Monthly Archives: February 2019


The Mini-IVF™ is in Fox News and Parents Magazine

blog10The Mini-IVF™ is less invasive and more cost-effective than Conventional IVF because significantly less fertility medications are used. – Dr. Zaher Merhi – New Hope’s Director of Research and Development in IVF Technologies – as quoted in Parents. This helps keep the patient’s cost down and minimizes the amount of hormones a woman is taking into her body. You don’t actually need as much medication to help conception since the medication doesn’t create eggs, it only fosters the growth of the eggs that are already there. – Dr. Merhi (Parents)

Mini-IVF™ Fertility Medications

According to Dr. Merhi, [m]edication is like egg food, so if you have a lot of eggs, then a lot of medication may be fine because there’s numerous eggs to feed. If you have a low number of eggs, then all you need is a little bit of food. In other words, the amount of medication administered during a Mini-IVF™ cycle is tailored specifically for each patient based on her egg reserve.

As reported by Fox News, the Mini-IVF™ is an alternative to Conventional IVF that has been practiced successfully for years by Dr. Zaher Merhi. As explained by Dr. Merhi, the Mini-IVF™ is less taxing on a woman’s body because only small amounts of fertility medications are administered during a cycle.

Benefits of Mini-IVF™

Because less medication is used during a Mini-IVF, women may not have an intolerable experience of unpleasant symptoms such as extreme swelling/bloating, night sweats, and weight gain as they do during a Conventional IVF.

  • It’s very similar to IVF but you’re not stimulating the ovaries too much with high doses of medication. – Dr. Merhi Fox News
  • There is this feeling that high doses of shots can be detrimental to the quality of eggs. – Merhi Fox News

The Mini-IVF™ is an option for women who may respond better to lower doses of fertility medication. This protocol may help women produce higher quality eggs for fertilization. Pregnancy success rates for Mini-IVF are comparable to Conventional IVF without the high cost of large quantities of fertility medication.

Mini-IVF™ Protocol

Although medication regimens vary based on the patient’s medical needs, this gentle IVF protocol includes:

  • One Clomid pill consumed daily
  • No more than one to three injections of Menopur
  • A simple nasal spray of Synarel 36 hours prior to egg retrieval instead of repeated progesterone shots

Because the Mini-IVF protocol uses lower dosages of fertility medications, a woman only produces 3 to 5 high quality eggs. With a Mini-IVF™ protocol, the patient’s physical discomfort is lessened because her body is not forced into producing the 10 to 15 eggs typically reached in a Conventional IVF cycle.

  • A fertility medication regimen to produce 3 to 5 quality eggs
  • Cycle monitoring through ultrasound imaging and blood tests
  • Surgical egg retrieval
  • Fertilization of egg and sperm in vitro via (ICSI)
  • Culture and monitoring of embryo(s) via EmbryoScope technology
  • Grading and selection of quality embryo(s) for fresh transfer and/or future (FET)
  • Single Embryo Transfer (SET)

Mini-IVF™ Cost

Because less fertility medications are used, the Mini-IVF is more affordable than Conventional IVF. Contact New Hope Fertility Center for most current pricing on our fee for the Mini-IVF procedure. Our quoted fee will not include the cost of fertility medications, which can range up to $1,500.

Mini-IVF™ Pregnancy Success Rates

Mini-IVF™ is the preferred protocol for women who do not have many eggs remaining in their ovarian reserve – common for patients over the age of 35. Mini-IVF™ pregnancy success rates for women over 35 were a third higher than for Conventional IVF. Women in their 40s were two times more likely to have a baby using Mini-IVF™ compared to if they had undergone Conventional IVF.

Yearly data on IVF success rates is a rich source of information for potential IVF patients. This data gives patients an idea of their average chances of pregnancy success through IVF. At New Hope Fertility Center, IVF success rates vary in the context of patient and treatment characteristics:

  • Age
  • Infertility diagnosis
  • History of previous pregnancies
  • History of previous miscarriages
  • Number of failed IVF cycles – fresh and frozen embryo transfers
  • Number of embryos transferred in a single cycle
  • IVF protocol recommended
  • IVF ancillary procedures used – ICSI, Assisted Hatching, In Vitro Maturation
  • Genetic testing to select only quality embryos for transfer – PGD, PGS/NGS
  • Gender Selection

At New Hope Fertility Center, we welcome difficult patients – those previously diagnosed by other fertility specialists as hopelessly infertile.

  • No age restriction
  • No FSH level requirement
  • No requirement to produce multiple eggs per cycle

World Renowned Mini-IVF™ Expertise

It is important to work with a Mini-IVF™ expert having the expertise to design a customized treatment plan meeting your financial and medical needs. To schedule your initial consultation with Dr. John Zhang at New Hope Fertility Center – call 917.525.5496.

