Fertility Blog

**Our Oakbrook office will re-open for morning monitoring beginning June 9th for days Tuesday and Thursday, by appointment only.**

Sign up for an online webinar for patients undergoing fertility treatment during COVID-19.

I could write a children’s picture book that helped tell a story with a different answer to the often-dreaded question, “where do babies come from,” since the answer is no longer a one-size-fits-all. It doesn’t matter if you are single, married, gay, straight, divorced, or with a partner. This is a story about how to create a family with IVF. Sure, it talks about “Mama” and “Dad”, but like many stories, families can adjust the words or meaning to fit their lifestyle. That’s the beauty about children’s picture books. Let the pictures and the words be your guide to a child’s imagination.

In order to facilitate a safe return to fertility treatment, IHR has completed a formal risk assessment and put together a set of guidelines to continue providing care, based on the recommendations from the CDC, FDA, Illinois Department of Public Health (IDPH), and the ASRM/SART. IHR will resume all fertility services from Early May 2020.

IHR has always viewed infertility treatment as an essential medical service and we understand our patients time-sensitive hope to achieve a healthy pregnancy. Closely following ASRM and CDC recommendations, IHR will re-open its offices in a limited capacity as of May 1st. More information coming soon.

While staying at home and sequestering oneself from others is essential to protect one’s physical health, it can lead to increased anxiety, distress and/or depression. It’s important to remember that nothing about this pandemic is normal or predictable.

If I’m trying to get pregnant, should I stop trying to conceive due to the Coronavirus? Will contracting COVID-19 now impact fertility later? What if I test positive for COVID-19? What if I’m pregnant and test positive?

Important information regarding infertility treatments and COVID-19.

IHR wants to assure our patients that the IVF lab has made all necessary arrangements to assure the continued cryogenic preservation of all embryos / oocytes / sperm frozen and stored at the lab during this time of ‘Stay at Home’ order (it is considered an essential health service).

**IHR offices in Chicago and Oakbrook, IL, and in Valparaiso, IN, are temporarily closed**. **We will continue all other services by phone or online. You can still call us at 312-288-6420, email us at info@infertilityIHR.com, or contact us via our web-portal.**

Our hearts go out to the many people and businesses that have been impacted by the COVID-19 virus. As the pandemic expands, many businesses worldwide are experiencing uncertainty. Be assured that IHR's operations remain uninterrupted.

Concerning the coronavirus outbreak, the American Society for Reproductive Medicine (ASRM) and the Society for Assisted Reproductive Technologies (SART) suggest that individuals who are pregnant or seeking to initiate a pregnancy soon, avoid non-essential travel to known areas of infection or contact with potentially infected individuals.

The Institute for Human Reproduction (IHR) is donating a free In-Vitro Fertilization (IVF) treatment to a couple in need but unable to afford infertility treatment. The couple will be selected anonymously through a voluntary lottery. The initiative reflects the Institute for Human Reproduction’s desire to help make infertility treatments more accessible to all those desiring the joy of parenting, especially during these tough economic times. "This is our way of providing hope to patients unable to afford treatment and to give back to the community," said IHR Founder and Medical Director, Ilan Tur-Kaspa, MD.