Boston IVF - Albany Center

They are very organized. You really have to advocate for yourself, though. You won't ever just be given the full amount of information you actually need, which seems to be a common trend among fertility clinics based on information I have read about numerous facilities.

This office assigned a main nurse to patients. I had Jessica Camprone and I absolutely LOVED her. She was always so helpful and available, very empathetic.

Jessica Camprone could not be a better nurse. I could talk to her candidly and felt so comfortable with her. I am glad I left this clinic, but I still miss her!

Although she was very informative regarding stats, she was very rigid. Not personable at all. I reported that I was having an allergic reaction to meds (Follistim), and she continued to have me take it for multiple courses of treatment. I was only told to "take more Benadryl." I ended up on predinose at one point for a rash, and I was still RXed Follistim. I eventually had a full-body rash and ended up on Prednisone for a couple months and was referred to a dermatologist by my PCP for further treatment due to the severity of the rash. I didn't question the doctor's knowledge and treatment plan to continue w/a med that was obviously causing my body to react b/c I was willing to go through it if it meant I could conceive. In retrospect - now that I have more information about fertility immunology and the effects of inflammation on fertility - I very obviously should have insisted and advocated for myself that this doctor change my course of treatment as soon as I had a reaction. She wasted a lot of our time and money, and there was a significant emotional expense as well. My other issue with this doctor was this: My mother-in-law generously gave us money to do IVF. The cycle we were going to do it for, I ended up producing only 2 mature follicles (on Follistim). The doctor discouraged me from following through with IVF and told me they didn't want to do a surgical procedure on me with only 2 follicles. Hindsight being 20/20, I should have insisted I wanted to do it anyway. It seems to me that really what they didn't want was a bad mark on their statistics from a 41 year old woman attempting IVF. There might only have been 2, but what if they had healthy, fully matured eggs? What if even 1 worked? I'd be a parent now and not filling out the enormous form at 42 years old, hoping for some help. I am so disappointed in the care I received.

DON'T GO.

