Dallas sits at the geographic and demographic heart of the Sun Belt fertility market. More than 7.7 million people call the DFW metroplex home, and the region's rapid population growth has created sustained demand for reproductive medicine services. Within that crowded landscape, the Center for Reproductive Endocrinology — operating under the patient-facing brand Dallas Fertility Center at dallasfertilitycenter.com — has built a track record as one of the region's most trusted independent fertility practices. Formerly affiliated with the Sher Institute of Reproductive Medicine (SIRM-Dallas) before establishing its independent identity as CRE, the clinic is now a two-physician boutique practice located at 7777 Forest Lane in Dallas, drawing patients not just from across the Metroplex but from Oklahoma and Louisiana. As of 2026, the clinic holds a 4.9-star Google rating across more than 880 reviews — a figure that places it among the highest-rated fertility centers in Texas. That kind of patient satisfaction, sustained over hundreds of reviews, tells a story worth investigating for anyone evaluating fertility care in North Texas.
Physicians and Clinical Team
Dallas Fertility Center's clinical model is anchored by two board-certified reproductive endocrinologists and infertility (REI) specialists. The practice is deliberately small — two physicians, not ten — and that size is a feature of the care model, not a limitation.
Dr. Walid A. Saleh, MD founded the clinic after splitting from the national Sher Institute network. He completed his OB/GYN residency at Henry Ford Hospital in Detroit and a three-year fellowship in Reproductive Endocrinology and Infertility at Stanford University School of Medicine, finishing in 1996. He holds dual board certifications in Obstetrics and Gynecology and in the subspecialty of Reproductive Endocrinology and Infertility. His clinical focus areas include IVF, PCOS, male infertility, recurrent miscarriage, and women's fertility broadly.
Dr. Saleh's national recognition record is extensive. He carries the Expert Network Distinguished Doctor Designation, awarded to the top 3% of infertility specialists in the country. He has received the Patients' Choice Award and Compassionate Doctor Recognition for multiple consecutive years — distinctions given to fewer than 6% of U.S. physicians. US News & World Report, Castle Connolly, and the Consumer Research Council have each recognized him as a Top Doctor. On patient review platforms he holds 5-star ratings on both RateMDs and Vitals, reinforcing the same pattern visible on Google. Patients and colleagues consistently describe him as unusually direct, optimistic, and personable — a physician who uses warmth and even humor deliberately to reduce the anxiety that fertility treatment routinely produces.
Dr. Stephen Collins, MD joined the practice as a second REI and brings complementary strengths to the team. He graduated from Emory University School of Medicine and completed his OB/GYN residency at Yale School of Medicine before undertaking a fellowship in Reproductive Endocrinology and Infertility. Like Dr. Saleh, he holds board certifications in both OB/GYN and the REI subspecialty. He is affiliated with Medical City Dallas and has maintained an active academic research profile, having authored peer-reviewed publications on preimplantation genetic testing, precision reproductive medicine, and ethical dimensions of fertility care. Patient reviews highlight his combination of clinical depth and bedside manner. One recurring theme: patients who came to CRE after unsuccessful cycles at other clinics single out Dr. Collins's willingness to rethink prior protocols from scratch rather than defaulting to repetition.
The two-physician structure means patients at Dallas Fertility Center interact with a small, stable team from first consultation through retrieval and transfer. That continuity — seeing the same physician and nurse across monitoring appointments rather than whoever happens to be on-call — is a meaningful differentiator from higher-volume practices where care team assignments can shift week to week.
Services and Treatments
Dallas Fertility Center offers a full range of reproductive medicine services. For a two-physician independent practice, the breadth is notable:
- In Vitro Fertilization (IVF) — The clinic's flagship service, performed in an on-site embryology laboratory with ICSI available for male-factor cases
- Intrauterine Insemination (IUI) — For mild male factor, unexplained infertility, single recipients, and same-sex female couples using donor sperm
- Donor Egg IVF — A structured donor egg program for patients with diminished ovarian reserve, premature ovarian insufficiency, or age-related decline in egg quality
- Elective Egg Freezing — Planned fertility preservation for patients not yet ready to conceive
- Fertility Preservation After Illness — Oncofertility services for patients facing chemotherapy, radiation, or surgery that may compromise future fertility
- Gestational Surrogacy — Clinical coordination for intended parents and gestational carriers
- Preimplantation Genetic Testing (PGT) — Available for aneuploidy screening (PGT-A) and single-gene disorder detection (PGT-M)
- Gender Selection — Offered through embryo biopsy and chromosomal analysis
- LGBT Family Building — Including donor-sperm IUI, reciprocal IVF for female couples, and surrogacy pathways for male couples
- Rapid Fertility Screening — A one-day expedited diagnostic workup covering the core fertility assessment panels without extended waiting periods
- Female Fertility Testing — Ovarian reserve assessment, hormonal panels, and structural evaluation
- Recurrent Pregnancy Loss (RPL) Evaluation — Targeted workup and management for patients with histories of multiple pregnancy losses
- PRO-NOX™ Nitrous Oxide Pain Management — Available during in-office procedures as a patient comfort option, reducing anxiety without the recovery burden of IV sedation
For patients evaluating whether IVF is the right next step, our IVF guide covers protocols, timelines, and what to expect across a complete cycle.
Laboratory and Success Rates
Dallas Fertility Center operates an on-site embryology laboratory, which is the structural backbone of any serious IVF program. On-site labs allow egg retrievals, fertilization, extended embryo culture through the blastocyst stage, and PGT biopsy to be performed and monitored by the same clinical team managing patient care — without handoffs to a third-party or shared embryology facility. For patients, on-site laboratory control typically means faster communication on fertilization and embryo development reports and direct physician accountability for laboratory quality.
