Brigham & Women's Hospital

Very busy and you got who you got for your medical procedures. However, all staff at the hospital were great! I always felt confident and comfortable. I was prepared for each step. The scheduling and insurance personnel were easy to work with. I could easily contact them during normal business hours. When I needed off hour support, the fellow on staff was always available. They were professional and caring at all hours of the night.

When with Dr.Ginsburg I always felt Respected and listened to. My question were always anwsered and we always left with a sense of hope! However the clinic is very busy and the nurses in the Weymouth office can make you feel rushed. As long as you advocate for yourself and don't mind repeating info to them, they get the job done!

Strengths- they always got right back to me with answers to my questions and/or with next steps. They would listen to me if I advocate for myself and seemed to respect that. Blood and ultrasound was fast and efficient Weakness- often times conversations would be rushed and overwhelming. They never seemed to know my history. The hospital staff in Boston was always caring and did not seem rushed!

Dr Ginsburg knows her stuff! For that reason alone I would recommend her. She will tell you how it is, explain whatever you need explaining. She is very professional and won't sugar coat news. I needed that because I knew I could trust her. She always had a plan for me and our visits were productive. She advocated for me with my insurance company and listened to my concerns. I never felt pressured into trying medication or doing the next step. I cannot say enough positive things about her!!!

Expect honest answers that are not sugar coated.

Leterzole- 3times, 3 different doses. This was supposed to get my body to ovulate. It failed Leterzole (7.5mg) with trigger shot. This made me ovulate but no successful pregnancy IUI- we did not do this because once on injectable medication my response could not be controlled. I would produce more than a few eggs even on a small dose based on my AMH level (15). iVF- we used various injectable medication. I had an egg retrieval that got 28 mature eggs. 16 lasted to day 5. However I had to freeze all because even with my modified trigger shot, I developed a slight case of hyper stimulation. Frozen Egg Transfer- after pills and pio shots, we had a successful transfer. I am currently pregnant from this procedure.

I paid whatever was not covered by insurance. Billing was through an app or in office. It was easy to pay but difficult to understand what you were excatly paying for

My doctor prefer to do a SET for my safety. We agreed as that was what was covered by insurance and in our best interest.

The clinic itself is a bit small and would run behind on appointments. Most of their staff was pleasant. The office space was a bit cramped but it was overall a great clinic. Location is a bit busy and parking was a bit challenging.

Dr. Gargiulo was very personable, kind, and empathetic of my situation. We spoke about my history and I was able to express my concerns surrounding infertility.Dr. Gargiulo is very knowledged and I believe he cares abut the patients outcome as well as their health.

I am a 27 year old female who lives in the DC area who was born with a unicornate uterus with a rudimentary horn. I was diagnosed when I was 22 while I was trying to get to the root of my painful cramps. I had an ectopic pregnancy when I was 23 and wanted to be proactive for future planning. My OB/GYN recommended I have a laparoscopy done to diagnose endometriosis and take a loser took at my abnormal uterus. We did extensive research in efforts to finds a specialist in the area but no luck and since my family lives in Massachusetts we began our search there. We came across a colleague of Dr. Gargiulo and after speaking to his colleague, sending my MRI, and medical records, he stated Dr. Gargiulo would be the best fit to assist. When I met Dr. Gargiulo he was very personable, kind, and empathetic of my situation. We spoke about my history and I was able to express my concerns surrounding infertility. He recommended getting a laparoscopy and removing the non communicating horn to prevent future ectopic pregnancies. He made me feel confident in trusting him for next steps. We scheduled a "Laparoscopic Excision of Right Rudimentary Uterine Horn, And Fallopian Tube". His staff along with him were so kind, wonderful, and accommodating from beginning to end. It was a successful procedure and I am pleased with the small and not very noticeable incisions.

Have questions ready to ask.

We focused on preparing my uterus for fertility. I have not yet began attempting.

not sure

The doctors and nursing team have been extremely thorough, helpful, and informative. They have taken the time to explain all of our options to us and have considered our needs, wishes, and our future unlike other clinics have. The clerical staff can at times be short and was initially difficult to communicate with, but overall they have improved. This clinic seems to see fewer LGBTQ clients; likely due to the size of the state, so there has been some confusion at times.

Dr. Ginsburg didn't just look at numbers, she thought about mine and my wife's future. She considered our wishes and worked with us despite some numbers.

She has been very helpful and informative. She has returned my calls promptly and reached out to Dr. Ginsburg with all of my follow-up questions.

Dr. Ginsburg has been very considerate of our desires and our treatment. She has considered all factors, but also been willing to work around situations and numbers. She has explained information thoroughly, and has been available when we've had further questions. She has been open and flexible and has truly made us feel like she is working with us.

To be sure to ask a lot of questions and to be completely open.

We have not yet started our cycle, but we are doing a complicated reciprocal IVF. She had us meet with maternal fetal medicine due to us both being overweight. She tested both of us thoroughly to help us make the best decision as to who will undergo the egg retrieval and who will undergo the embryo transfer.

$22,000

We have requested multiple embryo transfer. Here, we feel that we are slightly being treated like a number now, but there seems to be some flexibility and willingness to work with us there.

It's a large clinic but the doctors are amazing!!! Just remember to stay on top of them and the nurses and ask lots of questions until you are satisfied. Don't be intimidated by the size or credentials. Do your own research and come prepared.

Dr Walsh always takes time for my husband and I. I write down a lot of questions and he always sits patiently and explains and answers all of them. Additionally, I recent had a miscarriage where Dr. Walsh performed the d and c. I'll never forget him holding my hand as I went under.

Kathy this far has been excellent. However before I was assigned her I did not have a set nurse and that at times was frustrating since I did not have anyone dedicated to me. Once I felt like the nurse who called did not know what was going on and I had to call back to demand more answers. Thankfully someone else called back and addressed it

Dr. Walsh has been great. He is compassionate and attentive to my needs and questions. When things don't work out we have tried others and have done a plethora of tests to ensure all bases were covered (testing chromosomes, clotting factors, endometrial biopsy,etc after 2 CPs. Ensuring my miscarriage had pathology done, doing more tests. Creating a new plan for the next egg retrieval with PGS testing). The one negative would be that sometimes this information and appointments can be overwhelming and I felt like I had to decide to move forward quickly when maybe I'd want a cycle off. I also had my first egg retieval when Dr walsh nurse had retired and I was bounced around by nurses.

