by Virginia Miller Crittenden 

When a couple faces difficulty a chieving their dream of starting a family, UAB's Division of Reproductive Endocrinology and Infertility provides expert care and a personal touch. An internationally renowned center for the research and treatment of reproductive problems, UAB takes a comprehensive, team approach while tailoring treatments  to the needs of the individual patient. In addition to fertility treatment, the clinic treats hormonal disorders such as irregular menstrual bleeding, excessive hair growth, and menopause and puberty concerns.

UAB's fertility program is the most experienced in the area, with success rates that are at or above the national average. The staff's reproductive endocrinologists are board-certified in both obstetrics/gynecology and reproductive endocrinology. UAB also offers the most comprehensive program addressing male factor infertility, one of the most common causes of infertility, with a fulltime embryologist on site. In addition, a urologist with expertise in male factor infertility is readily available. The clinic can even provide innovative tissue preservation
treatments that may enable women with cancer to have children someday, even after undergoing chemotherapy.

Experience and Results

Fertility treatment begins with in-depth tests to determine the best approach to take. The clinic provides each patient with the least intrusive and most advanced infertility treatments available.

The clinic offers a wide variety of treatments, including:

• Ovulation induction
• Intrauterine insemination
• In vitro fertilization (IVF)
• Donor egg IVF
• Infertility surgery

UAB's IVF program was the first in Alabama and the first in the state to achieve a successful pregnancy. The clinic's full-time embryologist has more than 20 years of experience in the IVF lab. For couples who may carry a life-threatening genetic disease, genetic counseling is available, along with pre-implantation genetic diagnosis (PGD). Throughout treatment at the clinic, patients receive personal care and consideration, with calls personally
returned by the patient's own nurse.

We're Here to Help

It is particularly important for patients who are 35 or over and not achieving pregnancy within a few months to consult a fertility specialist. For comprehensive, personal care, count on UAB's Division of Reproductive Endocrinology and Infertility. To speak to someone personally or to make an appointment, call UAB HealthFinder at (205) 934-9999 or 1 800-UAB-8816. Visit uabhealth.org/infertility for more information.