A very special summer intern

This summer has been a special summer for everyone at CHR, but especially for Dr. Gleicher.

The story goes back about 22 years. A Chicago couple came to CHR to discuss fertility treatment options. After a consultation with Dr. Gleicher, who was practicing in Chicago at the time, the couple decided to try IVF (in vitro fertilization). A little over a decade after the birth of the world’s first IVF baby, Louise Brown, IVF had been established as more or less routine treatment for many infertility conditions, but the  IVF success  rate for pregnancy were still pretty low, compared to where we are now.

Fortunately, the patient conceived with the first attempt. About nine months later, Dr. Gleicher received an urgent phone call at a party he was attending on a Friday night; the patient was in labor. He rushed to the hospital, still in his tuxedo, and delivered the baby, at the crack of dawn on the following Saturday. The sun was just rising from Lake Michigan outside the window, and a perfect, healthy boy was brought into the world as the warm orange light filled the room.

Fast forward 21 years, and the baby boy—Jacob, now a young man—is spending six weeks at CHR as a clinical research intern. Now a pre-med biomedical engineering student, Jacob wanted to spend his summer to see real medical research in action. That was when his mom contacted CHR about a possible internship arrangement at our infertility clinic.

“I’d always known that Dr. Gleicher delivered me, and I’d always looked up to him as kind of a role model,” says Jacob. “Just a couple of weeks before I flew over to New York City, my mom told me that I was actually conceived through IVF performed by Dr. Gleicher, too.” Jacob’s mom had been a little apprehensive about telling him of the circumstances of his conception, but he took it well: “It was very exciting to learn about that, and I got even more interested in seeing how CHR pushed forward this field through research.”

Jacob has been a delightfully helpful intern in the statistics department of CHR during his—regrettably short—tenure. For all CHR staff, however, Jacob’s internship has also been a wonderful opportunity to see in real life the long-term results of what our daily practice entails. Although many patients visit CHR with their newborn babies, we seldom have the opportunity to meet a “CHR baby” as an adult.

“We estimate that over 17,000 pregnancies have been established at CHR since its inception, considering multiples, resulting in over 20,000 births,” says Dr. Gleicher.

Even Madison Square Garden would be already too small for a party for all “CHR babies. That said, Dr. Gleicher continues,

“Seeing Jacob as a mature, determined young man was very special in itself. Finding out that his personal experiences have led him towards a life in medicine has made his visit this summer a unique experience for all of us here at CHR.”

Thank you, Jacob, for spending time with us, and best of luck for your career in medicine!