Response to Trump Executive Order on IVF Reply Fertility Urges Restorative Reproductive Medicine for All Patients Facing Infertility

Reply Fertility Helps Couples Have a Baby, without IVF

Durham, NC – As a clinic that champions care for those facing infertility, Reply Fertility echoes President Donald J. Trump’s call for attention to this growing problem, but urges reconsideration of the President’s singular focus on in vitro fertilization (“IVF”) as the preferred solution.

Rather, there is a growing, compelling record that suggests couples are best served by the emerging medical discipline of restorative reproductive medicine (“RRM”).  Whereas IVF is designed to circumvent underlying causes and contributors to infertility to try to force a pregnancy, RRM is designed to identify and treat the underlying factors so couples can conceive naturally and have a healthy pregnancy.

“Couples struggling with infertility deserve comprehensive evaluation, diagnosis, and restorative treatment to optimize their health and natural reproductive function,” says Reply Fertility founder Deborah Colloton, who herself suffered from infertility.  “Patients are short-changed when they are raced into assisted reproductive technology such as IVF, which is not health-focused and in fact can be detrimental to the health of moms and babies.” 

RRM is emerging globally as a preferred new treatment solution.  Compared to IVF, RRM is at least as effective and is:

• less invasive
• less expensive
• much healthier for moms and babies

“By nearly every metric other than time to conceive, RRM outperforms IVF,” notes Colloton.  “President Trump’s Executive Order runs contrary to the spirit of Make American Healthy Again (MAHA) and contrary to the spirit of the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE).  It is time to rethink how we address this challenge that is devastating for millions of couples in the U.S. and for tens of millions throughout the world.  All would be best served by shifting attention and resources to restorative reproductive medicine.”

Nowhere is the data for RRM more compelling than when it comes to preterm birth. Preterm birth can be traumatic for families and have a lasting impact on newborn babies; it is an issue of major national concern with the U.S. rate at 10.4% and an estimated average cost of $50,000+ per case, not including possible lifetime expenses. IVF nearly doubles the national preterm birth rate to 19.7%, which means the risk for preterm birth for patients using IVF is greater than for moms who smoke throughout pregnancy. In comparison, RRM care reduces the preterm birth rate to only 5.7%, representing a 71% reduction compared to IVF.

RRM is gaining traction globally and is represented by the medical professional organization, International Institute for Restorative Reproduction Medicine (IIRRM).  IIRRM president, Phil Boyle, MD, reminds us, “This is about getting pregnant as healthily as you can, not as fast as you can.”  The IIRRM launched a new medical journal on February 2, 2025 (Journal for Restorative Reproductive Medicine).  Editor-in-Chief Joseph B. Stanford, MD, who serves as Professor and Vice Chair for Research in the Department of Family and Preventive Medicine at the University of Utah School of Medicine, explains that RRM “is about understanding what the human body is designed to do, and when things aren’t healthy, how to get back to a normal, healthy physiology.”  Dr. Stanford also serves as principal investigator for the international research registry, Surveillance of Outcomes for Restorative Reproductive Medicine (STORRM), in which Reply Fertility participates. 

The medical literature shows infertility typically is multi-factor with 4-6 factors that can be female, male, or both.  Proper evaluation typically takes 2-3 months and should include evaluation for dozens of factors—anatomical, metabolic, hormonal, autoimmune/inflammatory, infectious, ovulatory/gamete, and lifestyle factors—that are often chronic and complex.  At Reply Fertility, patients receive written diagnoses, personalized treatment recommendations, and continuing care to optimize their reproductive health.  “Unexplained infertility” is virtually non-existent in the field of RRM.

“I am fighting now for others to receive the care I wish I’d known about earlier in my infertility journey,” says Colloton, whose two daughters were born when she was 39 and 40 after she finally discovered RRM and received proper treatment.  “I was told I needed IVF to have children.  This was untrue, and the evidence now demonstrates all couples should be offered RRM care to address their fertility struggles.”

About Reply Fertility

Reply Ob/Gyn & Fertility was founded in 2015 in the Triangle in North Carolina with a mission of developing the evidence base for RRM and increasing patient access to RRM.  The clinic currently is scaling its fertility program, Reply Fertility, throughout all 50 states.  For more information visit www.replyfertility.com.