Why You Should Consider Fertility Counseling

Intended ParentsBeing proactive in taking care of your mental health care is key to securing your financial investment in fertility treatment. Action plan: Reflect and reach out for an expert in fertility counseling. Our fertility experts strongly recommend Professional In-House Fertility Counseling with Allison Rosen Ph.D. That’s not all: We are dedicated to promoting our patients’ awareness of genetic testing in conjunction with IVF to increase their chances of a successful pregnancy.

Fertility Counseling

Dr. Rosen is an experience clinical psychologist specializing in infertility. She has helped hundreds of couples cope during their struggle to have a baby.

  • Experienced Clinical Psychologist
  • Researcher
  • Author
  • Educator

Through individual, couple, and group counseling, the Doctor addresses the many challenges of dealing with infertility including:

  • Pregnancy Loss
  • Couple Conflict and Coping
  • Complex Decisions Involved in Family Building Through Donor Egg or Sperm
  • Parenting After Infertility

Education of Dr. Rosen

  • A. – University of California – Graduated Summa cum Laude and Honored as most outstanding student in the college of science
  • Master’s Degree and Ph.D – Michigan State University
  • Certificate of Psychoanalysis – William Alanson White Institute

Dr. Rosen specializes in working with couples who have reach the one-year mark – or beyond – of infertility. After multiple failed attempts to conceive, patients begin to experience serious emotional disturbances.

  • Anxiety
  • Depression
  • Relationship challenges

Reducing Pregnancy Loss through Genetic Testing

Today’s Assisted Reproductive Technology (ART) helps to increase the healthy birth rates of babies through genetic testing. This is because only the healthiest embryos are transferred for implantation during a fresh IVF cycle and/or Frozen Embryo Transfer (FET). Genetic testing helps to reduce the number of cycles required to achieve a healthy pregnancy.

Preimplantation Genetic Screening (PGS)

PGS is the testing of an embryo’s overall chromosomal normalcy prior to being transferred to the patient’s uterus in conjunction with IVF. PGS detects chromosomal deficiencies – aneuploidy – an extra or missing chromosome in an embryo.

PGS Increases Pregnancy Success Rates By Up To 30%

PGS dramatically increases a woman’s chance of conception. Only the healthiest embryo(s) are transferred. Embryo biopsy and screening can increase a patient’s chance of a successful pregnancy by up to 30 percent.

Candidates for PGS

Because advanced maternal age (over 35) adversely affects the quality of a woman’s eggs – oocytes – resulting in chromosomal abnormalities, Dr. Zhang recommends PGS in conjunction with IVF to patients his over the age of 35.

  • Women having a history of recurrent miscarriages (2 or more)
  • Women having failed IVF cycles
  • Gender Selection – Family Balancing

PGS Detects Low Quality Embryos

By extracting a cell from an embryo and analyzing it, poor quality embryos are detected. Biopsy of this cell will not damage the embryo.

Low quality embryos result in:

  • Low pregnancy success rates
  • High miscarriage rates
  • High chance for birth defects

Next Generation Sequencing (NGS)

NGS is a new and improved method of PGS. NGS is the latest genetic screening test for primary candidates undergoing IVF. NGS is used for comprehensive chromosome testing of embryos created through IVF. NGS is on the horizon to replacing PGS because of the procedure’s lower cost and reduced errors.

NGS allows embryologists to screen for defects on the chromosomal level with higher accuracy and more detail than ever before. PGS results are comprehensive and a higher resolution than any other genetic testing method because it detects more translocations.

NGS is also helpful for those couples wanting to plan their family through gender selection.

Customized IVF Treatment

Because every patient’s personal, medical, and financial needs are different, we offer customized IVF treatment.

Our experience designing customized protocols provide a variety of successful IVF treatment protocols for you to choose from. We offer the highest quality care timed precisely around your body’s optimal state of performance.

High Tech IVF Laboratory

Our goal is to maximize every patient’s chances of having a successful pregnancy. At New Hope Fertility Center, we offer the latest:

  • IVF technology
  • IVF ingenuity
  • IVF customization

Our IVF laboratory is comprised of a powerful air filtration system to facilitate the best conditions for success of procedures and research. We have one of the largest and most powerful air filtration systems in the world. This quality air filtration system provides optimal clean air pressure in every laboratory process.

Renowned Fertility Counseling Expertise

Dr. Zhang would like to introduce you to an expert fertility counselor if you are struggling with fertility treatment. To schedule your initial consultation with Dr. Allison Rosen at New Hope Fertility Center call 212.969.7422.

