A New Chapter . . .

Wonderful patient family who brought their beautiful baby to clinic

Last week, I left CCRM Fertility of Chicago and am returning to California.

This is a bittersweet transition for me. I am leaving CCRM for family reasons—and, importantly, for GOOS ones. But even when a change is the right one, saying goodbye to a place and people who have meant so much is never easy.

Helping launch and build CCRM Chicago has been one of the great privileges of my career. I had the opportunity not only to serve as Medical Director, but also to help create a practice from the ground up: to build an incredible team, support the development of an exceptional embryology laboratory, and help shape a culture centered on thoughtful, compassionate, evidence-based care. I am enormously proud of what we have built together, but even more grateful for the people who made it possible. The physicians, nurses, embryologists, medical assistants, coordinators, and staff who care for our patients every day have made CCRM Chicago what it is, and working alongside them has been one of the most meaningful parts of my time here.

Most of all, I am grateful to my patients.

Fertility care asks patients to place an extraordinary amount of trust in their physicians and care teams. We are invited into lives at moments that can be hopeful, joyful, uncertain, frustrating, and heartbreaking—sometimes all at once. I have never taken that trust lightly. It has been an honor to walk alongside so many individuals and families as they worked toward something that mattered so deeply to them.

There is something especially fitting about how this chapter will end for me. On my last day at CCRM Chicago, I had the chance to see wonderful patients and their newborn baby that my team and Ihelped bring into the world. I cannot imagine a more meaningful reminder of why I chose this work in the first place. Behind every appointment, procedure, laboratory result, and treatment plan is the hope of helping someone build the family they have imagined. Being able to play even a small role in that journey is an extraordinary privilege.

For my current patients, I also want you to know that you will be in the care of Drs. Tori Wesevich, Shefali Shastri and the rest of the CCRM Chicago team who will continue to provide excellent care. One of the things that makes leaving easier is knowing that the practice is supported by such talented and compassionate people.

As I look ahead, I am also genuinely excited about what comes next as I return to academic medicine. I am especially looking forward to continuing my work around expanding access to fertility care—thinking not only about how we provide excellent care, but also about how more people can have the opportunity to receive it.

Transitions are complicated. I can be deeply grateful for what I am leaving and excited about where I am going at the same time.

To my patients: thank you for allowing me to be part of your stories.

To my CCRM Chicago colleagues: thank you for building this with me, for believing in what we were creating, and for bringing so much skill and heart to the work every day.

Chicago will always be an important part of my story. I leave incredibly proud of what we built together, grateful for the relationships I will carry with me, and excited for this next chapter in California.

More to come on my next steps!