We saw that many of our patients were getting pregnant with just one embryo so we decided that the time was right to offer Natural Cycle IVF.

Drs. DiMattina and Gordon

In 2007, Dominion Fertility launched its Natural Cycle IVF program, a simple yet innovative form of in vitro fertilization that is based on a woman's natural cycle, and does not require fertility drugs. Created and implemented in an effort to address and decrease the emotional, physical and financial stresses associated with traditional IVF, Natural Cycle has proven to be a safe and effective alternative.

The success we have had with Natural Cycle IVF has allowed us to extend this program to include patients who have not been successful with other fertility treatments. This success is, in part, due to the fact that the woman's body naturally selects the best egg for each cycle to be released.

Why Natural Cycle?

In 1978 the first successful IVF procedure was performed without the use of fertility drugs. Low success rates in subsequent attempts prompted their addition. Since then, technology and laboratory technique have so improved that many Dominion Fertility patients have become pregnant with the implantation of a single embryo.

Natural Cycle IVF is based on the premise that pregnancy can occur using a single embryo and a woman's natural cycle, just like most spontaneous pregnancies. During a simple, in office procedure, one egg is retrieved, fertilized and replaced in the uterus. No fertility drugs, virtually no health risks and minimal time away from all other life commitments.

Because Natural Cycle IVF uses no fertility drugs the cost is about 25% of a single conventional IVF procedure.

This allows the patient to financially undergo more attempts with less physical and emotional stress. At Dominion Fertility we explore every opportunity to make treatment as simple and successful as possible.

The doctors and staff of Dominion Fertility take great pride in our tradition of personalized care and there is no better way to offer individualized treatment than to offer more treatment options.

We want your entire journey to pregnancy to be the best experience we can offer.

Since 1987 Dominion Fertility has been a leader in IVF and infertility treatment using personalized care. Now recognized for the area's first Natural Cycle IVF pregnancies, we also produced the Washington area's first GIFT (gamate intrafallopian transfer) baby, Arlington, Virginia's first IVF baby and first ova donor IVF and ICSI pregnancies. NCIVF is the natural extension of our already successful IVF program. Our experience, knowledge and expertise now allow us to lead the Washington area in Natural Cycle IVF.

Our Philosophy at Dominion Fertility is Personalized Care, One Couple at a Time

Always a part of the most advanced fertility techniques, Dominion Fertility's Medical Director, Dr. Michael DiMattina, traveled to London in December 2006 to attend the First World Congress on Natural Cycle IVF. As one of over 300 physicians from 55 countries participating in this important event, he was the only physician from the Washington area who attended.

The Dominion Fertility Laboratory Perspective Regarding Natural Cycle Embryos

Treatment for infertility isn't often a pleasant experience for most of our patients, even though we do our best to make it one. From the initial diagnosis to the various medications, consultations and tests, it can be a long, hard road. When we first began to offer Natural Cycle IVF, we were hoping that we were not only offering a treatment that would be easier on our patients, we were hoping for solid success rates. Considering rates of conception without any fertility help are 25% per menstrual cycle, the 35% pregnancy rate per embryo transfer that we have achieved in 2007 through 2009 has surpassed our expectations. 

We are pleased with these rates, but as mentioned above, they have been surprising in a very good way. What accounts for this? Our technique has been refined, our embryologists and laboratory are top notch; we know these things. What we didn't know with absolute assuredness when we began Natural Cycle IVF was the quality of the embryos we would be creating using the one egg a woman's body naturally releases. We have been pleased to see that they are almost always "textbook embryos" as one of our embryologists likes to call them- top or near top quality.

When a patient undergoes a traditional IVF cycle using ovarian stimulation drugs, she typically produces several eggs. This allows us to attempt to form a large pool of embryos. It is common for some of those to be good quality, and some of those to be poor quality. If the same odds held true for natural cycle embryos, we would expect to see an even spread of good and not so good embryos. However, we do not. Rarely do we see anything but near perfect natural cycle embryos.

Does this mean that by not stimulating the ovary we allow the body to select the very best egg to develop during a natural cycle? At this point we don't have a definitive answer to that, but we suspect this is so. What we do know is that we couldn't be happier with the way our natural cycle embryos develop, and we think that the families resulting from these embryos probably feel the same.

With Natural Cycle IVF, we are essentially going Back to the Future: one egg, one embryo and one baby.

Dr. DiMattina

At Dominion fertility we believe that the success of IVF should be defined as achieving a singleton pregnancy with the least amount of stress, discomfort and cost. NCIVF is a kinder and gentler technique that has less emotional and physical impact.