VIRGINIA

ANNANDALE
Pierre Asmar, Reproduction Endocrinologist
        Fertility & Reproductive Health Center 
        Annandale Square
        4316 L Evergreen Lane
        Annandale, Virginia 22003   
        satellite offices in Leesburg, Reston, & Hagerstown, MD)
        (703) 658-3100
        www.frhcfertility.com/
	This RE & his staff  are truly wonderful people. My husband & I
	have been trying to conceive for almost 12 yrs. now. I have been
	told to lose weight, your too fat thats why your not getting
	pregnant & I won't help you until you lose weight (I am 350+).
	I was about to give up but I found Dr. Asmar. I LOVE THIS MAN!
	He NEVER says anything to me about my weight nor does his staff.
	They all treat me great.  He always hugs me, he is a very caring
	man & is very genuine in his concern for your emotions &
	feelings.  All his staff are polite & friendly.  When I walk in
	there I don't feel unwanted or ashamed, they make me feel like I
	belong & don't look at me as a fat woman.  The furniture in the
	waiting area are large chairs like in a living room & a huge
	sofa.  I can't say enough about this center.  If you are
	overweight & need an RE, this is the place to go, there is NO
	discrimination here whatsoever. -- Tammy Houser  

CHARLOTTESVILLE
Katherine Bruno RD, CPT 
	3479 Preddy Creek Rd.
	Charlottesville, VA 22911
	phone/fax (434)923-4520
	ontrack26@earthlink.net
	Self-referred.
	Nutrition therapy & personal training for individuals and
	groups.  Presentations, group support, body image workshops.
	Personal history of an eating disorder, fully recovered for 15
	years.  Dedicated to helping others with eating disorders and
	body image disturbances.

Hannah Pearce, M.D. - Dermatologist
	Albemarle Dermatology Associates 
	3350 Berkmar Drive
	Charlottesville VA 22901       
	(434) 923-4651 phone
	She is very body positive in every way and has discussed
	concerns about conditions I felt were size-related very
	proactively, finding real solutions. Has never talked about
	weight loss or mentioned my weight. Office doesn't weigh.

Christina Riebeling - Therapist
	(434) 963-0324
	1008 E. Jefferson St.
	Charlottesville VA 22902
	She helps people with disordered eating, uses the parts
	psychology model, but with flexibility for client needs. We went
	through a lot of sessions and she learned about fat acceptance
	and HAES with me, was very interested in fat acceptance and
	grateful for the information I passed to her, inspired by sites
	like adipositivity.

Claudia Sencer - Nurse Practitioner, Certified Nurse Midwife, gyn checkups
	730 Lyons Ave
	Charlottesville, VA
	434-296-3332
	Sees people in her home office, has a long interview first with
	clothes on, and is accepting and complimentary of large-sized
	women. She refers out to Martha Jefferson for lab-work, and has
	been very responsive over email as well.

FAIRFAX
Becky Gross, LCSW, LMFT, Psychotherapist 
        Manassas, Fairfax, and Sterling, Virginia 
        (Washington, DC Metro area).
        888-903-9696, ext. 257
        703-903-9696, ext. 257
        She counsels with individuals, couples, families, and 
        adolescents. Clinical Member and Approved Supervisor of the 
        American Association for Marriage and Family Therapy, Member of
        the National Association of Social Workers as well as the
        Academy of Certified Social Workers. Although she counsels with
        people on many different issues, Becky believes in total
        size-acceptance and rejects the tendencies of many mental health
        professionals to blame their patients' problems on being fat.
        She can help with learning to accept one's own body and viewing
        it in a positive light, whatever the size. Becky has helped me
        and others with recovery from the emotional abuse of fat-phobic
        therapists and counselors, spouses, family members, friends,
        religious groups, employers, etc. -- Lynn B. (leoghanta@aol.com)

David Leonard, Family Practice
	3911 Old Lee Highway, #41C
	Fairfax, VA 22030
	703-352-7100
	Dr. Leonard's clinic makes every attempt to accommodate people
	of size. Including patients that weight over 800#. He never
	adtributes the cause of your illness to your weight alone. He
	never tells you that you must lose weight and treats larger
	people with the same respect as his other patients. --
	safe1@mgfairfax.rr.com 
	Reported in 2016: "Last I heard, Dr. Leonard had gone to an all
	"boutique" practice, where you had to pay him a couple of
	thousand retainer above what insurance pays every year."

