John David Gordon MD's Page

Just received a wonderful email from a lovely couple who traveled all the way from Georgia to do NC IVF here at Dominion. Having had a previous IVF/ICSI baby in 2006 they had returned to their RE for another attempt at IVF. Previously the response to medications had been poor and this time the response was even worse with no retrieval even attempted. Her FSH was 18.9 and they were told that essentially no good options existed in terms of IVF. Fortunately, they had heard about NC IVF and we…

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Frequently I am asked about IUI compared to IVF and specifically about NC IVF compared with IUI. Although IUI can be successful, there are clear limitations to an IUI. First of all, unless pregnancy occurs an IUI does little to explain why a couple has failed to conceive. Could the tube have failed to catch an egg(s)? Could the sperm have failed to find an egg(s)? Could the sperm have failed to fertilize an egg(s)? Could the fertilized egg(s) have failed to grow? Could the embryo(s) have…

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Sometimes it pays to travel. In June I had 2 international patients who came to Dominion Fertility specifically to pursue NC-IVF. Both had previously undergone stimulated cycle IVF but failed to have success and wished to avoid fertility drugs. They were unable to find any local clinics (Moscow and Albania respectively) that were willing to perform NC-IVF so they elected to travel here to the Washington DC area. Although language was a bit of a challenge at times both of these lovely patients… Continue

Infertility can certainly be a wild ride. Here is an extreme example of how patients can ride that roller coaster of emotions...



DK is a 38 year old who came to see me in September 2008. She and her husband had undergone fertility treatment 3 years earlier at another center and conceived with CC/FSH/IUI but had a quintuplet pregnancy that ultimately ended up as twins. They were very worried about having another multiple pregnancy and wished to discuss options.



However, as… Continue

As fertility doctors, Dr. D and I are often in the position of recommending that a woman consider having her fallopian tubes removed. Although this seems a bit unusual it is important to understand what role the tubes play in reproduction and in having menstrual cycles. First of all, the only job performed by the tubes is that of incubator for the eggs and sperm. Pregnancy starts in the tube assuming that the tube captures the egg once it is released from the ovary and also assuming that the… Continue