Dr. Zhang Explains the Benefits of Egg Freezing in Parenting Magazine

No longer do women have to be cornered into motherhood by their biological clock. You can put your maternal instinct on hold by taking advantage of egg freezing – also known as oocyte cryopreservation – in conjunction with IVF. Today’s smart women are planning for the future when it comes to her aging eggs. The younger your eggs are when trying to conceive, the better chance you will have of getting pregnant. – Dr. John Zhang as quoted in Parenting. If you know that one day you would like to become a mother, but feel that now is just not the time, we recommend freezing your eggs.

Egg Freezing Trend

When you are ready for motherhood, it only takes one good egg and a healthy sperm! More and more women are postponing motherhood past their prime childbearing years. You can join the force of women who are growing more confident in their ability to give birth to a biological child in the future – without fear of maternal aging. Read an amazing story in Harper’s Bazaar that features how our Division of Fertility Preservation has played a major role in informing women of their future family planning options.

Aging and the Quality of Eggs

The natural aging process has a dramatic effect on the quality of a woman’s eggs. A woman in her prime reproductive years (early 20s and early 30s) has the option of freezing her eggs to preserve her future fertility into her advanced reproductive years (mid-30s and early 40s + beyond):

  • Today’s modern women who are focused on their education and career opportunities
  • Women whose circumstances in life are not presently conducive to rearing children
  • Women who have not be able to find their life partner
  • Women who are facing cancer treatment – chemo or radiation – that could damage the quality of their eggs and/or destroy their ovarian function by sending them into premature menopause
  • Women who are undergoing IVF and are likely to produce excessive eggs, but have ethical or religious concerns over freezing embryos

Egg Freezing Process

Egg freezing is accomplished through a fresh IVF cycle, stopping short of fertilization with sperm in vitro.

  • A woman’s ovaries are stimulated by using fertility drugs to produce several egg follicles
  • The eggs are surgically retrieved from the woman’s ovaries and sent to the lab for cryopreservation preparation
  • The preparation and freezing of the eggs for preservation is performed through a process known as vitrification
  • The rapid-freezing technique of vitrification makes it possible to freeze eggs quickly so that damaging ice crystals do not form between cells

Customized IVF Treatment

Because every patient’s personal, medical, and financial needs are different, we offer customized IVF treatment.

Our experience designing customized protocols provide a variety of successful IVF treatment protocols for you to choose from. We offer the highest quality care timed precisely around your body’s optimal state of performance.

Future Pregnancy

When she is ready to start building her family, the egg freezing process continues.

  • The frozen eggs are thawed and fertilized in vitro by injecting a sperm cell into a single egg – Intracytoplasmic Sperm Injection (ICSI)
  • The resulting embryos are cultured in vitro for up to 5 days (blastocyst stage)
  • A predetermined number of quality embryos are transferred into the woman’s uterus for implantation into her uterine lining to achieve pregnancy

Genetic Testing and Gender Selection

Many of our patients opt to have their embryos undergo genetic testing prior to transfer.

Resulting embryos are cultured to a blastocyst stage (5 days) and then are re-evaluated by our embryologists to ensure good health. PGS/NGS identifies chromosomal abnormalities and identifies the gender of each embryo.

High Tech IVF Laboratory

Our goal is to maximize every patient’s chances of having a successful pregnancy. At New Hope Fertility Center, we offer the latest:

  • IVF technology
  • IVF ingenuity
  • IVF customization

Our IVF laboratory is comprised of a powerful air filtration system to facilitate the best conditions for success of procedures and research. We have one of the largest and most powerful air filtration systems in the world. This quality air filtration system provides optimal clean air pressure in every laboratory process.

World Renowned Egg Freezing Expertise

Pregnancy success rates using a woman’s egg that has been cryopreserved are comparable to success rates using a fresh egg. Continually increasing IVF Pregnancy Success Rates requires all-encompassing fertility care.

It is important to work with a fertility specialist having the research and clinical experience required to design a customized egg freezing plan meeting your personal and medical needs. To schedule your initial consultation with Dr. John Zhang at New Hope Fertility Center – call 917.525.5496.

NY Post News: Go Pain Free With Our New Needle-Free IVF

Needle Free IVFOur team of fertility specialists made news in the NY Post with the launching of Needle-Free IVF – a holistic method of treatment which promises pregnancy success without injections. What’s news? No longer does a woman have to undergo costly and painful injections and blood draws to achieve a healthy pregnancy through IVF. Why is this news? Dr. Zaher Merhi – Director of Research and Development at New Hope Fertility Center – is proud to have spearheaded this Needle-Free protocol in response to his patients’ feedback concerning the daunting cost, pain, and inconvenience of traditional IVF.

