Rink Murray

Staff Photo by Gillian Bolsover
Andrologist Julie Baird examines sperm at Tennessee Reproductive Medicine Wednesday.

Until last month, couples wanting to try in vitro fertilization might have had a better chance by driving to Johnson City, Tenn., for the service than staying here.

Mid-sized cities socioeconomically and geographically similar to Chattanooga — such as the Tri-cities area around Johnson City — are doing far more in vitro fertilization treatments than the Scenic City, data shows. The Tri-cities area has a population of about 150,000, according to the 2000 Census, while Chattanooga’s metro area is about 450,000.

The lack of outlets for fertility treatments is one of the reasons two doctors opened a fertility clinic in Chattanooga — only the second one in the city — in October.

“Chattanooga does about half the fertility services that it should for its size,” said reproductive endocrinologist Dr. Rink Murray, who along with colleague Dr. Jessica Scotchie opened Tennessee Reproductive Medicine on Shallowford Road.

According to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s report on in vitro fertilization utilization, in 2005 Johnson City’s Center for Applied Reproductive Science performed 195 in vitro attempts. In Chattanooga that year, only 106 cycles were performed, the data showed.

Until recently, the Fertility Center on Gunbarrel Road was the only local fertility clinic. Dr. Barry Donesky launched the clinic in 1994 and was joined in 1996 by Dr. Joseph Bird.

Because of the relative scarcity of local fertility services, some local obstetrician-gynecologists send patients outside the city for treatments, Dr. Murray said.

As more resources are available in Chattanooga, more couples should take advantage of fertility treatments, he said.

Dr. Murray and Dr. Scotchie met while doing fellowships at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. When Dr. Murray decided to return to his native Chattanooga after two years working in Memphis, he convinced Dr. Scotchie — whose husband is a Scenic City native — to go into practice with him.

For Dr. Murray, his work is undeniably personal. He and his wife’s own struggle to conceive confirmed his decision to specialize in reproductive endocrinology, he said.

“The withering despair of the prospect of being childless is not something I ever could have comprehended if I hadn’t experienced it,” said Dr. Murray, who after seven years finally conceived with his wife through in vitro.

Former patient Lauren Lee, 30, who lives outside Charlotte, N.C., said Dr. Murray’s assurance that it was OK to be upset about having fertility trouble lessened her feelings of guilt and depression.

“That really helped, knowing that he knew exactly what I was going through,” she said. “My first doctor, I cried and she just stared at me. Dr. Murray always had the Kleenex ready.”

GROWTH IN UTILIZATION

Nationwide, the number of in vitro fertilization treatments has grown from 112,988 in 2003 to 126,726 in 2006, according to data from the Society for Assisted Reproductive Technology. The society collected data from member clinics, which now number more than 390 practices, or about 85 percent of the total assisted reproductive technology practices in the United States.

“There has been a steady incremental increase in the use of these technologies,” said Sean Tipton, spokesman for the American Society of Reproductive Medicine.

Considering the nation’s demographic changes, one might expect otherwise. As most of the baby boom generation has largely moved out of the baby-making age, “the number of couples trying to have families is shrinking a bit,” Dr. Murray said. Yet at the same time, more fertility centers are opening and success rates of in vitro procedures are rising, he said.

Dr. Jay White, OB-GYN at the Galen Medical Group, said he’s seen a rising demand for fertility help among his patients.

“By far the biggest (reason) is people are just waiting longer to get pregnant, to start their family,” he said, noting that he delivered twins to a 46-year-old woman within the last year.

But a rise in incidence of sexually transmitted diseases that can hinder fertility has accompanied an increased demand for fertility help, said Mr. Tipton of the American Society of Reproductive Medicine.

“Clearly there is a concern that as you’re seeing increased rates of chlamydia of women in their teens and 20s, you’re going to see a corresponding increase in infertility for women in their 30s,” he said.

Although the average cost is more than $12,400 for an in vitro attempt, according to the American Society of Reproductive Medicine, some states are beginning to mandate insurance coverage for the procedure, though Tennessee has not, Dr. Murray said. Most insurers do, however, cover diagnostic costs, he said.

“The cost is still relatively high compared to the other treatments, but people are probably more willing to jump to IVF because the pregnancy rates are greater now,” Dr. Murray said.

“Just 10 years ago, (he and his wife) were quoted a maximum 45 percent chance of success, (being) patients with a good prognosis. The same physician are quoting people with our prognosis at about 60 percent chance of success (today),” he said.