11/05/2016-Sat LMP 11/07/2016-Mon 1 Follistim 225 u 33 0.70 4.19 2.31 AFC 3 AFC 1 11/08/2016-Tue 2 Follistim 225 u 11/09/2016-Wed 3 Follistim 225 u 11/10/2016-Thu 4 Follistim 225 u 97 0.70 2.34 < 11mm Few(2 to 4) 12.2 < 11mm Few(2 to 4) 11/11/2016-Fri 5 Follistim 225 u 11/12/2016-Sat 6 Follistim 225 u 11/13/2016-Sun 7 Follistim 225 u 11/14/2016-Mon 8 497 0.97 4.71 12.5 < 11mm Few(2 to 4) 19.4 < 11mm Few(2 to 4) 11/16/2016-Wed 10 x 11/19/2016-Sat 13 Prometrium 200 PV BID mg 11/20/2016-Sun 14 Prometrium 200 PV BID mg 11/21/2016-Mon 15 Prometrium 200 PV BID mg 11/22/2016-Tue 16 Prometrium 200 PV BID mg 11/23/2016-Wed 17 Prometrium 200 PV BID mg 11/24/2016-Thu 18 Prometrium 200 PV BID mg 11/25/2016-Fri 19 Prometrium 200 PV BID mg 11/26/2016-Sat 20 Prometrium 200 PV BID mg 11/27/2016-Sun 21 Prometrium 200 PV BID mg 11/28/2016-Mon 22 Prometrium 200 PV BID mg 11/29/2016-Tue 23 Prometrium 200 PV BID mg 11/30/2016-Wed 24 Prometrium 200 PV BID mg 12/01/2016-Thu 25 Prometrium 200 PV BID mg 12/02/2016-Fri 26 Prometrium 200 PV BID mg x x NEGATIVE 12/02/2016-Fri 1 Follistim 375 u 17 4.89 0.87 2.25 < 11mm Few(2 to 4) < 11mm Multiple(5 to 10) 12/03/2016-Sat 2 Follistim 375 u 12/04/2016-Sun 3 Follistim 375 u 12/05/2016-Mon 4 Follistim 375 u 162 1.84 0.57 < 11mm Few(2 to 4) 10.7 < 11mm Few(2 to 4) 12/06/2016-Tue 5 Follistim 375 u 12/07/2016-Wed 6 Cetrotide 0.25 mg Follistim 375 u 12/08/2016-Thu 7 Cetrotide 0.25 mg Follistim 375 u 462 1.49 0.80 9.0 < 11mm Few(2 to 4) 14.8, 13.5, 10.1 < 11mm Few(2 to 4) 12/09/2016-Fri 8 Cetrotide 0.25 mg Follistim 375 u 12/10/2016-Sat 9 Ovidrel 250 mcg 12/12/2016-Mon 11 x 12/15/2016-Thu 14 Endometrin 100mg TID mg 12/16/2016-Fri 15 Endometrin 100mg TID mg 12/17/2016-Sat 16 Endometrin 100mg TID mg 12/18/2016-Sun 17 Endometrin 100mg TID mg 12/19/2016-Mon 18 Endometrin 100mg TID mg 12/20/2016-Tue 19 Endometrin 100mg TID mg 12/21/2016-Wed 20 Endometrin 100mg TID mg 12/22/2016-Thu 21 Endometrin 100mg TID mg 12/23/2016-Fri 22 Endometrin 100mg TID mg 12/24/2016-Sat 23 Endometrin 100mg TID mg 12/25/2016-Sun 24 Endometrin 100mg TID mg 12/26/2016-Mon 25 Endometrin 100mg TID mg 12/27/2016-Tue 26 Endometrin 100mg TID mg 12/28/2016-Wed 27 Endometrin 100mg TID mg NEGATIVE 12/28/2016-Wed 1 Follistim 375 u 54 0.82 2.93 AFC 8 AFC 9 12/29/2016-Thu 2 Follistim 375 u 12/30/2016-Fri 3 Follistim 375 u 12/31/2016-Sat 4 Follistim 375 u 171 2.29 0.67 11.3 < 11mm One < 11mm Few(2 to 4) 01/01/2017-Sun 5 Follistim 375 u 01/02/2017-Mon 6 Cetrotide 0.25 mg Follistim 375 u 01/03/2017-Tue 7 Cetrotide 0.25 mg Follistim 375 u 364 1.57 0.52 14.3 < 11mm Few(2 to 4) 12.0 < 11mm Few(2 to 4) 01/04/2017-Wed 8 Cetrotide 0.25 mg Follistim 375 u 01/05/2017-Thu 9 514 2.01 0.76 17.5 < 11mm Few(2 to 4) 15.9 < 11mm Few(2 to 4) 01/07/2017-Sat 11 x 01/10/2017-Tue 14 P4 IM 50 mg 01/11/2017-Wed 15 P4 IM 50 mg 01/12/2017-Thu 16 P4 IM 50 mg 01/13/2017-Fri 17 P4 IM 50 mg 01/14/2017-Sat 18 P4 IM 50 mg 01/15/2017-Sun 19 P4 IM 50 mg 01/16/2017-Mon 20 P4 IM 50 mg 01/17/2017-Tue 21 P4 IM 50 mg 01/18/2017-Wed 22 P4 IM 50 mg 01/19/2017-Thu 23 P4 IM 50 mg 01/20/2017-Fri 24 P4 IM 50 mg 01/21/2017-Sat 25 P4 IM 50 mg 01/22/2017-Sun 26 P4 IM 50 mg 01/23/2017-Mon 27 P4 IM 50 mg >41.00 57.60 01/24/2017-Tue 28 P4 IM 50 