I was in EXACTLY your friend's situation ~2 years ago. In fact I went to see Dr. Surrey who was recommended by so many other posters. He said I should get the fibroid out before attempting IVF - not that IVF might not work even with the fibroid, but it reduces the odds and IVF is expensive and time consuming (tick-tock tick-tock!)so he thought I would be better off removing it. After considering several other options, I had a myomectomy done by my regular (totally fabulous) OB/GYN, Dr. Margaret Bates (at Good Sam, downtown - the location is a drag, but for the best, I recommend the drive.) She recommended a traditional surgical approach because that way she could be the most cautious about not affecting the uterus. Also, as a bonus, she could look around and see what else was going on in there, tested my tubes, etc. Thank goodness she did, because while she was in there she found some endometriosus(sp?)and a cyst, all of which she was able to clean out during the same surgery. One month later - you guessed it - I was pregnant - without IVF. And now I have a beautiful 16 month old baby boy!