COVID-19 Task Force Calls For Moratorium on Fertility Treatments

As the COVID-19 pandemic continues to spread – so does its impact. Shopping malls, movie theaters, gyms, and schools are closed across the United States. Now there’s a call to shut down fertility clinics for all procedures except urgent care.

On March 17 the American Society for Reproductive Medicine (ASRM) strongly recommended a moratorium on all non-critical fertility treatments. The ASRM’s expert Task Force, which includes top physicians and embryologists, wants to indefinitely suspend procedures like: in vitro fertilization (IVF), intrauterine inseminations (IUI), egg retrievals and transfers. The experts also suggested clinics move to a virtual health model, and reduce all in-person interactions.

The role of ASRM is to proactively do our share in blunting the impact of this pandemic, while recognizing the need to safeguard limited health infrastructure resources.

American Society for Reproductive Medicine

With the numbers of COVID-19 patients on the rise in the US, Tuesday’s statement goes much further than previous ASRM recommendations. That’s because of what the medical community knows and doesn’t know about the impact of the new strain of coronavirus on “fertility, pregnancy and transmission patterns.”

Catherine Racowsky, President of ASRM: “We are all facing a great deal of uncertainty, but we do know our health care system is about to be stressed in a way it has never been stressed before. Only by working together medical professionals, patients, citizens of an inter-connected world, can we hope to meet this latest challenge.”

Dr. Lora Shahine, of Pacific NW Fertility says she’s been on the phone all day, working to implement the new ASRM recommendations: “We are finishing cycles that have already started, but I had to tell patients who were planning treatment soon, that we need to delay. It’s the right decision, for the greater good – supporting social distancing, saving medical resources. But the right decision can often be the hard decision. Try telling someone desperate to start their family, who has prepared for months to finally have the opportunity to proceed, that their treatment is considered elective.”

Medical Director at the Fertility Centers of Illinois, Dr. Christoper Sipe, sent out a letter to patients today: “We understand that this news is disheartening and disappointing. We know that you may find your fertility journey temporarily halted after months of planning, testing, and trying. We truly believe implementing these changes is what is needed for each of us to help flatten the curve.”

ASRM Chief Executive Officer Ricardo Azziz says he understand how difficult these new recommendations are going to be for patients, fertility doctors, and their staff, “We know the sacrifices patients have to make under the best of circumstances, and we loath to in any way add to that burden. And it will not be easy for our members. The disruption to routines, the stress on staff members, and the very real prospect of economic hardship loom large for ASRM members all over the world.  But the fact is that given what we know, as well as what we don’t, suspending non-urgent fertility care is really the most prudent course of action at this time.”