mg 01/25/2017-Wed 29 P4 IM 50 mg 72.62 01/27/2017-Fri 31 90.65 01/30/2017-Mon 34 71.81 02/02/2017-Thu 37 20.34 02/09/2017-Thu 44 3.96 02/16/2017-Thu 51 3.04 02/23/2017-Thu 58 3.24 03/02/2017-Thu 65 3.02 03/16/2017-Thu 79 MISCARRIAGE 03/30/2017-Thu 1 Gonal-F 600 u 23 0.68 AFC 3 AFC 5 2.14 03/31/2017-Fri 2 Gonal-F 600 u 04/01/2017-Sat 3 Gonal-F 600 u 04/02/2017-Sun 4 Gonal-F 600 u 04/03/2017-Mon 5 Gonal-F 600 u 94 6.80 0.79 < 11mm Few(2 to 4) < 11mm Few(2 to 4) 04/04/2017-Tue 6 Gonal-F 600 u 04/05/2017-Wed 7 Gonal-F 600 u 242 3.83 0.55 10.2 < 11mm Few(2 to 4) 9.7 < 11mm Few(2 to 4) 04/06/2017-Thu 8 Gonal-F 600 u 04/07/2017-Fri 9 Cetrotide 0.25 mg Gonal-F 600 u 475 4.46 0.61 13.2 < 11mm One 14.3 < 11mm Few(2 to 4) 04/08/2017-Sat 10 Cetrotide 0.25 mg Gonal-F 600 u 04/09/2017-Sun 11 Cetrotide 0.25 mg Gonal-F 600 u 04/10/2017-Mon 12 Pregnyl 10k u 825 2.79 0.69 19.8 < 11mm Few(2 to 4) 22.55 < 11mm Few(2 to 4) 04/12/2017-Wed 14 x 04/15/2017-Sat 17 P4 IM 50 mg 04/16/2017-Sun 18 P4 IM 50 mg 04/17/2017-Mon 19 P4 IM 50 mg 04/18/2017-Tue 20 P4 IM 50 mg 04/19/2017-Wed 21 P4 IM 50 mg 04/20/2017-Thu 22 P4 IM 50 mg 04/21/2017-Fri 23 P4 IM 50 mg 04/22/2017-Sat 24 P4 IM 50 mg 04/23/2017-Sun 25 P4 IM 50 mg 04/24/2017-Mon 26 P4 IM 50 mg 04/25/2017-Tue 27 P4 IM 50 mg 04/26/2017-Wed 28 P4 IM 50 mg 04/27/2017-Thu 29 P4 IM 50 mg 04/28/2017-Fri 30 P4 IM 50 mg After the miscarriage cycle, I can't recall exactly which other cycles resulted in chemical pregnancies. But there have been zero babies. June 2017 I did have a chemical following plain old sex w/my husband, no medical interventions. 07/29/2017-Sat LMP 08/01/2017-Tue 1 Follistim 450 u Menopur 150 u 73 0.43 3.55 AFC 3 AFC 5 08/02/2017-Wed 2 Follistim 450 u Menopur 150 u 08/03/2017-Thu 3 Follistim 450 u Menopur 150 u 08/04/2017-Fri 4 Follistim 450 u Menopur 150 u 207 2.81 1.45 < 11mm Multiple(5 to 10) 12.0, 10.3 < 11mm Multiple(5 to 10) 08/05/2017-Sat 5 Follistim 450 u Menopur 150 u 08/06/2017-Sun 6 Follistim 450 u Menopur 150 u 08/07/2017-Mon 7 Follistim 450 u Menopur 150 u 652 4.41 1.53 11.85 < 11mm Few(2 to 4) 17.75, 13.75 < 11mm Multiple(5 to 10) 08/10/2017-Thu 10 x 64.97 08/13/2017-Sun 13 P4 IM 50 mg 08/14/2017-Mon 14 P4 IM 50 mg 08/15/2017-Tue 15 P4 IM 50 mg 08/16/2017-Wed 16 P4 IM 50 mg 08/17/2017-Thu 17 P4 IM 50 mg 08/18/2017-Fri 18 P4 IM 50 mg 08/19/2017-Sat 19 P4 IM 50 mg 08/20/2017-Sun 20 P4 IM 50 mg 08/21/2017-Mon 21 P4 IM 50 mg 08/22/2017-Tue 22 P4 IM 50 mg 08/23/2017-Wed 23 P4 IM 50 mg 08/24/2017-Thu 24 P4 IM 50 mg 08/25/2017-Fri 25 P4 IM 50 mg 21.32 2.37 09/30/2017-Sat LMP 10/02/2017-Mon 1 Follistim 450 u Menopur 150 u 31 0.40 2.37 AFC 5 AFC 8 10/03/2017-Tue 2 Follistim 450 u Menopur 150 u 10/04/2017-Wed 3 Follistim 450 u Menopur 150 u 10/05/2017-Thu 4 Follistim 450 u Menopur 150 u 159 2.42 0.85 10.8 < 11mm Multiple(5 to 10) 9.6 < 11mm Few(2 to 4) 10/06/2017-Fri 5 Follistim 450 u Menopur 150 u 10/07/2017-Sat 6 Follistim 450 u Menopur 150 u 10/08/2017-Sun 7 Cetrotide 0.25 mg Follistim 450 u Menopur 150 u 10/09/2017-Mon 8 556 2.28 0.54 17.1, 12.9 < 11mm Few(2 to 4) 15.6, 11.9 < 11mm One 10/11/2017-Wed 10 x 47.25 10/14/2017-Sat 13 P4 IM 50 mg 10/15/2017-Sun 14 P4 IM 50 mg 10/16/2017-Mon 15 P4 IM 50 mg 10/17/2017-Tue 16 P4 