901 Dulaney Valley Road, Ste. 616
Towson, MD 21204 (view on a map)
For New Patient Appointments, please call: 1-877-971-7755
For Other Questions and Follow-Up Visits, please call: 410-512-8300

The new office will be open for fertility consultations, follow-up visits, monitoring, IUIs and other appointments on Wednesday, May 22nd. The Ambulatory Surgical Center will be opening in June for HSGs, IVF and donor egg treatment.

The team couldn’t be more excited for the new facility to open and to be able to offer a new and more comfortable environment for patients to visit when they have appointments. “The new office will allow us to provide the same quality care SGF is known for but in a more private, comfortable, relaxing, and patient-friendly space conveniently located adjacent to the Sheraton North Hotel across from Towson Town Center,” says Dr. Eugene Katz.

Check out some photos of the new Fertility & IVF Center in Towson, MD.

If you are interested in building a family through fertility treatment, please schedule an appointment, or speak with one of our New Patient Liaisons at 877-971-7755.

• Schedule a new patient appointment with Dr. Sasson at Shady Grove Fertility’s Philadelphia area offices.

Video: Physiology of Human Reproduction with Dr. Isaac Sasson

•  Watch: How to Diagnose Infertility

If you are having trouble conceiving and would like to schedule a fertility consultation with Dr. Sasson or any of SGF’s fertility specialists, please call  1-877-971-7755 or click here.

Patients often develop a deep connection to their primary fertility nurse. These nurses are often on the phone with patients giving status updates and helping explain the next steps in a patient’s treatment plan developed by you and your physician.

• Connect with Other Patients & Share Your Experience with Your Nurse On Facebook

What Patients of Shady Grove Fertility Can Expect from their Primary Fertility Nurse

Nurse Tina from Towson

Following the New Patient appointment, where patients often meet with their primary nurse in person, your nurse will contact you to answer any additional questions. Your nurse will aid you in scheduling initial testing appointments and to ensure that these test results return promptly. Unique to this medical specialty, fertility testing and treatment involves specific timing around the menstrual cycle that for some may be unpredictable requiring efficient and effective attention. To be an infertility nurse requires exquisite organization to detail and timing to care for these special patients.

Your nurse will also call following each appointment to keep active communication with their patients. Our nurses truly do their best to make sure this expectation is met. While many times patients will speak with their nurses directly when they call, at other times nurses will need to verify information with the physician; in those cases, the call backs will be a bit later. They work very hard to make sure they can attend to everyone as soon as possible. A primary nurse’s day is broken up into answering phone calls, meeting with new patients and follow-up patients, timing out patient’s upcoming protocol dates, ordering medication, and teaching injection classes, to name just a few activities. Given that, if you are having difficulty reaching your nurse and need assistance, please refer to the following schedules to reach a contact:

• Answering Service for Emergency Questions – 5:00 p.m. to 7:00 a.m. is answered daily by one nurse with a physician on-call for questions. Patients should call (800) 239-5613.
• Weekend and Holiday Service — 7:00 a.m. to 12:00 p.m. is answered by a nurse for non-emergency calls at (301) 340-1188. Patients may be prompted to leave a message and the call will be returned within 30 minutes.
• Weekend Front Desk Line to Make/Change/Cancel Appointments – 7:00 a.m. to 3:00 p.m. Patients should call (301) 340-1188. There may be a prompt to leave a message and calls will be returned as soon as possible.

What the Shady Grove Fertility Nurses are Saying

“Being a fertility nurse is a wonderful calling. Fertility nurses get to use their scientific minds, as well as compassionate hearts and caring skills, to help patients on one of the most difficult and emotional journeys of their lives. Nurses give, but also receive. We give our knowledge, understanding, and advice to our patients. But we receive our patient’s joys, tears and fears, failures and successes. It is simultaneously an overwhelming, encompassing, and the most gratifying relationship to share with a patient.”
– Kathy Bugge, RN

“After 35 years as a Nurse and several years as an infertility patient before “resolving” to remain childless, my work as a Women’s Health Nurse Practitioner at Shady Grove Fertility has proven rewarding from a variety of perspectives. Most of our patients don’t realize how many staff members at Shady Grove Fertility have struggled with infertility and may or may not have ended up as parents. During my first few years on the Donor Team, I worked as a Primary Nurse coordinating the stimulation cycles of donors with recipients of donor egg. More than once, I heard, “but you don’t understand” when discussing infertility, negative pregnancy tests, feelings regarding “everyone else who is pregnant”, etc. Most infertility patients feel that there are not many other women who have had the same experiences they have had, when in fact there are many, including many of the staff members, who are cheering them along.”
– Margaret Ann Connors, CRNP

This week, Shady Grove Fertility honors our dedicated team of nurses – thank you for all the hard work over the past 22 years!

If you are having trouble conceiving, it may be time to speak with a fertility specialist, please call Shady Grove Fertility to schedule a consultation at 1-877-971-7755 or click here.