Just to ensure you always are on top of meds and instructions. Don't be afraid to ask questions.

First we began testing. Hormone levels for me, hsg, and hysteroscopy. My husband had 2 sperm analysis done which showed male factor. My husband was also sent to a specialist. We tried clomid for 2 rounds as we were doing testing which did not work based on my husband's male factor issues. Due to mfi we were told ivf was our only option. Since I am borderline on fsh and amh the protocol was semi aggressive with 2 vials menopur and 150 iu follistim which was increased to 225. I stimmed for 13 days and had a duel trigger lupron and HCG. I had 16 eggs, 13 mature, 8 fertilized with ICSI. We ended w 3 day 5 embryos of great quality. I did one fresh transfer w crinone that ended in a CP. We next did a natural FET without meds except for crinone support after transfer that also ended in a CP. We decided to try the last FET as a medicated cycle with 3 mg of estrace twice daily (6mg total) and once my lining got to 7mm we added progesterone a few days before the transfer and after. I had a positive beta HCG test 3 times and we set up an 8 wk ultrasound. Unfortunately there was no heartbeat and I had an enlarged placenta. Dr Walsh wanted to do a d and c to determine the cause and to check for a molar pregnancy ( I had high hcg). The results came back that it was NOT molar but the miscarriage was due to trisomy 18. We went into see Dr Walsh for a post on and we discussed next steps which was additional tests to determine any other reason for my 3 miscarriages and another hysteroscopy before we started IVF again. We also discussed PGS, genetic counseling, and higher doses to get more eggs for pgs testing. We will also freeze all day 5 embryos for ogs and do a medicated FET as I preferred the shots to crinone and I had the most successful pregnancy when we did the protocol medicated. I am currently waiting for my ultrasound to start stimulation for egg retrieval. My doses are going up to 3 vials of menopur and 225 iu of gonal f ( and we will bump up to 4 and 300 iu)

Efficient well oiled machine with sign in sheets and call backs

Dr Walsh follows SART recommendations and I only have had a single embryo transferred based on quality and age.

Brigham and Women's is a large hospital. The hours for the labs and ultrasounds were very accommodating. The parking lot across the street is reasonable, and it's also close to the T. You will often find out lab results through their patient portal hours after the tests and before they call you.

The office was very responsive to emails and calls. My primary nurse was very good.

Dr. Hornstein's primary nurse, Barbara, is awesome! She was very responsive by email and phone.

Dr. Hornstein very patiently answered our many questions when we met with him in person. He always treated us with kindness and care. His nurse answers most of the day to day questions by email or phone .

Make sure you know your treatment plan and know what the next steps are. The doctors and nurses at B&W are all good at their specific roles, but the communication between them can sometimes be missing. Because Dr. Hornstein may not be actually doing your procedure, make sure you have really discussed and agreed on important things like numbers of eggs to transfer before you get to the implantation day.

Two rounds of Antagonist protocol. The second round was far more aggressive than the first and produced three times as many eggs and embryos.

The ultrasounds monitoring appointment were started before 7am. It is first come, first served and operated pretty efficiently.

Some was covered by insurance. It's around $8K - $12K out of pocket per IVF cycle depending on your treatment plan. That does not include meds.

He helped us make an informed decision based on risk and insurance coverage.

The front desk staff are kind and knowledgeable. I had an amazing experience when I went for my first IUI. The medical assistant who checked me in was really nice; she allowed me to be a part of the whole process, and even explained what she was doing along the way. At the end she allowed me and friends view the sperm under the microscope! Very cool!

She has always been warm and kind. She takes the time to explain everything and it’s easy to get an appointment.

Kathy has been helpful and easy to get a hold of- she always responds promptly to my messages.

Dr. Yanushpolsky has been awesome so far. She’s thorough, kind, and compassionate. She reassures me and doesn’t mind to take the time to answer all of my questions. She listens to me and plans my treatment accordingly. As a single woman trying to have a baby, it’s easy to lean toward judgement but Dr. Yanushpolsky didn’t seem to mind; she was just as glad to help me. I found the idea of going to an RE intimidating and still do but Dr. Yanushpolsky makes it less stressful. I don’t have any complaints yet but I’ll be sure to update you if things change.

Dr. Yanushpolsky is upbeat and tends to move fast- don’t be afraid to ask questions! She’s happy to answer them.

Dr. Yanushpolsky and I decided to do four rounds of natural IUI. She explained that because of my age (27) and the results of my blood work/HSG we would try without medication and follow up if I wasn’t pregnant after four cycles.

I paid a little over 200 before the procedure, which was the fee for the doctor. The remained was billed to me- I think around 500 dollars.

The clinic is top-rated and I truly believe they are really on top of current research/knowledge etc. I have frustrations that you can't do embryo donation, but that is a Massachusetts thing and not a clinic thing. You do feel a bit like a cog in a machine at times, but that is because they are so successful that they attract so many patients.

Dr. Ashby is great - she has been through IVF herself so she is understanding as to what the experience is like. She also has been clear about procedures and expectations.

I feel like I know the nursing staff much better than the doctor team at this point because they are the ones you interact with every time you come in for blood testing or ultrasounds, etc. They were kind and supportive, much more emotionally present than the doctors. My one frustration is their contact/communication system which is to call and leave them a message and then you have to wait for a call back and you never know when that is coming. I feel like it would be so much easier to have an online message system - both for the nurses and patients.

Dr. Ashby is fantastic - just because I have not yet gotten pregnant, I do not blame her. She is very knowledgeable and will even call you on the phone if the wait to see her is too long. She works with a team which has its plusses and minuses. They brainstorm together which helps to come up with a good plan and they can compare experiences against a lot of other patients. It does sometimes feel weird, though, when you go in and have a different doctor do your transfer or retrieval. But I honestly don't mind, because I believe their team to be one of the best around.