IM 50 mg 10/18/2017-Wed 17 P4 IM 50 mg 10/19/2017-Thu 18 P4 IM 50 mg 10/20/2017-Fri 19 P4 IM 50 mg 10/21/2017-Sat 20 P4 IM 50 mg 10/22/2017-Sun 21 P4 IM 50 mg 10/23/2017-Mon 22 P4 IM 50 mg 10/24/2017-Tue 23 P4 IM 50 mg 10/25/2017-Wed 24 P4 IM 50 mg 10/26/2017-Thu 25 P4 IM 50 mg 10/27/2017-Fri 26 11/17/2017-Fri 1 Follistim 600 u 2.49 11/18/2017-Sat 2 Follistim 600 u 11/19/2017-Sun 3 Follistim 600 u 11/20/2017-Mon 4 Follistim 600 u 114 7.19 1.17 < 11mm Few(2 to 4) 11.5, 8.0 < 11mm Few(2 to 4) 11/21/2017-Tue 5 Follistim 600 u 11/22/2017-Wed 6 Follistim 600 u 11/23/2017-Thu 7 Follistim 600 u 11/24/2017-Fri 8 Follistim 600 u 389 3.31 0.80 9.1, 8.8 < 11mm Few(2 to 4) 8.8 < 11mm Few(2 to 4) 11/25/2017-Sat 9 Follistim 600 u 11/26/2017-Sun 10 Follistim 600 u 11/27/2017-Mon 11 Cetrotide 0.25 mg Follistim 600 u 1021 5.45 1.71 10.4, 10.4, 10.1 < 11mm Multiple(5 to 10) 16.2, 12.5 < 11mm Multiple(5 to 10) 11/28/2017-Tue 12 Cetrotide 0.25 mg Follistim 600 u 11/29/2017-Wed 13 958 1.07 1.18 14.3, 14.2, 12.6 < 11mm Few(2 to 4) 23.1, 16.5, 9.3 < 11mm Few(2 to 4) 12/01/2017-Fri 15 x 12.96 12/04/2017-Mon 18 P4 IM 50 mg 12/05/2017-Tue 19 P4 IM 50 mg 12/06/2017-Wed 20 P4 IM 50 mg 12/07/2017-Thu 21 P4 IM 50 mg 12/08/2017-Fri 22 P4 IM 50 mg 12/09/2017-Sat 23 P4 IM 50 mg 12/10/2017-Sun 24 P4 IM 50 mg 12/11/2017-Mon 25 P4 IM 50 mg 12/12/2017-Tue 26 P4 IM 50 mg 12/13/2017-Wed 27 P4 IM 50 mg 12/14/2017-Thu 28 P4 IM 50 mg 12/15/2017-Fri 29 P4 IM 50 mg 12/16/2017-Sat 30 P4 IM 50 mg 12/17/2017-Sun 31 P4 IM 50 mg 12/18/2017-Mon 32 P4 IM 50 mg 7.05 1.86 02/26/2018-Mon 5 Desogen 28 Day Tablet 1 Tablet 3.96 02/27/2018-Tue 6 Desogen 28 Day Tablet 1 Tablet 02/28/2018-Wed 7 Desogen 28 Day Tablet 1 Tablet 03/01/2018-Thu 8 Desogen 28 Day Tablet 1 Tablet 03/02/2018-Fri 9 Desogen 28 Day Tablet 1 Tablet 03/03/2018-Sat 10 Desogen 28 Day Tablet 1 Tablet 03/04/2018-Sun 11 Desogen 28 Day Tablet 1 Tablet 03/05/2018-Mon 12 Desogen 28 Day Tablet 1 Tablet 3.21 03/06/2018-Tue 13 Desogen 28 Day Tablet 1 Tablet 03/07/2018-Wed 14 Desogen 28 Day Tablet 1 Tablet 03/08/2018-Thu 15 Desogen 28 Day Tablet 1 Tablet 03/09/2018-Fri 16 Desogen 28 Day Tablet 1 Tablet 03/10/2018-Sat 17 Desogen 28 Day Tablet 1 Tablet 03/11/2018-Sun 18 Desogen 28 Day Tablet 1 Tablet 03/12/2018-Mon 19 Desogen 28 Day Tablet 1 Tablet 03/13/2018-Tue 20 Desogen 28 Day Tablet 1 Tablet 03/14/2018-Wed 21 Desogen 28 Day Tablet 1 Tablet 03/15/2018-Thu 22 CC 100 mg 2.46 03/16/2018-Fri 23 CC 100 mg 03/17/2018-Sat 24 CC 100 mg 03/18/2018-Sun 25 CC 100 mg 03/19/2018-Mon 26 CC 100 mg 03/20/2018-Tue 27 CC 100 mg 03/21/2018-Wed 28 CC 100 mg 03/22/2018-Thu 29 CC 100 mg 03/23/2018-Fri 30 128 7.01 1.08 < 11mm Few(2 to 4) < 11mm Few(2 to 4) 03/27/2018-Tue 34 228 4.83 0.51 14 < 11mm Few(2 to 4) 13.1, 11.4, 10.8, 8.0 < 11mm Multiple(5 to 10) 03/29/2018-Thu 36 240 6.45 0.63 15.1 < 11mm Few(2 to 4) 11.2, 10.4 < 11mm Multiple(5 to 10) 03/31/2018-Sat 38 415 9.12 0.77 19.8 < 11mm Few(2 to 4) 11.0, 9.9 < 11mm Multiple(5 to 10) 04/02/2018-Mon 40 x 39.58 04/18/2018-Wed 56 This one I remember was a chemical. In all of these cycles, the most mature follicles I ever made was 2. Also, I wish I could cut and paste the graph here from my patient portal so you could see things better.