Richard Mendelsohn & Deena Charney
	9918 Main St                    
	Fairfax, VA 22031              
	703-273-9818
	Both of the Podiatrists at Family Footcare are caring, concerned
	doctors who won't tell you your feet wouldn't hurt if you lost
	some weight. They are dedicated to helping theire patients with
	all of their footcare needs, from diabetic footcare to bunions
	and fractures. They accept most insurance plans, and have
	priviledges at most of the Northern Virginia Hospitals. They
	also have eveing and Saturday hours available and a doctor is
	always available for emergencies. I am the Billing Manager for
	the practice and have always found both doctors to be kind about
	my weight. It wasn't until I broke my toes that I realized how
	they understood my trepidations as a fat patient. -- Beth LeMay

Eric Vallone, M.D., internal medicine
	8316 Arlington Blvd Ste 310 
	Fairfax, VA 22031 
	Phone: (703) 641-0333      
	Dr. Vallone follows standard main-stream American protocols. If
	you want a standard doctor who is pleasant, and takes insurance,
	he's the best I've been able to find.    

HERNDON
Evelyn Felluca, Obstetrics & Gynecology
	2579 John Milton Dr., Suite 140
	Herndon, VA 22071  (Herndon is in Washington DC Metro area)
	(703) 391-0007
	I found Dr. Felluca two weeks before my baby was born. She
	consulted with me in her office before examining me and asked
	detailed questions about both my physical and emotional
	condition. She had a large blood pressure cuff and larger gowns.
	She does not use the stirrups for exams and is very gentle. She
	never mentioned my weight except to ask how much I had gained
	during pregnancy and then expressed concern that I had gained
	too little. She performed an emergency C-Section and gave me a
	bikini line cut, which some of the fat phobes said they couldn't
	do and I had very little pain and healed quickly. She is a
	wonderful, competent, and concerned physician. 

LEESBURG
Pierre Asmar, Reproduction Endocrinologist
	See main entry under Annandale.

MANASSAS
Becky Gross, LCSW, LMFT, Psychotherapist 
	See entry under Fairfax.

MCLEAN
Richard Mendelsohn & Deena Charney
	1445 Dolley Madison Blvd
	Mclean, VA 22101
	703-556-8637
	See entry under Fairfax.

RESTON
Pierre Asmar, Reproduction Endocrinologist
	See main entry under Annandale.

RICHMOND
Allen S. Burris, endocrinologist         
	Richmond, VA and Midlothian, VA
	804-272-2702
	I've been seeing Dr. Burris for 14 years and he's the only
	doctor I've ever fully trusted with my care. He has never tried
	to blame my weight or my health on me. He doesn't think being
	overweight is optimal, but he realizes that weight gain is the
	symptom and not the cause of diabetes and other endocrine
	disorders. He thinks in terms of health, not size. He's not
	really hip to HAES or anything like that, but he prefers
	evidence based medicine to assumptions and prejudices. He has
	also been sensitive to the psychological pain that weight talk
	causes me. For example, he weighs me, but he doesn't tell me
	what the scale says at my request.

Alexis Johnston, D.O. (Obstetrics/Gynecology)
	Virginia Physicians for Women
	(804) 897-2100
	Midlothian, Va. (Richmond, Va. greater metropolitan area)
	The facilities at the VPFW Midlothian location are very fat
	friendly. There are armless chairs in all waiting rooms, and
	they offer larger collection containers for supersize patients
	who might have issues (just ask for one). They also have large
	gowns. The exam tables are VERY low to the ground and you can
	just sit on it and slide over. The table raises, which always
	scares me a little, but I'm 500 pounds and it was fine. The
	scale they weigh on goes up to 500 pounds, and they're very
	nice/friendly/professional about it. Dr. Johnston is very
	friendly/courteous/professional. She didn't bring up my weight
	until I did, and was very open to answering questions about how
	it would affect different aspects of my feminine health, and
	also how it wouldn't. She was very thorough and took the time to
	make sure all my questions and concerns were answered and
	addressed. She seemed very open-minded.

