Regional Report - Gundersen Health System

Fertility Center offers hope to
couples seeking pregnancy
Gundersen Lutheran Fertility Center brings hope to the
estimated one in six couples who are having difficulty getting
pregnant. With the addition of two more fertility experts in the
past several months—reproductive endocrinologist Kathy
Trumbull, MD, and embryologist Joy Peterson, director,
Andrology and Embryology Laboratory—the Center has added
services and is seeing noteworthy success.
“Our pregnancy rates for IVF patients who are 40 years old
or younger and have egg retrieval are 64.7 percent. We have
achieved this high pregnancy rate while transferring fewer
embryos than would be routinely transferred at other
programs. Our implantation rate is more than twice the
national average,” reports Joy.
“In general, couples should be evaluated after 12 months of
attempting pregnancy without success—six months for women
older than 35 or even sooner if there is a known problem.
Couples can be referred at any point in their evaluation or
treatment,” says Dr. Trumbull. “Most couples will not need
treatment as involved as IVF.”
The Gundersen Lutheran Fertility Center offers a variety of
services that your patients may find beneficial, including:
• Evaluation of couples seeking pregnancy
– Hormonal evaluation
– Semen analysis
– Ultrasound study of tubal patency
• Ovulation induction with oral and/or injectable
medications
• Insemination using the male partner’s sperm or
anonymous donor sperm
• Minimally invasive laparoscopic or hysteroscopic surgery
• In-vitro fertilization using female partner’s egg or
donor egg
• Intracytoplasmic sperm injection (ICSI)
• Gamete intrafallopian tube transfer (GIFT)
• Pre-implantation genetic diagnosis
• Gestational surrogacy
• Tubal ligation reversals
• Cryopreservation and long-term storage of embryos and
sperm (see related article)
If you have a patient struggling with infertility issues,
contact the Fertility Center via MedLink for a consultation
or referral.
Cryopreservation—an option
for IVF patients and cancer
patients
Patients facing cancer treatments such as chemotherapy or
radiation therapy may have many physical and psychological
side effects. Both treatments can affect a patient’s fertility, and
for some couples, this can be devastating. Cryopreservation
offers a potential solution. Before cancer treatment begins,
sperm, eggs or embryos can be collected and frozen for future
use.
Gundersen Lutheran Fertility Center has the technology,
experience and skill for cryopreservation and long-term storage
of human sperm and embryos, and, in the near future, eggs.
Cryopreservation also offers advantages for couples going
through in-vitro fertilization (IVF) and embryo transfer. “At
the Fertility Center, we generally transfer only one or two
embryos back to a woman’s uterus during an IVF cycle.
Remaining healthy embryos can be cryopreserved for future
IVF cycles,” explains Kathy Trumbull, MD, reproductive
endocrinologist.
“By using cryopreserved embryos in future IVF cycles,
women do not have to go through egg production each time.
This helps reduce discomfort and costs. Use of cryopreserved
human embryos has a long proven record with only a slightly
decreased success rate compared to fresh embryos and no
increased risks to the mother or baby,” she adds.
To learn more about cryopreservation, contact the
Gundersen Lutheran Fertility Center via MedLink.
Kathy Trumbull
Specialty: Fertility specialist, reproductive endocrinology,
obstetrics & gynecology
MD Degree: St. Louis University, Mo.
Residency: University of Illinois, Peoria
Fellowship: Georgetown University School of Medicine,
Washington, D.C.
Joy Peterson, BS, TS, ELD
Specialty: Embryology
Education: University of Missouri, Columbia,
MedLink (800) 336–5465 6 In La Crosse 775–5465