The Fertility Center of Las Vegas — Fertlo Editorial Review

4.3 stars · 297 reviews · Las Vegas, NV

When Nevada's governor signed no fertility insurance mandate into law, it could have been a deterrent to patients. Instead, Las Vegas built something unexpected: one of the West's most established fertility destinations. The Fertility Center of Las Vegas (FCLV) opened in 1988 as the first infertility practice in Southern Nevada, and nearly four decades later it remains the city's most recognized program — drawing patients from across the Mountain West, including Idaho, Utah, and Arizona, states where specialist access is thin and local clinic options are limited.

With a 4.3-star rating across 297 reviews and SART-reported outcomes that have historically exceeded national averages, FCLV occupies a distinct position in the regional landscape. This review examines the physicians, the program, the published numbers, and what out-of-state patients should realistically expect.

The Physician Team

FCLV's three-physician roster carries more than a century of combined training across some of the country's most competitive residency and fellowship programs.

Bruce Shapiro, MD, PhD is the clinic's founder and Medical Director. He completed his residency at Yale New Haven Hospital and his fellowship in Reproductive Endocrinology and Infertility at Yale University, then earned a doctoral degree from the University of Amsterdam. A researcher as well as a clinician, Dr. Shapiro is credited with being among the first U.S. physicians to document blastocyst transfer — a technique that allows the transfer of fewer embryos without sacrificing pregnancy rates — and with pioneering the use of GnRH agonist triggers to eliminate ovarian hyperstimulation syndrome (OHSS) in high-responder patients. He currently holds an academic appointment as Director of the Division of Reproductive Endocrinology and Infertility at the University of Nevada School of Medicine, where he supervises resident training. His lab's work on post-thaw extended culture following frozen oocyte preservation has influenced egg-freezing protocols across the field.

Carrie Bedient, MD is Nevada's first female board-certified reproductive endocrinologist and a nationally recognized voice in fertility medicine. She trained at Case Western Reserve / Cleveland Clinic for residency and completed her fellowship at Emory University School of Medicine (2012–2015). Dr. Bedient serves on faculty at the UNLV Kirk Kerkorian School of Medicine and directs the REI program at Mountainview OB/Gyn Residency. Her published research spans frozen versus fresh embryo transfer outcomes, robotics in reproductive surgery, and adolescent fertility preservation. She has received the PCRS Scholarship Award, Excellence in Research Award, and Outstanding Research Proposal Award. Many patients know her as co-founder of the Fertility Docs Uncensored podcast, where she decodes clinical decision-making in plain language — a quality that carries directly into the consultation room.

Leah Kaye, MD is Southern Nevada's second female board-certified REI. She earned her medical degree from the University of Maryland School of Medicine, then completed both her residency and fellowship — along with a master's degree in clinical and translational research — at the University of Connecticut. Her clinical focus areas include obesity-related infertility, premature ovarian insufficiency, thyroid disease, egg freezing, and transgender fertility services. She is a member of ASRM, ACOG, and the Pacific Coast Reproductive Society, and received the New England Fertility Society Fellows Grant during training.

Full Service Line

FCLV offers a comprehensive menu of assisted reproductive technology (ART) services:

• IVF with PGT — The lab's adoption of blastocyst culture and elective single embryo transfer (eSET) is reflected in a 2023 eSET rate above 98% in patients under 35, driving a singleton birth rate of 95.9% in donor egg recipients.
• Donor Egg IVF — Managed through The Donor Branch of FCLV, a dedicated affiliate program with its own donor coordination staff. The 2023 SART data shows a 63.2% live birth rate across 122 donor egg recipient starts — a competitive figure.
• Preimplantation Genetic Testing (PGT-A/PGT-M) — Available for aneuploidy screening, monogenic disease, and structural rearrangements. PGT is standard for patients with recurrent pregnancy loss or repeated implantation failure.
• Gestational Surrogacy — The clinic has supported gestational carrier cycles since its early years and maintains active coordination partnerships.
• Embryo Donation — Both donating and receiving embryos are supported.
• IUI — Intrauterine insemination with partner or donor sperm.
• Egg Freezing — Fertility preservation for elective, medical (oncology), and gender-affirming purposes.
• Fertility Preservation for Cancer Patients — Rapid-cycle protocols are available for patients facing chemotherapy or radiation on short timelines.
• LGBTQ Family Building — FCLV has explicitly welcomed same-sex and transgender patients since its founding in 1988, making it one of the longest-running LGBTQ-affirming fertility programs in the country. Services for same-sex female couples (IUI, reciprocal IVF), same-sex male couples (gestational surrogacy), and transgender individuals are all supported, with multilingual staff (English, French, Chinese, and Spanish).

