Infertility

We are currently accepting new couples for Infertility Evaluation

Initial consultation visits with you and your spouse/partner are approximately one hour long and are on Monday Mornings

Unique to our practice, we respect your time by scheduling further infertility testing- hormone testing and ultrasound-by appointment

Excellent staff with 29 years of experience

Asghar Afsari, M.D. 
Director

Stephanie Westphal, MSN, WHNP-BC
Nurse Practitioner

Dorothy Weber, BSN
Nurse Clinician

ON-SITE ENDOCRINE LAB

ULTRASOUND SERVICES
Suzanne McKnight, RVT, RDMS
JoAnn O'Beirne, RT, RDMS

CONTACT US

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_________"Problems with infertility are __________
_____often emotionally challenging"______
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     Problems with infertility are often emotionally challenging for affected couples. Additionally, they can be very complex and are often difficult to understand. When diagnosing and treating infertility, our goal is to make your experience with us informative and convenient, and most of all, we hope that you become pregnant and give birth to a healthy baby. Dr. Afsari and the staff at Human Reproductive Resources have been in practice for 29 years. We provide convenient services, such as scheduled appointments for checking hormonal levels, an in-house Endocrine laboratory and ultrasound services, and a highly trained support staff.

"NORMAL" PREGNANCY

     To better understand infertility, one must first understand what is considered "normal" for conception. Many couples successfully get pregnant after a few attempts, but usually the chances are not more than 10-12% per month (80% in 1st 6 months of trying). Conception is a complex process that requires perfect harmony between various factors in both partners. Both men and women need to produce mature healthy sex cells that have to travel through their respective reproductive systems to ultimately meet for fertilization and implantation that lead to pregnancy.

     Men need to produce an adequate population of sperm that take a long journey through the male reproductive system (where further sperm maturation takes place). The sperm, then, are ejaculated outside his body into the upper part of the woman's vagina. Then, in a foreign environment (female reproductive system), sperm must travel into the womb (uterus) through its opening, the cervix. Inside the uterus, sperm travel up into the Fallopian Tubes where they come into contact with the egg in the outer third of the tube.

     For conception, women must produce mature eggs. Women's ovaries contain a finite number of eggs from the state of an embryo, which gradually vanish until birth. Beginning with the onset of menses (called menarche) during the teenage years, every month women continue to lose more eggs. Each month, several eggs begin to mature, but usually, only one egg successfully reaches maturity over the course of 28 days. This egg is released into the abdomen from the ovary and must be swept up into one of the Fallopian Tubes. Here it meets the sperm and unites with only one for fertilization, implanatation, and pregnancy.

     Once fertilization takes place, the uterus must be able to support and nourish a developing embryo and fetus. The developing embryo produces an interface between itself and its mother that provides nourishment; this is called the placenta. Additionally, an adequate hormonal environment in the mother is needed to maintain the pregnancy.

INFERTILITY

     There are many problems that can occur throughout the process of conception. Here are some examples of common problems:

     The reproductive systems in both males and females are complex and involve some tubes or ducts through which the sperm and the egg must travel. These tubes function more than just as a conduit for travel, but they play a role in development and nourishment of the sperm and fertilized egg. They may be unable to perform their tasks or they may be blocked physically. For example, endometriosis can cause obstruction of a fallopian tube. If there is a physical blockade between the sperm and the egg, then fertilization will not take place.

     In women, the levels of hormones vary throughout their menstrual cycle. The development of eggs and ovulation are guided and triggered by a proper hormonal environment. Hormonal levels may be sub-optimal so that there is a failure to ovulate (even if there is normal menstruation) or an inability to even support a pregnancy.

     Sperm health and number are very important. There is a great distance that needs to be crossed in order to reach the egg. Healthy sperm are needed to cross this distance. An adequate number, too, are need to increase the chances that one will make it.

     In order to successfully conceive and ultimately carry a fetus to full gestation, the uterus and its lining must be healthy. Accepting a fertilized egg for implantation, nourishing a pregnancy, and housing a pregnancy all rely on a healthy uterus and its lining.

 

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