For Jane*, the clock started ticking when she got married at 37.
She and her husband both knew they wanted children, but after more than a year of letting nature take its course the couple decided they needed a helping hand and headed for the first of two traditional fertility clinics.
“To put it nicely, it was not a great experience,” says the Stamford woman, now 41.
Instead, it was stressful, frustrating, and used up much of what their insurance plan would pay for fertility services. “It was very cookie-cutter and we were not given many options,” she reveals.
Jane took to the internet and learned about gentle in vitro fertilization (IVF) and an out-of-state center that might offer them a more personalized approach. But COVID struck and traveling for consultation and treatment was suddenly not an option.
Enter Rejuvenating Fertility Center (RFC), a Manhattan-based clinic that opened Connecticut’s first non-conventional IVF center in Westport in November 2020. Founded by Zaher Merhi, MD, a world-renowned reproductive endocrinology and infertility specialist, the center offers hope and innovative, research-based solutions for families-in-waiting across the region.
With ten years of experience at their West 57th Street headquarters, Dr. Merhi and the center’s director of internal medical affairs, Marco Mouanness, MD, decided the time was right to expand to Westport’s Main Street, along with new sites on Long Island and in New Rochelle.
“We’re the first IVF lab in Westport,” says Jessica Haroun, RN, the office’s practice and hiring manager. “We were seeing a lot of our clientele here and a lot of people were moving to the suburbs. The demand is definitely high.”
The practice specializes in so-called gentle IVF, a more holistic approach that uses minimal medication to produce quality results, no-medication natural IVF, and methods that require no injections and blood draws: something patients often dread.
RFC also offers IVF medications in a kit mailed to the patient’s home, a desirable option during the pandemic. Paired with telemedicine visits, the at-home kit takes travel time and potential health risks of being in the doctor’s office for daily treatment out of the equation.
Patients may also benefit from Dr. Merhi’s ozone sauna therapy, the first in the country. He uses the powerful properties found in ozone that help the body take in and use oxygen in relaxing 30-minute sessions. The process, which reduces inflammation and has other health benefits, Dr. Mouanness said, is considered a helpful option for women attempting pregnancy over the age of 35.
RFC is a full-service facility, offering ovarian rejuvenation, an on-site embryology lab, egg freezing for family planning, and specific services for non-traditional families. In addition to the ozone sauna, the center offers gynecological rejuvenation and hysteroscopy as well as acupuncture services which can improve blood flow to the uterus and ovaries.
“It’s a wellness center for women,” says Dr. Mouanness.
Jane and her husband noticed a difference during their free consultation in Fall 2020. Dr. Merhi recommended a hysteroscopy, which unveiled scarring in her uterus. Once it was removed to improve blood flow, he prescribed a round of ozone sauna treatments to boost her chances of producing best-quality eggs and preparing for early pregnancy.
“I got very personalized care, which was really nice,” says Jane, who underwent two rounds of IVF with the team. “With Dr. Merhi, there were just a lot more options.”
Pricing for services was competitive and the center offers a pay-as-you-go option that many families appreciate, Haroun explains. Dr. Mouanness said the practice strives to make sure price is not a deciding factor in care.
This past November, Jane and her husband welcomed their baby girl.
“What a journey,” she says. “We’re so grateful to Dr. Merhi and Dr. Marco. I don’t know which one I like more!
“It was bittersweet when we ‘graduated.’ They were like our family.”
About one in eight women will experience infertility and many are looking for answers and treatment options. RFC works to provide each woman with the best tools available to address her specific issues and transform her hopes to reality.
“It’s fascinating,” Dr. Mouanness says of his work. “We’re trying to form families. Being a part of that is a big honor.”
*A real patient whose name is being withheld for privacy.