I wish she could be more available to each patient, but I also know that she has a ton of patients.

My first two retrievals we started medicine mid-cycle (so I waited until I ovulated and then we started a few days after that.) I apologize as I don't remember the names for all of these treatment strategies. The first cycle didn't produce as many eggs as the second, but neither was successful. I did not get a positive pregnancy test from either. For the third cycle, Dr. Ashby said she wanted to be more aggressive so we started medicine right after my period began. On that cycle, I produced 16 eggs which is great for someone my egg and we fertilized 13. Of those, there were 4 5-day blast embryos. I transferred two in a fresh cycle and then two in a frozen cycle. Again, I did not get positive pregnancy tests from either of those cycles, but I felt like we were headed in the right direction.

I have insurance coverage for the IVF cycles but I still had to make a copay of about $2,000. And the first cycle my pharmacy costs were around $900, but after that they were free.

Because of my age, I was allowed to transfer multiple embryos. The risks were made clear to me, but also the fact that it was unlikely they would all work, so I was happy to give that a try.

Strengths: They are extremely accommodating and very inviting. From the front desk staff, to the coordinators, to the doctors. Everyone I have met at the clinic has been wonderful. They stay open late one day a week to help accommodate work schedules. They think outside the box and present different treatment options and scenarios to you regarding fertility and parenthood. They are easy to get in touch with over the phone and via email. I have never had any billing issues with the clinic and they accept most insurances. I have actually referred a friend to their clinic. Weaknesses: So far I am yet to encounter any weaknesses. One thing that would definitely be a great additional would be a grant program/scholarship for their patients to help pay for the surrogacy costs.

Dr. Ginsburg is absolutely wonderful. She is very responsive to emails and goes above and beyond to make sure her patients needs are being addressed. She has seen me at 2 different clinics and has always called/emailed me back right away. She never makes me feel rushed when meeting with her and answers all of my questions/concerns at length. She assured me everything was going to be OK and that she would work with me and my fertility needs when I was diagnosed with breast cancer at age 25. I am so thankful to have her as a provider and I feel as though I could not be in better hands. Dr. Ginsburg and the entire staff at Brigham and Women have been tremendous. I am 100% confident in her care and strongly believe she will help make my dreams of becoming a mom a reality.

Allison is simply exceptional. We have been in constant contact for about a year now. We email weekly and she answers in great detail every and any questions I have. She has talked to numerous potential surrogates of ours and has included as in all aspects of surrogacy process. She always makes sure I completely understand everything she is telling me. She will email me detailed information and also call me with updates when we had potential surrogates. She has helped me fill out about 10 applications for fertility grants and continues to support us in any way that she can.

Dr. Ginsburg is a very intelligent, calm, confident, and compassionate doctor. She has made me and my fiance more than comfortable and confident that we will be able to become parents via gestational surrogacy. She has walked and talked us through the necessary steps towards gestational surrogacy and has explained everything in great detail. She takes her time when meeting with us and genuinely cares about the success of our future embryo transfer. She has given us hope after cancer took our opportunity to become parents naturally. We met Dr. Ginsburg during a very difficult time in our lives and she gave us the hope that we so desperately needed back in 2015. Having a family of our own is the single most important thing in the world to my fiance and I and Dr. Ginsburg demonstrates that she cares about the success of the embryo transfer just as much as we do. Examples of her compassion: She has helped me fill out fertility grant applications immediately after I emailed her asking if she had time to do so. She made me feel important and hopeful. She recommended different grants/financial assistance options to help pay for fertility preservation costs. She was very easy to get a hold of when I had questions during my IVF cycle regarding medication. She made quick adjustments to a similar medication when my insurance did not cover a specific medication during IVF. She suggested testing my ovarian reserve level every 6 months to help me feel more involved and aware of the changes my body was going through and would email me my lab results as soon as they became available. She remembered little details I would tell her at past appointments about my family and hobbies/social life, she paid great attention to details. She makes me feel like part of the treatment time and keeps me hopeful through her kind/warm personality. She has more than 1 clinic location and has flexible hours making her very easy to get in touch with.

Dr. Ginsburg will explore every aspect of your fertility needs and if there is a way to help you start a family she will most definitely find it.

Dr. Ginsburg had me do 1 cycle of IVF while on tamoxifen (due to stage 3 estrogen positive cancer) back in 2015. My treatment plan consisted of injections and pills. Together, we discussed the options for eggs and embryos and the pros and cons of each. She helped me decided how many I was going to create embryos with. We froze 4 eggs and 4 embryos (originally had 6 embryos but 2 did not make it). She explained that the embryos would be frozen on day 3 to get "as money in the freezer as possible". Her plan is to transfer 2 embryos to a gestational surrogate as each embryo has a 40% chance of success. Her strategy to transfer 2 lines up with our goals, financial needs, and of course safety concerns. She explained everything in great detail.

There was a high volume of patients waiting for ultra sounds during my IVF cycle but I was never waiting for a long period of time. They were open 7 days a week and I was always seen when I needed to be. The results were always available online within a couple hours and my clinic would always call me as soon as they got results. They were very on top of my care during my IVF cycle.

My IVF cycle was covered in full by my insurance. I did have to pay about $500 out of pocket for medications. My estimated hospital costs for gestational surrogacy services were quoted at 10K. The billing coordinator, Gene Diaz, has made herself very available for questions and has broken down the costs to me in great detail both over the phone and email. She emails me back very quickly and provides much detail for each one of the fees I will eventually need to pay for surrogacy.

We prefer to transfer 2 embryos to increase of chance of success on the first transfer. She was completely on board with this decision and also agreed that it was for the best. She assured us this choice is safe and is confident it will result in a live birth.

