How Dr. Robert Setton’s infertility story became his life’s work

Dr. Robert Setton from SGF New York’s new Brooklyn office is here to share that while you may be struggling with infertility, you are not alone. He’s been there too, and he’ll be there to help you grow your family every step of the way.  

Dr. Setton and his wife, Mariel, met at the Jersey Shore through a mutual friend. They always knew they wanted a big family but when they started trying to conceive, they realized something was off. After nine months without any success, Dr. Setton and Mariel reached out to their OB/GYN, who then recommended that they seek help from a fertility specialist. An ultrasound found that shockingly, at 26 years of age, Mariel had a diminished ovarian reserve.  

Dr. Setton and Mariel jumped straight to IVF and were on the highest doses possible, as they knew that in their case, that was going to be the best option to achieve a pregnancy. However, their path to parenthood wasn’t a straight and easy one with each IVF cycle bringing different results, emotions, and protocols: 

• First cycle: they made it to retrieval but had no fertilization at all.  

• Second cycle: the cycle was canceled because there was only one follicle.  
• Third cycle: they finally made a single embryo, but the transfer failed.  
• Fourth and fifth cycles: Both failed, so they moved on to what they had decided would be their last cycle. 

Surprisingly, four eggs were retrieved during their sixth cycle, and the couple ended up with two embryos. After five rounds of failure, they decided to transfer both embryos and one stuck — leading to their oldest son. When Dr. Setton heard his son’s heartbeat for the first time, he knew that he wanted to spend the rest of his life bringing that moment to other families.  

“To be able to assist people in reaching the goal of becoming parents with the use of some incredible science is amazing,” Dr. Setton shares.  

When their son was about a year old, Dr. Setton and Mariel went back to IVF to continue growing their family. After seven more cycles experiencing failure in what felt like every way possible and one miscarriage, they transferred two embryos and found out they were pregnant and expecting twins on Dr. Setton’s last day of OB/GYN residency. 

“I want my patients to know I’ve been there,” expresses Dr. Setton. “I’ve gotten bad news. I’ve gone through the emotions and the struggles … I want them to get to that heartbeat as much as they do. I want to be able to bring people the joy that I was able to feel after our journey.”  

Two years later, Dr. Setton and Mariel thought they were done building their family but were pleasantly surprised to learn that they were pregnant with a miracle child, completing their family with four boys. 

Dr. Setton supports his patients through their journeys. He knows from personal experience that growing a family isn’t always easy, but he walks with his patients to make their moments possible.  

To make an appointment with Dr. Setton in Brooklyn, call 212-203-4826 or submit this brief form.