Pain Free Needle-Free IVF

Gone are the days of costly fertility medications, inconvenient daily blood draws, and painful injections.

  • No shots – Injectable drugs are replaced with oral fertility medications to stimulate the production of multiple egg follicles
  • No blood draws – Hormone tests are conducted via urine and saliva sample to monitor egg follicle development
  • No hCG injection – A nasal spray triggers ovulation in preparation for egg retrieval

Women who are afraid of needles are particularly happy to hear about the new technique, Merhi said – (NY Post). They are very, very excited – they’re happy that there are no shots.

Holistic Approaches to IVF

Our research and clinical experience has proven that high dosages of fertility drugs may be associated with poor egg quality – making it more difficult to achieve a healthy pregnancy through Conventional IVF. As part of our commitment to increasing our patients’ chances of conceiving, we have established a focus on holistic IVF protocols – Mini-IVF™ and Natural Cycle IVF™. These holistic protocols give our patients the opportunity to achieve a pregnancy through IVF for less money and with little aggravation.

Candidates for Needle-Free IVF

This gentle and effective IVF protocol is designed to be patient-friendly to patients who have unique needs.

  • Have a fear of needles
  • Have polycystic ovarian syndrome (PCOS)
  • Have difficulty self-administering medication via injection
  • Experience discomfort or bruising due to injections
  • Have problems submitting to blood draws because of difficult veins
  • Have a high risk of ovarian hyperstimulation syndrome (OHSS)
  • Want a more natural and holistic fertility treatment option

Needle-Free IVF Fertility Medications

Depending on the woman’s medical needs, an oral fertility medication – typically Clomid and/or Letrozole– are prescribed to gently stimulate her ovaries into producing multiple eggs. Synarel is administered nasally for 3 days at the beginning of the cycle and then again 36 hours prior to surgical egg retrieval to trigger ovulation.

  • Clomid and/or Femara to stimulate egg production
  • Synarel to trigger ovulation
  • Oral progesterone tablets
  • Vaginal progesterone suppositories

One Good Egg Policy

Customized IVF care is the best. Remember: It only takes one good egg and one healthy sperm to make a baby. Our focus is to help you produce good quality eggs during a fresh IVF cycle – not a high quantity of eggs using large doses of injectable fertility medications. This policy is perfectly suited for our new Needle-Free IVF protocol.

Difficult Patients Welcome

Women diagnosed as difficult or hopelessly infertile by other fertility clinics are welcomed at New Hope Fertility Center. The best part? Because of our One Good Egg Policy, we happily accept candidates for IVF that other fertility clinics decline to treat and have proven success where others failed to even try.

Egg Collection Results and Success Rates

Our Needle-Free IVF protocol has resulted in comparable egg collection results as that of the Conventional IVF protocol. We are – on average – able to retrieve at least 10 eggs from patients who have undergone our Needle-Free IVF protocol. These results are reassuringly comparable with other IVF protocols in terms of number of eggs collected and pregnancy success rates.

Needle-Free IVF and Gender Selection

Many of our patients opt to have their embryos undergo genetic testing during their Needle-Free IVF cycle.

Resulting embryos are cultured to a blastocyst stage (5 days) and then are re-evaluated by our embryologists to ensure good health. PGS/NGS identifies chromosomal abnormalities and identifies the gender of each embryo.

High Tech IVF Laboratory

Our goal is to maximize every patient’s chances of having a successful pregnancy. At New Hope Fertility Center, we offer the latest:

  • IVF technology
  • IVF ingenuity
  • IVF customization

Our IVF laboratory is comprised of a powerful air filtration system to facilitate the best conditions for success of procedures and research. We have one of the largest and most powerful air filtration systems in the world. This quality air filtration system provides optimal clean air pressure in every laboratory process.

Celebrated Pain Free Needle-Free IVF Expertise

It is important to work with a fertility specialist having the research and clinical experience required to design a customized IVF treatment plan meeting your personal medical needs. To schedule your initial consultation with Dr. John Zhang at New Hope Fertility Center – call 917.525.5496.

All it Takes is One Good Egg With the Help of Natural Cycle IVF™

background-hands-earth_smallThe success of our holistic Natural Cycle IVF™ supports our steadfast One Good Egg Policy. Here’s the deal: Our mission is to reduce frustrations associated with conventional fertility care through new and innovative IVF protocols. Every woman is different based on her unique medical history and fertility assessment. It is quality eggs that matter – not quantity. Bottom Line: It only takes one good egg and one healthy sperm to achieve a successful pregnancy and birth of a healthy baby.

Mission Statement for Natural Cycle IVF™

We don’t refuse patients because a woman has been diagnosed as a difficult case.