This is high volume practice with some of the most in demand clinicians in a market with no shortage of REs. It helps to know the in and outs of the process to know what questions and clarifications to ask for. You need to be okay with not having your doctor for procedures. My friend who has another RE at the Brigham has had my doctor for more procedures than I have. That said, from retrievals to transfers to D&Es - all of the doctors that have treated me have been compassionate and professional. Sometimes it is stressful to have to make high stakes decisions without the person you know and trust in the room but I come away from each experience with the feeling I was in good hands.

She is gives difficult to swallow information in a compassionate way. In our first visit, she brought up my weight in a way that didn't blame or shame me. It motivated me and I got to work. Even if I hadn't been able to address it, she would not have withheld treatment. I felt much better prepared and supported through treatment than I had at previous practice in terms of being grounded in the numbers for my age. After miscarrying a PGS normal embryo she was empathetic and said what I needed to hear. "If you wanted to quit, you came to the wrong doctor. I've just started to fight."

I have gotten to know Judy, Nanci and Lisa quite well. They are professional, kind and responsive. Sometimes it can be confusing knowing who you talked to about what but the coordination of care is leaps and bounds ahead of the first practice I cycled with. Things are by no means perfect - because let's face it, as much of a privilege and miracle the IVF is, it also totally blows even under the best of circumstances.

We haven't gotten our baby yet but I am confident that in the course of my treatment, no stone will be left unturned. She is known for having conceived and delivered her twins through IVF. That edge is what sealed the deal for me but the case was already pretty strong. When we were looking to switch practices, we asked around and she was recommended to us by friends who have a 1 year old son. They also experienced a previous loss and an early miscarriage with Dr. Ashby and described feeling very well cared for and supported.

No practice or physician is perfect - the important thing is finding a clinician whose style matches your needs. She is very in demand but if you need extra time and attention, she will accommodate you. Dr. Ashby is positive and forward moving but not one to sugar coat things. For me, that is a positive but everyone is different.

My 1st retrieval with another practice was antagonist. I got 5 blasts but it was absolute torture and was switched to freeze all because I was at risk for OHSS. My 1st cycle (2nd overall retrieval) with Dr. Ashby was also antagonist. It was also torture - though not as bad. The results were abyssmal - 1 full day 5 blast and two morulas were transferred. My 2nd cycle with Dr. Ashby (3rd overall retrieval) was an agonist micro flare protocol. It produced 5 day 5 embryos and 1 day 6 embryo. We did PGS and had 1 PGS normal, 1 mosaic and 4 abnormals. We are starting stims for the next cycle later this week with the same micro flare protocol starting with slightly higher doses of gonal and menopur. Results TBD.

Other than PGS, my care has been covered by insurance.

We only had one PGS normal to work with so we went with that. We opted not to transfer the mosaic with a normal. If we had had two normals, with the prognosis for my age we probably would have been advised and opted to transfer more than one so that we could move to the next retrieval since time is of the essence. Before my last retrieval Dr. Ashby made sure to explore my feelings about multiples and explain the risks involved.

I did have one snafu despite very compassionate care... my lab request for varicella titer did not specify which type of draw; written by a nurse and stamped with doctors signature. The lab made a mistake in just choosing which one to draw (one for active infection and not immunity, which I likely have after having chicken pox as a child.) The lab I had my blood drawn at had a big role, but the nurses not specifying the draw or catching the result as an incorrect one resulted in me going to get a varicella booster that delayed my treatment cycle by a month. I discovered the error a couple of days after the shot through my own research. I didn’t feel that the clinic was especially apologetic or owned up to this mistake and their role in it.

She was very excited for our success and answered all questions thoroughly.

Extremely knowledgeable and very quickly responsive!

Extremely knowledgeable with regard to the latest research. Answered all questions thoroughly and knew what gaps to fill in on our testing before starting treatment. Came highly recommended from a friend and lived up to what we had heard!

Have all of your questions written down in advance and don’t be afraid to ask them all.

We used Letrozole with timed intercourse followed by progesterone supplementation. I had a blighted ovum with my first pregnancy and have PCOS. I am now 15 weeks pregnant from our first cycle on that protocol.

Minimal on Letrozole cycle... two ultrasounds, consult, follow up, and meds.

I think most of the information is provided in my other responses. It's such a mixed bag. Really just don't expect a lot of information sharing-- you won't know why the doctors make the decisions they do and you won't get any process information ahead of time, even big picture stuff that seems like it can be reasonably estimated. If you want any sort individualized treatment I don't think this is the right place. Also, from my internet research it seems like I am far from the first patient they have dropped, so I think it's something you have to be prepared for (I was not). While some people are wonderful, others can be defensive, condescending, or even flat out insulting.

She did not take my individual medical history/concerns about side effects into account at all. She tried one protocol and then a more aggressive one and then pretty much gave up. The practice at BWH seems to have a real culture of not providing a lot of information, medical or process-wise. Dr. Srouji was always very late for appointments--at least 30-45 minutes--even first thing in the morning. I always felt very rushed when in appointments with her and always came out not sure of next steps and with more questions than when I went in.

The primary nurse who works with Dr. Srouji, Holly, is AWESOME. I just liked her style when giving results/instructions. She is upbeat but compassionate. My first interaction with her was when my genetic carrier testing came back positive for a fatal disease and she presented that perfectly. She also went WAY above and beyond to help us deal with CVS/Caremark, the most evil prescription drug plan provider imaginable. Unfortunately, some of the other nurses we dealt with when Holly was out were not as helpful at all. When I asked Barbara what happens after the cycle if I don't get pregnant (a medical question and a process question) she said, "we don't like to think about that" and wouldn't go any further. Nurse Marie told me they can't give patients all the information because "most people can't handle it." When I tried to get process information and was getting frustrated that she wouldn't provide it, she said, "I know you're upset because you always imagined you'd be a parent and now it might not happen..." um, no, I'm upset because you won't tell me what I have to do next. The other nurses I spoke with (Tricia and Amanda) seemed nice and helpful.