What Our Patients Are Saying…

“Reply started my path to motherhood – a path that no other doctor had given me… the fact that I have my son is just such a miracle to me, I am overjoyed every day.”– Felishia W.B.

“They have found things that the traditional fertility doctors overlooked…it’s so worth it to heal your bodies and prepare for a healthy pregnancy. I am truly so grateful this clinic exists!” — Victoria S.

“The gold standard…not until I found Reply did I feel confident that I would ever have a child of my own.”– Pamela B.

“I cannot express enough gratitude for the compassionate care we received. Finding Reply–a doctor who truly cares about their patients–made the difference. They have so much knowledge and will use a variety of tools to help patients achieve a healthy pregnancy.”–Rachel B.

“Had we not found Reply when we did, we wouldn’t have this miracle…it’s just incredible. I still can’t believe I get to say that I’m her mom.”– Liz M.

“Finding Reply gave me hope I hadn’t felt before. The care we received at Reply was so INTENTIONAL. They slowed down the process, digging deeper to find out what was really wrong, then they treated the issues–monitoring every step–to ensure our success. We are now blessed with our beautiful daughter and hopeful to continue adding to our family!”–Tracey L

What Medical Experts Are Saying …

“ART [assisted reproductive technology such as IVF] increases the risk of preterm birth, low birth weight, and birth defects. These risks are particularly observed in multiple births; however, a certain risk increase remains also in singletons born after ART.…As with all other medical treatments, we should aim to be as close to nature as possible and to use the ART methods only if medically indicated….In light of the safety of future ART generations, one rule should apply to all ART: if a method is clinically unnecessary, then avoid it.”

— Pinborg A., Wennerholm U-B., Bergh C. Long-term outcomes for children conceived by assisted reproductive technology. Fertility and Sterility; September 2023; Vol 120, No. 3, Pt.1, p 453-454.

“This technology [IVF] is often viewed as the only option but is very expensive and not highly effective…RRM is less expensive, less invasive, and more effective than IVF for most patients. This merits further evaluation and support by…global authorities guiding health policy.”

— Boyle Phil C., Toth A., O’Neill L., Turczynski C.; Restorative Reproductive Medicine: an emerging new treatment process and a prerequisite to assisted reproductive technology for treatment of infertility. Pre-print; January 24, 2024.

What Medical Experts Are Saying Cont’d…

“Multiple studies show that IVF pregnancies are more prone to gestational diabetes, hypertension, preeclampsia, placenta accreta and other serious obstetrical and neonatal complications…recommending IVF to all infertility patients just to save time or make more money isn’t the right thing to do.”

— Peter McGovern, MD; REI Fellowship Director, Rutgers New Jersey Medical School Co-founder, University Reproductive Associates

“ART offspring have an increased risk of NCD (noncommunicable diseases), such as malignancies, asthma, obesity, metabolic syndrome, diabetes, cardiovascular diseases, and neurodevelopmental and psychiatric disorders. There are still many controversies in this field and much remains unknown….ART procedures should be developed to mimic a natural pregnancy as closely as possible to eliminate these potential risks.”

— Zhang S., Luo Q., Meng R., Yan J., Wu Y., Huang H.; Long-term health risk of offspring born from assisted reproductive technologies; Journal of Assisted Reproduction and Genetics; November 2023.

“There are substantial concerns about expanding use of IVF, including high cost and impact on neonatal outcomes. Epidemiologic studies have demonstrated higher incidence of preterm birth (PTB), low birthweight (LBW), and birth defects among children conceived through IVF, when compared to children conceived without medical interventions, even when the analyses are limited to singleton pregnancies….Our findings support efforts to encourage women to give an adequate trial of the least invasive fertility treatment that may work for them.”

— Sanders, Jessia N, Simonsen Sara E., Porucznik Christina A., Hammoud Ahmad O., Smith Ken R., Stanford, Joseph B; Fertility treatments and the risk of preterm birth among women with subfertility: a linked-data retrospective cohort study; BMC Reproductive Health; March 2022