  • No refusals based on a woman’s advanced maternal age
  • No refusals based on low FSH levels
  • No refusals based on the number of potential eggs (follicles) a woman can produce per fresh cycle
  • No refusals because a woman does not respond well to fertility medication

One Good Egg Policy

By treating each of our patients as individuals, we are able to create treatment plans customized for their specific needs. This often entails reducing the amount of fertility medication used to increase egg quantity.

Our Natural Cycle IVF™ is a holistic, personalized treatment plan allowing for a high chance of pregnancy success without requiring the patient to undergo a harsh regimen of fertility medication administration.

How the Natural Cycle IVF™ Works

A woman’s body may need only a little coaxing to achieve a pregnancy with her one egg produced during a monthly menstrual cycle. A woman’s natural egg is the very best she can produce – without the need for numerous, costly, painful, self-administered fertility medication injections.

  • As a woman’s natural cycle begins, the doctor will monitor the growth of her one good egg through pelvic ultrasound imaging and blood tests
  • Once her natural egg has reached a prime stage of development, an ovulation trigger medication – hCG – will be self-administered by the patient at a designated time
  • On a scheduled date, her egg will be surgically retrieved in an outpatient procedure while the patient is under general anesthesia
  • After surgical retrieval, the egg will be fertilized in vitro through a procedure known as Intracytoplasmic Sperm Injection (ICSI)
  • ICSI is an ancillary IVF procedure in which one quality sperm is injected directly into the woman’s natural egg
  • The resulting embryo cultures in vitro to a high quality stage of development – up to 5 days
  • The high quality embryo is then transferred to the woman’s uterus via a thin catheter – similar to a Pap smear procedure
  • A pregnancy test is scheduled in approximately two weeks

Pregnancy Success Rates Using Natural Cycle IVF™

Even though fertility medications are not prescribed, the pregnancy success rates for our Natural Cycle IVF™ rivals those of Conventional IVF and Mini IVF™. The personal attention provided by our fertility support team provides every patient with the medication and technology needed to conceive.

What’s the real story?

  • No high cost, physically-challenging powerful fertility medications
  • A woman produces her one natural egg
  • Lowers health risks associated with Conventional IVF
  • Avoids the high cost associated with large dosages of fertility drugs
  • Helps women avoid the discomfort and side effects of daily fertility drug injections
  • Eliminates the potential of a multiple pregnancy
  • Resolves ethical and religious dilemmas for patients opposed to producing excess embryos

Prime Candidates for Natural IVF™

Women who will most benefit from a Natural Cycle IVF™ protocol are those:

  • Women over 35 who have a regular menstrual period and are able to ovulate
  • Women over 35 with elevated FSH levels
  • Women over 35 with a poor ovarian reserve
  • Women diagnosed with Polycystic Ovarian Syndrome (PCOS)
  • Women who are at risk for Ovarian Hyperstimulation Syndrome (OHSS) due to high dosages of fertility medications
  • Women who want to avoid costly and painful fertility medication injections
  • Women who are unresponsive to fertility medications
  • Women who have been unable to produce multiple eggs during a Conventional IVF or Mini-IVF™ cycle
  • Women over 35 with elevated FSH levels and poor ovarian reserve
  • Women who do not want to produce multiple embryos for ethical or religious reasons

Customized Natural Cycle IVF™ Specialist

It is important to work with a fertility specialist having the experience required to design a customized Natural Cycle IVF™ treatment protocol meeting your personal needs. To schedule your initial consultation with Dr. John Zhang at New Hope Fertility Center – call 917.525.5496

Dedication to LGBTQ Fertility Treatment

35810378 - happy mixed lesbian couple holding handsWe want to invite all LGBTQ couples wanting to start their family to visit New Hope Fertility Center in NYC. In today’s modern society, sexual orientation bias has no place in the practice of fertility treatment. Our fertility specialists are renowned worldwide for consistently and fairly sharing their expertise and counsel with the LGBTQ community. We have offered worldwide state-of-the-art fertility procedures to our LGBTQ patients since 2004. We have maintained our mission of reducing the physical, emotional, and financial toll of every LGBTQ patient during their quest to have a baby.

LGBTQ Fertility Treatment Mission Statement

Every person has the right to have a family of their own.

  • No sexual orientation judgments
  • No gender or transgender bias
  • No personal or religious judgments
  • No judgments toward interracial couples
  • No judgments about marital status

Fertility Treatment Options for Female Couples

  • IUI – Intrauterine Insemination (artificial insemination) using donor sperm
  • IVF – In Vitro Fertilization using eggs from one partner and donor sperm

Fertility Treatment Options for Male Couples

Gestational Surrogacy – selecting and using donor eggs fertilized in vitro with the sperm from one of the partners

Gestational surrogacy can be used to achieve a pregnancy through IVF using:

  • Donor Eggs
  • Intended father’s sperm

Egg Donor Recipients – selecting and using donor eggs to accomplish gestational surrogacy

Donor Eggs and Sperm

Regardless of the gender combination of LGBTQ couples – or singles wanting to be a solo parent – the process of selecting donor eggs or donor sperm has been substantially streamlined for our patients’ ease.

