FAIR LAWN, N.J. — The Sher Institute for Reproductive Medicine(SM)-New Jersey (SIRM(TM)-NJ), part of one of the largest and fastest growing infertility networks in the United States, announces the opening of a new office in Bergen County. Located in Fair Lawn, New Jersey, the office will have exclusive access in the area to various SIRM breakthrough technologies in the field of In Vitro Fertilization (IVF) that have the potential to dramatically increase the odds of a woman getting pregnant through IVF, while at the same time reducing the likelihood of multiple births and birth defects.
Dr. Douglas Rabin, founder and director of an established infertility practice in Fair Lawn, will head the new SIRM office. Dr. Rabin is a Board Certified Reproductive Endocrinologist with more than 25 years’ experience in Reproductive Medicine and an outstanding reputation for patient care and success. His specialties include In Vitro Fertilization, general infertility and irregular menstruation, as well as issues related to Orthodox Jewish patients and their religious needs.
“I’m extremely excited to lead the Sher Institutes’ office here and bring SIRM’s outstanding tradition of compassionate care and cutting-edge technology to the area,” said Dr. Rabin. “I’m confident that the people here will find SIRM a great resource.”
The SIRM office in Fair Lawn will offer patients exclusive access in the area to exciting new technology that has demonstrated substantially improved pregnancy rates for In Vitro Fertilization (IVF). A recent study published in the medical journal Fertility and Sterility reported on a new embryo selection technique being tested by SIRM physicians. Its application on 35 women who underwent IVF resulted in healthy babies in 74% of cases (more than double the national average).
The technique, known as Comparative Genomic Hybridization involves analysis of all 23 chromosome pairs in the embryo (rather than just 12 chromosome pairs as currently available technology does) to identify numerical abnormalities (known as aneuploidy). By screening embryos in this manner, practitioners are able to select those embryos that are genetically “competent,” meaning that because they have the proper number of chromosomes, they are far more likely to initiate a healthy pregnancy. Embryos selected by this process also have a significantly reduced risk of miscarriage and of chromosomal birth defects such as Down’s syndrome.
“Previous methods for selecting the best quality embryos for transfer to the uterus relied mainly on visual assessment of individual embryos by microscope,” said Dr. Geoffrey Sher, Executive Medical Director of the Sher Institutes for Reproductive Medicine and co-author of the study. “Those types of evaluations are severely limited in their ability to provide any strong indication of subsequent normal embryonic and fetal development.”
“The advantage of this new methodology is twofold,” added Dr. Rabin. “First, it dramatically increases the chances of success with IVF. Second, by allowing us to select the best embryos to transfer, we can reduce the total number of embryos transferred and thereby reduce the incidence of triplet pregnancies or greater.”
About SIRM
The Sher Institutes for Reproductive Medicine (SIRM) are a network of independently-owned IVF centers and satellite offices that operate under a shared set of practice standards and centralized management systems. SIRM founder, Dr. Geoffrey Sher, established the country’s first private IVF practice in 1982. SIRM physicians have been influential in the development of numerous breakthroughs in the field of reproductive care over the past 23 years. SIRM offices are located in Long Island, Manhattan, and Westchester, New York; Bedminster, Phillipsburg and Monmouth County, New Jersey; St. Louis, Missouri; Los Angeles, Orange County, Chino Hills, Sacramento and Pleasanton, California; Dallas, Texas; Las Vegas, Nevada, and Peoria, Illinois.
Further information about the Sher Institutes for Reproductive Medicine can be found on the SIRM website at http://www.haveababy.com.
[tags]Sher Institutes for Reproductive Medicine, SIRM NJ, Comparative Genomic Hybridization, In Vitro Fertilization[/tags]
