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Fertility Options for Women: Improving Awareness, Access, and Outcomes
September 20, 2021 - September 21, 2021
Infertility in women can be caused by a variety of issues, some of which are easily identifiable and others which are not. It can be caused by damage to the uterus or fallopian tubes or problems with ovulation or the cervix. Challenges conceiving are also associated with anxiety and stress in either partner.
While there are several options available to attempt to treat infertility, including medicine, surgery, intrauterine insemination or assisted reproductive technology, factors like cost, invasiveness, and success rate can hinder access and create disparities in women’s reproductive health.
In September 2021, SWHR convened an interdisciplinary working group of health care providers, researchers, patients and patient advocates, and policy leaders for a closed two-day roundtable meeting to discuss how to eliminate barriers to access and reduce health disparities related to treatments for infertility in women.
Roundtable Highlights
Objectives
The objectives of the roundtable are to:
- Review the science and health care landscape and develop strategies to address knowledge gaps related to improving fertility and maternal health outcomes;
- Explore the science and policies on the benefits of minimally invasive fertility options for women, including tubal flushing with hysterosalpingography (HSG);
- Identify opportunities to leverage innovation and increase access to improve health equity and reduce disparities in maternal health; and
- Develop materials to expand education and raise awareness about fertility options for women, health care providers, and policy stakeholders.
Roundtable Members
Kurt T. Barnhart, MD, MSCE, Associate Chief, Penn Fertility Care, Penn Medicine
William Burns, MD, FACOG, Associate Professor, Division of Reproductive Endocrinology, Marshall University
Barbara Collura, President and CEO, RESOLVE: The National Infertility Association
Kerri Cornish-Morton, Patient
Stacey L. Edwards-Dunn, MPH, MDIV, DMIN, Founder and President, Fertility for Colored Girls
Davina Fankhauser, Co-Founder & Executive Director, Fertility Within Reach
David Frankfurter, MD, Medical Director of IVF, The Fertility & IVF Center, Professor of Obstetrics & Gynecology, George Washington University
Tarun Jain, MD, Associate Professor and Medical Director, Northwestern University School of Medicine
Rebecca O’Connor, Director of Government Affairs, American Society for Reproductive Medicine (ASRM)
Torie Comeaux Plowden, MD, MPH, FACOG, IVF Director, Walter Reed National Military Medical Center
Gloria Salazar, MD, FSIR, Division Chief of Vascular and Interventional Radiology (VIR), University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill
Richard Shalansky-Goldberg, MD, Professor of Radiology and Obstetrics and Gynecology, University of Pennsylvania
Hugh Taylor, MD, Chair, Obstetrics, Gynecology and Reproductive Sciences, Yale School of Medicine
Regina Townsend, Founder, The Broken Brown Egg