SART Outcomes: 2023 Data

The most recent complete SART report (2023) covers 786 total cycles. Selected results from patients using their own eggs:

The cryopreservation rate for patients under 35 is 87.1%, indicating a lab environment well-suited to freeze-all protocols — common when PGT testing or endometrial timing is planned. The 63.5% cumulative live birth rate for patients under 35 reflects all transfers from a single retrieval cycle, not just the first attempt, and is an important figure for patients trying to understand their realistic odds over a full treatment course.

For a deeper dive into how age affects IVF outcomes nationally, see our guide on IVF success rates by age.

Las Vegas as a Fertility Destination

Nevada has no state-mandated fertility insurance coverage — a reality that affects cost planning for most patients. See our full breakdown at IVF cost by state and the fertility insurance guide for a state-by-state comparison that includes what Nevada's lack of mandate means in practice.

Despite the absence of a mandate, Las Vegas has evolved into a regional hub for patients from neighboring states with even fewer clinic options. Idaho has only a handful of reproductive endocrinologists statewide; rural Utah and Arizona patients regularly drive or fly to Las Vegas rather than waiting months for a closer appointment. The city's infrastructure — direct flights, affordable hotels, short-term furnished rentals — makes multi-week monitoring cycles feasible for out-of-state patients in ways that remote clinic locations cannot match. FCLV formalizes this with explicit international patient services and financial counseling for patients navigating treatment without insurance coverage.

For patients evaluating all their Nevada options, the Nevada fertility clinics directory provides a full regional comparison.

What to Consider Before Choosing FCLV

FCLV's strengths are clear: a founding physician who shaped modern IVF protocols nationally, two additional fellowship-trained REIs with strong academic ties, SART data that trends above national averages, and a program designed from the start to serve diverse family types. The Donor Branch affiliate gives donor egg seekers access to a dedicated coordination team rather than a shared intake queue.

The clinic's volume (786 cycles in 2023) is moderate by major metro standards — large enough to signal a functioning, experienced team, but not so large that patients become a number. Anecdotally, this size tends to correlate with continuity: you are more likely to interact with your own physician than with a rotating pool of associates.

Prospective patients should review the SART data directly at sartcorsonline.com, ask the clinic to contextualize their numbers against national benchmarks for their specific age and diagnosis, and verify current pricing with the financial counseling team before beginning a cycle. The how to choose a fertility clinic guide outlines exactly which questions to ask during a consultation to make the most of a first appointment.

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.

Frequently Asked Questions

Does The Fertility Center of Las Vegas accept patients from out of state?

Yes. FCLV has operated an international and out-of-state patient program since its early years, with services designed for patients who cannot easily relocate. The clinic's Las Vegas location is served by one of the busiest airports in the United States, making it accessible from most Western states without a connecting flight. Staff can coordinate monitoring cycles, help with local accommodation logistics, and provide multilingual support for international patients.

What LGBTQ family-building services does FCLV offer?

The Fertility Center of Las Vegas has welcomed LGBTQ patients since its founding in 1988. Current services include IUI with donor sperm, reciprocal IVF (where one partner provides eggs and the other carries the pregnancy), gestational surrogacy coordination for same-sex male couples, and fertility preservation for transgender patients before gender-affirming hormone therapy or surgery. Dr. Bedient has published research on third-party reproduction for LGBTQ patients, and Dr. Kaye lists transgender fertility services as a specific clinical focus.

How do FCLV's SART success rates compare to national averages?

The most recent complete SART data (2023) shows a 63.5% cumulative live birth rate for patients under 35 using their own eggs — a figure the clinic has historically described as above the national average. The donor egg live birth rate was 63.2% across 122 recipient starts. Meaningful comparison requires matching patients by age and diagnosis; SART's public tool at sartcorsonline.com allows direct clinic-to-national-average comparisons. FCLV's high eSET rate (98%+) and cryopreservation rate (87.1% in patients under 35) suggest a lab philosophy oriented toward minimizing multiple gestation rather than maximizing per-cycle numbers.