Fertility & IVF

GW Fertility & IVF is no longer accepting new patients at this time. We apologize for any inconvenience.

Welcome to The GW Medical Faculty Associates Fertility Center. Your fertility needs are our mission and our only concern. For more than 25 years we have been leaders in the field, serving individuals and couples from Washington DC, Virginia and Maryland with one-on-one doctor-patient care. Involved in the latest research, we help our patients explore and understand every possibility that exists in science, medicine, and technology.

What do we promise?

You will never be rushed.
We welcome challenging cases.
You will be treated with respect and compassion.
We are up-to-date in every aspect of reproductive medicine.
You will be fully informed before proceeding with any test or treatment.
We are a nonprofit and reflect those values.
You will always be able to reach someone when you have a question

Our specialists are consistently included in top doctors lists in many respected publications, including the Washington Post, Washingtonian Magazine, and Consumer’s Checkbook. Find out more about what makes us different here.

FOR MORE INFORMATION ON OUR PRACTICE AND SERVICES, PLEASE CONTACT: (202) 741-2520.

What services do we offer?

Diagnosing Infertility:

Infertility - male and female
Recurrent pregnancy loss (RPL)
Infertility with polycystic ovarian syndrome (PCOS)
Infertility with amenorrhea
Elevated FSH
Endometriosis
Premature ovarian failure
Diminished ovarian reserve
Reproductive aging
Improving IVF outcomes
Implantation failure
Embryo transfer techniques

Treatment Options:

Artificial Insemination (IUI)
In Vitro Fertilization (IVF)
Ovulation induction
Preservation of fertility
ICSI - Intracytoplasmic sperm injection
Pre-implantation Genetic Disease (PGD)
Pre-implantation Genetic Screening (PGS)

About Us

We were the first IVF center in the Washington DC metropolitan area and, in 1987, the first to achieve a live birth through IVF. We were the first to perform intracytoplasmic sperm injection (ICSI) and first to offer blastocyst embryo transfer. With procedures being developed in our laboratory, we lead the way in research, on our own and by designing clinical trials supported by the National Institutes of Health. We welcome difficult cases. For those reasons—and a record of successful results—we continue to be a globally respected fertility center.

When you partner with one of our physicians, you have access to a comprehensive range of fertility services, from testing and diagnosis to the latest proven techniques that science has to offer.

Leaders in the field, our physicians are fellowship-trained reproductive endocrinologists. They have trained many top OB/GYNs and fertility specialists. Using a multidisciplinary approach, every member of this team provides compassionate care and treatment for people experiencing infertility.

Our office is located in Washington, DC, but access is not limited to people living in the DC region. Whether you live across the United States or overseas, a member of our staff can assist you in making appropriately-timed arrangements for a consultation.

Our Primary Facility

A short walk from the George Washington University Hospital, the Fertility & IVF Center is housed in a 4,000 square foot state-of-the-art setting featuring the most technologically advanced in-vitro fertilization laboratory. From blastocyst transfer to ICSI and embryo implantation, we are performing and perfecting the latest advances in fertility services.

The lab is certified by both the College of American Pathologists and the Society for Assisted Reproductive Technologies, the first to be dual-certified in the Washington D.C. area.

In this facility, the team utilizes state-of-the-art incubators, microscope and sample technology, and an ultra-filtration HEPA system that purifies the air more efficiently than operating room systems. Additionally, micro-instruments and micro-tools are used for intracytoplasmic sperm injection (ICSI).

With an atmosphere that is aesthetically pleasing and sensitive to patient needs, special features prioritize privacy and comfort.

On the human side, our staff of physicians, nurses and administrators is known for their dedicated service to the medical mission of helping people become parents, and also for the compassion and care with which the help is provided.

Why We Are Different

As faculty members of the George Washington University School of Medicine and Health Sciences, our doctors have trained many of the nation’s experts in the infertility field. Our medical staff includes pioneers in artificial insemination, ovarian stimulation, in vitro fertilization, intracytoplasmic sperm injection (ICSI), blastocyst embryo culture and pre-implantation genetic diagnosis.

Your road to parenthood brought you to GWIVF for guidance, support and care. This journey can take many turns, with the final destination being the ultimate fulfillment: a baby. Our fulfillment is your success.

Our Mission

We provide fertility care in a private and supportive setting. Our focus is to afford you the opportunity to be treated as an individual with a management plan that you select based on your vision, dreams and preferences.

Our Style

Being a small group of highly specialized health professionals enables us to listen, answer as many questions as you have, ease your worries and personalize your care. Our mix of technical expertise, compassion and experience have assisted thousands of couples overcome the medical and social challenges associated with infertility.

Our Experience

GWIVF has been serving people who live in and near the nation’s capital for 20 years, and we are the only not-for-profit university-affiliated IVF center in the area. Our physicians are fellowship-trained members of the American Society for Reproductive Medicine and have performed thousands of IVF procedures. They are members of the George Washington School of Medicine faculty and are world-recognized leaders in the fields of infertility and reproduction.

