San Diego clinic first in area to offer IVF using AI

This new law aims to make fertility treatments more accessible to Californians, potentially easing the financial burden on those seeking to become parents.

“Everyone has the right to be a parent, but not everyone will have access to medical treatment in order to become a parent,” said Dr. Minoos Hosseinzadeh, founder of the Fertility Institute of San Diego.

Nellie Cortazzo, who always dreamed of being a mother, turned to fertility treatments after getting married at 35-years-old. After three rounds of treatment, she and her husband welcomed their daughter Cece in August 2021.

“It was a lot of heartache and a lot of expense,” Cortazzo said, noting they spent nearly $50,000 in total.

“We literally paid for everything out of pocket, doing it definitely drains your wallet in addition to your emotions and energy, obviously I couldn’t be more grateful for our outcome,” Cortazzo added.

“A lot of patients, it’s the financial burden that’s usually the biggest stumbling block to become a parent and I think once this pressure is lifted off more people will seek fertility care sooner rather than later,” Dr. Hosseinzadeh said.

Dr. Hosseinzadeh’s clinic is pioneering the use of new technology to assist in IVF. The Fertility Institute of San Diego is the first in the area to use the Embryoscope, an artificial intelligence tool that employs time-lapse photography to monitor embryo development, according to Dr. Hosseinzadeh. This technology allows doctors to identify the best embryos for transfer without disturbing their environment, potentially increasing the success rates of IVF treatments.