REI physicians' personal experience with infertility.

PURPOSE: The purpose was to evaluate reproductive endocrinology and infertility (REI) physicians' personal experience with infertility.

METHODS

A 40-question cross-sectional survey addressing demographics, fertility choices, and types of infertility treatments undertaken by REI physicians was developed. A link to the anonymous survey was sent to the REI specialists via email, social media, and personal contacts. Statistical analysis also compared responses of participants ≤ 35 and > 35 years old regarding their experience with infertility.

RESULTS

165 respondents completed the survey. Most identified as heterosexual (93%) married (88%) women (82%) between ages 31 and 45 (73%). 44% of all respondents reported using infertility treatment to conceive. Most used in vitro fertilization (IVF, 51%), as well as intrauterine insemination (IUI, 14%), medicated timed intercourse (MTIC, 12%), oocyte cryopreservation (5%), and a gestational carrier (GC, 4%). For the 30% of respondents, the cause of infertility was anovulation/oligo-ovulation, followed by poor ovarian reserve/age (18%), male factor infertility (18%), and recurrent pregnancy loss (18%). 40% of respondents reported no insurance coverage while 30% endorsed partial coverage. 79% reported having shared their experiences with their patients. 47% said that their career choice possibly negatively affected their fertility (yes/maybe/not sure). This was significantly different between respondents ≤ 35 and > 35 years old (p = 0.0001).

CONCLUSION

While REI physicians have professional understanding of infertility, nearly half were affected by it needing to undergo treatment with minimal or no insurance coverage. The prolonged and demanding training is a likely contributor. The generalizability of our findings is limited by potential sampling and nonresponse biases inherent in voluntary survey designs.