Boston Fertility Doctors, Clinics and Success Rates

Boston serves as New England’s hub for infertility treatment. There are seven main fertility clinics in Massachusetts, many of which have branch fertility clinics across Massachusetts. Some also have monitoring sites at which fertility treatments are not performed but which can make tedious fertility monitoring more accessible. Massachusetts is a state of firsts, and New England’s first IVF baby was conceived and born in a Boston fertility clinic. Since then, it’s estimated that IVF has led to more than 60,000 babies in Massachusetts. In another first, Massachusetts was, in 1987, the first state to mandate insurance coverage for fertility treatments, including IVF. And this isn’t just for those with private insurance. In 2005, Massachusetts expanded its public MassHealth insurance program to cover infertility treatments for those with incomes up to twice poverty level. This means that, at least from a financial standpoint, IVF is more accessible in Massachusetts than almost anywhere else in the United States. Boston has also seen a boom in what are often called “fertility enhancement” treatments, including acupuncture, Chinese herbs, massage and other holistic approaches to infertility. Several of the major Boston fertility clinics have large mind/body components. Others work closely with holistic practitioners outside the fertility clinic. There are certainly many options available across the Boston area should you decide to include these holistic fertility treatments as you try to conceive. Fertility treatment information and statistics from individual Boston fertility clinics are available in the most recent Assisted Reproductive Technology (ART) Report, which is compiled by the CDC.

Boston Fertility Articles

Boston Fertility Doctor: When to See One

Do you need to see a Boston fertility doctor? There are approximately 150,200 people with infertility in Massachusetts.* In 2008, the American Society of Reproductive Medicine (ASRM) released a revised definition of infertility. Infertility is defined as the failure to achieve pregnancy after 12 months of unprotected sexual intercourse for a woman under 35, and six months for women over 35. If you have not gotten pregnant based on these timetables, you should see a fertility doctor, called a reproductive endocrinologist.

Boston Fertility Clinic: How to Choose One

Looking for a Boston fertility clinic? There are seven fertility clinics in Massachusetts, many with multiple locations. There are approximately 13 fertility doctors located directly in Boston, and a total of about 49 fertility doctors located in the entire state of Massachusetts. These doctors are associated with either independent fertility clinics or fertility clinics associated with hospitals. Boston Infertility Clinic Options

Boston Fertility Clinics Success Rates

All fertility clinics are required by federal law to submit their in vitro fertilization (IVF) success rates each year to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). The information from all of these clinics is published in a thorough report called the Assisted Reproductive Technology (ART) Report. Because it takes the CDC three years to complete this report, the most current data available is from 2007.

Using an Egg Donor in Boston

There were a total of 379 donor egg IVF cycles in the Boston area in 2007, including 240 using fresh donor eggs and 139 using frozen donor eggs, according to the 2007 Assisted Reproductive Technology (ART) Report by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). The state of Massachusetts accounted for a total of 608 donor egg cycles in 2007, the latest year for which the CDC report is available.

Boston Egg Donor Cycle Success Rates

The following data, from the 2007 Assisted Reproductive Technology Report published by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), detail the number of donor egg IVF cycles at Boston fertility clinics and the number of live births. Clinic Name City Fresh Donor Cycles Frozen Donor Cycles

Surrogacy in Massachusetts

Surrogacy is a type of assisted reproductive technology in which a woman carries a child for a couple who is unable to conceive or sustain a pregnancy. There are two types of surrogacy: traditional surrogacy and gestational surrogacy. In traditional surrogacy, the surrogate is inseminated with the sperm from the male partner. This makes the child biologically related to the surrogate.

Massachusetts Insurance Coverage for Infertility

One of the most pressing issues for couples struggling with infertility is how they will pay for their treatment. IVF procedures can cost thousands of dollars, and many times, more than one cycle is necessary. Fortunately, residents of Massachusetts can rest a little easier, thanks to a state mandate, The Massachusetts Infertility Mandate, that requires insurance companies to acknowledge infertility as a covered disease.

