Fertility Answers reaches 20 year milestone of helping build families

Fertility Answers is celebrating its 20th anniversary of providing state-of-the-art fertility care to South Louisiana.

“These last 20 years have given us plenty of reasons to celebrate,” said John Storment, MD, founding physician and medical director at Fertility Answers. “The fertility industry has progressed so much over two decades after I started practicing, bringing new techniques for building families to our patients in South Louisiana. Fertility Answers has become the leading fertility provider to our region, and we are proud of the achievements we have made and the families we have helped build.”

Humble beginnings to a multi-center practice

Fertility Answers was created in August 2002, three years after Dr. John Storment returned to his hometown of Lafayette, initially as an employed physician operating a satellite clinic for a New Orleans-based fertility provider. “In the beginning, our IVF lab was located in New Orleans,” remembers Dr. Storment. “This forced my patients to make a two hour, one-way drive multiple times during an in vitro fertilization cycle.” 

Seeing the potential in Acadiana for a full-service fertility clinic that included an IVF lab, Dr. Storment negotiated with HCA’s Women’s & Children’s Hospital to build an IVF lab within the hospital. And then a year later, he decided to strike out on his own. Fertility Answers (originally named Fertility & Women’s Health Center of Louisiana) opened its doors in August 2002.

In the years since, Fertility Answers has expanded its footprint to include an additional full-service clinic and IVF lab in Baton Rouge serving patients throughout Louisiana and the Gulf Coast region. Fertility Answers has also increased its provider staff to now include three reproductive endocrinologists, two physician assistants and six embryologists offering extensive experience diagnosing and treating infertility. The fertility specialists at Fertility Answers have distinguished themselves as expert providers of the most up-to-date fertility services available and are active in clinical research. And to date, close to 3,400 babies have been born to patients seeking treatment at Fertility Answers.

Using the latest techniques and technologies, Fertility Answers is dedicated to growing families

Today, technology used for building families includes futuristic sciences and techniques involving genetics, artificial intelligence and advancements in cryopreservation. Fertility Answers’s clinical and embryology teams utilize all of these techniques in its full range of diagnostic and treatment services for infertility and fertility preservation, including in vitro fertilization, embryo genetic testing, embryo culture, egg and embryo freezing, and intracytoplasmic sperm injection.

“Our practice is dedicated to giving patients dealing with complex fertility issues the best chance to conceive,” says Storment. The regional practice treats patients with both female and male infertility, such as polycystic ovarian syndrome, endometriosis, blocked tubes, and male factor infertility. For older women, or those with ovarian disease, and men with sperm issues, affiliated donor egg and embryo programs and sperm banks around the country provide additional options to conceive. Fertility Answers also offers semen analyses performed by in-house andrology experts to help identify male sub-fertility which is present in almost half of all infertile couples.

Putting the patient first in all aspects of infertility management and treatment is evident in Fertility Answers’s high satisfaction ratings across social platforms. “Our fertility practice is best known for providing the most advanced, appropriate care in a relaxed and compassionate environment,” says Dr. Storment. “We identify with every aspect of our patients’ treatment and offer innovative ways to help achieve their dreams.” 

Fertility Answers 20 Year Highlights:

• 2001 – IVF lab opens in Women’s & Children’s Hospital, Lafayette, with first IVF baby born in 2002
• 2002 –  Dr. Storment starts Fertility & Women’s Health Center of Louisiana with gynecologists Dr. William Pelletier and Dr. James Zehnder
• 2006 – Awards first Gift of Hope IVF patient grant, an all-expenses paid IVF cycle for a deserving, low-income Louisiana couple 
• 2008 – Builds stand-alone office at 206 E. Farrel Road, Lafayette
• 2008 – Becomes an early adopter of electronic medical records, going completely paperless
• 2012 – Changes name to Fertility Answers
• 2013 – First child born using preimplantation genetic testing for monochromatic disease (PGT-M) that mapped the sequence of osteogenesis imperfecta for a Lafayette couple who both carried the gene
• 2014 – Dr. Susan Conway, reproductive endocrinologist, joins practice
• 2014 – Expands into the Baton Rouge market with a full-service clinic and IVF lab
• 2015 – Dr. William Pelletier retires
• 2017 – Partners with Ovation Fertility to operate IVF lab and joins affiliation with nationwide network of labs and REI physicians
• 2018 – Dr. Neil Chappell, reproductive endocrinologist, joins the practice
• 2018 – Dr. James Zehnder retires
• 2019 – Builds and opens new IVF lab in Lafayette after FMOL Our Lady of Lourdes purchased Women’s & Children’s Hospital and forced the lab’s closure
• 2021 – Dr. Neil Chappell becomes full partner
• April 2022 – Honors all 3,342 babies Fertility Answers helped bring into the world over the last 20 years at Celebration Day at the Baton Rouge Zoo
• May 2022 – Awards Gift of Hope IVF Grant to 21st Louisiana couple

Looking toward the future

Fertility Answers is optimistic as it begins another decade of bringing state-of-the-art fertility care to South Louisiana. As the company looks to the future, plans are being made for new facilities, additional reproductive endocrinologists and ancillary services. “As I look back on the last twenty years, I am very proud of our accomplishments,” said Storment. “Here’s to twenty more years of building families.”