We offer world class – yet affordable – support packages for the selection of donor eggs and donor sperm. Our donor program is extremely successful because we use the most cutting-edge cryopreservation and IVF technologies.

Cutting-Edge IVF Protocols

State-of-the-Art Fertility Treatment

You can realize your dream of building a family through our state-of-the-art reproductive technologies.

IUI Procedure

The most common fertility treatment for lesbian couples is IUI. Timed with induced ovulation, the patient is artificially inseminated with a highly concentrated amount of motile donor sperm. The IUI procedure is performed in the doctor’s office and requires no anesthesia.

  • The patient’s monthly cycle is regulated using oral medication
  • An oral fertility medication – typically Clomid or Femara – is then self-administered by the patient to stimulate multiple egg follicle production
  • The growth of egg follicles are monitored through regular vaginal ultrasound imaging and blood tests
  • Once the egg follicles have reached a mature stage, ovulation is induced using an injectable trigger medication – hCG – human chorionic gonadotropin
  • The ovulation of multiple eggs, timed with sperm insemination, increases the patient’s chances of pregnancy
  • A highly concentrated amount of motile donor sperm is inserted into the cervix using a very thin catheter – similar to a pap smear procedure
  • The patient is instructed to self-administer progesterone to thicken her uterine lining in preparation for embryo implantation between the IUI procedure and the pregnancy test
  • A pregnancy test is scheduled

Two IUI inseminations are performed between 12 and 36 hours after hCG administration to increase the patient’s chances of pregnancy.

IVF Procedure

One partner’s eggs are harvested for in vitro fertilization using donor sperm. The other partner carries the pregnancy.

  • The partners’ cycles are regulated to coincide with one another
  • The partner producing the eggs self-administers fertility medications to stimulate multiple egg production
  • The growth and development of egg follicles are regularly monitored with pelvic ultrasounds and blood level hormone measurements
  • Once the egg follicles have matured, the patient self-administers an ovulation inducing medication – hCG
  • The eggs are surgically retrieved using a transvaginal ultrasound-guided aspiration tool
  • The eggs are fertilized in vitro with donor sperm using The ovulation of multiple eggs, timed with insemination, increases the patient’s chances of pregnancy ICSI – a single sperm is injected directly into one egg
  • All resulting embryos will culture in a controlled laboratory setting until they reach an optimum stage of development – up to 5 days
  • A high quality embryo is transferred to the carrier partner’s uterus via an insemination catheter – similar to a Pap smear procedure
  • The carrier partner is instructed to self-administer progesterone to thicken her uterine lining in preparation for embryo implantation between transfer and the pregnancy test
  • A pregnancy test is scheduled

Gestational Surrogacy Using Donor Eggs

Gestational Surrogacy – Using donor eggs to be fertilized with the sperm from one of the partners. The resulting embryo is transferred to a surrogate who will carry the baby.

Egg Donor Recipient Program – Acquiring donor eggs to accomplish gestational surrogacy.

Gestational surrogacy may be used to achieve a pregnancy and birth using a surrogate  mother.

  • Donor eggs
  • Intended father’s sperm

A surrogate match is selected by the Intended Parents through a leading agency specializing in gestational surrogacy – New Beginnings Surrogacy

  • Once the perfect surrogate match has been located, the surrogate’s cycle is regulated in preparation for embryo transfer timing
  • In sync with the surrogate’s cycle, the donor eggs are thawed and fertilized with the intended father’s sperm using ICSI
  • ICSI is a procedure in which a single sperm is injected directly into the donor’s eggs in a controlled laboratory environment
  • Once fertilization is achieved, the resulting embryos are monitored regularly for growth and development quality – up to 5 days
  • A quality embryo is transferred to the surrogate’s uterus
  • Excess quality embryos can be cryopreserved for future Frozen Embryo Transfers (FET) procedures

World Renowned Fertility Specialist Serving the LGBTQ Community

It is important to work with world renowned fertility specialists having the clinical experience required to design a customized IVF treatment plan meeting your personal and medical needs. To schedule your initial consultation with Dr. John Zhang at New Hope Fertility Center – call 917.525.5496.

