The Center for Reproductive Medicine (CRM) has operated from its Midtown Medical Building address at 2828 Chicago Avenue South in Minneapolis since July 1987 — nearly four decades of uninterrupted independent fertility practice in the Twin Cities. The clinic runs a second office in St. Paul, giving patients on both sides of the river a convenient access point. CRM operates under the full legal name Center for Reproductive Medicine and Advanced Reproductive Technologies, P.A., a physician-owned practice that has grown from a single-physician startup into a multi-physician subspecialty group that handles some of the most complex reproductive endocrinology and infertility cases in Minnesota.
The practice is structured as a pure REI specialty clinic — no general obstetrics, no shared-specialty waiting room. Every clinical protocol, laboratory procedure, and support-staff role is oriented toward fertility diagnosis and treatment. For patients exploring options in the metro area, CRM represents the longest-tenured independent fertility program in the Twin Cities and one of only a handful of SART-reporting practices in the state. Broader context on accredited programs across Minnesota is available through our guide to Minnesota fertility clinics. For a foundational overview of how IVF works — from ovarian stimulation through embryo transfer — our IVF guide is a useful starting point before your first consultation.
Physicians and Clinical Team
CRM's physician roster consists of four fellowship-trained reproductive endocrinologists, each board-certified in both obstetrics and gynecology and reproductive endocrinology and infertility (REI) through the American Board of Obstetrics and Gynecology.
Colleen L. Casey, MD serves as President of the practice. A Saint Paul native, Dr. Casey earned her medical degree from the University of Michigan Medical School in 2005 and completed her REI fellowship at the University of Vermont. She joined CRM in 2011 and has built her clinical reputation around evidence-based fertility care delivered with the kind of patient-centered approach that comes from practicing in the community where she grew up. She is a member of ASRM and SART.
Joshua D. Kapfhamer, MD, MA holds the position of Medical Director. Dr. Kapfhamer joined CRM in 2018, bringing with him a background that straddles both clinical medicine and bioethics — his MA reflects graduate-level training in ethics alongside his medical degree. He received the AAGL Special Resident in Minimally Invasive Gynecology Award and the Dr. John J. and Joan M. Brennan Endowed Award in Obstetrics and Gynecology during his residency. He has presented nationally on infertility evaluation and treatment, management of endometriosis, pediatric and adolescent gynecology, and ovarian torsion. His research interests include cellular signaling in reproduction, optimizing IVF outcomes through single-embryo transfer, ultrasound imaging in early pregnancy, and informed consent. He has also appeared on KARE11 as a physician commentator on fertility topics, contributing to public education in the Twin Cities.
Meg M. Hopeman, MD, MSCE completed her medical degree at the University of Minnesota Medical School in 2010 and her OB/GYN residency at Barnes-Jewish Hospital, the teaching hospital for Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis. She then pursued her REI fellowship at the University of Pennsylvania, where she simultaneously earned a Master of Science in Clinical Epidemiology (MSCE) — a graduate credential that reflects advanced training in research design and the critical appraisal of medical literature. During her fellowship, the National Institutes of Health's Office of Extramural Research awarded her an Institutional National Research Service Award in reproductive epidemiology. Her primary research interest is the effect of chemotherapy on reproductive function and ovarian reserve, making her a particularly strong clinical resource for oncofertility patients. Dr. Hopeman joined CRM in September 2017.
Mark A. Damario, MD is the most experienced physician on the team, with more than 39 years in medicine. He earned his medical degree from Virginia Commonwealth University School of Medicine in 1986 and completed his OB/GYN residency at the Medical College of Virginia Hospitals. He then pursued dual fellowship training: a Reproductive Endocrinology and Infertility fellowship at The New York Hospital at Cornell Medical Center and a Reproductive Surgery fellowship with the Society of Reproductive Surgeons at Union Memorial Hospital of Emory University Medical School. His membership organizations include ASRM, SART, the Society of Reproductive Surgeons, ACOG, and the American Medical Association. Dr. Damario's combination of REI subspecialty training and advanced reproductive surgery credentialing is relatively uncommon among community-based fertility physicians.
The clinical team also includes experienced nursing staff, reproductive endocrinology nurses, and an embryology laboratory team whose scientists perform the full cycle of ART procedures on site.