Not in the area, or can make the events? Check out our Facebook page to connect with over 10,000 Shady Grove Fertility current, past and potential patients. Join us today!

Egg freezing as a means to preserve fertility is once again in the headlines. While for many egg freezing seems like new technology, fertility preservation and oocyte freezing have been of principal interest for many years now, with substantial investment in research and technology development.  Developing treatment, like egg freezing, takes considerable time to transition from research to a clinical opportunity offered to patients – and importantly so.

• Read from the Wall Street Journal “Why I Froze My Eggs (And You Should, Too)”

An incredible amount of time and energy from laboratories and clinics across the globe were necessary to satisfy the requisite scrutiny of, and finally endorsement by, the greater medical community. Clinicians now turn to it as an intervention for those interested in preserving their fertility for medical and social reasons, the American Society of Reproductive Medicine lifted the experimental designation, and we have many conversations about it when we interact with other physicians and audiences. It is amazing how quickly the interest spread.

What is particularly refreshing is how a clinical opportunity can weave into the social fabric. Ms. Richards’ article in the Wall Street Journal offers a welcome introduction of the topic to the broader media, providing a social interpretation of a topic that was previously so singularly medical. I thought of the patients I have seen for fertility preservation, and how the discussions ultimately gravitate towards technicalities of the process, allowing substance to be applied to more abstract concepts. This article is a 10,000-foot view of the experience, covering many of the facets individuals recount having repeatedly mulled over by the time I get together with them.  Ms. Richards was able to articulate how the institution of medicine intersects with the individual. Empowering, provocative, and individually illuminating, it is an article worthy of its prominence in the Wall Street Journal, and I look forward to reading the book.

• Learn more about Egg Freezing at Shady Grove Fertility

There will always be naysayers with the introduction of any substantial shift in medicine, regardless of the field, but particularly so for those that receive so much social attention. However, there is no question that egg freezing is an incredible opportunity, and the success with current methods of fertility preservation will have an impact as prominent as IVF did for the infertile couple, and molecular genetics has had in preventing heritable disorders.

On social issues so fully obvious to us, Ms. Richards gives perspective on the individual front.  Fortunately, on the medical front, we have accumulated the data and expertise to allow this shift in the discussion.

If you are interested in learning more about egg freezing, please call Shady Grove Fertility to schedule a consultation at 1-877-971-7755 or click here.

 Saturday, May 4, 2013 – 11:00am-1:00pm
The Westin Richmond
6631 West Broad St., Richmond, VA 23230
Register for the Event

Whether you are have been trying on your own, currently with your OB/GYN, or already know you may need donor egg treatment, “attending a seminar is a way to meet some of the physicians and staff of Shady Grove Fertility and learn more about one’s options with donor eggs and have questions answered in an informal setting,” explains Dr. Rachana Garde.

All guests for this weekend’s seminar will receive a complimentary new patient consultation at Shady Grove Fertility. Additionally, one attendee will have the opportunity to receive up to $10,000* to be applied towards a future treatment cycle at SGF.

Register for the Donor Egg Seminar in Richmond, VA.

If you are having trouble conceiving on your own, and interested in learning more about donor egg or other fertility treatment options, please call us at 877-971-7755 or request an appointment online.

*Restrictions apply.

We put together a quick reference guide for you, so the next time your medical team says, “Your husband’s sperm count is 30 million and your follicles are 16mm,” you’ll know to smile, confident that all is going according to plan.

Fertility by the Numbers – Infographic  

Click to enlarge.

Share on Facebook.

If you are having trouble conceiving on your own, it may be time to see a fertility specialist. Please call us at 877-971-7755 or request an appointment online.

Society of Advanced Reproductive Technology (SART) collects and shares data from fertility centers across the country.* Since 2004, the number of donor egg treatment cycles has increased by 28% nationwide – making up roughly 10 to 11% of all advanced reproductive cycles in the United States.

• *SART specifically looks at IVF, donor egg, gestational carrier and other advanced treatment options. SART does not track data on IUI, timed intercourse and other low-tech treatment options.

At Shady Grove Fertility, there have been even patients accessing donor egg treatment. In 2004, SGF completed approximately 400 donor egg cycles. In 2011, the number significantly increased to over 1,100 – nearly tripling. Today, donor egg treatment makes up approximately 17% of advanced reproductive treatment cycles at Shady Grove Fertility. And most importantly, with the help of donor egg treatment, over 500 patients were able to take home a baby last year.

• Call 1.877.971.7755 or click here to request info about Shady Grove Fertility’s Donor Egg Program.

Increasing Access to Donor Egg Treatment

Always on the forefront of meeting patient needs, Shady Grove Fertility developed an exclusive donor egg treatment and financial option that increases the availability of donors, reduces the cost of treatment, and even guarantees a baby or a 100% refund.

The Shared Donor Egg Program was created to reduce the cost of treatment by sharing the donor with one or two other recipients. When combined with the Shared Risk 100% Refund Guarantee Program, the program becomes even more appealing. For approximately the same cost of traditional donor egg treatment, using these programs, you could receive 6 treatment cycles with a 100% refund if you are not successful.