Our Approach

You will be an active, empowered participant, making informed decisions about your testing and course of treatment.

We pay attention, listen closely, assess the situation and select a therapy—with you—that is right for you. Our physicians, experts in diagnosing and resolving reproductive problems, personally perform the diagnostic testing and explain the findings.

Following a thorough evaluation, a customized treatment plan is offered. All along the way you will understand your options, your chosen plan and its likely outcomes.

Our Facilities

All of our services, including IVF, are performed in a state-of-the-art facility near the George Washington University campus, two blocks from the Foggy Bottom Metro station. As testimony to our experience, excellence and professionalism, we are certified by both the College of American Pathologists and the Society for Assisted Reproductive Technologies.

Support

Advanced fertility treatment can be overwhelming. We understand this. To help, we provide classes on IVF techniques and offer counseling to help navigate the anxiety and stress.

Getting Started

If you are concerned about your ability to get pregnant, call to make an appointment. It is important to begin as soon as you recognize you are having a problem conceiving or maintaining a pregnancy, whether this is your first try or if you are parents already.

Frequently Asked Questions

What Does Age Have to Do with Fertility?

As a woman ages, the number of eggs remaining in her ovaries decline. This process actually begins before a woman is even born. No more than 250,000 to 500,000 eggs are present in a woman’s ovaries at the time of her first period. By menopause, when her periods stop, no eggs are left. Women achieve their peak fertility by their mid-20’s and maintain their fertility until about age thirty. At this point it starts to decline gradually picking up after age 35 and plummeting beyond age forty. By her fortieth birthday, a woman’s fertility is down by about 50% of its peak.

The age related decline in fertility is partly due to the fact that human eggs remain in a state of suspended animation from fetal life until ovulation. That means that they can exist in an arrested state for decades and it is at this stage that they can experience damage from environmental insults and waste products that the body naturally produces. Such exposure translates to egg damage and a reduced likelihood of the egg to yield a baby. At the same time, the potential for a miscarriage or chromosomally abnormal pregnancy increases.

IF YOU WOULD LIKE TO LEARN MORE ABOUT THE EFFECT OF AGE ON YOUR CHANCES OF GETTING PREGNANT, PLEASE CALL (202) 741-2520 TO SET UP A CONSULTATION WITH ONE OF OUR DOCTORS.

Egg Freezing

Successful conception is in large part due to the quality of a woman’s eggs. As women age, egg supply decreases and quality suffers. For a variety of reasons, including later marriage age and medical conditions such as cancer diagnoses and anticipated treatment, this technology can help women and couples increase their chances of having a child later, when the time is right for them.

Egg freezing (oocyte cryopreservation) is a reproductive technology in which a woman’s mature eggs are removed from her ovaries, frozen and stored. When she decides she is ready to try to become pregnant, the eggs are thawed, fertilized and implanted in her uterus.

Does it Work?

Until recently, the pregnancy success rate with frozen eggs was low, but recent advances in preservation and laboratory techniques have revolutionized this assistive reproductive technology. Previously, eggs were cooled slowly; now they can be frozen in a fraction of a second. In addition, a new cell culture system protects the eggs from damage during both the freezing and thawing processes. Ice crystal formations, just like the ones on ice cream in the freezer, are a thing of the past.

These new developments have enabled our fertility specialists to give patients much better results. The numbers are very similar to fresh egg pregnancy rates.

Women who freeze their ages at, for example, age 35, will have the same rate of pregnancy at age 40 (with her eggs that were frozen) as if she were 35.

This technology is still considered experimental by the American Society for Reproductive Medicine, but we are confident there is sufficient clinical data to justify its use for women who want to delay child-bearing. Of course, patients are thoroughly evaluated, as they would be for any other treatment or procedure.

How does it work?

Two weeks of injected hormones stimulate the ovaries, encouraging the body to produce several mature eggs in a single cycle instead of one or two eggs per cycle. The eggs are retrieved through the vaginal wall with a long needle.

When the woman is ready to start her family, we thaw two or three frozen eggs and fertilize them with her partner’s sperm in the laboratory. The fertilized eggs (zygotes) are implanted into the woman’s uterus with faith that at least one will become an embryo, and the embryo a fetus, and the fetus a baby.

An advantage of oocyte cryopreservation, for some individuals, is that you can prolong your fertility while avoiding the ethical controversy of embryo freezing. Freezing an egg is not the same thing as freezing a fertilized egg. A young woman facing chemotherapy and/or radiation for treatment of a life-threatening disease, or who has a chronic condition that requires medication that negatively affects fertility, can take advantage of this opportunity without any moral dilemma. Fortunately, cancer treatments are now so successful that many young people with cancer will beat it and go on to live full lives. With that reality, having a family should not be a fantasy.

Clinical Services

You Can Fight Back Against Infertility