The People of AFS: Other Specialists

Jane Rosenthal, M.D.

an Associate of American Fertility Services, P.C., is a psychiatrist who has made the emotional issues surrounding reproduction and infertility a central focus of her clinical practice. After receiving her medical degree in 1986 from George Washington University Medical School in Washington D.C., Dr. Rosenthal completed her medical internship at Beth Israel Hospital and then fulfilled her residency in psychiatry at Columbia Presbyterian Medical Center in New York City, where she also well earned a fellowship in consultation liaison psychiatry and behavioral medicine. Dr. Rosenthal received her certification in Psychoanalysis from Columbia University Center for Psychoanalytic Training and Research in 1996.

Beginning in 1990, Dr. Rosenthal initiated and developed psychological support services for the division of Reproductive Endocrinology at Columbia University College of Physicians & Surgeons, where she provided counseling and support for patients undergoing ART procedures, as well as for the physicians and staff. She also helped to develop an approach to counseling egg donors and recipients when egg donation first became an option for the treatment of infertility there in the early 1990s. Dr. Rosenthal remains on the faculty at Columbia University College of Physicians & Surgeons, supervising and teaching psychiatric residents.

In her private practice, Dr. Rosenthal regularly counsels patients participating in IVF and donor egg programs. She is acutely aware of the feelings of stress, grief, and loss of control that infertility patients often experience, and her compassionate one-on-one sessions have helped hundreds of women and men to understand and address a broad range of challenges associated with infertility treatment, pregnancy loss, and parenting after infertility. Dr. Rosenthal has also assisted couples with difficult decisions regarding alternative family-building options, including egg or sperm donation and adoption.

Dr. Rosenthal has written and spoken extensively in the field of psychiatry and reproductive medicine, with a special interest in infertility and the desire for childbearing in women of advanced reproductive age. She recently contributed an extensive review chapter on the psychological aspects of egg donation to the medical text book, Principles of Oocyte and Embryo Donation. AFS is proud that Dr. Rosenthal lends her deeply compassionate assistance to our practice, and we regularly refer patients who may benefit from personalized emotional counseling before, during, or after infertility treatment to her highly capable care.