Peter McGovern, M.D., Division Director
Hackensack University Medical Center
30 Prospect Avenue
Hackensack, N.J.  07601
201-288-6330

The Division of Reproductive Endocrinology and Infertility includes 10 private practice physicians who have completed fellowships in reproductive endocrinology and infertility. The division’s specialists also work collaboratively with other healthcare professionals, including psychologists, genetic counselors, and maternal-fetal medicine specialists, to provide comprehensive care for patients experiencing infertility.

Patients come from throughout the New Jersey and New York region for advanced diagnosis, treatment and management of conditions impairing the ability to conceive and/or sustain pregnancy. The division’s doctors provide a full spectrum of sophisticated reproductive technologies and techniques to assist couples in achieving pregnancy.  These skilled practitioners offer the most advanced treatments available, including all of the Assisted Reproductive Technologies (ART).  Procedures currently offered on a routine basis within the Division include:

 

  • In-Vitro Fertilization (IVF) – an established and highly successful technique to achieve pregnancy in women with blocked or absent Fallopian tubes, or pelvic adhesions due to endometriosis, pelvic inflammatory disease or previous pelvic surgery.
  • Intra-Cytoplasmic Sperm Injection (ICSI) – a variant of IVF in which a single healthy sperm is injected directly into each egg using micromanipulation techniques to achieve fertilization in cases of male factor infertility.
  • Embryo Cryopreservation (freezing) and Storage - which allows preservation of fertilized eggs (or embryos), under extreme cold safely for many years.
  • Embryo Biopsy for Pre-Implantation Genetic Diagnosis (PGD) – a technique allowing genetic evaluation of an embryo prior to replacement into the uterus, which may allow prevention of disease in the offspring
  • In-Vitro Maturation (IVM) – a variant of IVF in which no fertility drugs are used, and instead immature eggs are retrieved and then matured in the laboratory
  • Egg (oocyte) Cryopreservation and Storage – in cases where fertility-damaging treatments such as chemotherapy are planned, a woman may now choose to store unfertilized eggs to attempt to preserve her fertility
  • Gender Selection – typically performed in cases of sex-linked genetic disorders or for family balancing, this modern technology uses a combination of IVF and PGD to determine the X and Y chromosomal constitution of each embryo, so that the gender of the resulting child(ren) may be chosen
  • Sterilization Reversal – both men and women who have undergone surgical sterilization (vasectomy or tubal ligation) can undergo an evaluation to determine whether their particular case is amenable to microsurgical repair.  In cases in which surgical reversal is impossible, pregnancy can still be achieved using IVF for tubal sterilization or IVF with surgical sperm retrieval (or TESE) for male sterilization.
  • Minimally Invasive Surgery – using hysteroscopy and/or laparoscopy, many gynecologic conditions which may impair reproductive potential, such as pelvic adhesions, endometriosis, endometrial polyps, or fibroids, can usually be managed on an outpatient surgery basis.

 

Robotic Myomectomy can now be performed in many cases of uterine fibroids (or myomas), which previously required open surgery with a prolonged recovery.  The improved dexterity possible with robotic assistance now allows removal of large myomas through small laparoscopy incisions.

Donor sperm and/or donor egg treatment cycles are now routine.  These highly successful therapies are available for couples in which one or both partners does not have healthy gametes (sperm or eggs) or for single or lesbian women without a male partner.

These skilled experts also evaluate recurrent miscarriage, ovulation and menstrual disorders, and provide routine infertility treatments as well, such as intra-uterine insemination (IUI or artificial insemination),

Advances in the technology often means that many conditions that can impede fertility can be performed on a minimally invasive basis. These may include uterine fibroids, endometriosis, and ovarian cysts.

 
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