It is very important to understand upfront that the doctors work as a team at BWH, which means the doctor you see primarily and discuss your treatment with is NOT the one making decisions as you go through your cycle, and will most likely not be the one doing your egg retrieval, transfer, HSG testing, uterus mapping, etc. I did not realize this until after my second cycle, which would have explained so much if I had known. As such, it's kind of hard to rate any doctor on their medical decisions. I had a very mixed experience with Dr. Srouji. At times she seemed to be on our side, at others she almost seemed mad at us. I was probably not the typical patient-- I didn't go in assuming we would be doing IVF--and that seemed to frustrate her. At age 39 I was sort of clueless about the fertility process and just went because my regular doctor told me to "get checked out" after six months of trying to conceive. The assumption, however, was that you are there to sign up for IVF no matter what, and she seemed really confused about how to handle the fact that I didn't know if I was willing to go that far. She waffled on a few things-- at first she said male factor was such an issue nothing short of ICIS would work, then after my husband had a second test she said it was in the normal range and trying IUI first sounded like a great plan, then when the sperm count was low with the IUI she was almost angry with me and said the sperm count was always low and she only supported trying IUI because she knew I didn't want IVF. One of my biggest complaints is that she really didn't address--or seem to understand--my underlying medical concerns--I have been dealing with PCOS/PMDD/general endocrine issues and rough periods my whole life and wasn't sure how medications would affect me. I did have some REALLY bad side effects from both Clomid and the IVF meds that she neither warned me about, nor seemed to care about when I reported them. I think some mistakes were made during my second cycle but I will never know for sure because she abruptly dropped me as a patient. I don't know if it was Dr. Srouji's fault per se, but overall I would characterize working with BWH as traumatizing.

If you are not too interested in the details or any sort of individualized care, this might be a better experience (I felt that way at first until things started getting complicated and confusing and I seemed to have more questions the more I learned). It might also be better if you are an IVF veteran and already know the basics.

At 39 and 1/2, my AMH was 2.0 and FSH was something like 5.5, but my husband's sperm count and motility was low. So low, in fact, she said nothing short of ICIS would work (long story, but we did try IUI with Clomid first). My first IVF was lower dose antagonist (gonal-f, cetrotide, HCG trigger). Afterward she said my egg maturity rate (6/11) and my estrogen on trigger day (525) were much lower than she'd expect with my numbers so we had to go to an aggressive lupron microflare cycle (lupron, menapur, gonal-f, HCG trigger). My estrogen was MUCH higher (3260), and I had 14 follicles on trigger day, but only 8 eggs were retrieved and only one embryo was frozen on day 1. The embryo had to be frozen because my progesterone was extremely high during stimulation. She said I clearly have "an egg problem" but dropped me as a patient at the same time, so I don't have anymore information than that to work with going forward.

Monitoring is very early in the morning, and they seem to require more monitoring appointments per cycle than a lot of places. It's ok once you get used to it but at the beginning it was super stressful. Leave PLENTY of time in the morning for Boston traffic, parking, etc. The ultrasound and lab techs are very nice.

It's MA and I have BCBS, so I only paid 10% plus copays for medications (~$200).

BWH uses an algorithm to determine the number of embryos to transfer-- you can choose to have fewer transferred but not more than they recommend.

I never had issues in getting appointments set up when needed. They are willing to work with your cycles so you are not feeling like you are wasting months waiting. When you have IVF procedures you will see whichever Dr. Is scheduled that day so it may not be your own. This never bothered me but something some might consider.

Dr. Anchan was very personable with my husband and I. He always remembered facts about our life that were not fertility related. This made us comfortable that he pays attention and sets us apart from everyone else. We always fekt heard and he was very patient with answering questions.

Holly was our initial nurse and was always efficient in delivering results to us. Kelley took over and became our nurse while we did our IVF cycle. She was excellent in returning emails throughout the process. She acted as a good middleman for us and Dr. Anchan between appointments. I only had one miscommunication that had no effect on our cycle success.

Dr. Anchan was very patient with us and let us take our time with our treatment course. I was very much into taking steps slowly and progressing through each step at my own pace. He was wonderful in allowing this, I always felt like my feelings were taking into consideration and he was always able to provide steps I was comfortable with. He was amazing at explaining each step, medication, hormone and included diagrams when needed. He was always straight forward about our chances and possible success rates. I never felt blind sided at all through the process.

Trust the journey and Dr. Anchan. He has your best interest in mind and the same end goal as you.

I was not ready to jump to the big guns right away do we did a few letrozole cycles with timed intercourse. We stepped up to letrozole with IUI a few months in. When I was finally ready to accept IVF we did a antagonist cycle due to my higher AMH. The cycle was textbook and we had a high fertilization report and many embryos. We did use ICSI for the likelihood of having the most possible.

Monitoring is done first thing in the morning at a first come first serve basis. On weekends it is a scheduled time slot. I never waited more than an hour before I was out and onto the rest of my day. The techs were hit or miss with friendliness and gentleness but the phlebotomists were very pleasant. Even though this is a hospital setting they brought a phlebotomist to the ultrasound department which is very convenient.

The council we received in deciding how many to transfer included statistics and their reasoning. Both transfers we were able to explain our reasoning as well and it was always respected. Since I had a highly graded embryo we chose one for the first transfer. Our second transfer we were able to transfer 2 since we at that point had a unsuccessful transfer.

Brigham is incredibly large and busy and if you want a personalized, hand-holding approach, Brigham is not the place to go. All of your ultrasounds are done by techs and you wait for the nurse to call with orders to adjust for the next day. Also, your doctor is often not the one who is available for your retrieval and transfer so you must be comfortable with a group practice and residents. One interesting thing to note is that OB admitting is at the front of the hospital and you will walk through that on your way to the clinic or for ultrasounds.

Dr. Hornstein is incredibly busy but he always took the time to answer our questions and we had a lot! He holds one late night clinic each week and we were the last patient that day. He stayed with us for over an hour until 10 pm to make sure we had all of our questions answered and could develop a treatment plan for an IVF cycle.

