March 17th, 2024

ABOG REI Division Committee 

2727 Laclede Street

Dallas TX, 75204

Dear ABOG REI Committee Members, 

We would like to thank you for your leadership in representing the voices of practicing Reproductive Endocrinologists and Infertility Specialists. For the first time since IVF began, our field is under unprecedented pressure as the reproductive rights of Americans are under attack. We never imagined that our field would be endangered by physicians within our own subspecialty.

There has been a disturbing trend of fertility networks and start-up companies to support the training of OB/GYN physicians in the field of REI without the requirement of attending a three-year accredited Reproductive Endocrinology Fellowship. These accelerated programs attempt to condense three years of training into four months or as little as two weeks. These programs are supported by a small group of REIs who have deemed themselves qualified to “certify” general OB/Gyns to practice fertility medicine.

We understand that ASRM and SREI drafted a statement in response to this practice, but we ask that ABOG also take a firm, public stance in denouncing these accelerated programs and hold these REI physicians accountable for circumventing a revered and board-certified fellowship. We are here to serve our patients. Replacing three years of rigorous training with a few months of unregulated instruction will negatively affect the quality of patient care and patients cannot be expected to understand the differences between a board-certified REI and a generalist practicing fertility medicine with an unregulated and meaningless certificate.

Sincerely,

Co-Signatory REI Physicians