I can't remember. We did go through about 10k paying out of pocket for IUI once insurance benefits were used. That money was initially given to us for IVF, but Dr. Elguero basically said it wasn't an option. So we WASTED all that money at that clinic instead of having it to use at a facility that provides better care, or - at the minimum - didn't continue to treat me with meds I had an allergic response to. I wish we never gave them a penny. So much regret!

I didn't get to do any IVF here b/c the doctor talked me out of it.

This clinic batches you so you have to take BCP to line up your period with everyone else. Everyone retrieves the same week, etc. The portal is great for getting test results, but phone communication is weak... often rings and rings and hard to get someone on the phone.

Dr Elguero actually took the time to have read through a mountain of information provided PRIOR to my arrival so she was completely prepared to discuss my case. It seemed like she took a real interest in my case and seemed like she really wanted to help us. She was compassionate but also straightforward and didn't sugarcoat anything for me.

Often the phone just rings and rings and you have to leave a message. Often the portal questions go without answer for days. I would have appreciated more updates on embryo status during those nailbiting days after retrieval. This clinic batches retrievals which is annoying - so you have to take BCP to line up your period with everyone else.

She was excellent and I felt like she was really going to tailor treatment to me. In prior experiences it seemed like doctors were just guessing and throwing everything at me to see what stuck, rather than looking at my case as individual. At one point she heard that I was on the phone with a nurse and she actually took the time in the middle of her day to get on the phone with me without scheduling. She never rushed me. I wish that I had seen her more often and I wish that I had direct access to her through a portal.

I had no insurance, but I think it cost us about $8500 for everything (excluding drugs) - retrieval, transfer, ICSI, anesthesia, etc.

This clinics strength is their staff. They are always so helpful, they were always there to answer any questions, and always worked with you to get in when you needed to. The ultrasound technicians were great and so knowledgeable. I felt like I always trusted what our nurses and techs told us. I would say the clinics weakness would be that their IVF cycles are in batches and not driven towards the specific patient. You had to do your retrievals for IVF the same time every other patient was doing their retrieval.

I felt very comfortable with my time at Boston IVF The Albany Center with Doctor Elguero. She was always very thoughtful, sensitive, and straight forward with us. She helped us get through very hard times.

I had a two main nurses during our time at Albany IVF. They were both fantastic. They were always there to answer all of my questions, and I always had a lot of those! The nursing staff, ultrasound technicians, and my two nurses were great and so nice to work with. Michelle was there to even just let me cry to her on the phone. She was amazing!

Doctor Elguero was great. She was always wonderful at explaining our previous failed cycles, what could have gone wrong, and what she would recommend we do to fix it for the next cycle. She always answered any questions we had. We felt more like family at this office with Doctor Elguero than just a number.

Ask questions! When in doubt or when you are wondering about ANYTHING during this crazy rollercoaster, ask as many questions as you can! Stay on top of things and always be prepared for anything.

For our first three IUI treatments we were on Clomid. Clomid thinned out my lining and we were unsuccessful with those IUIs (one was a chemical pregnancy). We moved onto Antagonist protocols for our IVF Cycles. Our First IVF cycle, we stimmed with Follistim, Menopur, Ganirelix and triggered with Ovidrel. We had 8 eggs result in that IVF cycle however our eggs were delayed in fertilization (we did not do ICSI the first round) so we had no embryos to transfer this round. Our 2nd IVF cycle we stimmed with the same protocol as the first. This resulted in 9 eggs retrieved. Of those 9 we ended with 2 very fragmented / poor quality embryos by day 3 and did a fresh transfer of the two embryos. Resulted in a negative pregnancy test. Our 3rd cycle we actually started as a Gonadatropin IUI (stimmed with Follistim only and then Ganirelix) and converted to IVF. We triggered with Ovidrel and we retrieved 14 eggs that time. We transferred 2 embryos on day 5 (two morulas so not full blasts). This resulted in a chemical pregnancy. Our 4th cycle of IVF we also did Follistim only plus Ganirelix. We triggered with Lupron and Ovidrel and retrieved 18 eggs. Of those we ended with 1 day 5 4AA embryo blast and 1 other embryo that was a little behind on day 5 but we gave it a shot and transferred both embryos on day 5 fresh. This resulted in a negative pregnancy test. We also tried one more (our 4th) IUI with Follistim and Ganirelix, triggered with Ovidrel, and this resulted in a negative test as well.

