Jennifer E. Mersereau, M.D., MSCI 

Board Certified Board Certified

  • Obstetrics and Gynecology
  • Reproductive Endocrinology and Infertility
Raleigh Location Raleigh, NC
Schedule Appointment or 1-888-761-1967
Patient Testimonial
Dr. Mersereau is very experienced and was successful in my first IVF cycle, which was my first embryo transfer ever.

Shady Grove Fertility is the best in the country and the Carolinas. I was fortunate enough to find my way into SGF after poor care and treatment at another clinic. I needed a place where I felt seen, heard, and cared for. Dr. Mersereau, Wendy, and Ellie are the dream team!

Dr. Mersereau was the first person we met with to get help with infertility. She was so calming and confident yet realistic and I always felt heard and understood. The best part is that my husband and I are now pregnant as a result of SGF’s care!

Biography

Jennifer E. Mersereau, M.D., MSCI, is board certified in obstetrics and gynecology (OB/GYN) as well as reproductive endocrinology and infertility (REI). Dr. Mersereau earned her medical degree from the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine. Following her passion for women’s healthcare, she then completed her residency in OB/GYN at the Feinberg School of Medicine at Northwestern University in Chicago, Illinois, where she also earned her Master of Science in Clinical Investigation. From there, Dr. Mersereau completed her REI fellowship at the University of California in San Francisco, California.  

Prior to joining SGF, Dr. Mersereau was the Medical Director of Assisted Reproductive Technology at UNC School of Medicine. She has served as Professor of Obstetrics and Gynecology and Director of the Fertility Preservation Program at UNC. 

Regularly recognized for her excellence in research, Dr. Mersereau has contributed to numerous publications, presentations, and book chapters exploring topics such as fertility preservation for patients with cancer, improved outcomes for frozen embryo transfers, and mental health surrounding infertility, among others. Dr. Mersereau is an associate editor for Fertility and Sterility.  

Dr. Mersereau has served on several national committees, including the American Society for Reproductive Medicine (ASRM) Practice Committee, the Society of Assisted Reproduction Technologies (SART) Practice Committee, and the Fertility Preservation Special Interest Group.  

Dr. Mersereau is the medical director of SGF Carolinas. She provides patient care at SGF’s Raleigh, North Carolina, location. Whether playing doubles tennis or curling up with a good book, Dr. Mersereau finds joy in taking time to re-energize.    

