The First Time I ... Transferred an Embryo by Dr. Nancy Teaff

Charlotte Magazine "Top Doctors" issue, July 2010

It was the first case we ran through the program. The lab was brand new. In the mid-nineties, it was a big deal for us to bring a high-quality IVF lab to Charlotte. The technology was new, and it was very exciting. The first IVF baby was born in 1978, the year I graduated medical school. Our first eight patients were pro bono. The first was in her mid-thirties. We had two three-day-old embryos to implant, which is normal for today but at that time we would routinely transfer three or four at a time.

Embryos aren't used to being exposed to light, so we worked in the dark, with just enough light to see by. It was very quiet, all about focus. The embryologist and nurse and I had done several dry runs, but it took us longer than we thought. At that time, we didn't have ultrasound guidance to help place the catheter and it was hard to position it just right. We have streamlined this procedure a lot since then. What took us forty-five minutes then now takes us ten. The patient was awake for the duration.

I can remember where I was when I got the phone call twelve days later, at a conference on Amelia Island, off the coast of Florida. She ended up having triplets. The patient was an identical twin herself, and one of the embryos we implanted split, so we got three for the price of two, so to speak. [The mother's] twin sister was in the room when I did the ultrasound that first showed the triplets.
When you look at the embryos you're putting in, and then see a baby nine months later, it's amazing. Those children are about fifteen now, and I ran into them all at Disney World of all places.

 Source: Charlotte Magazine, July 2010