Know Your Fertility Preservation Options

Cryopreservation (3)We want to make you aware of your fertility preservation options made possible by our Division of Fertility Preservation. Why does this matter? Freeze now and preserve your fertility for the future! This is the news: Our Founder and Medical Director – Dr. John Zhang – made worldwide news when he traveled to China and operated in tandem with Dr. Sherman Silber to achieve the first successful frozen ovarian tissue transplant. The best part: Because Dr. Zhang once again pushed the boundaries of modern medicine in the field of fertility preservation, the operation was successful and the woman’s fertility was restored. Bottom Line: If you want to postpone parenthood, you must locate a fertility preservation clinic having earned a world renowned reputation as a pioneer in the field of fertility preservation.

Division of Fertility Preservation

Our Division of Fertility Preservation provides all-encompassing cryopreservation technology.

Maternal Aging and a Woman’s Quality of Eggs

The natural aging process has a dramatic effect on the quality of a woman’s eggs. A woman in her prime reproductive years (early 20s and early 30s) has the option of freezing her eggs to preserve her future fertility into her advanced reproductive years (mid-30s and early 40s + Beyond):

  • Today’s modern women who are focused on their education and career opportunities
  • Women whose circumstances in life are not presently conducive to rearing children
  • Women who have not be able to find their life partner
  • Women who are facing cancer treatment – chemo or radiation – that could damage the quality of their eggs and/or destroy their ovarian function by sending them into premature menopause
  • Women who are undergoing IVF and are likely to produce excessive eggs, but have ethical or religious concerns over freezing embryos

Egg Freezing Process

Egg freezing is accomplished through a fresh IVF cycle, stopping short of egg fertilization in vitro.

  • Stimulation of a woman’s ovaries using fertility drugs to produce several egg follicles during one fresh IVF cycle
  • Harvesting eggs from the woman’s ovaries through surgical retrieval
  • Preparation and freezing of the eggs for preservation through a process known as vitrification
  • The rapid-freezing technique of vitrification makes it possible to freeze eggs quickly so that damaging ice crystals do not form between cells

Vitrification – Flash Freezing Method

Dr. John Zhang was one of the first doctors in the United States to implement vitrification as a method of cryopreservation. The Doctor was one of the first doctors in New York to facilitate a live birth using a frozen egg.

Vitrification is a flash-freezing method preventing the formation of ice crystals between the cells forming an egg. Ice crystals can damage an egg’s cells.

Future Pregnancy

When a woman is ready to start building her family at some point in time in the future, the egg freezing process continues.

  • Eggs are thawed and fertilized in vitro by injecting a single sperm cell into a single egg – Intracytoplasmic Sperm Injection (ICSI)
  • The resulting embryos are cultured in vitro for up to 5 days (blastocyst stage)
  • A predetermined number of quality embryos are transferred into the woman’s uterus for implantation into the uterine lining to achieve pregnancy

Because every patient’s personal, medical, and financial needs are different, we offer customized IVF treatment.

Our experience designing customized IVF protocols provide a variety of successful treatment protocols for you to choose from. We offer the highest quality care timed precisely around your body’s optimal state of performance. A multidisciplinary fertility team effort provides the most evidence-based practice leading to higher pregnancy success rates.

Embryo Cryopreservation and Future FET Procedures

Embryo cryopreservation is commonly used to preserve a couple’s future fertility through IVF and FET technology. A couple can increase their chances of conceiving a biologically-related child when they are ready to build their family.

  • A woman’s ovaries are stimulated with fertility medications to produce multiple egg follicles
  • Her eggs are surgically retrieved
  • The eggs are fertilized in vitro with sperm (ICSI)
  • Resulting embryos are monitored for development in vitro up to 5 days
  • High quality embryos are selected and cryopreserved using vitrification method
  • When thawed, embryos are transferred to the woman’s uterus

World Renowned Fertility Preservation Expertise

It is important to work with a fertility doctor having the research and clinical expertise required to design a customized fertility preservation plan meeting your personal and medical needs. To schedule your initial consultation with Dr. John Zhang at New Hope Fertility Center – call 917.525.5496.

Dr. Zhang Explains the Mini-IVF™ to ABC News

27868048 - happy  mother holding smiling child babyAs reported by ABC News, the Mini-IVF™ is a newer and gentler IVF protocol. What’s the real story? As an alternative to Conventional IVF, the Mini-IVF™ has been successfully practiced for over a decade by our fertility specialists. As explained by Dr. John Zhang – Medical Director and CEO of New Hope Fertility Center – to ABC News, You only need one good-quality egg to achieve a live birth. With Mini-IVF™, you make very few eggs, but good quality eggs to achieve a pregnancy. The best part: This holistic IVF protocol is gentle on a woman’s body because patients follow a low-dose oral drug regimen during a fresh cycle – instead of the typical rigorous administration of daily hormone shots.

