General Practitioners

• Infectious Diseases
  When a lesbian couple or single woman chose a known sperm donor (relative or friend) as their donor, the process is considered directed sperm donation.  A directed sperm donor will normally require a full panel of infectious disease screening followed by a six-month quarantine of frozen sperm and then retesting of the donor for infectious diseases, before sperm can be deemed eligible for insemination. In lesbian couples or single women who do not desire a six-month delay in treatment, an alternative for directed donor testing involves a full physical examination and infectious disease screening of the sperm donor within one week of each insemination. Directed sperm donation is relatively inexpensive, may provide genetic familiarity (if a related sperm donor is chosen), and may reduce the anxiety associated with the outcome of the pregnancy. However, it may create unforeseen future social strains, which have to be taken into consideration while deciding on the right treatment for you.

Gynecologists

• Gynecology
  Reproductive Endocrinologist located in Encino, Santa Monica, Valencia & West Hollywood, CA Doctor Mor received his medical degree from Tel Aviv University-Sackler School of Medicine in Israel. He completed a four-year residency in Obstetrics and Gynecology at New York Methodist Hospital in Brooklyn, New York. Subsequently, Dr. Mor completed a three-year fellowship in Reproductive Endocrinology […]
• Female Infertility
• Obstetrics
  Dr. Irene Woo is double board certified in Obstetrics and Gynecology and Reproductive Endocrinology and Infertility. She completed her four-year residency in Obstetrics and Gynecology at Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore Maryland, followed by a three-year fellowship in Reproductive Endocrinology and Infertility at the University of Southern California in Los Angeles California. Dr. Woo is […]
• Endometriosis
  The endometrium is the inside lining of the uterus which is shed and regenerated with every menstrual cycle. When endometrial tissue is located outside of the uterus, the diagnosis of endometriosis is made. Such tissue may be pathologically located on various pelvic organs such as the uterus, tubes, and ovaries, as well as bowel and bladder. When present in the pelvis, endometrial tissue may lead to an inflammatory reaction which has been shown to affect the reproductive process at various levels from egg development and ovulation to fertilization, embryo travel through the fallopian tube, and uterine implantation. Furthermore, endometriosis may lead to scar tissue (adhesion) formation within the pelvic cavity, which in turn may lead to blockage of the fallopian tubes as well as debilitating pelvic pain.
• Pelvic Pain
• Pregnancy
• Labor and Delivery
  This is the most common tubal ligation performed in the postpartum period: immediately after delivery of the baby at the time of cesarean section or within 24-48 hours of giving vaginal birth. In this procedure, a loop of the middle portion of the tube is picked-up and tied at the base. The loop is then cut out, resulting in removal of approximately 1.5 cm of the middle portion of the tube. The nature of this type of tubal ligation invariably foreshortens the tube, however, reversing the Pomeroy procedure is highly successful in the vast majority of cases.

Endocrinologist

• Endocrinology
  Your first step is an initial telephone consultation with one of our board certified reproductive endocrinology infertility physicians.  Despite time differences which exist between your country and California, we will make ourselves available to you.  Please call our Center 866-998-8225 (toll free in the USA) or 818-907-1571, or e-mail us atadmin@center4reproduction.com to schedule your consultation.  In office interpreters are available to translate if necessary (Chinese, Spanish, Russian, German, Hebrew…).

Radiologist

• Ultrasound
  When menstrual cycles are irregular (shorter than 21 days, or longer than 35 days), or if menses are skipped or absent, ovulatory dysfunction is diagnosed. Occasionally, women with regular monthly menses may also fail to ovulate, which can be confirmed using ultrasound examinations, ovulation prediction kits, and blood testing.
• Chemotherapy
  The causes for POF are various and may include autoimmune factors (autoimmune polyglandular syndrome), enzymatic/genetic defects (galactosemia), chromosomal abnormalities (Turner syndrome), infection (mumps), cancer treatment (chemotherapy/radiation), and unexplained factors.

Surgeons

• Vasectomy
  Severe male factor infertility often precludes treatment with intrauterine insemination (IUI). When greatly decreased sperm count (severe oligospermia) is diagnosed in the ejaculate, intracytoplasmic sperm injection (ICSI) is required to achieve fertilization in the laboratory. However, when no sperm is identified in the ejaculate (azoospermia), alternative methods other than ejaculation must be employed in order to harvest sperm for use with ICSI. The type of sperm extraction procedure used depends on the etiology for azoospermia. In males with obstructive azoospermia, secondary to an absence or obstruction of the ejaculatory ducts (i.e. congenital bilateral absence of the vas deferens, vasectomy…), percutaneous epididymal sperm aspiration (PESA) or microsurgical epididymal sperm aspiration (MESA) may be used to isolate sperm directly from the epididymis (collecting tubule adjacent to each testis) for use with ICSI. When non-obstructive azoospermia is diagnosed (diminished sperm production within the testes), a testicular sperm extraction (TESE) may be performed. With TESE small fragments of testicular tissue are removed and sperm are isolated by careful dissection for use with ICSI. Sperm extraction procedures are usually performed on the day of egg retrieval in order to obtain fresh sperm for fertilization with ICSI. If enough sperm is obtained, some sperm may be frozen for later use so that additional extraction procedures may be avoided. All sperm extraction procedures are performed by a urologist, usually under local anesthesia.
• Hysterectomy
  There are multiple indications for gestational surrogacy. Women who underwent a hysterectomy (removal of the uterus) for benign indications often have intact ovaries and thus may only conceive via IVF and gestational surrogacy. Patients diagnosed with an irreparable uterine anomaly (due to in-utero DES exposure or other congenital abnormality) and recurrent pregnancy loss, may have a successful outcome with gestational surrogacy. Similarly, women in whom a pregnancy may be contraindicated (history of hormone responsive cancer, severe cardiopulmonary compromise, poor prior obstetrical outcome…) are excellent candidates for surrogacy.  Additionally, gestational surrogacy, combined with egg donation, is a wonderful option for family building for gay men and couples.
• Laparoscopy
  Interval tubal ligations refer to those tubal ligations that are not performed in the immediate postpartum period, but rather are done weeks to years following delivery of a baby. An interval tubal ligation may be performed by laparoscopy (most common) or by a minilaparotomy. In a laparoscopic tubal ligation, a small hole (typically 5 mm) is introduced in the belly button (umbilicus), through which a camera is inserted. Another 5 mm hole is introduced in the patient’s middle lower abdomen (just below the pubic hair line). The lower hole allows insertion of an instrument with which each fallopian tube is “tied”. Tying of the fallopian tube via a laparoscopy can be accomplished using a variety of different methods...

Dermatologists

• Cyst