Welcome to Fertility & Sterility Roundtable! Each week, we will host a discussion with the authors of "Views and Reviews" and "Fertile Battle" articles published in a recent issue of Fertility & Sterility.
This week, we welcome Dr. Richard Paulson and Dr. Jamie Kuhlman to discuss Restorative Reproductive Medicine (RRM) — a field that describes itself as focusing on identifying and treating the root causes of infertility rather than bypassing or suppressing natural reproductive processes. In this episode, we explore whether RRM represents a truly novel approach to fertility care, examine its religious and political influences, and consider the potential risks the movement poses to access to evidence-based fertility treatments, including IVF.
Dr. Richard Paulson holds the Alia Tutor Chair in Reproductive Medicine and is Professor and vice-chair in the Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology at the University of Southern California, where he is also Director of the Fellowship in Reproductive Endocrinology and Infertility. He is past president of the American Society for Reproductive Medicine, and of the Pacific Coast Reproductive Society. Dr. Paulson has authored over 300 scientific articles and has received more than 35 awards for research and scientific presentations. He is the current Editor-in-Chief of "Fertility & Sterility Reports."
Dr. Kuhlman is a Licensed Psychologist and the Owner of Courageous Path Counseling, PLLC, in Nashville, TN. She specializes in infertility, postpartum, and maternal mental health through individual counseling and psychological evaluations for third-party reproduction. She is also a PRIMED Scholar with the American Society of Reproductive Medicine, focusing on advocacy within reproductive healthcare.
The unscientific nature of the arguments of "Restorative Reproductive Medicine" and why we need to understand them https://www.fertstertreports.org/article/S2666-3341(25)00111-4/fulltext
The illusion of reproductive choice: how restorative reproductive medicine violates reproductive autonomy and informed consent https://www.fertstert.org/article/S0015-0282(25)00596-5/fulltext
View Fertility and Sterility at https://www.fertstert.org/