RMANJ’s Fall Family Reunions Bring Together Patients And Doctors

If you recently asked one of your best friends what they did over the weekend, you might have gotten an unusual response: I went apple picking with my fertility doctor.

As different as this weekend outing may sound, couples all over New Jersey who sought help having a family through Reproductive Medicine Associates of New Jersey (RMANJ) were doing just that over the last several weekends – and the events were so successful, you may have just heard about them.

In an effort to stay connected and give back to their patients – whom the practice regards as family – RMANJ held three family reunions at farms and orchards across the region recently, inviting former patients and their new bundles of joy to spend a day apple or pumpkin picking, hay-riding and visiting animals in a petting zoo.

The highlight of the events, however, was the interaction between former patients and the RMANJ doctors that helped them get pregnant despite struggles with infertility. The reunions were full of hugs and gratitude from patients who finally became the mom or dad they’d always dreamed of being.

Here are three of their stories:

Johnson’s Corner Farm, Medford, NJ

This is the story of Carla Lewis from Hamilton, NJ:

One of the Kardashian sisters led Carla Lewis to RMANJ. Well, sort of.

Lewis was 33 years old when she was watching an episode of the reality TV show that featured one of the sisters talking about her AMH, or Anti-Mullerian hormone level, which helps doctors gauge whether a woman has a good egg reserve.

Intrigued in what her AMH level was, Lewis took a blood test at her OB/GYN clinic and waited for the results. Surely they were normal, she thought – she’d never had menstrual irregularities and had no reason to think she might have an issue. But when the doctor called with bad news, Lewis grew worried.

She was referred to Dr. Shefali Shastri at RMANJ’s Somerset practice, who confirmed the diagnosis: Lewis was suffering from premature ovarian failure, which is when a woman’s body produces fewer eggs than it should at her age. Lewis was effectively experiencing early menopause, and if she wanted children, the time to act was now.

Lewis and her husband immediately dove into treatment, but after several stimulation cycles to grow multiple eggs in her ovaries, she got to the retrieval stage only once. And from that egg retrieval, Dr. Shastri and the embryology team at RMANJ were able to fertilize one healthy embryo.

Lewis was feeling two ways when she got the news about her single healthy embryo: happy she had a chance at motherhood yet terrified she had only one chance – what if the embryo did not stick? But after an embryo transfer last summer, Lewis’s miracle happened: the embryo stuck and Penelope was born March 27 of this year.

“My experience with RMANJ was above and beyond,” Lewis said at a recent RMANJ family reunion event. “Dr. Shastri and both my nurses were phenomenal, always on top of everything. And the reunion was very special – after everything we’ve been through, to be at the farm pumpkin picking with other families who’d been through the same thing made me feel so normal. It was really nice.”

Pennings Orchard, Warwick, NY

This is the story of Tatyana from Fort Lee, NJ:

Tatyana met the love of her life when she was 34. They didn’t get married until she was 37, and didn’t start trying for a baby until a little bit later than that. For Tatyana and her new husband, the timing was right – they’d finally found each other. But for Tatyana’s biological clock, the timing was presenting a bit of an issue.

Because a woman’s peak fertility is in her mid to late 20s and significantly drops after the age of 35, Tatyana was literally racing against the clock when she began trying at 37. After six months of trying, she was advised by her OB/GYN to see a fertility specialist at RMANJ. Initially worried about what the process would entail, Tatyana put the appointment off for a few months, but after she was urged to go by a friend also seeking infertility care, she agreed.

In September 2016, Tatyana went to her first appointment with Dr. Micheline Chu at RMANJ’s Englewood office, and was immediately relieved to be there. “She was just so easy to talk to, and really seemed to care about what we were going through,” Tatyana said at a recent RMANJ family reunion event. “She recommended we undergo some genetic testing and pursue In Vitro Fertilization (IFV), and we trusted her all the way.”

In January 2017, Tatyana went in for her egg retrieval, and, after getting nine eggs, was left with one healthy embryo. Her name was Sophia, and she was born December of last year.

“She’s like this little miracle,” Tatyana gushed about her daughter, “and I’m so grateful to Dr. Chu.”

“After we saw Dr. Chu at the reunion and she finally met Sophia, I received a note from Dr. Chu telling us how honored she was to be a part of our family – and we feel the same about Dr. Chu.”

Alstede Farms, Chester, NJ

This is the story of Lisa Lansing from North Bergen, NJ:

Lisa Lansing always wanted children, but she also wanted the right partner, even if it took a while. Once she finally found him and they married in 2012, she was 41 years old and knew she’d probably have a little trouble getting pregnant. But that didn’t stop her.

After trying on her own for several months in 2014, Lansing made an appointment with Dr. Jamie Morris at RMANJ’s Morristown clinic, and began the process. She started with Intrauterine Insemination, or IUI, and was given medication to help stimulate the growth of eggs inside her ovaries before her husband’s sperm was injected into her uterine cavity at the time of ovulation. This process allowed the sperm to avoid having to swim through Lansing’s cervical opening and into her uterus on its own, allowing it to meet the egg more easily.

After several failed IUIs, however, Dr. Morris suggested Lansing move onto In Vitro Fertilization (IVF), which eliminates even more of the obstacles to the egg and sperm meeting. During IVF, a woman takes ovary-stimulating medication to help her produce many eggs at once, and those eggs are removed through an egg retrieval procedure. Afterward, the eggs are fertilized with sperm outside the body, and the resulting embryo is placed back inside the woman’s uterus for implantation. The process was grueling, Lansing said, but worth every visit.

“When you’re cycling, there are the injections, the early morning monitoring, the blood tests, the waiting,” Lansing said. “But you don’t for one second think about giving it up – you just do it.”

After several IVF cycles, Lansing’s work paid off. In April 2015, she went in for an embryo transfer, and it stuck. Alana was born January 5, 2016. For Lansing, a big part of the reason she found success was because of Dr. Morris.

“She really fought for us,” Lansing said. “Infertility treatment is tough, but she was with us every step of the way – she truly wanted us to succeed, and seeing her at the family reunion was the icing on the cake.”

“We love Dr. Morris.”

Find out more about your options at Reproductive Medicine Associates of New Jersey.

All photos courtesy of RMANJ