Today’s bonus episode guest is Dr. Sue Ellen Carpenter, founding physician and CEO of Bloom Fertility in Atlanta. 

Dr. Carpenter and Heather discuss INVOcell as an alternative to IVF:

INTRODUCTION

• I’d like to start by introducing you to our audience. Tell us who you are, where you work, what you do, and how you got to where you are today.
• Take us through your career journey.
• Why did you choose to go into medicine?
• I understand, although you did not go through infertility yourself, that your children experienced infertility. Are you able to tell us their stories?

INVOCELL

• Let’s start with the basics of the INVOcell device itself.
• How does the process work, and how does it feel to the patient? Can you walk us through it step-by-step?
• I always thought that anesthesia is used in IVF because of the pain involved in the procedure. Is that not the case?
• What should patients be doing during the incubation period for INVOcell?
• Since the transfers are always fresh transfers, are you able to save any embryos afterward for freezing?
• Is there a typical patient who would benefit from INVOcell?
• I presume that INVOcell can also be used with donor sperm?
• How does INVOcell compare to IVF as far as success rates?
• Do you know offhand how many pregnancies and live births have occurred with the use of INVOcell?
• Are there any other benefits to INVOcell as compared to IVF that you haven’t discussed?
• Is INVOcell ever used to bank embryos?
• How often can INVOcell be used? Is there a limit?
• We’ve talked a lot about the benefits of INVOcell, but are there any risks?
• Do you know where the idea for INVOcell came from originally?
• Since that initial idea, what materials and manufacturing practices went into the development that we know today?
• Once it entered the market and was used routinely, has INVOcell changed?
• Where is INVOcell being used?
• Speaking more broadly, are there any trends you have witnessed in women struggling with infertility?

WRAPPING UP

• What is your biggest piece of advice for people struggling with infertility?
• Is there anything else you’d like to add about INVOcell?