Infertility Support

A number of Boston therapists offer counseling and support to women and men with infertility. Fertility treatments bring with them not only physical challenges, but emotional drains as well. Infertility can evoke a wide range of emotions, including anger, loss, sadness, guilt, depression, and anxiety.

Boston Attorneys Offer Legal Assistance in Building Families

The field of assisted reproductive technology, especially when using a third party– egg donor, sperm donor, embryo donor or surrogate -- has created a host of new legal issues.

Boston Clinical Trials

There are currently 12 clinical studies that deal specifically with fertility related issues in Boston. These clinical trials are conducted in conjunction with research hospitals and fertility clinics in the Boston area.

Ask a Fertility Nurse: Are There Any Over-the-Counter Fertility Drugs?

by Gina Paoletti-Falcone, RN, BSN, Freedom Fertility Pharmacy, July 1, 2010 Question: Are there any over-the-counter fertility drugs?

Nurse Gina Says: That’s a really good question, especially since there are so many other medical conditions that can be treated with over-the-counter medications! When it comes to infertility, however, there really are no over-the-counter options and for a very good reason. Fertility Meds The fertility medications that we use as part of treatment protocols can be thought of in four groups:

Legal Update: Gestational Carrier Arrangements

by Melissa Brisman, Esq. and Lauren Murray, Esq., July 12, 2010 This month’s legal update highlights problems arising from international gestational carrier arrangements. A gestational carrier is a woman who carries a pregnancy for a third party and is not biologically related to the child that she is carrying.

How Fat Can Affect Fertility

by Jennifer A. Redmond, Editor in Chief According to a recent study of 323 women, being obese or overweight doubles a woman’s risk of miscarriage following IVF.

Legal Update: Landmark Legal Decision and Cases to Watch

by Melissa Brisman, Esq. and Lauren Murray, Esq., July 12, 2010 This month’s legal update begins in Australia where a court has recently ruled that a prisoner can continue her IVF treatments while incarcerated.

Fertility Treatments and the Holidays

by Kristen Magnacca, December 6, 2010  Abundance is not something we acquire. It is something we tune into. Wayne Dyer So the holiday season is upon us and perhaps we feel as though we’re channeling Santa by making a list and checking it twice to get ourselves organized for the festivities. Or maybe you’re just not feeling it yet? The shopping, wrapping, tinsel, sparkling lights, fertility shots, blood work, vaginal ultrasounds, embryo transfers and artificial (intrauterine) inseminations are activities that just seem as though they don’t go together. And there is certainty not a catchy holiday song that incorporates them all!

Spring Holiday Survival Tips for Infertility

It’s that time of year that tends to revolve around babies, children and family. Whether it’s the eight-day festival of Passover or the endless Easter egg hunts, baby bunnies, chicks and chocolate, you may feel like everyone and everything around you is shouting “Fertility!” “These holidays with the focus on young children and fertility — the egg as the central symbol for both — are especially hard for infertile couples,” says Ellen S. Glazer, a Boston area clinical social worker and author who counsels individuals and couples undergoing infertility diagnosis and treatment. “I think what makes the spring holidays so difficult is that they accentuate people’s feelings of barrenness and emptiness. The religions teach ‘be fruitful and multiply,’ and everything about Passover and Easter celebrates this.”

Bust a Myth about Miscarriage

Fertility Myths I caused my second miscarriage because I was so stressed out about this pregnancy. I can’t go see a fertility doctor until I have three miscarriages, and everyone says to wait three months before I try again. There’s nothing I can do because most miscarriages are unexplained, but I know if I have another one, I am not very likely to ever have a successful pregnancy. Fertility Facts

Stress and Fertility Treatment

If you have read any news reports about stress and fertility treatment during 2011, you can’t help but be confused. Headlines range from “Study seeks to dispel stress myth in IVF treatment” to “Stress relief may improve IVF success.” The relationship between stress and fertility is a controversial one, according to Alice Domar, Ph.D., Director of Mind/Body Services at Boston IVF. But even though a recent meta-analysis of 14 studies, published in February’s British Medical Journal, did not observe a significant relationship between distress levels and outcome, Domar says there is a large body of research —including her own most recent study published in Fertility and Sterility — that has found relationships between distress levels and the success rate of in vitro fertilization (IVF).

