Marc R. Laufer, MD

About

A uterus with a septum running down its middle, a uterus formed as two halves, an outflow tract that never opened correctly — these are present from birth, they are frequently the reason an otherwise well-run IVF cycle does not implant or does not stay, and they are corrected surgically. Marc R. Laufer, MD has spent his career on that anatomy. He is chief of Brigham and Women’s Hospital’s Division of Pediatric and Adolescent Gynecology, a gynecologic surgeon, and the physician who created the Boston Center for Endometriosis in 2012 as a shared service between Brigham and Women’s and Boston Children’s Hospital.

Something worth saying plainly on a fertility directory: Laufer is not a reproductive endocrinologist and does not manage IVF cycles. His roster listing at the Center for Infertility and Reproductive Surgery reflects the surgical and anatomic problems that sit underneath fertility — the reason the center describes itself as one of the few programs in the world with dedicated reproductive surgery services for congenital and acquired reproductive anomalies. Patients come to him, or to his center’s other surgeons, when the uterus, tubes or pelvic anatomy are the obstacle; cycle management stays with the reproductive endocrinologists down the hall.

He trained almost entirely inside one system: University of Pennsylvania medical school (1981-1986), internship and obstetrics-gynecology residency at Brigham and Women’s (1986-1990), fellowship training at Brigham and Women’s (1990-1992) and at Children’s Hospital with Harvard Medical School (1991-1992), and ABOG certification in obstetrics and gynecology in 1993. His named clinical interests are congenital anomalies of the reproductive tract, endometriosis, gynecologic surgery, pelvic pain and LGBTQ health. He holds a professorship on the Harvard Medical School faculty and practices across the Brigham and Children’s partnership that his endometriosis center was built to formalize.

Clinical Expertise

• Congenital anomalies of the reproductive tract: Evaluation and surgical correction of uterine and outflow-tract malformations — the category that includes septate and double uteri and obstructive anomalies — using hysteroscopic and laparoscopic techniques where the anatomy allows.
• Endometriosis from adolescence onward: The specific gap his center addresses. Endometriosis is usually diagnosed years after pain starts, and the Boston Center for Endometriosis exists to give girls and women medical management, pain management and surgical excision of disease, including deeply infiltrative and ovarian forms.
• Gynecologic surgery with fertility as a constraint: Reproductive surgery is defined at Brigham and Women’s as operating to restore or preserve reproductive function, minimizing the harm the operation itself does to ovaries, tubes and uterus.
• Chronic pelvic pain: Structured evaluation rather than repeat empirical treatment, which is what a combined surgical-and-adolescent-gynecology practice is for.
• Pediatric and adolescent gynecology: Menstrual disorders, congenital anomalies identified in the teenage years, and reproductive health care for patients who are years away from trying to conceive — the continuity argument for seeing one surgeon from adolescence through family building.
• LGBTQ health: Gynecologic care for transgender and non-binary patients and for LGBTQ+ families, a named interest at a center where all fertility services are open to single individuals and same-sex couples.

Why Choose Dr. Marc R. Laufer

He built the referral destination. The Boston Center for Endometriosis, launched in 2012, brings together endometriosis physician leaders from Brigham and Women’s and Boston Children’s. A patient with suspected deep infiltrative disease is not guessing which of two hospital systems to try first.

He is the person who sees the anomaly at 14 and repairs it at 24. Most fertility surgeons meet a congenitally unusual uterus for the first time in an IVF workup. A pediatric and adolescent gynecology chief sees the same anatomy before puberty, when decisions about outflow obstruction and future fertility are being made for someone who cannot yet make them.

Three decades of board-certified gynecologic surgery. Residency, internship and fellowship at Brigham and Women’s, additional fellowship at Children’s Hospital and Harvard Medical School, ABOG certified 1993.

Realistic expectations about his role. If the plan is IVF with a septum removed first, the cycle belongs to one of the center’s reproductive endocrinologists and the operation belongs here. That split is stated rather than blurred, which is the more useful way to read his profile.

Professional Affiliations

Chief, Division of Pediatric and Adolescent Gynecology, Brigham and Women’s Hospital; Harvard Medical School faculty and professor. Certified in Obstetrics and Gynecology by the American Board of Obstetrics and Gynecology (1993). Founder of the Boston Center for Endometriosis (2012), a joint service of Brigham and Women’s Hospital’s Center for Infertility and Reproductive Surgery and Boston Children’s Hospital. Training: University of Pennsylvania medical school (1981-1986), Brigham and Women’s Hospital internship (1986-1987), residency (1987-1990) and fellowship (1990-1992), Children’s Hospital and Harvard Medical School fellowship (1991-1992). Clinic: 75 Francis Street, Boston.

Suitable For

• Patients told their uterus is shaped unusually and that a transfer may not work until it is corrected, including septum, didelphys and outflow anomalies.
• Anyone with endometriosis whose pain started in the teens and whose diagnosis has been deferred since — the exact population his center was created for.
• Deeply infiltrative or ovarian endometriosis where surgery has to balance disease removal against ovarian reserve, and the surgeon needs to care about both.
• Chronic pelvic pain after multiple inconclusive treatments elsewhere.
• Adolescents with gynecologic or congenital concerns, and their parents, who want the subspecialist rather than a general pediatric practice.
• Transgender and LGBTQ+ patients looking for gynecologic care from a physician who lists LGBTQ health as a clinical interest.