The North Carolina Center for Reproductive Medicine (NCCRM) is celebrating 20 years of helping families grow. Established in 1992 as the first private fertility center in the state of North Carolina, NCCRM has seen thousands of babies born through its efforts.
The three founders of NCCRM paved the way for reproductive health in North Carolina outside of the university setting. Sameh K. Toma, MD, Gerald Mulvaney, MD and the late Luther Talbert, MD left the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill to begin this endeavor. They knew their decision to bring fertility care to private practice would flourish. Dr. Talbert was considered a pioneer in reproductive endocrinology, having performed the first successful in vitro fertilization (IVF) procedure in the state. NCCRM also is credited with the first Intracytoplasmic Sperm Injection (ICSI) and Preimplantation Genetic Diagnosis (PGD) procedures in North Carolina.
Through the years, the fertility specialists have continued to pursue the latest advances in artificial reproductive techniques, including in vitro fertilization using donor eggs, sex selection, embryo adoption and now egg freezing. As members of the American Society of Reproductive Medicine and the Society for Assisted Reproductive Technology, Drs. Toma and Mulvaney continue to be on the forefront of reproductive advances. They both concentrate on fertility and gynecology and have both retired from obstetrical practice.
“To look back on the work we have done is remarkable. Time and time again, our patients stop by the clinic with their kids who are now teenagers and young adults,” says Sameh K. Toma, MD. “To help people become parents is truly an honor.”
Since 1992, thousands of couples have been treated at NCCRM’s Cary and Greensboro clinics resulting in thousands of children born. Today, Drs. Toma and Mulvaney also spend many hours in the clinic’s state-of-the-art operating suite doing tubal reversal surgery. That’s because the number of women requesting their sterilization be reversed has grown considerably in recent years with twice as many patients seen last year at NCCRM than the year before. “Many women change their minds after getting their tubes ligated (tied) and they debate whether to have tubal reversal surgery or go straight to in vitro fertilization to become pregnant again,” says Gerald Mulvaney, MD. “We carefully consult with each patient what would be the best chances of success with each technique to help them make their decision.”
In addition to leading NCCRM, Drs. Toma and Mulvaney also helped found the Pay It Forward Fertility Foundation in 2008, a non-profit organization based in Raleigh that helps couples needing financial assistance for fertility treatment. To date, Pay It Forward Fertility Foundation has given 12 grants to couples. Four babies have been born and five more are on the way in 2013.