We were covered for one round of IVF with our insurance but we hit that lifetime max after our 1st IVF. The cost of IVF was around $13,000 after that and we also had to pay out of pocket for our medication, about $4k.

We wish we tried to do one single embryo (especially our 4AA Blast that we finally got on our 3rd round) rather than add in the other embryos that were always a little behind.

The clinic is very organized. Everything is very clean. The waiting room is comfortable. All the staff are kind and thorough in explaining things. They're helpful and supportive. I was actually sad to be released from the office and sent to my new OBGYN.

Everyone starts their cycle at the same time each month. I couldn't start my second IVF cycle earlier because I was told "this month's cycle is starting in 2 days and you wouldn't get your meds in time." In the long run, waiting another month wasn't a big deal but it was frustrating that I had to fit into the herd's timeline.

All the nursing staff at the clinic were incredibly kind and supportive. Blood draws were always quick and relatively painless. The ultrasound techs were all very friendly and thorough in their explanations. Everyone in the office was always friendly. Some of the staff have also gone through fertility treatments themselves, which added an extra layer of comfort when they discussed the process with me.

Dr Elguero seems almost nervous or awkward when she talks to you, which made me feel less confident in her knowledge/abilities when I first met her. After more appointments with her, I was less worried about it. It's just her personality. She's pretty upfront with her explanations of things, and has no issue explaining things in simpler terms to ensure you understand. One thing that *really* bothered my husband was that as soon as she was reminded we were paying out of pocket instead of with insurance, she adjusted the protocol and plans for possible future protocols. It seemed like she would have experimented more loosely if we weren't so concerned about the cost, which makes us wonder if the successful cycle would have been several cycles later instead.

Make sure you are prepared with all of your questions ahead of time and make sure she takes the time to answer them.

For our IUI cycle, we used meds typically used for IVF to see how my body woild respond. We were under the impression the IUI would not be successful because of my endometriosis and blocked tubes. Menopur and Follistim were used, along with Ganirelix. For the first IVF cycle, we used Menopur, Follistim, and Ganirelix again. We used a higher dose of Follistim and lower dose of Menopur. It was a very unsuccessful cycle. There were 12 follicles, but only 2 eggs were retrieved. Most follicles were such low quality or not fully matured, and they broke apart when she tried to retrieve eggs. Only one egg was good quality, it was transferred on day 3, and ended in a chemical pregnancy. The second IVF cycle, Dr Elguero decided to "flipflop" the meds. We used a higher dose of Menopur and a lower dose of Follistim. The meds were increased at a slower rate so that follicles would have a better opportunity to mature and develop. 10 eggs were retrieved, 8 fertilized. 6 developed into embryos, 1 was transferred and the other 5 are currently frozen. I'm 18 weeks pregnant from that cycle and things seem to be going smoothly.

For IUI, meds and procedure were covered by insurance and we only had to pay our $10 copay. For IVF, nothing was covered by insurance. Meds cost $3000, procedure cost $6500, and freezing embryos that weren't transferred cost $1000

I was not given an option regarding the number of embryos transferred. Dr Elguero said she would only transfer one embryo because I was young and carrying multiples was high risk.

At the time I was treated the Albany clinic was undergoing some upheaval while transitioning to becoming part of Boston IVF. I felt the coordination of care and tailoring of treatment was poor, but this may have changed. Monitoring visits started at 7am so I was often able to get in without missing any time at work. The financial side of things was frustrating. I did not have any insurance coverage except for diagnostic testing and often received conflicting information from different staff members on how much to pay and whether I needed to pay upfront or wait for a claim to be processed by insurance. They have a clean-looking practice with reasonably up to date equipment such as the ultrasound machines. It looks similar to any other doctor's office.