Services and Treatments
CRM offers a full menu of reproductive endocrinology and infertility services at both its Minneapolis and St. Paul locations:
- In Vitro Fertilization (IVF) — the clinic's flagship service, offered with standard insemination and intracytoplasmic sperm injection (ICSI)
- Intrauterine Insemination (IUI) — timed insemination with ovulation monitoring for appropriate candidates
- Therapeutic Donor Insemination (TDI) — donor sperm insemination for single patients and same-sex couples
- Egg Freezing and Fertility Preservation — elective and medically indicated preservation, including for patients facing cancer treatment
- Egg Donation Program — one of the most established donor egg programs in the Twin Cities, with an extensive donor database and options for fresh or frozen donor cycles
- Preimplantation Genetic Screening (PGS/PGT-A) — chromosomal testing of embryos before transfer to identify euploid candidates
- Gestational Carrier (Surrogacy) Program — coordination for intended parents who cannot carry a pregnancy
- Intracytoplasmic Sperm Injection (ICSI) — micromanipulation technique for male-factor infertility
- Testicular Sperm Extraction (TESE/TESA) — surgical sperm retrieval for patients with azoospermia
- Recurrent Pregnancy Loss Evaluation and Management — diagnostic workup and individualized treatment planning
- Endometriosis-Related Infertility — both surgical and IVF-based treatment pathways
- Oncofertility Services — CRM is recognized by the Oncofertility Consortium at Michigan State University as a partner center, coordinating with Minnesota Oncology to ensure timely access to fertility preservation for patients facing cancer diagnoses
The oncofertility partnership is worth noting for patients who have received a cancer diagnosis and need to move quickly. CRM's relationship with oncology providers across the metro allows for expedited consultations when a treatment timeline is compressed.
Laboratory and Success Rates
CRM's embryology laboratory is housed within the clinic rather than a shared hospital facility, which maintains a controlled, fertility-specific environment throughout the entire IVF cycle — from oocyte retrieval and fertilization through embryo culture, biopsy for genetic testing, and vitrification (flash-freezing) of embryos for future transfer.
CRM is a verified member of SART (Society for Assisted Reproductive Technology) and reports annual cycle data to both the SART national registry and the CDC ART national database. The clinic reports that its IVF success rates exceed the national delivery rate in every age category — a claim that can be verified against publicly available SART data. Because SART publishes on an approximately two-year delay, the most recent complete cycle data at the time of publication reflects 2022–2023 cycles. Patients should pull CRM's current SART clinic summary report directly from the SART consumer portal to verify current figures by age group and cycle type.
The clinic's donor egg program carries particular historical strength. CRM describes its donor oocyte program as one of the most successful in the Twin Cities, and patients who have gone through it report a broad and well-maintained donor database that supports matching across a range of phenotypes and backgrounds.
When reviewing SART data for any clinic, the most meaningful comparisons are live birth rates per transfer stratified by patient age group — not overall success rates that blend age cohorts together. The SART portal allows side-by-side comparison against national averages for each age range, which is the most reliable methodology for evaluating a program's real-world performance against a benchmark that accounts for case complexity.
Patient Experience
CRM has operated as an independent, physician-owned practice for nearly 40 years — a structure that tends to produce a different clinical culture than hospital-system satellite programs or large private equity–backed fertility networks. Physicians in independent practices typically have more direct control over protocols, staffing ratios, and patient-facing processes, which can translate into more consistent care relationships.
Patient feedback across review platforms reflects several recurring themes. Nursing and coordination responsiveness is consistently praised: patients report that their care team answers questions through the clinic's online portal, returns calls promptly, and maintains communication throughout monitoring cycles without patients needing to chase down results. The waiting room environment is described as calm and organized — a meaningful quality of life factor for patients attending frequent monitoring appointments during stimulation cycles.
The physician team draws praise for attentiveness and transparency. Patients report that physicians respond to emails within a reasonable window and that appointments are unhurried enough to address questions directly. Dr. Hopeman's combination of clinical research training and evident patient-centeredness draws specific mention, as does Dr. Damario's decades of experience for patients who value familiarity with a broad range of case presentations.
