Dr. Christopher Herndon

Dr. Chris Herndon joined the Alta Bates IVF program in 2011 shortly after completing a fellowship in Reproductive Endocrinology & Infertility at UCSF. A native of California, he received his M.D. degree with honors at Yale University and underwent residency training at Brigham & Women’s Hospital and Massachusetts General Hospital at Harvard University.

Dr. Herndon is board-certified in Obstetrics & Gynecology and is on the faculty at UCSF. Trained at the cutting edge of contemporary IVF practice, Dr. Herndon brings to his scientific background an uncommon focus and commitment toward making high quality infertility services more accessible to all individuals in the Bay Area community.

As a clinical fellow, Dr. Herndon designed and initiated an innovative pilot program to provide access to affordable and effective assisted reproductive care for infertile patients from less affluent communities – a population largely not serviced by most fertility clinics.

The program succeeded through simplification of diagnostic and therapeutic procedures, minimizing both invasiveness and cost while optimizing outcomes, enabling couples to realize their dreams after years of infertility.

Dr. Herndon uniquely brings to the Bay Area expertise in milder, less costly and more patient-friendly approaches to IVF as well as true experience with natural and holistic approaches to healing.

Over the past decade, he has traveled extensively to some of the most remote regions of the Amazon to conduct groundbreaking research examining the medicinal plant knowledge and healing systems of its tribal peoples. Dr. Herndon collaborated with tribal shamans to develop an innovative approach for the integration of indigenous health practices into healthcare delivery. This program received international acclaim as "an extremely impressive example of integration of the two systems of health."

"For many, the impairment of one of life’s most natural and spontaneous processes is devastating. Far too often, the profound impact and consequences of infertility go unrecognized in our society and are further exacerbated by barriers that limit access to care. In my practice, I seek to bring hope through providing the highest level of empathetic and individualized care."

Alta Bates IVF Program provides the full range of infertility services, including IVF, ICSI, MESA, Donor Eggs, Gestational Surrogacy, IUI, Ovulation Induction and Reproductive Surgery. The program was established by Dr. Richard Chetkowski in 1984 and it operates in affiliation with Alta Bates Summit Medical Center in Berkeley, California. The Alta Bates IVF Program offers the best of clinical care to infertile couples, same-sex couples, single men and women in a warm, comfortable, and supportive community hospital setting. Each patient receives personalized care from a single highly experienced physician. Many of our patients have complex infertility factors or have failed treatments elsewhere, so they often benefit from the individualized care, meticulous attention to detail and the depth of clinical experience unique to our program.

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