Published on 12, Jan 2023

Rejuvenating Fertility Center (RFC) Medical Director Dr. Zaher Merhi: an Active Researcher

Northeast fertility clinic Rejuvenating Fertility Center (RFC) was founded by Dr. Zaher Merhi, a board-certified Reproductive Endocrinology and Infertility specialist. He has over 20 years of experience in the fertility field, and along with serving as the medical director of RFC, Dr. Merhi is also a professor in the Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Division of Reproductive Endocrinology and Infertility, at SUNY Downstate Health Sciences University and Maimonides Medical Center in Brooklyn.

As a world-renowned fertility expert and constant researcher, Dr. Merhi is always looking into the latest developments in the fertility industry to best serve his patients. He takes pride in each and every new life created through the services provided at RFC clinics. RFC is the first non-conventional fertility center serving New York City, Long Island, Brooklyn, Westchester County, and Connecticut, and the clinic benefits from Dr. Merhi’s research as it continues to offer newer and better treatment options.

Recently, Dr. Merhi has been actively researching platelet-rich plasma (PRP) therapy as it applies to ovarian rejuvenation and failed uterine implantation. PRP therapy has received a lot of attention as an additional treatment along with in vitro fertilization (IVF) and other fertility treatments, especially in patients with very low ovarian reserve, premature ovarian insufficiency, early menopause and recurrent implantation failure.

Dr. Merhi recently conducted a study on how intraovarian PRP administration could improve blastocyst euploidy rates (i.e., the genetics of the embryo) in women undergoing IVF- so what does this mean, exactly? Intraovarian PRP, aka ovarian rejuvenation, involves PRP injections into the ovaries by a tiny needle via the vaginal route under ultrasound guidance. That is, the patient’s own blood is drawn and separated from the PRP, which acts as the body’s own healing tool. This promotes ovarian rejuvenation at the injection site by: 1) waking up some of the dormant eggs thus increasing the quantity of the follicles, 2) improving the quality of the follicle development thus leading to better quality eggs, and 3) potentially making newer young eggs from the existing ovarian stem cells.

Dr. Merhi’s study found that this treatment can increase by 5 folds what fertility experts call blastocyst euploidy rates - which just means the number of healthy, viable embryos with the correct number of chromosomes needed to produce a successful pregnancy and live birth. This landmark study was the first to show an improvement in the amount of healthy embryos produced after ovarian PRP in women who were diagnosed as infertile, and who had suffered previously failed IVF cycles.

“PRP therapy as ovarian rejuvenation is a huge breakthrough,” says Dr. Merhi. “We have begun offering this at our clinics. This is a cutting-edge fertility procedure that is still considered experimental, but we feel that it offers hope to a lot of women who do not want to use egg donor.”

He adds that women, even those diagnosed as menopausal, always have eggs present within their ovaries, though they’re mostly dormant. “Even women after menopause still have dormant eggs - as many as one thousand!” Dr. Merhi explains. “PRP ovarian rejuvenation is a newly pioneered procedure intended to reawaken these dormant eggs to mature and develop within the ovaries, and potentially even improve egg quality.”

He adds that PRP ovarian rejuvenation is a treatment option for women with low ovarian reserve (low AMH, high FSH), with premature ovarian insufficiency (POI), and women going through early menopause. It is great adjunct for women who suffer from poor egg and embryo quality. He also mentioned that PRP injection/infusion into the uterine lining can make it thicker and stickier, thus helping a lot of women who have thin endometrial lining or failed embryo implantation or even chemical pregnancies (ie., early miscarriages) carry their own baby rather using a surrogate.

“We’re still researching ways to improve this treatment,” Dr. Merhi says. “As the first holistic and non-conventional clinic in this area, we are reaching patients all over the world who have already tried traditional IVF with no success. We aim to be different. We have options for everyone: injection-free IVF, natural options, and even remote care. About 40% of our patients are spread throughout the world and we’re here for all of them.”

Website: https://www.rejuvenatingfertility.com/

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/rejuvenatingfertilitycenter/

Contact: info@rejuvenatingfertility.com