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Education

  • Residency: Obstetrics and Gynecology, Feinberg School of Medicine, Northwestern University, Chicago, Illinois
  • Fellowship: Reproductive Endocrinology & Infertility, University of California, San Francisco, California 
  • Castle Connolly’s Top Doctors, 2024
  • Fertility and Sterility, associate and specialty editor  
  • Excellent Contribution from American Journal of Obstetrics and Gynecology  
  • Excellent Contribution from Human Reproduction  
  • American Society for Reproductive Medicine (ASRM) 
  • Society of Assisted Reproduction Technologies (SART) 
  • Meernik C, Mersereau JE, Baggett CD, Engel SM, Moy LM, Cannizzaro NT, Peavey M, Kushi LH, Chao CR, Nichols HB.  Fertility Preservation and Financial Hardship among Adolescent and Young Adult Women with Cancer.  Cancer Epidmiol Biomarkers Prev.  2022 May 4;31(5):1043-51. 
  • Meernik C, Engel SM, Wardell A, Baggett CD, Gupta P, Rodriguez-Ormaza N, Luke B, Baker VL, Wantman E, Rauh-Hain JA, Mersereau JE, Olshan AF, Smitherman AB, Cai J, Nichols HB.  Disparities in fertility preservation use among adolescent and young adult women with cancer.  J Cancer Surviv. 2022 Feb 16. doi: 10.1007/s11764-022-01187-y. Online ahead of print.   
  • Legro RS, Hansen KR, Diamond MP, Steiner AZ, Coutifaris C, Cedars MI, Hoeger KM, Usadi R, Johnstone EB, Haisenleder DJ, Wild RA, Barnhart KT, Mersereau J, Trussell JC, Krawetz SA, Kris-Etherton PM, Sarwer DB, Santoro N, Eisenberg E, Huang H, Zhang H; Reproductive Medicine Network. Effects of preconception lifestyle intervention in infertile women with obesity: The FIT-PLESE randomized controlled trial. PLoS Med. 2022 Jan 18;19(1). 
  • Giunco H, Connerney M, Boylan C, Koelper N, Mersereau J, Berger DS. Embryo re-expansion does not affect clinical pregnancy rates in frozen embryo transfer cycles: a retrospective study. J Assist Reprod Genet. 2021 Nov;38(11):2933-2939. Epub 2021 Sep 21. 
  • Hawkins Bressler L, Mersereau JE. Not throwing away my shot but taking less: three-arm randomized controlled trial finds equivalent live birth rate with intramuscular progesterone every third day for programmed frozen embryo transfer cycles. Fertil Steril. 2021 Sep;116(3):655-656. Epub 2021 Jul 28.   
  • Nichols HB, Baggett CD, Engel SM, Getahun D, Anderson C, Cannizzaro NT, Green L, Gupta P, Laurent CA, Lin PC, Meernik C, Moy LM, Wantman E, Xu L, Kwan ML, Mersereau JE^, Chao CR, Kushi LH.  The Adolescent and Young Adult (AYA) Horizon Study: An AYA Cancer Survivorship Cohort.  Cancer Epidemiol Biomarkers Prev. 2021 May;30(5):857-866. Epub 2021 Feb 22. 
  • Moustafa SM, Rosen E, Boylan C, Mersereau JE#.  Time to blastulation is superior to individual components of embryo grading for live-birth prediction. Fertil Steril Rep Vol (3), Oct 2020 243-8. 
  • Stanhiser J, Mersereau JE^, Dock D, Boylan C, Caprell H, Coward RM, Berger DS, Fritz M.  Sperm morphology from the actual inseminated sample does not predict clinical pregnancy following intrauterine insemination. Fertil Steril Rep. Vol. 2, No. 1, March 2021 2666-3341.   
  • Hawkins Bressler L, Mersereau JE^, Anderson C, Rodriguez JL, Hodgson E, Weinberg CR, Sandler DP.  Fertility-related experiences after breast cancer diagnosis in the NIEHS Sister Study and Two Sister Study Survivor Survey.  Cancer. 2019 Apr 23 [Epub ahead of print]. 
  • Gorman JR, Drizin JH, Mersereau JE^, Su HI.  Applying behavioral theory to understand fertility consultation uptake.  Psycho-Oncology. 2019 Feb 14 [Epub ahead of print].   
  • Eisenberg A, Mersereau JE^, Buckley AF, Gratian L.  Multiple pituitary adenoma with functional FSH secretion leading to ovarian hyperstimulation syndrome.  Accepted to AACE Clinical Case Reports 10/18. (14 typed pages) 
  • Smith BM, et al.^ The National Physicians Cooperative: transforming fertility management in the cancer setting and beyond.  Future Oncology. 2018 Nov 26 [Epub ahead of print].   
  • Nichols HB, Anderson C, Ruddy KJ, Black KZ, Luke B, Engel SM, Mersereau JE^. Childbirth after adolescent and young adult cancer: A population-based study.  J Cancer Surviv.  2018 Aug;19(4):592-600.  2018 May 22 [Epub ahead of print].  (8 pages) 
  • Stieglitz HM, Korpi-Steiner N, Katzmann B, Mersereau JE^, Styner M. Suspected testosterone-producing tumor in a patient taking biotin supplements.  J Endocrine Society.  2018 May 10;2(6);563-569. (6 pages) 
  • Schumacher BML, Mersereau JE^, Steiner AZ.  Cycle day, estrogen level, and lead follicle size: analysis of 27,790 in vitro fertilization cycles to determine optimal start criteria for gonadotropin-releasing hormone antagonist.  Fertil Steril. 2018 Apr;109(4);633-637.  2018 Mar 28 [Epub ahead of print].  (4 pages) 
  • Hoff HS, Crawford NM, Mersereau JE^.  Screening for psychological conditions in infertile women: Provider perspectives. J Womens Health (Larchmt). 2018 Apr;27(4);503-509. 2017 Nov 29. [Epub ahead of print].  (6 pages) 
  • Cameron KE, Kole MB, Sammel MD, Ginsberg JP, Gosiengfiao Y, Mersereau JE#, Su HI, Gracia CR. Acute menopausal symptoms in young cancer survivors immediately following chemotherapy.  Oncology. 2018;94(4);200-206.  2018 Jan 26. [Epub ahead of print]. (6 pages) 
  • Mersereau J*, Stanhiser J, Coddington C, Jones T, Luke B, Brown MB.  Patient and cycle characteristics predicting high pregnancy rates with single embryo transfer: an analysis of the SART outcomes between 2004-2013.  Fertility and Sterility. Fertil Steril. 2017 Nov;108(5):750-756. Epub 2017 Sep 15. (6 pages) 
  • Lyttle Schumacher B, Grover N, Mesen T, Steiner A, Mersereau J#.  Modeling of live-birth rates and cost-effectiveness of oocyte cryopreservation for cancer patients prior to high- and low-risk gonadotoxic chemotherapy.  Hum Reprod. 2017 Oct 1;32(10):2049-2055. (6 pages) 
  • Anderson C, Engel SM, Mersereau JE^, Black KZ, Wood WA, Anders CK, Nichols HB.  Birth outcomes among adolescent and young adult cancer survivors.  JAMA Oncol. 2017 Aug:3(8);1078-84. [Epub ahead of print 2017 Mar 23]  (6 pages)  
  • Crawford NM, Hoff HS, Mersereau JE#.  Infertile women who screen positive for depression are less likely to initiate fertility treatments.  Hum Reprod. 2017 Mar 1;32(3);582-7.  2017 Jan 9 [Epub ahead of print].  (5 pages) 

Q&A

I became an REI physician for several reasons: I am passionate about women’s health, from pap smears to IVF. I find the science behind reproductive medicine fascinating – there have been major advances in pregnancy rates in the nearly 20 years I’ve been in practice. Most importantly, I enjoy getting to know my patients and love sharing laughs and hugs every day! 

I appreciate that SGF aims to take a complicated and potentially stressful process and make it as easy and straightforward for patients as possible. This is evident in their high pregnancy rates, their compassionate staff, their Shared Risk 100% Refund program, and the easy access to care. They also actively initiate high-quality research projects, moving the field of REI forward to improved outcomes for patients.    

I find so many patients inspiring! It takes a lot of courage to even start down the fertility journey, and I’m constantly honored to have patients put their faith and trust in me to guide them on their path to achieve their family goals.   

I try to work with my patients to identify the root of the struggle – it’s a different solution based on the exact problem. I often enlist input from my whole team – between the nursing team, financial counselors, mental health providers, nutritionists, and others, we generally can work together with our patients to overcome most struggles. 

I’d love to live in a foreign country someday, for at least part of the year. 

I play a lot of doubles tennis – I can turn off external stresses for a brief time and have fun while exercising! I also love reading, mostly fiction – it’s fun when patients and I share book suggestions. 

I tend to always be ‘on the go’, running errands, trying a new restaurant, etc. I sometimes wish I could take more naps, but it’s not in my DNA. 

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