Peter Horvath, MD, FACOG
Founder and Director
Certified by the American Board of Obstetrics and Gynecology in the Specialty of Obstetrics and Gynecology and the Subspecialty of Reproductive Endocrinology and Infertility.
Download Horvath’s Complete CV (PDF)
I have been a resident of the Capital District since coming here as a freshman medical student at the Albany Medical College in 1978. My decision to pursue a career in Reproductive Medicine became clearer as my training in Obstetrics and Gynecology progressed during my residency between 1982–1986. I realized then, that the field of Reproductive Endocrinology was just coming into its own, and that the processes of assisted reproduction and in vitro fertilization (IVF) were truly achieving successes that were unheard of just a few years previously. Miracle babies! It was very exciting to me as a senior OB–GYN resident; yet I knew that I had to pursue my subspecialty training outside of the region. I left the area from 1986–1988 and received clinical, laboratory and research training at the University of Medicine and Dentistry, Robert Wood Johnson Medical School in New Brunswick, New Jersey.
All the while, I had been considering that I might return to the Capital District after my training, because I knew that the region did not enjoy assisted reproductive technology services at the time. As luck would have it, I was invited to join the faculty at the Albany Medical College in 1988, and started the first IVF program there. We were blessed with early success, and had a successful pregnancy in one of the first 3 patients that we performed embryo transfer on in December 1988. Delivery was in August 1989–a healthy baby boy!
After a career in academic medicine spanning until July 1997, I made a difficult decision to go into private practice with my wife, Virginia Giugliano, M.D., a gynecologist. Perhaps the primary reason for the change was to gain bureaucratic and administrative control over my practice–aspects that are lacking in a large medical center. Medicolegal and reimbursement issues drive many physicians and practitioners to spend fewer minutes with their patients just to keep their offices running. These pressures were certainly everyday encumbrances at my academic practice. My hope and vision was to have a small, high–tech, reproductive endocrinology and infertility practice where efficiencies in management could hopefully be translated into continued high–touch practice styles. I certainly feel that we have been successful in this goal, and strive to make it a continued reality at Albany IVF. Our practice has evolved over the years with dramatic changes in 2003. We took over the oversight of the laboratory services and built a new state–of–the–art IVF laboratory. Additionally, we started our Wellness Center where our goal is to optimize patient care at the crossroads of traditional Western medical care, and alternative therapeutic models.
On a more personal note, my wife and I were ready to start our family at about the time that we were making the decision to start our practice. As God would have it, we became all–too familiar with the heartbreak, strain, emotional turmoil and decision–making that are a part of a couple’s everyday life when they are living with an infertility/subfertility diagnosis. While I had over a decade’s experience counseling couples about the importance of embracing alternative paths (such as adoption) to family–building early in their infertility care, it was time for me and my wife to experience this advise first–hand!
Despite poor odds, the happy ending as of this writing is that we are now blessed with two wonderful children Peter Jr., and Emma Adriana. Both were conceived through technologies in the practice and with God’s Good Grace.