3 minute read
Meet The Recktenwald Family: Sharing a Life as Doctors
Photo by Kim Lind Photography
Story by Eve Marie Shahoian, Resident since 2013
Meet the Recktenwald Family: Sharing a Life as Doctors
www.DanvilleLivingCA.com
@DanvilleLivingCA
Only the healing art enables one to make a name for himself and at the same time give benefit to others is a Chinese proverb that closely connects to the work of medical doctors and is exactly the type of compassionate healing Drs. Aimee Eyvazzadeh and Matt Recktenwald know well. Aimee and Matt not only share a bond through the nature of their work, but they’re also married and parents to four beautiful children.
So how does one doctor meet and marry another doctor? Online, of course! Dr. Aimee Eyvazzadeh and Dr. Matt Recktenwald’s story is a bit different than most modern couples as it was one initially facilitated by Aimee’s mom. Yes, that’s right – Aimee’s mom did the online searching, and it turns out she knew her daughter well. Fast-forward some ten years later and the Drs. have a house full of love in West Danville where they are raising their children Luke (10), Matthias (7), Caroline (5) and Brianna (2). Danville is an area familiar to Dr. Aimee as she grew up in Alamo, attending Stone Valley Middle School and Monte Vista High School.
For the past decade, Dr. Aimee Eyvazzadeh (who is referred to professionally as Dr. Aimee) has been a fertility specialist in a private practice where she lovingly helps hundreds of patients each year. Meanwhile, Dr. Matt Recktenwald is an Emergency Room physician at San Ramon Regional Center and Kaiser in Walnut Creek. In addition to sharing a passion for medicine with her husband, Dr. Aimee also shares her life work with her father, Dr. Emil Eyvazzadeh. Dr. Aimee’s dad has been touching people’s lives as an OB/GYN for 45 years. It doesn’t stop there. Dr. Aimee’s sister Johnica is also part of the family affair in medicine. She works as an Anesthesiologist, which has meant there have been occasions where all three (father and sisters) have worked with the same patient in the operating room!
Dr. Aimee and her father Dr. Emil Eyvazzadeh work together.
Dr. Aimee graduated from UCLA School of Medicine and completed her residency in Obstetrics and Gynecology at Harvard Medical School and Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center. She also completed a fellowship in Reproductive Endocrinology & Infertility at the University of Michigan and holds a Masters in Public Health Management and Policy from the University of Michigan. Dr. Aimee’s reach has extended far past Danville as she’s become one of America’s most well known fertility doctors. It’s her success rate at baby-making, combined with her hands-on approach to care, that attract attention and patients from all over the country, and beyond!
Dr. Aimee’s mission is to bring more love into the world by helping people conceive. Her patients endearingly call her their “Egg Whisperer.” As Dr. Aimee explains, “The best way to help people is through highly personalized fertility care and by treating each patient like they’re my only one.” Yet it wasn’t her baby-making that initially put her in the media spotlight, instead it was, and still is, her “Egg Freezing Parties.” Media outlets like People magazine, The Today Show, Good Morning America, CBS Morning, Fox Network, and countless local and international newscasts have highlighted her work in bringing awareness to fertility issues.
It’s through these “Egg Freezing Parties” and a weekly show broadcast on social media called “The Egg Whisperer Show” that Dr. Aimee extends her care beyond Danville. The weekly show offers simple answers to common fertility questions and concerns. Dr. Aimee thrives on educating people about fertility testing panels so they can understand their fertility, regardless of where they live. Above all else Dr. Aimee is passionate about imparting people with the knowledge that fertility is precious and must be preserved and protected!
In the Recktenwald family they live by the motto, "if you can believe it, you can achieve it." “It’s an honor to touch families’ lives as we do and for myself helping families expand. Our work is incredibly rewarding, making my husband and I feel even more closely connected to our own family and community.” They actively practice a positive mental attitude at home and with work. “We feel like it’s very important for our children to always give their best effort, to be supported, and to be loved unconditionally. It is never a dull moment in our home or my practice, and when it comes to activities, our kids run the show. Lacrosse, basketball, baseball, cub scouts, dance and the pet fish – there’s always something going on!” Recently, Matt’s sister Melissa Kosciusko and her husband Matt moved to the area with their son Ciaran and daughter Lyla. All of the cousins attend St. Isidore school, and the collective family has managed to have a child in each grade, from Kindergarten through 5th! The cousins will have wonderful memories growing up together. The Recktenwald family love living in the community because of the love and support they feel from their neighbors and schools.
