SHEMER Medical Center

SHEMER Medical Center

Located in Haifa, Israel, SHEMER Medical Center has more than 20 years’ experience in offering first–class medical services to patients from all over the world. The medical treatment plans are uniquely tailored on a patient–to–patient basis, by combining the leading physicians with the leading state–of–the–art facilities for the specific procedure indicated.

Amongst the Highest Medical Standards in the World

Israel’s medical facilities are recognized throughout the world as leaders in the science of medicine and quality of medical care and services provided. The SHEMER group has been involved and connected with the leading hospitals in Israel for many years.

Immediate Access to Treatment

Our patients are our first priority! Shemer’s patients never have to wait on any lengthy waiting lists, preventing further uneasiness, discomfort and additional health risks. Since we plan every patient's treatment individually, we devote our efforts to make sure that they receive the highest quality treatment at the earliest possible opportunity.

Personalized Assistance and Support

Our patients are never alone – each and every one of our patients and their family member can relax, knowing that a personal medical associate, fluent in their mother tongue, accompanies them throughout the each step of their stay. The personal medical associate organizes even the most specific details, ensuring that the patient feels comfortable and as much at home as possible!

The Miracle of Reproduction Starts Here…

IVF is the major treatment in infertility which brought happiness to many thousands of childless couples during the thirty years since it has been applied by the British researchers Steptoe & Edwards.

In vitro fertilization (IVF) is used when other methods of assisted reproductive technology have failed, in both cases of either male or female infertility. Oocytes are retrieved from the woman’s ovaries after having been hormonally stimulated, then fertilized by sperm in the laboratory. A day after, the fertilized eggs – FRESH EMBRYOS – that have properly developed, are transferred to the future mother’s uterus in the intent to establish a successful pregnancy. 10–12 days after the re–implantation a blood test for HCG would hopefully result positive. Since several oocytes are fertilized during the process, in many cases some are kept deeply frozen in liquid nitrogen for many years, to be thawed when the family wishes to expand, or if the first transfer failed. Once pregnancy is achieved and holds the first trimester, it is treated as any other pregnancy, yet the baby is considered “very precious”, because of the complicated procedure, following years of disappointments and frustrations many times. In some cases, since more than one embryo was transferred, a multiple pregnancy develops. Occasionally, if necessary and at the couple’s request, in cases of triplets or more, the specialists might suggest to reduce the number. Fetal reduction, leaving just two babies to develop further, improves their chances to arrive safely to birth after full–term pregnancy, but creates a new risk – premature delivery or even abortion. In order to avoid these risks, in some countries (England for instance) only two embryos are transferred to the future mother’s uterus by law. We do not have such law, but couples can always decide with the medical team on the number of transferred embryos.

The Wonder of Embryo Creation Happens Even in the Most Complicated Cases

ICSI – Intracytoplasmic Sperm Injection is becoming more and more advanced treatment option. In cases of impaired sperm structure and/or motility, available now is a newly developed micromanipulation technique – ICSD. Under a super–powerful microscope the slow sperm is helped directly into the oocyte. This method is a huge breakthrough in the treatment of male infertility, enabling pregnancies that were impossible to achieve before. Sperm is now retrieved even in cases of aspermic ejaculate – a complete lack of sperm cells in the ejaculated fluid, either from the sperm ducts, or directly from a testicular biopsy (tissue sample). In fact, it is our pride that an Israeli team, headed by Prof. Shlomo Mashiach, one of the greatest researchers of infertility, to have firstly achieved pregnancy from testicular tissue in the world! Once retrieved, one sperm is used in each ICSI and the rest are kept deeply frozen for further trials if and when needed. ICSI is a procedure performed by specially trained and exceptionally skilled doctors, using ultra expensive state–of–the–art equipment.

The most invasive treatment option “ZIFT – Zygote Intra–Fallopian Transfer” is also performed here. Considered the most invasive of all infertility treatments – zygote intrafallopian transfer (ZIFT) – is the choice of less than one percent of all couples who turn to assisted reproductive technology. Still, the method can work well for some couples — over 1,000 ZIFT babies are born each year. ZIFT involves invasive techniques, such as deep general anesthesia and laparoscopy – a surgical procedure used in order to plant the zygotes into the tubes, located deep in the lower abdomen. But when everything else has been tried and failed, the embryos are transferred directly into the Fallopian tubes, with considered success rates. Among the pioneers who firstly dared using this method, were some of our leading teams in this field too. Want to “GLIMPSE INSIDE” the medical center’s “ATMOSPHERE”? Here is the link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W6q2os8K28w