Fil-Am doctor recognized as in vitro fertilization expert in US

A Filipino-American doctor is now recognized as the leading medical expert in infertility treatment in the United States, according to a report on news site Filipino Reporter. The report said Dr. Debra A. Keegan has "gained fame" as an expert in vitro fertilization (IVF), a process by which egg cells are fertilized by sperms outside the body, enabling otherwise childless couples to have a child. "I was just so fascinated by conception, beginnings of human development, going from two cells to a human being," said Keegan in the report. Keegan is a resource person at the Institute for Reproductive Medicine and Science of St. Barnabas, which is one of the leading fertility centers in the US. The report said even in childhood, Keegan knew that she wanted to become a doctor and that women's health would be the focus of her career. "I was always interested in women's health... That came from a very strong presence of women in my family," she said. "My grandmother was a very strong matriarchal figure. My mom is a very strong woman, her sister, my cousins... there's [a] lot of female influence and my interest in medicine just gravitated naturally towards women's health," she added. Pinoy grandfather Keegan's mother, Debbra Perez Monchik, a daughter of a Camarines Sur native, has been a nurse for 24 years now at Staten Island University Hospital. Keegan said she and her grandfather were close. She recalled: "[My grandfather] was a member of the American Defenders of Bataan and Corregidor and he would take me to places to celebrate Veterans Day." Even before obtaining her medical degree at the New York University in 2000, Keegan said she had planned to join her grandfather in visiting Bicol. His health, however, began to deteriorate, and in 2002, he died of cervical spinal cord compression at age 80. Despite her close ties with her cousins and other Filipino relatives, Keegan admitted that she looks different from them, even from her daughters, aged 7, 4, and 1. "My daughters look very Filipino," said Keegan, who is married to a dermatologist. In vitro fertilization Keegan described IVF as a "stressful" and "anxiety-provoking" process. "We understand that someone who's paying thousands of dollars for a cycle that may not work is extremely [psychologically] taxing psychologically," she said, adding that an IVF treatment costs from $10,000 to $15,000 per couple. She said IVF "may not be the answer" for those who are having infertility problems. "Some couples may just need ovulation induction wherein we help the woman ovulate and get her pregnant naturally. The male partner may have a problem with sperm," she pointed out. - KBK, GMA News