Fertility Doctor of the Month: Joseph HIll, M.D.

Fertility Nurse of the Month: Megan LeMien, RN, BSN

With IVF, Do You Follow Fertility Doctor's Orders?

Needle Free! Boston Fertility Doctors Develop Saliva Test

Boston Fertility News

The Big Thaw

Doctors have been freezing sperm for 60 years and embryos (fertilized eggs) for 30. The first pregnancy from a frozen egg occurred in 1986. But it’s been only in the past few years that fertility specialists have begun freezing eggs with any regularity — so short a time that two major professional groups, the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists and the American Society for Reproductive Medicine, still consider egg freezing experimental. They caution that a request to freeze eggs should be considered by an institutional review board before being granted.

The Infertility Dilemma

Eighteen years ago, a fertility technique called intra-cytoplasmic sperm injection, or ICSI, revolutionized the treatment of male infertility by joining sperm and egg in an unprecedented manner. No longer did the sperm have to fight its way into an egg; instead, a technician’s skilled hands did all the hard work by injecting it. The technique was, essentially, a way to circumvent the process of fertilization.

Woman Convicted of Reselling Her Fertility Drugs on the Internet

A Hackensack, New Jersey woman was sentenced today in federal court for selling prescription fertility drugs that were paid for by her health insurance company. She was convicted of re-selling these drugs over the Internet to buyers at a large profit. United States Department of Justice office in announced today that Heidi Benham, 44, formerly of Newton, was sentenced today by U.S. District Judge Douglas P. Woodlock to three years imprisonment, to be followed by three years of supervised release, and restitution of $518,335.58 to Blue Cross/Blue Shield of Massachusetts.

The World of Fertility

WHEN BRITISH scientist Robert Edwards, the creator of in vitro fertilization, won the Nobel Prize last week, the world marveled over how routine his procedure has become. IVF, once feared and reviled, is responsible for some 4 million births worldwide, a stunning expansion of families and joy. In Massachusetts, the first state to mandate health insurance coverage for fertility treatments, IVF and its offshoots have led to the conception of more than 60,000 babies.

Cycling May Have Impact on Sperm Health, Study

Most exercise appears to have little relationship to either the quality or quantity of sperm, but men who bike at least five hours a week have fewer and less active sperm than men who didn't exercise, a study said. Research among competitive athletes has linked biking to genital or urinary problems and poor semen quality, said Lauren Wise at Boston University, who led the study published in "Fertility and Sterility."

Gene Research Gives Hope for Women with Endometriosis

Researchers have identified two genetic variants that increase the risk of women developing endometriosis. The genomes of 5,500 women with the condition from the UK, US and Australia were compared to those of 10,000 healthy volunteers. The Nature Genetics study could lead to more effective treatments and diagnosis, researchers said. An endometriosis charity said more research was needed to show how this could lead to better treatments.

Fox News Host Alisyn Camerota Battled with Infertility

The popular Fox News host Alisyn Camerota talked about her struggles with infertility on the Today Show, as well as joining an infertility support group in Boston, and her success with in vitro fertilization.

Doctors Work to Save Fertility of Kids with Cancer

Many of the cancer treatments that can save patients' lives also rob them of their fertility. While young adults have options, such as banking sperm or freezing embryos or eggs. bank some sperm, freeze embryos or eggs, children diagnosed before puberty don't. With childhood cancer survival reaching 80 percent, there's a growing need to find ways to preserve these children's fertility, and some patients are on the front edge of research that's banking testicular cells and ovarian tissue to try.

Fertility Treatment Can Use Semen from Men with HIV

Fertility treatments can be done safely and effectively in couples where the man is infected with the AIDS virus and the women isn't, according to a new review of past studies. Over the last two decades, researchers have improved methods of "washing" the semen of men infected with HIV to use with fertility treatments. Read more.

