Local station NBC4 talks to Washingtonian and Shady Grove Fertility in: “A Look Inside the Country’s Largest Fertility Clinic.” Why did Washingtonian take the time to investigate Shady Grove Fertility?
With the May issue of WashingtonianWashingtonian magazine’s feature on Shady Grove Fertility, NBC4 Washington invited the article’s author Caroline Cunningham, and one of its subjects, SGF’s co-founder Michael J. Levy, M.D. to discuss the practice’s approach to care and how we’ve become the largest fertility center in the nation.
As a three-physician practice based in Rockville, Maryland, Shady Grove Fertility did not set out to become the nation’s largest fertility center with over 40,000 babies born over 25 years. Hearing from women around the region, Washingtonian decided now was a good time to visit Shady Grove Fertility’s Rockville headquarters to see just what factors contributed to the practice’s growth.
One Patient at a Time
Cunningham describes the balance SGF strikes between the highly technical nature of fertility treatment while looking out for each patient’s emotional well-being. This focus on the whole patient is one of the reasons patients and colleagues in the medical field believe Shady Grove Fertility has experienced such success.
When asked about the practice’s origins to now, Dr. Levy told NBC4 that there was never a grand plan. While every decision to grow is strategic and well thought-out, the focus was and still is to always care for one patient at a time. Dr. Levy described empowering people with knowledge even before they come through the door so that once they do seek treatment, they understand the diagnosis and treatment options. As a general rule, he advised that women under 35 seek help after trying to conceive for 1 year and that women 35 and over try for 6 months.
Awareness Eliminates the Stigma
As to what makes the Washington region a prime location for a fertility center to flourish, Levy and Cunningham both credit the area as being a place where highly motivated and career-driven women wait longer to build their families. Dr. Levy also says that the stigma of fertility treatment is slowly peeling away, and people are discussing it more openly.
One Innovation after Another
Regarding treatment, Cunningham told NBC4 about how SGF pioneered the Shared Risk 100% Refund Program, an initiative led by Dr. Levy, citing the program as one of the practice’s many innovations. For a flat fee, eligible patients can get up to six fresh IVF cycles (plus any FET cycles from those fresh cycles). The goal is to go home with your baby or your money back. Dr. Levy described circumstances where patients were facing a bottomless pit of paying for expensive treatment without any safety net or guarantees that they would be successful. At SGF, more than 82% take home a baby and more than 15,000 patients have participated in this program.
Read the full Washingtonian article, “Shady Grove Fertility Started as a Tiny Maryland Clinic. Now It’s the Country’s Biggest Babymaker,” as seen on their website. Call our New Patient Center at 877-971-7755 to schedule an appointment with Dr. Michael Levy or one of our other physicians.
At Shady Grove Fertility, we’re here to give you the caring support you deserve as you start or grow your family. As a leading fertility and IVF center of excellence, we offer patients individualized care, innovative financial options, over 30 accepted insurance plans, and pregnancy rates among the highest of all national centers. We offer patients the convenience of 19 full-service and 6 satellite locations across Maryland, Pennsylvania, Virginia, and Washington, D.C. More than 1,700 physicians choose Shady Grove Fertility to refer their patients, and more than 96 percent of our patients say they would recommend Shady Grove Fertility’s 39 physicians to a friend. With 10 Shady Grove Fertility babies born each day, your dream of starting or growing your family is within reach.