I loved Barbara! Brigham is incredibly busy but Barbara always took the time to answer all of my questions. I did find that if Barbara was out or if treatment occurred over a weekend, the covering nurse was often not as familiar with my case.

I first saw Dr. Hornstein at the recommendation of a good friend who had seen him for years to manage her endometriosis. I had previously been seen by his partner, but I wanted a doctor who could do both the surgery for the endometriosis and oversee fertility treatments. Dr. Hornstein was very thorough with our initial work up and let us take our time before going to IVF. Dr. Hornstein presented all of the option and let us decide. We wanted to do PGS testing and even though Brigham doesn't recommend it, Dr. Hornstein was understanding.

Dr. Hornstein is incredibly busy and a lot of your care will be done by the nurses/fellows/other REs. If something urgent came up, Dr. Hornstein would call.

4 cycles of clomid - 3 IUIs (one was cancelled) Agonist protocol that was a freeze-all cycle for PGS and to prevent OHSS. Relatively low doses of stims (Follistim - 112.5) and Cetrocide. I used a dual Lupron and HCG trigger.

Monitoring hours during the week were from 6:45-7:45 and by appointment on the weekends. Even when it was crowded, they moved fairly quickly. The results of the bloodwork were available on Patient Gateway within a few hours and you would usually get a phone call that afternoon from the nurse.

In Massachusetts, most fertility treatments are covered by insurance with co-pays. We did pay out of pocket for a few elective things - freezing samples, ICSI and PGS but all told it was under $10k.

Nothing runs on time and it's very difficult to get someone to pick up a phone. You often are on hold for a while or > 5 hours (or a day) will pass before a returned call. "Customer service" is lacking but the medical care is great. The receptionists are very nice and act like they remember me, which is well received.

She is very personable and we were able to establish a personal connection quickly. While she states the facts (which are hard to hear), she acknowledges that it's a hard message and I feel like she feels bad when we don't have a successful outcome even though our chances are low.

It's sometimes hard to get in touch with the team which can be frustrating. As I have been interacting with the nursing team for a while now, I know each of the personalities better. They are all very compassionate and try to share in your excitement or sadness.

I really like Dr. Fox personally and she was very candid on the statistics for success as well as other options. She won't actively put herself in our position and say what "she" would do which I sometimes want her to do, I understand these are very personal decisions and she tries to give us all of the information we need to make the decisions. She is very sensitive to our individual situation and it feels like she is personally committed to us becoming pregnant and having a successful pregnancy.

She doesn't sugar coat but she's very smart and experienced. She'll answer anything you ask, just make sure you ask! It's sometimes hard to get a hold of her outside of normal appointments and she often runs behind so our appointments didn't run on time.

I did 2 patch protocol cycles and 1 micro dose Lipton cycle. I am currently doing my 3rd patch protocol. In both protocols, I was on the highest dose of medication (4 menopur in the morning) and 300 of final-f in the evening. This was because my test results showed a diminished ovarian reserve. The first cycle we had 7 follicles, 5 eggs retrieved and fertilized and all transferred. The 2nd cycle we had 7 eggs retrieved 2 fertilized and both transferred. The 3rd cycle took much longer for stimulation (30 days Vs 12-14 for the first two) and resulted in 3 eggs, 1 fertilized and 1 transferred. All were a negative result. This current cycle Dr Fox and team decided to give us one last chance on the patch protocol since my stimulation was materially better. We are self-pay and while a significant burden we were willing to spend the money on a 4 th cycle before deciding potentially to do egg donation.

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When my husband and I met with Dr. Ashby, she did not just spit out numbers and facts, she explained this and also asked how we were doing during our treatment. She also walked us through each failed cycle to explain what happened and what we would do differently for future cycles.

Nancy, and the entire nursing staff are amazing. They were great at explaining the whole process as we were going through it. They always called me back when I left messages with tons of questions. They also helped me deal with a lot of back and forth insurance issues.

As a patient, I've had a good experience with Dr. Ashby, despite not being pregnant yet. She doesn't just spit out what we need to do, but talks to us and asks how we are doing during this whole process.

Ask lots of questions - don't be afraid.

Round 1 (birth control pills at beginning, started on follistim injections, then cetrotide injections and follistim injections. Post retrieval/transfer used crinone gel, medrol, estradiol) Round 2 (started on patch, then cetrotidge injections, then once I got my period again, I started on follistim and menipur injections, then added cetrotide injections. Post retrieval/transfer used crinone gel, medrol, estradiol) Round 3 Frozen (birth control pills at beginning, then estradiol, progesterone injections. Post transfer continued on progesterone injections and estradiol) Round 4 (lupron injections, then added follistim injections and then menipur injections. No fertilized eggs)

My insurance covered 90% so we paid $1,000 up front for each round that we started. And then a few additional costs I think.

They always ran on time. I was always treated with respect. I always received prompt emails/test results/call backs after leaving messages.

I always felt as if Dr. Ashby had my best interest at heart. Her end goal is to ensure you have a healthy baby no matter how you get there. She was relatable in the sense that she had her own fertility struggles and explained what she went through to have children. She always explained things in a digestable way and always made time to answer as many questions as my husband and I had.

Alison was my primary nurse when going through the donor egg process and she was OK. She wasn't the best I've ever dealt with. There were a few tests that she didn't tell me about that I needed. At the end of the day, she was fine, but I remember feeling frustrated at times dealing with her. there were a few tests/shots that she didn't tell me about which almost caused a set back with my embryo transfer.

Dr. Ashby always treated me like a friend. She was open, compassionate and really took her time to explain my diagnosis and how we were going to move forward with a plan. I had 3 egg retrievals and 0 embryos from all 3 combined. I have Diminished Ovarian Reserve and outlook was looking bleak. She had the difficult conversation with me and my husband about exploring other options like donor eggs or adoption. This was very upseting to us but she gave us examples of couples she had treated in the past who were successful with donor eggs. She never made me feel bad about my diagnosis and was always very positive and said that we will have a baby one day and she was going to help us get there one way or another. She had a gentle bedside manner but at the same time was always very candid with the reality of our situation. She never forced us to move forward with donor eggs. She explained she would continue to treat us and try another protocol but after 3 failed cycles, it wasn't looking good. She also recommended a 2nd opinion just so we could feel good about our decision moving forward.