I saw the actual doctor very little. I ostensibly had a nurse coordinator but she was often out during my treatment cycles and I was bounced around to other nurses to get answers. By the end of the 7 IUI cycles I pursued I did not feel like treatment had been very tailored for me- after several failures little was done to adjust my protocol. Staff were reluctant to switch me from Femara to Clomid, told me injectables were not a good option since monitoring showed I was responding already. They refused changes such as trying a different trigger timing or two IUI in one cycle, telling me that it was not necessary, while not offering a satisfying explanation for my continued failed cycles (other than "chances are worse with frozen donor sperm" which they did not emphasize up front). I felt like the like the doctor and nurses continued to inflate my chances. I didn't totally feel like a number as on paper treatment was appropriate, but felt the staff could have had better bedside manner and could have helped me avoid more failed treatment by being more realistic about my chance for IUI vs IVF.

I was assigned a coordinator but she was out of the office during at least part of the cycle for the majority of my cycles so I struggled to get information from other staff. The nursing staff were polite and professional, but I felt coordination could have been improved. Most of the time the nurses I saw did not have any time to familiarize themselves with my record ahead of time, so while they always attempted to answer questions they were often not able to really tailor answers. Bloodwork and ultrasound were done by separate staff members so I sometimes had to wait additional time for one or the other. The practice had an online patient portal but did not really use it. I was generally able to reach nurses by phone within a few hours but occasionally had to bug them for results.

I only met with Dr. Elguero a few times (initially met with a different doctor who was temporarily handling the practice). She was nice but not extraordinary. She was not as familiar with my history at our visits as I would have liked and she seemed to have a standard educational "spiel" that she gave me when we got to the point of her explaining and recommending moving on to IVF. During my IUI cycles I did not really communicate with her and the nursing staff seemed to run the show, so I feel that I can't evaluate Dr. Elguero very well as she was so uninvolved in my treatment.

Ask lots of questions and clarify your next steps so you are not left waiting.

Medicated, monitored IUI 7x using frozen donor sperm. 6 Femara cycles, 1 Clomid cycle. Most cycles with HCG trigger and IUI 36h later, unless bloodwork/ultrasound indicated ovulation was occurring already by about CD16.

About $25k total - $6k for donor sperm, and then roughly $5k for testing and $14k for treatment with Albany IVF. Each IUI cycle was about $2000 total for multiple monitoring visits, sperm preparation and IUI. I had insurance coverage only for certain diagnostic testing and had a high-deductible plan so nearly all costs were out of pocket.

communication needs to be better, if you know your patient has access to lab results through your office and you don’t call until late in the afternoon, you should expect them to look at the patient portal. The mistake should have been told when the phone call was made. When I told Dr. Bauer about the mistake he had excuse for the nurse instead of apologizing right away for the mistake

I was out of state he was very nice and professional

Our clinic was in the middle of a merge when we did our fresh egg donor cycle. Amy Alix/Jenna Horton was my nurse and she made me feel like I was her friend. When we came to do our frozen embryo transfer Michelle was my nurse, she made me feel like just another patient. When it came to our pregnancy test our labs were put in the system wrong so I’m the patient portal it said that I was pregnant but it was actually my progesterone levels. She didn’t call until late in the afternoon and said that we weren’t pregnant and it wasn’t until I called back that we were told that our labs were put in wrong. For almost 3 hours we were under the impression that we were pregnant but we really weren’t.

I only did a phone consultation with him because I was out of state, I never met him in person. But in the phone he was very positive, let me ask questions and answered them fully. I wish I had met him in person but it didn’t happen

Make sure you are heard

We used an egg donor at this facility (it didn’t give me that option for this review)

We only paid $12,000 for our egg donor cycle and we had one from frozen embryo transfer

It wasn’t an option for us

Need more clinics in the upstate region. Weakness was distance drive 2 hours to get there. New patient needs to know to order kicker shots on their own for the 2nd round so that it arrives on time, give yourself two days and call to find out that order was placed. Freedom Pharmacy lagged.

She was very interested in making sure she followed up on my questions, she spoke to me in passing and took the time to ask questions to follow up as she made sure I understood the process.

Upbeat.

She asked alot of questions, required medical tests and followed up with phone calls. She took the time to listen and offer options. We are not well off so she worked with our insurance to do what was covered.

You are in good hands. Ask as many questions as you need to.

We stuck to Clomid as it had less chance of multiple babies. IUI was performed twice and now looking into invitro as we knew the odds of husbands sperm not being effective were very very low. If we cannot get assistance with the cost then we will go with donor sperm. We had spent 10k on adoption that failed when court turned over children to the father. Husband is jail guard and Im an author and pet groomer. We make enough to pay the mortgage and bills but not alot more than that. Cost is what is keeping us from invitro but that would be the more ideal route. Huband wants to be the father.

20$ copays. 200 IUI costs, 200 lab test.