The clinic does not publish headline success-rate percentages on its public website, which is the responsible approach. As CRE notes directly, "a comparison of clinic success rates may not be meaningful because patient medical characteristics, treatment approaches, and entry criteria for ART may vary from clinic to clinic." A practice that accepts difficult cases — patients with prior failed cycles, significant male factor, or severe diminished ovarian reserve — will show different aggregate statistics than one that screens for optimal candidates. The appropriate way to evaluate CRE's outcomes is through the SART national registry, where the clinic's reported cycle data can be reviewed in context. The clinic's SART reporting can be accessed via the SART national outcomes database. The CDC also publishes annual ART data through its National ART Surveillance System (NASS), which offers an independent cross-reference. Patients should bring both reports to their consultation and discuss what the numbers mean for their specific diagnosis and age group.
Patient Experience
A 4.9-star Google rating across more than 880 reviews is statistically unusual for a fertility clinic. Fertility care generates more emotionally charged reviews than almost any other medical specialty — the stakes are high, the emotional investment is intense, and outcomes are never guaranteed. Most fertility practices accumulate a mix of deeply grateful reviews from patients who became pregnant and frustrated reviews from those who did not, regardless of how well the care was delivered. A sustained 4.9 average at significant volume suggests something structural about how the clinic manages the patient experience rather than just favorable selection of easy cases.
The themes that emerge consistently from CRE patient accounts: both physicians are accessible in a way patients find remarkable. Dr. Saleh in particular is described across dozens of reviews as warm, funny, and direct — someone who communicates prognosis honestly while maintaining an energy of realistic optimism that patients find sustaining during difficult cycles. Dr. Collins earns parallel praise for rigor and compassion, with multiple patients crediting him specifically with a willingness to reconsider prior protocols rather than repeating what failed elsewhere.
The clinic's operational structure reinforces the experience. Patients are assigned a consistent physician-nurse team rather than encountering rotating providers at each monitoring visit. The clinic offers a patient portal for communication and test results. Financial counselors are embedded in the intake process, meaning cost uncertainty — one of the most anxiety-generating aspects of fertility treatment — is addressed proactively rather than reactively. The PRO-NOX pain management system extends that patient-centered ethos into procedure rooms.
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
Texas has no state-mandated IVF insurance coverage law. Unlike states such as Illinois or Massachusetts that require employer health plans to cover infertility treatments including IVF, Texas leaves coverage entirely to employer discretion. For the majority of Dallas-area patients, fertility treatment will be a significant out-of-pocket cost, with meaningful exceptions for employees of large tech companies or other employers that have voluntarily added fertility benefits.
In the Dallas market, a single fresh IVF cycle typically ranges from approximately $12,000 to $17,000 for the base cycle fee, before medications (generally $3,000–$6,000 depending on protocol and response) and any PGT testing (an additional $3,000–$6,000 for embryo biopsy and analysis). Total all-in costs for a medicated IVF cycle with PGT can approach $25,000 or more. Patients should request a full itemized fee schedule during the initial consultation — base cycle fee, monitoring, retrieval, lab fees, embryo storage, and transfer should each be listed separately.
Dallas Fertility Center offers multiple financing pathways. The Fertility Access Program provides structured, affordable treatment options for patients who need cost flexibility. The clinic works with third-party financing providers and has dedicated financial counselors who handle insurance benefit verification, prior authorization where applicable, and financing paperwork. Patients coming to a first consultation should bring their insurance card and any available fertility benefit documentation from their employer's HR portal.
For a broader picture of the Texas fertility landscape — including which insurers in the state have voluntarily added IVF riders and what patients can do when employer coverage is unavailable — see our guide to fertility clinics in Texas.
Frequently Asked Questions
Who are the physicians at Dallas Fertility Center / CRE Dallas?
The practice has two board-certified reproductive endocrinologists: Dr. Walid A. Saleh, MD — the clinic's founder, Stanford REI fellowship graduate, and nationally recognized Top Doctor — and Dr. Stephen Collins, MD, an Emory and Yale-trained REI with an active academic research profile. Both physicians see patients through all stages of treatment, from initial consultation through retrieval and transfer.
What is the clinic's history and how does it differ from the old SIRM-Dallas?
Dallas Fertility Center operates as the independent rebranding of what was previously SIRM-Dallas (Sher Institute of Reproductive Medicine). When the practice separated from the national Sher network, it relaunched as the Center for Reproductive Endocrinology (CRE). The physician team, the on-site laboratory, and the physical location have remained continuous through that transition — the rebranding reflects ownership and network structure, not a change in clinical personnel or approach.
Does Dallas Fertility Center accept patients who have failed IVF at other clinics?
Yes — CRE explicitly positions itself as a practice willing to take on complex cases and patients who have been unsuccessful elsewhere. Patients coming with prior failed cycles should prepare a complete treatment history including cycle protocols, stimulation responses, fertilization rates, embryo quality grading, and any prior genetic or immunological testing results. The consultation will be significantly more productive with that documentation in hand.
How does Dallas Fertility Center handle the cost of IVF for uninsured patients?
The clinic offers the Fertility Access Program, dedicated financial counselors, and flexible financing arrangements. Texas does not mandate IVF insurance coverage, so the clinic has built its financial support infrastructure around the reality that most patients are self-pay. Patients should request a complete itemized treatment cost estimate — covering all components from monitoring through transfer — at the first consultation, and ask specifically about package pricing options that may offer savings over a la carte billing for multi-cycle patients.