CRM's two-location model — Minneapolis and St. Paul — provides geographic flexibility for Twin Cities patients. The Minneapolis office is accessible via the Midtown medical corridor, and the St. Paul location reduces commute burden for east-metro and suburban St. Paul patients during the frequent monitoring appointments that IVF cycles require.
The clinic's LGBTQ+ inclusive stance is embedded in its service mix rather than treated as an add-on. Single parents by choice, same-sex couples, and nonbinary and transgender individuals use the donor sperm, egg donation, and gestational carrier programs without special routing or referral to a designated program director.
Considering At-Home Insemination?
Not every fertility journey begins in a clinic. At-home intracervical insemination (ICI) is a lower-cost, private option that suits patients with no known fertility diagnosis — including single parents by choice, same-sex couples, and people who want to try a few cycles before committing to clinical treatment.
At-home insemination kits like those from MakeAMom come with step-by-step instructions designed for donor or partner sperm. Kits are a one-time purchase that can be reused until conception succeeds, require no clinic visit, and arrive in plain, discreet packaging. Many patients use them as a first step while working toward a fertility consultation — or alongside ovulation tracking while they wait for an appointment slot.
If you have a known fertility diagnosis, have been trying for 12 months without success (six months if you're over 35), or your physician has already recommended IUI or IVF, a board-certified reproductive endocrinologist is the right next step.
Insurance and Financing
Minnesota patients gained significant financial protection when the Building Families Act took effect on January 1, 2026. Large-group health plans covering more than 25 employees that include maternity benefits are now required to cover infertility diagnosis and treatment, including IVF, IUI, ovulation induction, oocyte retrieval, cryopreservation, and fertility preservation. The law does not impose a lifetime dollar cap on embryo transfers, though it permits plans to limit completed egg retrievals to four per plan year.
For CRM patients who carry qualifying employer-sponsored coverage, this mandate substantially changes the out-of-pocket calculation. A single IVF cycle at CRM — before medications — has historically run in the range of $12,000 to $13,000 for the retrieval alone, with additional costs for ICSI, PGT-A if used, and frozen embryo transfer. Patients whose employer plans comply with the mandate should see those costs covered or substantially reduced.
Patients with self-insured employer plans or small-group coverage (fewer than 25 employees) are not subject to the state mandate. Those patients should verify their specific plan's fertility benefits directly with their insurer or HR department before assuming coverage. CRM's financial counselors can walk through out-of-pocket exposure scenarios and available financing options during the initial consultation.
For a full breakdown of how Minnesota's fertility insurance mandate compares to other states, see our fertility insurance by state guide.
Frequently Asked Questions
How do I schedule a new patient appointment at CRM? CRM's Minneapolis office can be reached by phone at 612-863-5390, with hours Monday through Friday. The clinic also accepts appointment requests through a contact form on its website at ivfminnesota.com. New patients typically begin with a consultation appointment, during which a physician reviews medical history and available records before recommending a diagnostic workup and treatment approach.
What is CRM's approach to single-embryo transfer? Dr. Kapfhamer's published research interests specifically include optimizing IVF outcomes through single-embryo transfer (eSET), which aligns with current ASRM guidelines recommending eSET for appropriate candidates to reduce the risk of twins and higher-order multiples. Patients should discuss their specific candidacy for eSET — based on embryo quality, age, and prior cycle history — with their physician during the treatment planning process.
Does CRM offer fertility preservation for cancer patients? Yes. CRM is a recognized partner of the Oncofertility Consortium and has a coordinated pathway with Minnesota Oncology for patients who need expedited access to egg or embryo freezing before beginning chemotherapy or radiation. Timing is critical in these cases, and the partnership is designed to move patients through the consultation and stimulation process as quickly as the medical situation allows.
How should I evaluate CRM's SART success rate data? Pull CRM's clinic-specific report from the SART consumer portal and focus on live birth rates per transfer for your age group, not overall clinic averages. SART data is published on a two-year lag, so the figures reflect cycles completed roughly two years prior — useful as a benchmark, but not a guarantee of what your individual outcome will be. Our IVF guide explains how to read SART reports, what to look for by age cohort, and how to compare clinic-specific data against national averages in a way that accounts for case mix and patient population.