The cycles are controlled unlike other clinics so there is a waiting period you can't just get started right away the stim and transfers.

She was warm, kind and considerate. While meeting with her everything thing was throughly explained.

Very efficient and effective great communication. She knows what she is doing and I never questioned that.

She was always honest, kind, and considerate, she always takes the best evidenced based practice and applied it to my case. I never had to question or worry about if I was doing the best protocol because I trust her so much.

She's very smart but it's hard to get in contact with her you have to go through your nurse.

My first cycle was 250 gonalf 75 menopur and .25 cetrotide. I triggered with 80units of lupron. I was disappointed with our results 15 eggs retrieved 8 mature 6 fertilized 2 made it blastocyst and to pgs testing 1 normal. We wanted to do another round to get a few more gentically good.embryos for a the future before transfer so Dr. Sonia was a little more aggressive.. 300 gonal f 75 menopur .25 cetrotide I triggered with the 80u of lupron and 5000u of hcg. 29 eggs retrieved 22 mature 19 fertilized 9 made it blastocyst and 5 were gentically good and frozen. Transfer is May 3!

$20 copayment, 8k for gententic testing and $1400 for medications.

Dr. Sonia follows the code of with ethics and doesn't budge. I asked about transferring two embryos and she said no because we know they are gentically good and risk assoicated with mutiples is higher. If to prove to have implantion issues she would consider transfering two

Although the Clinic was very “Clinic” like it was reassuring we came from a center that was very spa and meditation like but it didn’t work for us. It was nice feeling like they knew what they were doing

Quick call back time and quick reply to messages with questions from me, honest with myself and husband

Her staff were great and when we went in to start our current procedure they remembered everything about us. They even remembered when we tried to do a uterine biopsy and I couldn’t do it bc of the pain

The biggest factor was that she was honest she told us when she would and wouldn’t take embryos based on their grades and we didn’t feel that we were dollar signs. I would say the only weakness is not doing our actual egg retrieval. But she choose to be aggressive with medications which worked bc I never had so many eggs ready

Be prepared for honest answers.

She put me on birth control then had me monitored via ultrasounds then we started the menopur then we did estrace pills orally and vaginally along with IM progesterone oil

This was the first time we didn’t have to self pay, our insurance covered everything so we never even asked just signed the paper work, it was amazing

She recommended two and we agreed

Everyone was so personable. Cared about Your every need. Knew you by name when you walked in the front door. They always asked how you were feeling and if you needed anything and how your drive was. And how everything was. Knew everything about you.

She made it all about us. All about what we were going through. All about what I needed to be able to have a baby.

Amazing. Cared about you like you were family.

She is amazing. Very personable. Very blunt. The only adjective was us trying to have a baby. She didn’t just want to jump into the IVF treatment if it wouldn’t take. She started from the beginning and treated me and what was wrong with me with what was wrong with me after battling ovarian cancer and wasn’t concerned with making money on jumping right into the IVF treatment. She treated my blockage first didn’t push anything on us. Listened to everything we had to say.

She has the best ententions and gives the the best chances to reach your end goal.

She wanted to remove the blocked Fallopian tube and make sure that it was clear to have a baby. That nothing could hurt our chances.

Reasonable.

She made sure to cover every base and not miss a single thing.

The clinics weakness is that It feels like a doctors office. Not a comfortable setting. I feel a strength is the nurses who give monitoring. They are very friendly and informative at the office. The usually took linger than expected to call you into your appointment.

I felt like i was a patient usi g their services. They were nice.

I dont recall seeing her alot. I felt she was professional but not as compassionate as i thought she would be. The techs were very nice. I do believe she initially did my iui, but unfortunately it failed.

To be prepared to have little information and be treated like a patient.

I used clomid for 4 cycles, and an injection for one of those cycles with iui.

They wer very high. The monitoring was around $300. Iui with sperm was about $500

My nurse was a problem, but she is gone now. The US techs are amazing!

Very personalized conversation, where my needs and concerns were addressed.

The nurse I dealt with had terrible follow-up on questions, very little compassion, and gave unsolicited advice. I believe she is no longer with the practice.

My treatment needed to be tweaked following a chemical pregnancy and then non response. Dr. Elguero was thorough and gentle in her discussion regarding our path forward. It was a negotiation rather than a forced plan.

Be prepared for a thorough history each time.

My body has a lack luster response to letrozole, so a booster was needed and we discussed moving on to a highly monitored, low dose injectable cycle if I still did not respond. Dr. Elguero was very concerned about over response to injectables.

My insurance covered all but copays for visits and ultrasounds. I paid for medications out of pocket.