UCI Fertility Clinic

* We were patients of Dr. Ricardo Asch at the UCI Center for Reproductive Health for probably as long as anyone. During the period between 1986 and 1993 we tried numerous procedures in our efforts to have children and had extensive contact with the center.

The image one receives from reading the papers is of a jet-setting doctor running all over the globe, stopping by at the center just long enough to operate on desperate couples who will mortgage their futures in an attempt to have a child. The truth as we know it (and we were there) was far less exciting.

We knew a physician who well understood the financial impact the cost of the procedures put on his patients, knew how important having a child was to them and knew that they looked to him to deliver a miracle. That burden weighed heavy on him. Our overriding image is of him in his surgical gown, eyes sunken and exhausted after a day of working with his patients.

Dr. Asch was always there to explain the pros and cons of every procedure. Every time we needed to meet with him and go over questions he took the time out of an incredibly busy schedule to patiently respond for as long as we needed. He was always realistic and never gave us inflated prospects of success. He was compassionate, and hurt for us when a procedure did not work. Rather than continuously pushing his procedures, he also advised us to look at adoption. He often stated that he did not have all the answers and that so much in his field was experimentation.

We never once saw him flaunt wealth, although we had no doubt he did well financially. And why not? Someone who is one of the best in the world at what he does is generally highly compensated.

We have two children (Carly, age 5 and Quinn, age 1) who have been a joy from the moment of their birth. Without Dr. Asch, they would have never entered this world. It is sad that this wonderful part of the work he has done is receiving so little attention.

JOHN and MEGAN McELROY

San Pedro