Genetics & IVF Institute
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Genetics & IVF Institute

Founded by Dr. Joseph Schulman in 1984, the Genetics & IVF Institute was the original American center to integrate high-technology infertility and genetic services and the first outpatient IVF center in the country. GIVF is now one of the largest reproductive product and service providers in the world.

Industry Pioneers

>200K Babies

More than 200,000 healthy babies have been born worldwide thanks to our services

50+ Countries

Our products and services are used in more than 50 countries

20+ Collection Sites

We have the largest and most diverse production capabilities in the industry with more than 20 donor egg and sperm collection sites around the U.S.

~40 Years

For nearly 40 years, the GIVF and Fairfax brands have been among the most well-known and trusted in the fertility industry

500+ Publications

GIVF experts have published over 500 peer-reviewed medical articles and abstracts

Leadership

Dr Joseph Schulman

Dr. Joseph Schulman

Founder & Chairman of the Board of Directors

Nadeem Malik

Nadeem Malik

Co-CEO & General Manager, Fairfax Cryobank

Sean Swindell

Sean Swindell

Co-CEO & Chief Financial Officer

Sara Kraner

Sara Kraner

General Counsel & SVP of Administration

Sam Marple

Sam Marple

Co-President, Fairfax EggBank

Debbie Villfana

Debbie Villafana

Co-President, Fairfax EggBank

Weipeng Zhao

Weipeng Zhao, MD

Founder of Shanghai JI Ai, Director, Genetics & IVF Institute & Director, GIVF International

Abba Sarhan

Abbaa Sarhan, MD

Practice Director, Genetics & IVF Institute ART Practice

Larry Udoff

Larry Udoff, MD, FACOG

Medical Director, Fairfax EggBank and Genetics & IVF Institute ART Practice

Harvey Stern

Harvey Stern, MD, PhD, FACMG, FAAP

Medical Director, Fairfax Cryobank & Reproductive Genetics Practice

Brian Miriani

Brian Mariani, PhD

Director, Fairfax Diagnostics

Perla Piekutowski

Perla Piekutowski

Director of Growth & Engagement, Fairfax Surrogacy

Our History

Genetics & IVF Institute, Inc., (GIVF) founded in 1984, was the first outpatient IVF center in the United States. Over four decades, we have grown into a family of companies providing compassionate and comprehensive reproductive technology products and services to patients around the world.

We started Fairfax Cryobank in 1986 and Fairfax EggBank in 2010 and we are now one of the world’s largest providers of frozen donor sperm and frozen donor eggs. At our flagship location in Fairfax, Virginia, we operate a state-of-the-art fertility clinic, a prenatal genetics clinic, and embryology, genetic testing, and diagnostics laboratories. We also are one of the largest providers of cryostorage for embryos, sperm and eggs in the United States. Our experts pioneered the use of frozen donor eggs and preimplantation genetic testing for embryos. Today, our renowned care team continues to help patients preserve their fertility and build their families using cutting-edge advanced reproductive technologies.

We expanded our clinical practice into China in 1998. Shanghai Ji Ai, our joint venture with Fudan University, is one of the largest infertility and genetics clinics in China. GIVF also provides laboratory services around the world via partnerships in Japan, Mexico, Malaysia, North Cyprus, Cambodia, Thailand, Kenya and Nigeria.  In 2021, we launched our newest service, Fairfax Surrogacy.

Achievements

GIVF has been responsible for numerous key innovations to help patients have healthy babies. Achievements since our founding in 1984 include:

  • the first U.S. center to introduce non-surgical ultrasound guided egg retrieval for IVF, avoiding the need for hospitalization, invasive surgery, and general anesthesia. This innovation was heralded in an article in the New England Journal of Medicine.
  • achieved America's first frozen embryo twin birth.
  • one of the world’s first centers to introduce prenatal genetic testing using CVS (chorionic villus sampling) as an early, first trimester alternative to amniocentesis
  • the first American center to publicly report pregnancies using ICSI (intracytoplasmic sperm injection).
  • the first to clinically test patients for certain mutations which are associated with hereditary breast cancer.
  • developed the technique of non-surgical sperm aspiration for improved treatment of male infertility.
  • the first in the world to initiate ovarian cryopreservation for patients with cancer.
  • developed a method using preimplantation genetic testing (PGT) for the prevention of Huntington disease.
  • started Fairfax Cryobank, a frozen donor sperm bank, in 1986 as a safe method of utilizing donor sperm in fertility treatments. It is now one of the largest donor sperm banks in the world, shipping to more than 50 countries,
  • successfully established a protocol for egg vitrification (freezing) in 2004 and created Fairfax EggBank, a frozen donor egg bank, in 2006. Fairfax EggBank is now one of the largest donor egg banks in the world, with more than 350 clinic partners worldwide.
  • Partnered with the Fudan University Ob/Gyn Hospital in 1997 to found Shanghai Ji Ai, the first IVF and prenatal genetics clinic in China
  • developed a unique sperm separation technique for preconceptual gender selection called MicroSort® being used in countries around the world to help families choose the gender of their child