Couples—especially those in the LGBTQ+ community—run into many obstacles on the journey to creating or extending a family. Those hurdles can involve everything from infertility to affordability to a lack of culturally competent care.
For local couples, a new branch of Colorado Center for Reproductive Medicine (CCRM) Fertility has opened in Chicago’s Loop area.
“At CCRM, delivering high-quality, personalized and holistic fertility care that reflects the latest advancements in reproductive medicine, is a high priority,” said Dr. Amanda Adeleye, who leads the clinic with Dr. Victoria Wesevich. “Our goal is to provide each patient with the clinical expertise, support and education they need to make informed decisions throughout their fertility journey.”
Going on a tour of the clinic before the clinic opened, this writer witnessed an expansive facility that has spaces (including a large lab) that seems to address every possible issue a couple could have regarding fertility, including nutrition, mental health and even oncofertility—how cancer can affect one’s fertility. (The clinic is about 17,000 square feet.) There are also spaces for financial counseling, patient-care navigating and more, as CCRM is divided into clinical and procedural halves (with the latter having spaces such as embryo transfer rooms). Thought is given to everything: Even the wallpaper in the waiting area features pineapples—a symbol of fertility.
CCRM has more than 15 locations around the country (including one in Naperville). But are CCRM’s activities limited in more conservative areas, such as Texas? “I don’t want to speak for providers in those areas, but I recently spoke with some folks. The only issue, I think, in Texas is with SB 8—managing a pregnancy over six weeks. But a lot of times, patients are pushed back to their primary OB-GYNs, so if there’s an issue that could result in termination, they’re back with those physicians. And there aren’t any federal IVF restrictions, to date.”
As one would expect, Adeleye and Wesevich have impressive credentials. A graduate of Columbia University Vagelos College of Physicians and Surgeons and Washington University in St. Louis (the latter providing her undergraduate degree) as well as a fellowship-trained at University of California, San Francisco (UCSF), Adeleye is a published researcher, nationally recognized speaker, and advocate for addressing healthcare disparities in fertility treatment. In addition, she was recently an assistant professor at the University of Chicago. Wesevich is a Fulbright Scholar and graduate of Washington University in St. Louis, she completed her OB/GYN residency and REI fellowship at Yale University. (Interestingly, the two Washington University alumni didn’t actually meet until about a year and a half ago.)
“I grew up in the western suburbs [from Chicago]. I love science and math, and I always wanted to help folks,” Adeleye told Windy City Times. “I grew up in the ‘90s, and this was when the HIV/AIDS epidemic shifted and definitely became an issue for women and children. I started reading papers and it really bothered me that something I thought could be prevented wasn’t being prevented.”
Regarding fertility care, affordability is a big problem. “It is unaffordable for most,” Adeleye said. “That’s doubly a problem because even though the American Medical Association says that fertility problems are a medical issue, it is not covered in most health insurance packages unless there’s a state mandate for it. Illinois is great in that it’s a mandated state; if you work for a company that has 25 people or more and it’s not self-funded, then it has to provide fertility benefits for its employees. And another great thing is that, in 2021, legislation was passed that said that infertility [does not just involve] a cisgender man and woman having intercourse; it needs to include LGBTQ+ people as well as single individuals; maybe a year later, the American Society of Reproductive Medicine also adopted that language. So in Illinois it’s a little bit more affordable, but it’s still expensive.”
Adeleye also dispelled some myths about fertility care. “One is that it’s easy,” she said. “Sex education is poor in this country, as well as education about LGBTQ+ people. What I see are a lot of people who don’t really know how babies are made. There are people who think you can get pregnant during your period because that’s when you’re ovulating. It’s very upsetting. And, by the way, just because you walk in here doesn’t necessarily mean you’re going to automatically walk out of here with a child, although CCRM is known globally for its high success rates with IVF [in vitro fertilization].”
“Also, if you’re in an [opposite-sex] relationship, your chances of getting pregnant are 20% each month, at best. In addition, especially with communities of color, there’s this idea that some people are hyperfertile; the problem with this belief is that [fertility problems] take longer to diagnose.”
And CCRM specializes in offering culturally competent care. “That’s something we’re heavily invested in,” said Adeleye. “Everybody deserves to build the family of their dreams. There are some educational pieces that the network applies to make sure everybody’s on the same page. We have a charity pod and a committee decides who the money goes to each month—usually advocacy groups like Men Having Babies.”
Regarding LGBTQ+ family-building, CCRM offers fertility/pregnancy options for male and female same-sex couples as well as for trans men and women. Treatments can include intrauterine insemination, surrogacy and in vitro fertilization, and the website is chock full of information (such as the fact that because fertility declines with age, egg donors should be between the ages of 19-33). Asked what trans individuals should know, Adeleye responded, “Number one, fertility is accessible to them. I think some people don’t recognize that they can build a family—and, again, they certainly deserve to. And it’s an area of research that I spent a lot of time in, [including] seeing how gender-affirming hormones can affect the sperm and the egg. Gender-affirming hormones don’t necessarily limit you from conceiving, but you may need to tweak things. Now, bottom surgery may affect one’s chances. But there are so many different options for trans individuals, and I can walk you through your options.”
“I’m really excited about many things about this clinic,” Adeleye concluded. “We’re known for our technology. For example, there are a lot of measurements—like the pH in the embryology lab, the media and everything the gametes [eggs and sperm] touch—are reported centrally. The data is reviewed across the network on a regular basis to ensure that we have quality control.
“We’re a women-led practice, and we’re taking a holistic approach that I’m really excited about.”