Greater Selection for Egg Donors

Once patients decide that they want to move forward with donor egg treatment, and they realize that they have financial options, the next step is finding the right donor. Some patients have a dream list of certain characteristics they are looking for; others want a donor that is similar to themselves or family members – no matter what the criteria for your donor selection, variety of selection is key.

At Shady Grover Fertility, the donor database features women who have undergone a thorough medical, genetic, and psychological screening. Every day, there are at least 70 to 80 egg donors from different backgrounds and ethnicities available for immediate donation.

At many fertility centers across the country and internationally, you may be paired with an egg donor. At Shady Grove Fertility, you pick your donor.

The combination of financial options and exceptional medical care have helped make Shady Grove Fertility the largest and one of the most successful donor egg programs in the United States with patients traveling from across the country and internationally to access donor egg treatment.

If you are having trouble conceiving on your own, it may be time to see a fertility specialist. Please call us at 877-971-7755 or request an appointment online.

When am I most fertile?

When couples start to consider building a family, they often wonder when they are most fertile or try to make a fertility calendar. Generally speaking, your “fertility window” is 6 days leading up to and ending on the day of the female partner’s ovulation.  This is because sperm can live inside the female body for several days and the egg survives for about 24 hours after ovulation. Having intercourse every 24-48 hours leading up to ovulation will increase your chances of pregnancy.

For women that have regular cycles, determining ovulation and your fertility calendar is easy – it is typically 14 days before the start of your next period. However, many women do not have regular cycles, making planning more challenging. Ovulation predictor kits detect rises in luteinizing hormone (LH) which happens prior to ovulation. For those of you already in fertility treating at Shady Grove Fertility you are probably very familiar with LH, as it is part of your basic Day 3 testing and often included in treatment protocols to stimulate the development of eggs.

What are my chances of conceiving on your own?

While it may seem that your friends seem to keep getting pregnant with ease, the truth is women in their 30s only have about a 15% chance of conceiving each month.

• There is about a 15% chance of conceiving in each ovulatory cycle. And that is with doing everything right – meaning, you don’t have any medical issues and his sperm count is fine.
• Approximately 40% will conceive during the first three months of trying, and about 70% of couples will conceive during the first six months.
• Within the first year of trying to conceive, up to 85% of couples will conceive. Leaving us with the approximately 1 in 8 couples that are impacted by infertility.

Shady Grove Fertility encourages women under 35 years of age that have been trying to conceive for over a year to schedule an appointment with a fertility specialist. For couples over 35, meeting with a fertility specialist after 6 months is recommended.

If you are having trouble conceiving on your own, it may be time to see a fertility specialist. Please call us at 877-971-7755 or request an appointment online.

Increased Fertility Awareness

On “How I Met Your Mother”, Lily and Marshall seek help from a fertility specialist.

From celebrities speaking out and prime-time shows featuring characters coping with infertility, the conversation about infertility has broken into the foreground – taking away the taboo which used to be associated with IVF and “test-tube babies”. As infertility awareness increases, more people are accessing the care they need.  Since 2004, the number of reported IVF and donor egg cycles has increased by 29% – for a total of over 1,000,000 IVF and donor egg cycles performed in the United States.

• Fertility Facts: How common is infertility?

Who is an Infertility Patient?

Men and women, straight and gay, single or married, there is no one identity for someone who needs fertility treatment. One in eight women and their partners will experience infertility – odds are you or someone you are close to will need assistance when it comes to conception.

At Shady Grove Fertility – which is very similar to the national data – the average age of an IVF patient is 35. Some have been trying to conceive for several years, while others may have been previously diagnosed with endometriosis or another condition which they knew would make it challenging to conceive on their own.

In addition to over 5,000 IVF cycles, Shady Grove Fertility performs over 1,000 donor egg cycles annually. The age of donor recipients is not tracked through SART since the age does not impact the success rates when using a donated egg.

If you aren’t sure if you should see a fertility specialist use this simple guideline:

• Under 35 years of age and you have been trying on your own for a year or longer
• 35-40 years of age and been trying to 6 months on your own
• 40 years of age or older, it is recommended to see a fertility specialist immediately

Or try the Fertility 5 assessment from RESOLVE.

• Read: Understanding Fertility – Back to Basics

What is SART?

SART, the Society of Assisted Reproductive Technology, collects data from more than 85% of fertility centers in the United States. The goal is to set and help maintain the standards for reproductive medicine in an effort to better serve our members and our patients.

• FAQ on SART Data

It is important to note that low-tech fertility treatment, such as, cycles using Clomid or intrauterine insemination (IUI), is not tracked by SART. At Shady Grove Fertility, low-tech treatment accounts for approximately half of fertility treatment performed on an annual basis.

If you are interested in building a family through fertility treatment, please schedule an appointment, or speak with one of our New Patient Liaisons at 877-971-7755.