Trust her advice and opinions. She isn't super clinical but still explains the clinical side of fertility treatments. Ask lots of questions.

I don't remember the exact treatment plan but considering I have diminished ovarian reserve (at 35), I went through 3 very aggressive treatments.

They were pretty efficient for the most part.

My insurance covered the majority of the meds and procedure costs. I was lucky.

She has a strong preference for one embryo transfer. Her end goal is healthy mom and healthy baby.

You have a choice of where to do your monitoring if you can't come into Boston, but it's still a time consuming process. I often did monitoring in Foxborough and once at Chestnut Hill. The wait times for monitoring can be very long at BWH Boston. Be prepared to wait, and there will often be children in the ultrasound waiting room, especially on weekends. The clinic itself is often running behind schedule, but they are good at letting you know where you are in line. You really could do so much worse than BWH, though. And living in Central MA I have.

Dr. Hornstein always took the time I needed even when his schedule was booked, and always answered every question. Pelvic exams are difficult for me due to physical disability, and I have had previous terrible experiences with gynecologists as a result. He is the most accommodating doctor I have ever seen in a specialty unrelated to my disability. I continue to see him for endometriosis management.

I do feel that his nurse at the time was a weak link in the process. There were some communication issues there, but I soon figured out how best to work with her. I would not let the nursing staff dissuade me from using this doctor.

Dr. Hornstein is an excellent communicator. He seems aware of the power differential between patient and doctor, and actively mitigates it during consultation by listening actively within the time constraints of the visit. By the time I became his patient, it was clear that I likely had endometriosis that previous doctors failed to take seriously as a reason for both my infertility and severe pain. My goals closely aligned with his, which likely made him a good fit for my case (single embryo transfer, plenty of cool down time between failed transfers, aggressive pain management of my endometriosis during the process). I came to him in crisis and feeling hopeless. He validated all of my anger and frustration, and my sens that "something just wasn't right." He had me in the OR within 6 weeks to remove endometriosis and we were on to infertility treatment from there, quickly moving to IVF. His approach is wholly evidence-based, which I appreciated greatly. Dr. Hornstein never did any of my infertility procedures because you get who is on the schedule. But there was never a moment that he wasn't up to speed on my care. I had a lot of setbacks: return of endometriosis, two canceled transfers, two failed cycles, some complications post second retrieval. It was a long road from the start of my care to the MFM hand off once I finally got pregnant (2 years, 4 months), but there was never a moment where I doubted his clinical judgement. I have no regrets about choosing him, and would feel the same way had I not ultimately been successful (my husband agrees). I hesitate to write this because it may identify who I am as a patient, but it's very important. As a woman with a significant physical disability, Dr. Hornstein never once questioned my ability to be a mom. Other doctors had, in ways that were unfounded and not evidence-based. He cared about my disability when it was relevant, and didn't when it wasn't. It's hard to put into words how refreshing that is, as OB/GYN care is particularly challenging due to my disability. He always took the extra time needed for pelvic exams and procedures (HSG, SIS), and collaborated with my physician who cared for my disabling condition when necessary. I would not hesitate to recommend him to any woman with a mobility-limiting disability.

Come in with your questions ready, trust his judgement, be patient with the process.

I do not remember specifics, but I do remember his approach changed with each failed cycle or canceled transfer. We were constantly balancing increased endometriosis pain while during ovarian stimulation. So his approach to stimming was a bit conservative with me. However, we were very much in alignment, going for quality over quantity. I stimmed with GonalF for my first retrieval and got quite a few low quality embryos. He adjusted the approach for the second retrieval, adding in Menopur, resulting in better quality embryos, and my pregnancy.

Very busy at BWH Boston on the weekends. There will be children in the waiting room, so prepare yourself if that is a concern. I did weekday monitoring at Foxborough, and once at Chestnut Hill. Foxborough was, for the most part, a well-oiled machine. But, factor in time for traffic if you are taking 495. The courier service that picks up the blood for analysis at the main hospital is always on time and if you miss the window you are out of luck. No exceptions. As a patient driving in from central MA I often had to just judge by traffic whether I could beat the courier at Foxborough or if I just needed to drive into Boston.

We have a state mandate in Massachusetts that requires private insurance to cover a maximum of six fresh cycles of IVF. IUIs, drugs, and infertility testing are also covered. My daughter is a $200k kid. I paid, maybe $2,000 of that once you figure in copays for office visits, surgery and meds. If you don't live in Massachusetts, my advice is to get here now. No one should have to go broke to have a kid. You're supposed to go broke after you have the kid. ;-)

I opted for elective single embryo transfer because of my physical disability. We were in agreement about that. As the process dragged on and treatment wore me down, at one point I suggested trying two. He was gentle in his reminders of why I chose eSET and I agreed. I did not push back on this.

Overall, I can attest that this clinic does a fabulous job at fast-tracking your route to pregnancy, customizing the strategy to you and your individual circumstances, physically and financially.

I felt like a human in that during the initial visit, each person on the doctor's team, including himself, was very polite with me, reassuring, thoroughly explained the medications and procedures. Simultaneously, I felt like a number in that the intake nurse really didn't care to know about my prior acupuncture treatment or lifestyle changes. The clinic also, although being a well-oiled and perhaps efficient machine, divvies up so many parts of the process that in the initial intake appointment, you end up seeing 5 individual professionals, making you feel like you are in a factory. As time went on and I visited the office more frequently, I will say the nurses and staff were incredibly personable. My 8-week pregnancy ultrasound was an incredibly warm-feeling experience, with the ultrasound tech, nurse practitioner, and a medical student very attentive and invested. When we discovered a second baby in the ultrasound, I asked if they could bring in my mother-in-law and son from the waiting room, and they happily obliged.

