What to look for in a fertility treatment practice

Infertility is a private struggle, and it is not always easy to ask for referrals or even to admit to yourself that you need help conceiving or carrying a baby full term.

Fortunately, there are a number of fertility centers in Raleigh, Durham and surrounding Triangle area of North Carolina. Most importantly, you will want to receive compassionate care from board-certified reproductive endocrinologists with many years of experience.

You need a dedicated and caring medical team who will work with you to discover your fertility potential and custom-tailor an evidence-based treatment plan that aligns with your personal values and integrates as seamlessly as possible into your life.

In your search for the right doctors to help you build your family, it is perfectly OK to be choosey. Patients place a high value on certain qualities in a fertility treatment practice.

Your journey to parenthood should include access to the latest technologies in the field of reproductive endocrinology.

Treatment should be provided by compassionate physicians with years of experience in IVF (in vitro fertilization), egg donation, egg freezing and sperm banking and other reproductive medical technologies. In the area of fertility, it is also important to have doctors who can draw on extensive experience to think outside the box in solving problems.

"Reproductive endocrinology is a field that is continuously changing, and that evolution gives us an opportunity to think creatively and think outside the box," said Dr. David Walmer, of Atlantic Reproductive Medicine Specialists. "Solving problems innovatively you can use the latest technology today, but you can also look back and draw on past experience to benefit the patient."

The lab is another important part of a fertility clinic.

The practice you choose to provide your fertility treatment should have an andrology laboratory with all of the latest equipment, and particular care taken with air quality, instrument choice, the staples of IVF, genetic screening, egg freezing and every other laboratory function.

Of equal importance are the technical skills of the andrologists and embryologists who work in the lab, and the care they give their microscopice patients.

"I think of myself as a health-care provider in a tiny intensive care unit with one-cell to hundreds-of-cell patients. When it is time to place the embryos I have cared for and everything looks fine, I can't resist giving the soon-to-be-mother a hug," said Embryologist Robin Arning, of Atlantic Reproductive.

When you are receiving fertility treatments, it is important to feel comfortable with your physician.

"This is a highly personal area of medicine and we are working together with our patients to build their families. We know they want and need a doctor who is thoughtful, engaged, good at listening and compassionate," explained Dr. Susannah Copland, of Atlantic Reproductive. "It is our job to explain the medical facts in terms our patients can relate to."

Look for a highly-trained, board-certified physician with compassion and good communication skills, and a doctor you can count on to take a personal interest in your case.