By: Dr. Marguerite Duane and Dr. Tucker Brown
Director’s Note: At FACTS our mission is to educate our medical colleagues about the evidence supporting fertility awareness-based methods and the role of restorative reproductive medicine, so they may empower and engage patients to care for their reproductive health. Please help us share the FACTS about Restorative Reproductive Medicine (RRM) as a safe, effective and affordable approach to addressing infertility by downloading and sharing this one-pager with colleagues, family and friends.
Restorative reproductive medicine (RRM) is a medical discipline that seeks to identify and treat the root causes of reproductive dysfunction to restore patients’ health.[1],[2] RRM has been shown to be a safe, effective, and affordable way to care for couples with infertility. In addition to helping couples conceive naturally, RRM addresses associated conditions, such as recurrent miscarriage, hormonal imbalances, polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS), and endometriosis. It also improves the overall health of the couple and provides answers to the most pressing question, “Why can’t we have a baby?” Women and men need access to this safe, effective, and affordable alternative.
Safety – RRM is safer than IVF for both mother and child
While in vitro fertilization (IVF) engineers the creation of embryos with powerful drugs and invasive procedures to address the “disease” of infertility, RRM recognizes infertility as a symptom of other underlying diseases and facilitates natural conception by identifying and treating the root causes of infertility. IVF carries significant risks for both mother and child, including the possibility of ectopic pregnancy, preterm delivery, severe hemorrhage or seizures in the mother and higher rates of birth defects and perinatal mortality.[3],[4]
Women and couples need access to a safer approach to infertility.
Efficacy – RRM has similar live-birth rates to IVF, provides answers, and restores health
RRM has been shown to have live-birth rates that are comparable to IVF.[5],[6] Beyond identifying causes of infertility (e.g., PCOS, endometriosis, infections, low sperm count, etc.), RRM can also address many of the hormonal and structural obstacles to having a child. For this reason, this restorative approach can be effective even when IVF cycles fail.[7],[8] RRM also helps prevent miscarriages by identifying modifiable risk factors, a serious concern that IVF does not address.6 While neither RRM nor IVF can guarantee children, RRM can provide answers about why couples are unable to conceive while also improving their overall health.
Women and couples need access to effective treatments, answers, and better health.
Affordability – RRM is often far more affordable than IVF
One study found the average cost of IVF is 20 times greater than fertility treatments that use only medications, making IVF inaccessible to many couples.[9] RRM is often much more affordable due to its stepwise approach of identifying the fertile window, restoring hormonal balance, recommending lifestyle modifications, and prescribing medications. While RRM may employ surgical approaches, these procedures often have benefits beyond facilitating conception (e.g., removing painful endometrial lesions).
Women and couples need access to more affordable treatment options.
In summary, restorative reproductive medicine is safer and often far more affordable than IVF. Yielding comparable live-birth rates as IVF, RRM also treats underlying conditions, improves patients’ overall health, and gives couples much-needed answers as they try and hope to conceive a child. We need to expand training in restorative reproductive medicine and to invest in high quality research to establish RRM as the standard of care, making this safe, effective, affordable option accessible to all.
References:
[1] Duane M, Stanford JB, Porucznik CA and Vigil P (2022) Fertility Awareness-Based Methods for Women’s Health and Family Planning. Med. 2022;9(858977).doi: 10.3389/fmed.2022.858977
[2] “What Is Restorative Reproductive Medicine (RRM)? | International Institute for Restorative Reproductive Medicine.” International Institute for Restorative Reproductive Medicine, 20 Dec. 2024, iirrm.org/what-is-rrm/. Accessed 21 Feb. 2025.
[3] Bewley S, Foo L, Braude P. Adverse outcomes from IVF. BMJ 2011; 342: d436.
[4] Vergouw CG, Hanna Kostelijk E, Doejaaren E, Hompes PGA, Lambalk CB, Schats R. The influence of the type of embryo culture medium on neonatal birthweight after single embryo transfer in IVF. Hum Reprod 2012; 27: 2619–26.
[5] Stanford, Joseph B., Tracey A. Parnell, and Phil C. Boyle. “Outcomes from treatment of infertility with natural procreative technology in an Irish general practice.” The Journal of the American Board of Family Medicine5 (2008): 375-384.
[6] Tham E, Schliep K, Stanford J. Natural procreative technology for infertility and recurrent miscarriage: outcomes in a Canadian family practice. Can Fam Physician. 2012;58(5):e267-e274.
[7] Boyle, Phil C., et al. “Healthy singleton pregnancies from restorative reproductive medicine (RRM) after failed IVF.” Frontiers in medicine 5 (2018): 210.
[8] Boyle PC, Stanford JB, Zecevic I. Successful pregnancy with restorative reproductive medicine after 16 years of infertility, three recurrent miscarriages, and eight unsuccessful embryo transfers with in vitro fertilization/intracytoplasmic sperm injection: a case report. J Med Case Rep. 2022;16(1):246. Published 2022 Jun 22. doi:10.1186/s13256-022-03465-w
[9] Katz, Patricia, et al. “Costs of infertility treatment: results from an 18-month prospective cohort study.” Fertility and sterility 95.3 (2011): 915-921.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Dr. Marguerite Duane
Dr. Marguerite Duane, a board-certified family physician, is co-founder and Executive Director of FACTS about Fertility, an organization dedicated to educating medical professionals and students about the science supporting fertility awareness-based methods (FABMs) and restorative reproductive medicine (RRM). She serves as an Adjunct Associate Professor at Georgetown and Associate Professor of Restorative Reproductive Medicine and Director of the Center for Fertility Awareness Based Education and Research at Duquesne University’s College of Osteopathic Medicine. Dr. Duane cares for patients via a direct primary care house-calls based practice, MD for Life. She has served on the board of the American Academy of Family Physicians and the Family Medicine Education Consortium.
Dr. Tucker Brown
Tucker Brown serves as the Development Coordinator for FACTS About Fertility working to advance FACTS’ mission by raising financial support. He recognizes the tremendous need for medical professionals to be educated in fertility awareness based methods and restorative reproductive medicine and is excited to share the good work of FACTS with others. Tucker earned his M.D. at Thomas Jefferson University’s Sidney Kimmel Medical College and his M.A. in Philosophical Studies at Saint Charles Borromeo Seminary. He lives in the greater Philadelphia area with his wife and their baby daughter.
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