Geof Tidey, Reproductive Endocrinologist
Sanford M. Rosenberg, Reproductive Endocrinologist
        Richmond Center for Fertility & Endocrinology
        7603 Forest Avenue, Suite 301
        Richmond, Virginia 23229-4920
        (804) 285-9700 or 800-222-1014, extension 4315
        http://www.eggdoc.com/
        I e-mailed the office regarding fat-friendly issues & got a
        response right away from Dr. Rosenberg. He stated that while
        being closer to one's ideal weight was advisable for general
        health reasons, their practice had no policy on NOT treating
        patients until they'd lost weight & had never made
        weight-restriction part of the criteria for accepting new
        patients & that he was sure I'd feel comfortable in their
        office.  He urged me to make an appt. right away even knowing
        that I am 5'2" & 290lbs. I ended up seeing Dr. Tidey instead of
        Dr. Rosenberg.  Dr. Tidey did not bring up my weight at all.  No
        weigh-in even!  At the end of the appt., he asked if I had any
        questions he hadn't covered, so I brought up the weight myself
        to gauge his response. He said that my weight would not be a
        factor in any of the procedures we'd discussed, nor should it
        prevent me from getting pregnant at all.  We left the 1st appt.
        with such a good feeling about the experience that my husband
        said it would be nice to have Dr. Tidey as our PCP! -- Suzanne
        DISSENTING VIEW 
	I received a dissenting view that Sanford M Rosenberg is not
	fat-friendly.

STERLING
Becky Gross, LCSW, LMFT, Psychotherapist 
	See entry under Fairfax.

VIENNA
Sandra Tirado, M.D., and Kathy Katusha, M.D., Internal Medicine, PC
	8233 Old Courthouse Rd ste 170
	Vienna, VA 22182
	703-556-9318
	Dr. Tirado has been my GP for nearly 10 years and she has always
	been wonderful to me. She addresses my weight only when I ask
	her to, does not insist on weighing me, and has never lectured
	me on the evils of being fat or tried to pass something off as
	being "because you're fat".  She always takes the time to talk
	to me and to help me understand.  I've also been seen by Dr.
	Katusha on many occasions and she too has been just wonderful to
	me. I've always felt comfortable (as a 300+ patient) and
	welcomed in this office. They have very liberal office hours and
	I can usually call in the morning and get a same day
	appointment. I have been very happy with both the doctors and
	the nurse practioners in this office.

Vincente N. Rono, M.D. - Family Practice
	421 Kempsville Road
	Virginia Beach, VA 23464
	757 499-4939
	I have been a patient for about the past 15 years, he never
	weighs patients or takes blood pressure unless necessary. In 15
	years he only once even mentioned the word weight and it was to
	see if I wanted to try a new weight loss medication. Basically
	you go in, you tell him your problem he lets you know what you
	need to do (medications, etc) and that's it. He's the only
	physician I've ever found like this.

WINCHESTER
Harold Gruber 
        Foot and Ankle Center
        Winchester, VA
        (See main entry under Martinsburg, Virgina.)

Leslie Kidd, OB/GYN
	1330-A Amherst Street
	Winchester, VA 22601
	(540) 662-0711 (Ask for Dr. Kidd's office)
	I have been unable to conceive a child for 10 yrs. & I have gone
	to many OB/GYNs. All of them told me the same thing: "lose
	weight & you'll get pregnant, you're too fat".  I found Dr. Kidd
	in Dec. of 1998. She never mentioned my weight, unless I did.
	She ran tests & found that I have hypothyroidism & polycystic
	ovarian syndrome. I am currently seeing her for infertility. She
	is GREAT! She shows me respect, doesn't make me feel ashamed &
	she is helping me where no other ob/gyn would. She returns my
	phone calls, NOT a nurse. She calls me at home & after hours,
	she shows genuine concern & is professional. All her nurses are
	nice & don't look at me as fat ( I am 350+). -- Tammy Houser