Benefits of Mini-IVF™

Many women who have failed Conventional IVF have achieved a successful pregnancy after undergoing a Mini-IVF™ – ABC News. That’s not all. Because less medication is used during a Mini-IVF, most women do not have an intolerable experience of unpleasant symptoms – such as extreme swelling/bloating, night sweats, and weight gain.

  • It’s very similar to IVF but you’re not stimulating the ovaries too much with high doses of medication. – Dr. Zaher Merhi, Director of Research and Development in IVF Technologies at New Hope Fertility Center – Fox News
  • There is this feeling that high doses of shots can be detrimental to the quality of eggs. – Merhi Fox News

The Mini-IVF™ is an option for women who may respond better to lower doses of fertility medication. This holistic protocol may help women produce higher quality eggs for successful fertilization. Pregnancy success rates for Mini-IVF are comparable to Conventional IVF without the high cost of large doses of fertility medications.

Mini-IVF™ Protocol

Although medication regimens vary based on the patient’s medical needs, this gentle IVF protocol includes:

  • One Clomid pill consumed daily
  • No more than one to three injections of Menopur
  • A simple nasal spray of Synarel 36 hours prior to egg retrieval instead of repeated progesterone shots

The Mini-IVF protocol prescribes lower dosages of fertility medications so that a woman only produces 3 to 5 high quality eggs. With Mini-IVF™ protocol, the patient’s physical discomfort is lessened because her body is not forced into producing the 10 to 15 eggs typically reached in a Conventional IVF cycle.

  • A fertility medication regimen to produce 3 to 5 quality eggs
  • Cycle monitoring through ultrasound imaging and blood tests
  • Surgical egg retrieval
  • Fertilization of egg and sperm in vitro via (ICSI)
  • Culture and monitoring of embryo(s) via EmbryoScope technology
  • Grading and selection of quality embryo(s) for fresh transfer and/or future (FET)
  • Single Embryo Transfer (SET)

Mini-IVF™ Cost

Because less fertility medications are used, the Mini-IVF is more affordable than Conventional IVF. Contact New Hope Fertility Center for most current pricing on our fee for the Mini-IVF procedure. Our quoted fee will not include the cost of fertility medications, which can range up to $1,500.

Mini-IVF™ Study

A study conducted by New Hope Fertility Center – published in the American Journal of Obstetrics and Gynecology found the live birth rate for Mini-IVF™ was 49 percent.

World Class IVF Technology

State-of-the-Art IVF Technology, ingenuity, and standards set New Hope Fertility Center apart from all other fertility clinics – worldwide. Look: Our patients are our first priority and we strive to provide stellar IVF treatment through a customized, evidence-based approach. Bottom Line: We have designed a cutting-edge environment with the specific goal of maximizing every patient’s chances of having a baby.

Through our new IVF technology, ingenuity, and high standards of care, every patient receives superior IVF treatment.

  • Cutting-Edge IVF Laboratory
  • Powerful Air Filtration System
  • Controlled and Uncontaminated Environment

That’s not the best part. Our IVF laboratory is designed with a powerful air filtration system supporting the success of our intricate procedures and research. Why is this important? This controlled air system facilitates an uncontaminated environment.

  • Highest Medical Standards in the Industry
  • Highest Scientific Standards in the Industry
  • Highest Academic Standards in the Industry
  • Highest Research Standards in the Industry

Pregnancy Success Rates

Yearly ART data on IVF success rates is a rich source of information for potential IVF patients. This data gives patients an idea of their average chances of pregnancy success through IVF. At New Hope Fertility Center, IVF success rates vary in the context of patient and treatment characteristics:

World Class Mini-IVF Treatment Based on Patient Reviews

Only a world class IVF clinic will accumulate and post online the unlimited patient success stories from their patients. At New Hope Fertility Center, we strive to maintain our position as a world class IVF clinic by producing high pregnancy success rates. Our reputation as a world class IVF clinic, has earned us the status of being a renowned leader in IVF globally.

  • High IVF pregnancy success rates
  • Holistic IVF protocols
  • Customized IVF treatment plans
  • Reduced dosages of fertility medications
  • Reduced patient physical stress
  • Reduced patient emotional stress
  • Reduced patient financial stress

At New Hope Fertility Center, we welcome difficult patients – those previously diagnosed by other fertility specialists as hopelessly infertile.

  • No age restriction
  • No FSH level requirement
  • No requirement to produce multiple eggs per cycle
  • No sexual orientation discrimination

World Renowned Mini-IVF™ Specialist

It is important to work with an IVF specialist having the world class technology and expertise to design a customized treatment plan meeting your financial and medical needs. To schedule your initial consultation with Dr. John Zhang at New Hope Fertility Center – call 917.525.5496.