Women who have been struggling to get pregnant have to put their fertility procedures on hold due to the coronavirus pandemic.

All elective surgeries have been suspended in New York state, and that includes procedures related to IVF.

As of last Monday, the American Society of Reproductive Medicine advised all fertility clinics to stop all new treatments for the next two to four weeks. That includes the transfer of embryos and the retrieval of new eggs.

Patients say having to put their dreams of having a baby on hold is devastating.

Erin Zelles and her husband started IVF in December and were set to transfer one of their embryos in April.

"As of now, we're just heartbroken," said Zelles.

The couple's doctor is Steven Palter, director of Gold Coast IVF in Woodbury.

"This has never happened for any medical procedure, of any sort on the globe, ever, where a whole specialty was told globally - stop," said Palter.

There is a sign on the door of the clinic which says "Stop. Do not enter the clinic. Call ahead before going in." This is for the patients who had finished the IVF treatments and are pregnant.

"We're just seeing patients one by one, one at a time, mask, gloves," said Palter. "And we've moved everything to telehealth, video conferences and video consultations all day long. But nobody can start, everyone is just limbo."

Guidelines will be examined every two weeks.