Columbia University Fertility Center

About Columbia University Fertility Center

Columbia University Fertility Center occupies the penthouse floor at 5 Columbus Circle, on the southwest corner of Central Park in Manhattan. It is the fertility program of Columbia University Irving Medical Center and NewYork-Presbyterian, and its roots go back to 1978, when it was among the first IVF programs established in the United States. The practice runs a monitoring site in White Plains and has announced a New Jersey location in Teaneck. In 2026, Newsweek placed it first among America’s fertility clinics, and it is the only New York City center to win the Society for Assisted Reproductive Technology (SART) Platinum Award in two consecutive years.

A ranking and an outcome report answer different questions, so read the numbers directly rather than trusting the headline. The center’s age-banded live-birth figures filed with SART/CDC (2024 preliminary) run 45.8% under age 35, 33.3% at 35-37, 28.9% at 38-40 and 8.6% over 40. Set against the SART 2023 national averages for the same bands — 53.2, 39.9, 26.2 and 9.4 — Columbia clears the benchmark only in the 38-40 group and sits at or a little below it elsewhere. That is not unusual for a high-volume academic referral center: it completed roughly 4,690 ART cycles in a year against a national clinic average near 873, and a program that takes on complex referrals and research patients will not always out-post the countrywide figure. Whether a rate is measured per intended retrieval or per transfer, and which reporting year it comes from, both move these numbers, so check the current clinic record on SART before treating any single percentage as a personal promise.

What the center reliably offers is breadth and laboratory capacity. It handles the full ART lineup — IUI, IVF with ICSI, egg and embryo freezing, PGT-A and PGT-M, donor eggs, gestational carriers — through an in-house lab, and it staffs subspecialty programs (oncofertility, pre-pregnancy genetics, third-party reproduction, LGBTQ+ family building) that most private clinics cannot. The medical and laboratory service is led by Dr. Eric Forman; the division of Reproductive Endocrinology and Infertility is chaired by Dr. S. Zev Williams.

Accreditations & Awards

• Newsweek “America’s Best Fertility Clinics 2026” — ranked first among US fertility clinics; Newsweek notes its rankings vary with the metric used, patient characteristics, treatment approaches and clinic entry criteria
• SART Platinum Award, two consecutive years — SART’s highest distinction, and the only New York City center to hold it back to back
• Ivy League academic medical center — part of Columbia University Irving Medical Center and NewYork-Presbyterian
• IVF program since 1978 — one of the earliest established in the United States
• CAP-accredited, CLIA-licensed embryology laboratory
• Invented here: the STORK rapid PGT-A assay and the STAR AI sperm-tracking system both came out of Columbia labs

Why Choose Columbia University Fertility Center

• Rapid genetic results in-house. The embryology lab is described as the only IVF lab in the country with an embedded molecular biology and genetics workstation. Its STORK test returns PGT-A results in hours rather than the 1-2 weeks typical when samples go to an outside lab, which can shorten the path to a transfer.
• A high-volume laboratory. Time-lapse embryo monitoring, the APRIL robotic system for automated culture-dish preparation, vitrification and routine elective single-embryo transfer, running across one of the largest cycle volumes reported to SART.
• Oral IVF (CORAL-IVF). An investigational protocol that replaces injectable hormones with oral medication and cuts drug cost by roughly 100-fold — an option if injections or medication cost are barriers for you.
• Subspecialty programs under one roof. An oncofertility program directed by Dr. Paula Brady, a pre-pregnancy genetics program, a third-party reproduction program, and dedicated LGBTQ+ family-building care.
• Home monitoring at no extra charge. Needle-free TAP blood-collection kits and at-home sperm collection reduce the number of early-morning clinic trips during stimulation.
• Physician-scientists who publish. Division chief Dr. Zev Williams developed STAR, an AI sperm-tracking and recovery technology; the first patient conceived using it in March 2025.

IVF & Fertility Services

• IUI (intrauterine insemination) — washed sperm placed into the uterus at ovulation, with or without medication; used for unexplained infertility, mild male factor, cervical factor and donor sperm for single or same-sex patients
• IVF with ICSI — ovarian stimulation, sedated egg retrieval, lab fertilization, embryo culture to day 5-6, then transfer or freezing; the CORAL-IVF oral protocol is offered where appropriate
• Egg freezing and embryo banking — vitrification of eggs or embryos for planned delay or medical reasons; quoted at $8,000 per cycle
• PGT-A and PGT-M — embryo screening for chromosome number and testing for known single-gene conditions, with rapid STORK turnaround
• Donor eggs, donor sperm and gestational carriers — anonymous and known donors, with screening, matching, and legal and psychological counseling
• Oncofertility — egg, embryo and sperm banking before cancer treatment, plus experimental ovarian tissue cryopreservation and coordination with oncology teams
• Pre-pregnancy genetics — carrier screening, genetic counseling and PGT for couples at risk of a serious inherited condition
• LGBTQ+ family building — reciprocal IVF, donor sperm IUI/IVF, egg donation with a gestational carrier, and fertility preservation for transgender patients before hormone therapy or surgery
• Fertility testing and recurrent pregnancy loss evaluation — hormone panels, AMH, pelvic ultrasound, HSG, semen analysis, with in-clinic or at-home collection

Fees & Packages

There is no published IVF price list. Egg freezing is quoted at $8,000 per cycle, excluding anesthesia, monitoring and medication; IVF cost depends on the individual protocol. The center bills a wide range of insurance plans and lists Aetna, Cigna, Emblem, Empire Blue Cross Blue Shield, UnitedHealthcare, Progyny and WinFertility among those it accepts, and self-pay patients can meet a financial counselor about cycle-specific figures and payment plans. Drug-assistance partnerships (Fertile Hope, Walgreens Heart Beat) apply mainly within the oncofertility program. Confirm your own benefits in writing before starting a cycle.

Patient Journey

1. Call or request online to open a file and schedule a consultation with a reproductive endocrinologist
2. Assessment — for one partner, hormone bloodwork, AMH and pelvic ultrasound, with HSG or cavity evaluation if indicated; a semen analysis for the other. Some collection can be done at home with the TAP kit
3. Plan and coverage review — the treatment plan is built around the findings, and a financial counselor walks through insurance and self-pay numbers
4. Stimulation and monitoring — injectable or CORAL-IVF oral medications, tracked with bloodwork and ultrasound; early-morning monitoring starts at 7:00 AM
5. Retrieval and fertilization — sedated transvaginal retrieval, then ICSI or conventional insemination and day 5-6 culture, with optional PGT
6. Transfer or freeze — elective single-embryo transfer of a fresh or frozen embryo
7. Pregnancy test and follow-up — a blood beta-hCG about 10 days after transfer, then continued monitoring to roughly 8-10 weeks before transfer to obstetrics

Local Legal Framework

New York is among the more permissive US states for assisted reproduction. The Child-Parent Security Act, which took effect in 2021, legalized compensated gestational surrogacy and allows intended parents to obtain a pre-birth order establishing legal parenthood, including for LGBTQ+ couples. Egg and sperm donation operate under New York Public Health Law (Article 28) with written agreements in which donors relinquish parental rights; known donors undergo legal and psychiatric screening, and sperm from a known donor is quarantined for six months before use. PGT-A and PGT-M are permitted with standard informed consent and no extra state restriction. Embryo status is the main gray area: New York has not legislated the legal standing of embryos, so creation, storage and disposition are governed by the patients’ own reproductive agreement — read that paperwork carefully.

Location

• Address: 5 Columbus Circle, Penthouse Floor, New York, NY 10019
• Phone: (646) 756-8282