Center for Fertility and Reproductive Medicine
The board-certified physicians at Northwestern Medicine Center for Fertility and Reproductive Medicine offer innovative, effective solutions for a wide range of conditions. Anchored by Northwestern Memorial Hospital, the No. 1 hospital in Illinois for 13 straight years (tie), by U.S. News & World Report, 2024 – 2025, we are proud to support all individuals and families on their paths to parenthood. We promise personalized, comprehensive and compassionate care, from our family to yours.
Emotional Support
The Northwestern Medicine Center for Fertility and Reproductive Medicine team understands that the journey to parenthood can sometimes take a long and circuitous path. Through work with patients, as well as available research, we know that infertility, pregnancy loss and other reproductive concerns can take an emotional toll on individuals, couples and families.
Because infertility and its treatment can result in diverse emotional reactions, we offer personalized pretreatment psychological consultation, individual and couples counseling, psychological assessment and emotional support to you through the treatment process and beyond. These emotional support services focus on the often complex nature of stress and coping with fertility treatment and address:
- Understanding and adjusting to the feelings of grief and loss that may arise if you need to use donor eggs, sperm or a gestational carrier
- Exploring the decision to become a single parent
- Treating depression or anxiety
- Managing relationship issues with your partner, family and/or friends
- Coping with negative pregnancy test results or pregnancy loss
- Managing non-fertility related stress
An appointment with our licensed psychologists, who specialize in women's reproductive health, is scheduled for you as part of the IVF registration process, when using donor sperm, eggs, or a gestational carrier. However, there are other times when appointments could be beneficial to you. These include:
- After negative pregnancy results or a pregnancy loss
- When unsure about emotional readiness to continue or end treatment
- With questions or concerns about choosing or coping with third-party reproduction (egg donor, sperm donor, gestational carrier) or adoption
- When considering disclosing your use of assisted reproduction to your child or others
- When considering multiple pregnancy reduction or pregnancy termination
- If you have been diagnosed with cancer or are concerned about your future fertility
- If your mood begins to interfere with your daily functioning, your relationship, your work, or other aspects of your life
- If you and/or your partner notice increased difficulties in your relationship
LGBTQ families
We take pride in helping individuals and couples build their families. Our faculty and staff provide an inclusive and supportive environment to all of our patients undergoing fertility treatment. There are many paths to parenthood for same-sex couples, and we will be there to help guide you on your path to parenthood.
Meet the Team
Meet the Center for Fertility and Reproductive Medicine Team
Treatment Options
- Controlled Ovarian Hyperstimulation
- Donor Oocyte
- Donor Sperm
- Fertility Preservation
- Gestational Surrogacy
- In Vitro Fertilization
- Intra-Cytoplasmic Sperm Injection-ICSI
- Intrauterine Insemination
- Ovulation Induction
- Preimplantation Genetics Diagnosis
- Reproductive Surgery
- Sperm Retrieval
- Therapeutic Donor Insemination
Conditions
- Depression And Anxiety
- Endometriosis
- Fibroids
- Infertility
- Menstrual Irregularities
- Polycystic Ovarian Syndrome
- Subfertility
- Tubal Disease
Financial Coordination
We understand that financial considerations frequently play a significant role in the decisions patients make regarding infertility treatment. We have dedicated Insurance Coordinators in our division to assist you with your financial needs. They are committed to assisting you and are available to:
- Work with you to determine your insurance coverage and benefits for infertility or any other services
- Discuss alternative financial arrangements if you do not have insurance coverage, or if your insurance does not cover the entirety of your services
- Navigate the pre-certification process for certain services and insurance companies
- Follow-up on any billing inquiries
Learn More About Us Here
Related Resources
- American Society for Reproductive Medicine (ASRM): ASRM is a voluntary, nonprofit organization devoted to advancing knowledge and expertise in reproductive medicine, including infertility, menopause, contraception, and sexuality. It is the largest organization in the world devoted to the evaluation and care of infertile patients and couples.
- Resolve: The National Fertility Association: Resolve is the nation's largest voluntary health association concerned with infertility. A nonprofit organization, it provides an extensive network of support and information throughout the United States.
- Path2Parenthood: Path2Parenthood is a nonprofit patient advocacy, information and resource organization for individuals with infertility. For more information call 888.917.3777.
IVF Teaching Presentation
- Fertility and Reproductive Medicine In Vitro Fertilization (IVF) Teaching Presentation (Download PPT)
Egg, sperm donation and gestational surrogacy
- ConceiveAbilities: ConceiveAbilities has a unique perspective to provide all sides of the partnership with the best resources, support and information to maximize the overall chance for success.
- Graceful Conception: Graceful Conception is a full-service ovum donation agency that is here to help you achieve your dream of having a child of your own.
- California Cryobank: Founded in 1977, California Cryobank (CCB) is a full-service sperm bank providing a comprehensive resource for frozen donor sperm, private semen cryopreservation, and specialized reproductive services.
- Seattle Sperm Bank: The Seattle Sperm Bank offers comprehensive genetic testing and screening practices, as well as Open ID vials.
Downloadable forms for Northwestern Medicine Fertility and Reproductive Medicine:
- Authorization to Continue or Discontinue Specimen Storage: Authorization to continue or discontinue storage of semen specimen(s)
- Embryo Disposition Consent: Authorization form consenting to continue, transfer or thaw the storage of embryos
- New Patient Health History Form: Detailed information on patient ethnicity, history and menstrual cycles
- Summary of IVF consent: This consent reviews the entire IVF process, including the risks the treatment might pose to you and your offspring
- Release of Cryopreserved Semen: Authorization form to transfer semen specimen(s) to another facility
- Semen Analysis Requisition Form
- HSG Request Form—For Referring Providers
In the spirit of keeping you well-informed, some of the physician(s) and/or individual(s) identified are neither agents nor employees of Northwestern Memorial HealthCare or any of its affiliate organizations. They have selected our facilities as places where they want to treat and care for their private patients.