January 2022 – Southeastern Fertility

Where The Embryos Are

Southeastern Fertility Co-Director Dr. John Gordon and IVF Coordinator Lynda McCollum, as you’ll see in the video below, are cozying up next to the fire to talk about why people from all over the country (and even some foreign countries!) are willing to come all the way to Knoxville to build their families.

It boils down to this: When it comes to embryo adoption, thanks to our exclusive partnership with the National Embryo Donation Center, we have an incomparable number of embryos onsite right here in our lab. And almost all are remaining from successful IVF! In a nutshell, this is where the embryos are!

But there are other reasons people from hundreds or thousands of miles away turn to Southeastern Fertility. Some may want lower-cost IVF without all the usual fertility medications, in which case we offer affordable alternatives like Natural Cycle IVF and Mini-Stim IVF.

Others trust Dr. Jeffrey Keenan for tubal reversal surgery, knowing he is among the most respected reproductive surgeons in the nation.

Still others may just be seeking advice on battling infertility from a listening ear, in which case Dr. Gordon offers free 15-minute telemedicine consultations. To schedule your free 15-minute telemedicine consult with Co-Director Dr. John Gordon, call 865-777-0088 or click here. To learn more about Southeastern Fertility, including our mission, values and team, click here. To learn more about IVF with Southeastern Fertility, click here.

Pray More, Worry Less

Control: It’s something we all want, but in actuality none of us totally has, especially when it comes to battling infertility. But at Southeastern Fertility, you always have a prayer!

It is our medical team’s high privilege to pray with and for you during your infertility treatment if you so desire. We believe strongly in the power of prayer, while also deeply respecting your own personal convictions and desires. That means you can rest assured you’ll never be pressured into prayer or anything else with which you might be uncomfortable.

In the video below, Southeastern Fertility Co-Director Dr. John Gordon and IVF Coordinator Lynda McCollum unpack our approach a little further.

To schedule your free 15-minute telemedicine consult with Co-Director Dr. John Gordon, call 865-777-0088 or click here. To learn more about Southeastern Fertility, including our mission, values and team, click here. To learn more about IVF with Southeastern Fertility, click here.

We Didn’t Go All The Way To IVF

Jennifer and Matt had their first child very easily, then encountered the heartache of secondary infertility. They wondered if the dream of growing their family would ever become reality. In this episode of our Hope, Faith & Infertility podcast (video version below), Jennifer explains how that dream came to life. It’s an encouraging journey that didn’t require them to go all the way to IVF.

Rate, review and subscribe to Hope, Faith & Infertility wherever you listen to podcasts.

Why We Don’t Genetically Test Embryos

Over the past few years, the genetic testing of embryos prior to transfer has become a more common practice in reproductive medicine. But we don’t do it at Southeastern Fertility. Why, you ask?

The simple answer is that the leadership team considers it a slippery slope. Southeastern Fertility Co-Director Dr. John Gordon, alongside IVF Coordinator Lynda McCollum, explains why in the video below.

The Waiting Game

Tom Petty was right. The waiting is the hardest part!

That’s certainly true when it comes to fertility treatment. Patients often anticipate taking part in a particular transfer cycle, only to endure the disappointment of finding out they’ll need to wait another month.

If results aren’t back from pre-transfer medical tests, it’s vital that physicians and patients not just jump right into an embryo transfer in order to stick to a certain schedule. Test results must be examined to determine whether the patient is in optimal health, which in turn leads to the best chances of a successful transfer.

Cysts, failure to stimulate, and numerous other reasons could cause a transfer cycle to be delayed as well. In this video, Southeastern Fertility Co-Director Dr. John Gordon and IVF Coordinator Lynda McCollum advise that while this is frustrating, decisions to delay a cycle are made with patients’ best interests in mind.