Fruitful practice

Lolita Harper

Papa is still a Rolling Stone.

On any given day, in the office of fertility specialist Lawrence

Werlin, there is an aura of happiness, hope and overall satisfaction.

It’s only rock ‘n’ roll, but he seems to like it.

“You walk in -- he takes appointments as early as 6:30 a.m. -- so

you walk in the morning and you have the Rolling Stones going and it

is a happy environment,” said Sima Abelowitz, a longtime patient.

“It’s always the Rolling Stones. He loves the Rolling Stones.”

Werlin’s musical tastes are just a small example of what makes him

a wonderful doctor, she added. He is very positive, very upbeat, very

friendly and funny. He always has a smile on his face and a joke to

tell.

Werlin, of Newport Beach, is not just an excellent doctor, he also

has an excellent person, she said.

“He is like your buddy not your doctor,” Abelowitz said.

Not that infertility is a laughable matter, but his relaxed nature

puts his clients at ease and reassures them their experience is going

to be an encouraging one, she said.

“He says, ‘It’s OK. You are going to get pregnant,’” Sima

Abelowitz said. “He is always so positive and that is very important

in fertility.”

That attitude comes from Werlin loving what he does. He loves

being a father and is thrilled to help other people realize that

dream.

“First of all it is a joy, from my perspective, to be a parent,”

Werlin said. “Everyday I thank God for my wife’s and my three

beautiful children. To be able to help a couple to realize that goal

is by far the most satisfying thing in medicine for me.”

Personal care

Werlin has been helping couples for years, long enough to be

dubbed the “father of fertility” in Orange County. His history

includes years of groundbreaking studies in the field and Werlin was

one of the first doctors to bring infertility treatments to Orange

County.

In 1986, Werlin founded Hoag Hospital’s Fertility Services Center

and directed that program for 10 years. He is now the founder and

director of Coastal Fertility Medical Center in Irvine and Aliso

Viejo.

Trying to get pregnant after one or more doctors may have deemed

it improbable is an “emotional roller coaster,” Werlin said, one

filled with anxiety and emotional highs and lows. Those lows can get

more overwhelming each time an attempt to get pregnant fails.

The key to helping people through those times, he said, is to

treat them as people, not clients.

“I look at each patient as an individual,” Werlin said. “Just like

you deal with everyday people. This is not just a patient who has

infertility, this is a person who has many other things going on. My

job is to appreciate that there are other stresses in their life that

play a role and try very hard to be sensitive to those issues.”

“This all comes naturally to him,” said colleague Susan Bloom.

And fatherhood comes naturally to Newport Coast resident Steven

Abelowitz, his wife, Sima, said.

“Ethan just adores his dad,” Sima Abelowitz said. “He plays with

him all the time. Over the weekend they are best buddies.”

This Father’s Day, Steven Abelowitz has a new reason to celebrate.

His wife is six months pregnant with their second child, in large

part thanks to Werlin, the couple said.

Abelowitz has a distinct perspective on parenting and medicine

because he is a pediatrician. For years, he has seen a good

percentage of the children in Newport Beach, but did not have any of

his own. He knows the proper nutrition, growth rate, healthy weights,

what to do for a fever, a rash, a cough or the sniffles but could not

administer that knowledge at home.

Not until he visited Werlin, that is.

“I’m seeing things I used to see in other children in my own child

and it makes life, and practicing as a pediatrician, even more

enjoyable,” Steven Abelowitz said.

Sima Abelowitz became pregnant both times by in vitro

fertilization, a process that involves removing eggs from a woman,

fertilizing them in the laboratory and then transferring the

fertilized eggs, or zygotes, into the uterus a few days later. Once

successfully implanted, the pregnancy proceeds as it normally would.

“We got pregnant on the first time, both times,” Sima Abelowitz

said.

Rough times

For other couples, the process is more complicated, Werlin said,

with a variety of different options and variables contributing to the

success. It can be a nerve-racking process but when couples are

successful, almost all those emotions seem to pale in comparison to

the elation of being pregnant, he said.

“The important thing to remember is whatever options I offer, it

is ultimately, their choice,” Werlin said. “I make recommendations

but the choice of their final plan is always in their hands. It may

be different from what I think is the best choice but that is their

option.”

Werlin continues his pioneering ways by announcing the results of

his study on Preimplementation Genetic Diagnosis (more commonly

referred to as PGD). The genetic testing procedure has received

national medical attention and offers hope to women who have suffered

recurrent pregnancy loss, he said. National medical journal Fertility

and Sterility will publish Werlin’s results in the August edition.

Stated simply, PGD allows doctors to check the nine chromosomes in

which abnormalities are most likely to thwart a successful pregnancy.

By testing the chromosomes first, doctors can fertilize a woman with

an egg that is more likely to result in pregnancy, Werlin said.

Results of the study showed the highest success rates in women who

suffered from repeated pregnancy loss, he said.

“This will absolutely change [the practice of infertility].”

Werlin said. “This is the first randomized [study] that has ever been

done in the world to compare whether PGD is successful.”

Able to celebrate

While Werlin is proud of his accomplishments, he knows his

research is not a cure-all. People need to understand there is no one

therapy that is good for everybody, he said. The technology still has

limits, as it can only test nine chromosomes -- there are 14 others

that go unchecked, he said.

A father, doctor and member of the Newport-Mesa community, Werlin

said he will continue the rewarding job of helping people realize one

of life’s greatest joys: parenthood. And for many Father’s Days to

come, many who thought they never would be able to celebrate will

receive cards, ties and loud, Hawaiian shirts.

“It has definitely enriched our lives seeing life as it is through

the eyes of a child,” Steven Abelowitz said. “It puts things in a

whole different perspective. Things we used to take for granted we

don’t anymore.

“Without his help this very likely would have never been possible

and we are very thankful and grateful.”

* LOLITA HARPER writes columns Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays and

covers culture and the arts. She may be reached at (949) 574-4275 or

by e-mail at lolita.harper@latimes.com.