more videos at: http://nbcwashington.com.

Shared Donor Egg has become a very popular option for Shady Grove Fertility patients – reducing the cost of treatment by up to 50% or offering a 6 cycle 100% money-back guarantee for the same cost as a traditional donor egg cycle.  The pregnancy rates for patients who have selected the Shared Donor Egg program are equal to the pregnancy rates of traditional egg donation.

The program is exclusively offered at Shady Grove Fertility and developed in response to one of the major barriers patients experience when donor egg is their only treatment option: the lack of insurance coverage for an expensive yet highly successful procedure.

The Shared Donor Options

SGF Nurse

There are several variations within the Shared Egg Donor Program which offers patients the ability to truly customize a plan that works for them, from a medical, emotional, and financial perspective.

  • Fee-for-service option allows patients to realize a savings of up to 50% over the cost of a traditional donor egg treatment cycle.
  • All-inclusive Shared Risk option gives patients the opportunity up to six cycles, if necessary, with a 100% money back guarantee if baby is not delivered. Patients pay a flat fee equal to one traditional donor egg cycle that includes the treatment, donor fee, and medications for all six cycles.

What is different is that the donor is shared. As our data below demonstrates, success rates remain very high even when donors are shared among one, two, or three recipient couples.

For more information on our Donor Egg Programs, please fill out this form or contact our Donor Egg Liaisons at 877-264-3311.

2026 Shady Grove Fertility

Also of interest