By Diane Lee – View full article on WSPA.com
GREENVILLE, S.C. (WSPA) – There’s hopeful news for couples struggling to have a baby. It’s a new procedure that’s similar to Invitro Fertilization, but half the cost. And it’s recently come to Greenville.
Scott and Laura Reichen did it 8 weeks ago and after nearly 4 years of trying to have a second child, they found out they are pregnant.
“To have a doctor that, believed we had a chance, and um, that had hope, I think that was more healing for me than anything we’ve done in the last 3 years.”
Dr. John Nichols at PREG in Greenville brought Simply IVF to people in the Upstate this past February.
It’s similar to Invitro Fertilization, but shrinks the bill from about $14,000 to $7,000 by eliminating the need for a laboratory.
Instead, the INVOcell device collects egg and sperm and is placed back inside the mother for incubation.
Not everybody’s a good candidate. Low sperm count and maternal age can prevent Simply IVF from being a viable option.
“So far, we’ve done 22 patients, out of those, 11 are at this point pregnant so that’s right at a 50% success rate so far, which has been almost right on par with traditional IVF, so that’s great for the patient,” said Dr. Nichols.
“I hope that we can help someone else not feel alone and realize that there are options out there,” said Reichen.