Stress Relief May Improve IVF Success

Enrolling in a stress-management class might help women undergoing in vitro fertilization (IVF) get pregnant, according to a new study. In the current study, Alice Domar of Boston IVF and colleagues recruited 143 women who were about to undergo their first cycle of fertility treatment, and randomly assigned about half of them to a mind-body course intended to curb stress levels. The rest got a gift certificate to a spa. Their findings are in line with other recent work suggesting that stress relief might up the success rate for women who have trouble conceiving.

RSC New England Nurse Manager Nominated in Salute to Nurses

Karen Page, RN, Nurse Manager of RSC New England's OR and PACU has been nominated for the 2011 Boston Globe Salute to Nurses recognition. Read more.

Mind-Body Programs Boost Pregnancy Rates for IVF Patients

A new study published online in the journal Fertility and Sterility found that women who participate in mind-body training have a significantly higher pregnancy rate than women who don't undergo training: 52 percent compared to 20 percent. Read more.

AMH Levels Predict Ovarian Function Post Chemo

Women with higher levels of anti-Müllerian hormone (AMH), found in ovarian follicles, were more likely to retain ovarian function after chemotherapy for breast cancer, according to researchers at The University of Edinburgh in Scotland.Future reproductive function is a major concern for young women with breast cancer, as chemotherapy has been shown to induce premature menopause. Read more.

Maternal Blood Test Can Determine Sex of Fetus at 7 Weeks

A simple blood test from mom can spot the sex of a fetus as early as seven weeks into a pregnancy, Boston researchers report. Because it is noninvasive, the test doesn't carry the same risks, such as miscarriage, as other methods for determining gender. The test works by scouring free-floating DNA in the mother's blood, looking for "Y" or male chromosomes. If no Y chromosomes are detected, the fetus is presumed to be a girl. Read more.

Who's Your Daddy?

A 33-year-old Boston attorney who was a sperm donor in law finds out he has more than 70 offspring. The situation highlights the complicated issues that are starting to emerge now that a sizable cohort of donor-conceived children are growing up and wanting information about their biological fathers. Read more.

Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Lead the Country in Multiple Births

Startup OvaScience to 'Energize' Egg Cells to Improve Fertility

Mediterranean Diet Tied to Better Fertility

Women Lead Mississippi Abortion Ban Defeat

Preterm Births Still a Mystery

Some IVF Patients Don't Follow Doctor's Orders

Researchers at Boston IVF Develop Saliva Test to Replace Blood Test

Two of a Kind: Twins on the Rise in Massachusettes

New Test Could Prevent Miscarriages

Remembering Lynette A. Scott, Ph.D., Embryologist

Boston Fertility Videos

Ask the Expert: Does Acupuncture Help Fertility?

Ali Domar, PhD, founder of the Domar Center for Mind/Body Health, explains what studies do and don't prove about acupuncture's effects on fertility.

Prior to Egg Donation, What Testing or Evaluation Should I Have?

Dr. Ian Hardy, a Boston fertility doctor with Fertility Centers of New England, talks about tests you should have before you use egg donation.

Video: What Tests Can Be Done After a Miscarriage?

Joseph A. Hill, III, M.D., a Boston fertility doctor with Fertility Centers of New England in Reading, MA, talks about tests to determine the cause of miscarriage. The majority of miscarriages prior to 11 weeks pregnancy are considered chromosomally abnormal until proven otherwise. Tests may include blood tests, an endometrial biopsy, evaluating the tissue, as well as other profiles depending on when in the pregnancy the miscarriage occurred.

Search form

You are here

Boston Fertility Doctors, Clinics and Success Rates

Boston Fertility Articles

Boston Fertility News

Boston Fertility Videos

Contact Local Fertility Experts

Video Library

For Men Only

Adoption

Doctor of the Month

Nurse of the Month

Medical Library

Columns

Blogs

Forums

Events

Resources