Atlanta Fertility Institute Helps Couples Conceive On A Budget

From Servy Massey Fertility Institute: Servy Massey Fertility Institute (SMFI) has an answer to a problem affecting thousands of couples in the Southeast and thousands more nationally.

Touting “Fertility treatment that won’t break the bank,” the practice offers low cost procedures at nearly half the going rate of most other clinics nationwide. Founders Dr. Joe Massey and Dr. Edouard Servy, both leaders in their field of reproductive endocrinology and longtime practitioners, opened SMFI in August 2010 as a dual location fertility center in Atlanta and Augusta, each serving complementary purposes.

Dr. Massey treats patients at the Atlanta location and, until recently, patients would receive treatment under his care but would have to drive to the Augusta office for the laboratory services. In a recent collaboration with an Atlanta laboratory, patients now can choose to complete the treatment cycle locally with Dr. Massey.

Having co-founded Reproductive Biology Associates, a premier fertility center, in 1983 where he practiced until 2006, Dr. Massey is Atlanta’s longest practicing fertility specialist.

Since then, he and Dr. Servy have worked on perfecting a low-cost approach to in vitro fertilization (IVF), the gold standard of fertility treatment, to be able to help even more people build families. Some insurance plans do not cover treatments due to many factors, notably the demand and considerable cost of reproductive technologies.

Many couples fear that lower cost means lower quality of care. Yet, due to the vast experience Dr. Massey brings to his practice, patients will receive exceptional fertility care, so that outstanding quality and affordability need not be mutually exclusive.

“Seventy-five percent of people who need infertility care cannot afford it," Dr. Massey said. "Our goal is to help people struggling with infertility by providing a low-cost option. Dr. Servy and I are both so thrilled to be at a point in our careers where we can do this. Now, we are excited to make IVF even more convenient to Atlanta-based patients.”

For couples who are unable to conceive, the situation is already stressful enough. Add in the extraordinary costs of high-tech testing and treatments, and the total experience can be harrowing. IVF is one of the most stressful and labor-intensive treatments. The protocol involves medication to help the woman produce more and better quality eggs, followed by a procedure to retrieve them. After removal, they are combined with the man’s sperm in a laboratory dish, and the resulting embryo (fertilized egg) is implanted into the woman’s uterus with the hope that it will become a viable pregnancy.

SMFI has developed a program to eliminate hidden costs and unnecessary testing to make fertility treatment more accessible for patients. Additionally, the clinic works with various programs to which patients may apply to receive a discount of the medication costs. In addition to IVF, SMFI Atlanta offers reproductive services such as tubal reversal (untying Fallopian tubes that were previously tied), an innovative low cost egg donation program, a program for surrogacy/gestational carriers, genetic testing and gender selection, cryopreservation of eggs for fertility preservation.

SMFI publishes their cost ranges on the website so patients who are shopping for a practice and on a budget, can learn the financial picture up front. Financing is available through a healthcare lending company.

“Our patients have been pleased with the affordability of our services as well as achieving their dreams of becoming parents,” Dr. Massey added. “And we hope to reach an even broader demographic of couples around the country who have limited funds but who desperately desire to have babies. It is within the reach of so many and we’re here to make a difference."

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