I really loved the nurse practitioner, Jennie. She, along with the friendly, sweet nurses who always made sure to give my son (who accompanied me to many blood draws) plentiful stickers and attention, made my experience at the clinic very warm.

Dr. Isaacson seems like a very straight shooter and very experienced in the fertility world. I get the sense he has seen a great array of patients and has gained some wisdom re: what is the best course of action per each patient.

I did not receive an infertility diagnosis that was complex in any way -- Dr. Isaacson told me that likely I was just not ovulating. As a result, my treatment was simple (prescribed Clomid) and as I got pregnant after the second cycle, I only ever saw Dr. Isaacson once during the initial visit. I saw the nurse practitioner much more frequently (and I will say I very much liked her). So unless you have some more complex things going on and require more advanced treatment, don't expect to interface with Dr. Isaacson that much.

I was prescribed Clomid with a plan of trying it for 4 cycles given my previous successful (naturally conceived) pregnancy, age, symptoms etc. I very much appreciated the practice's respect for my limited insurance coverage, and that also informed our course of action -- not starting out with too many potentially unnecessary procedures, but being willing to do those if time proved it necessary. One of the procedures we were going to wait on was the HSG procedure that makes sure there is no tubal blockage. I ended up requesting this procedure after the first round of Clomid failed just for my own peace of mind, even though the clinic did not urge me to have this done early on. They performed the procedure at my request, and my tubes showed to be open. There is anecdotal evidence that the procedure can sometimes prove to be therapeutic and the fluid pushing through the tubes may open small blockages. I don't know for sure whether or not this was the case for me, or if I just needed to try Clomid for one more cycle, but I got pregnant with twins after taking my second round of Clomid. I am now 11 weeks pregnant and have been discharged from the clinic to my regular OBGYN. I will say that twins do not run in my family, and I am positive the Clomid stimulated my ovaries such that they produced two eggs. I am incredibly excited to have twins, although people who are wary of twins for either financial or physical reasons should know that Clomid does slightly increase your chances of conceiving multiples. On Clomid, I had painful cramps and bloating during ovulation, and I took this as a sign that it affected me perhaps more than most people, overstimulating my ovaries. Again, my outcome was an incredibly happy one for my family -- but I realize multiples might not be ideal for everyone.

Insurance covered the majority of our care costs. Probably my biggest expense was my copayment for the HSG procedure, which I requested out of personal interest v. recommendation.

Most of the doctors and nurses were fabulous. Occasionally Dr. Srouji wasn't able to perform the retrieval or transfer and we would work with other doctors on those days. One in particular, Dr. Walsh, had a terrible bedside manner and I really disliked him, but everyone else was great.

Dr. Srouji was incredibly thoughtful and caring. She called after every result (positive and negative) to check in and see how we were doing. She always seemed to be very invested in our success and determining what adjustments needed to be made to improve the treatment after each cycle.

Sandy is Dr. Srouji's nurse and she is fabulous, but all the nurses in the practice were great. My husband and I called a lot with questions and they were always patient and informative.

As noted earlier, Dr. Srouji was incredibly caring and dedicated to helping us achieve success. She called us to check in, tracked my response and made adjustments, and was a clear communicator through every step of the process. I am so thankful for her kind and supportive care. She did some out-of-the-box thinking regarding why our embryos weren't making it to day 5 despite the high number we had. After switching two day 3 transfer with assisted hatching, we had two successful cycles, the first ending in miscarriage due to chromosomal abnormality (we didn't do genetic testing) and the second resulting in my current pregnancy.

Ask lots of questions. It's an overwhelming process and she is there to help you make sure you have the information you need to move forward in the process. And call her nurse Sandy--she is amazing and was a great help to us as well.

We used ICSI because my husband had sperm morphology issues. My PCOS meant lots of eggs of not so great quality, so we switched to a Lupron protocol which helped. We also found that our embryos weren't converting from day 3 to 5 so we switched to day 3 transfer w assisted hatching.

Massachusetts has unbelievable coverage for fertility. We paid nothing out of pocket, maybe a total of $100 in copays for our insurance.

This is a big hospital practice, so some may need to adjust their expectations surrounding this. The experience with the doctor will feel personal, but with the all the outside testing it is what it is - a big hospital without a lot of hand holding. I am personally fine with that, others prefer a different approach.

Dr. Ashby gets right to the point, but does it with compassion.

Because I only had one medicated/monitored cycle, I didn't have a ton of interaction with Susan, but she got her job done adequately. When I emailed her to let her know I'd gotten a positive pregnancy test she got me set up right away for HCG testing. When she called me with my (very high) results she made me laugh when she said "well you're DEFINITELY pregnant, wow!"

I saw Dr. Ashby at the recommendation of a family member who had a successful pregnancy with Dr. Ashby's help. At the first appointment, me and my husband knew we were in great hands. She is direct and knowledgeable, and gives her patients confidence that she is an absolute expert. She thought we would see great results with IVF but our insurance required us to try 3 IUIs with injectables before we could move on to IVF. I was disappointed since I really hoped to start IVF right away, but to everyone's surprise the first IUI worked! We had a complication very early on - when my first ultrasound was performed at 6w3d, it was discovered that my pregnancy was heterotopic, meaning that I had a viable pregnancy in my uterus and a second one in a fallopian tube. The radiologists sent me to Dr. A's office and she saw us immediately. She laid it on the line - I had a perfect embryo in the uterus but the ectopic needed to be removed immediately before it could rupture and put my life in danger. It was something seen more commonly with IVF but not unheard of for IUI patients. She felt that this procedure would not harm my viable pregnancy. Needless to say we were shocked and upset, but she and her staff were great. The moved us to a private room while they made surgery arrangements so we could process what was happening. One of her associates removed the fallopian tube that afternoon. A week later we had another ultrasound which showed a healthy heart still beating. The rest of pregnancy was uneventful and I had my healthy, perfect daughter.

Trust her!

For my IUI we used Gonal-F with ultrasound monitoring throughout, then an HCG trigger when follicles were ready. This produced 2 mature follicles and several smaller ones.

It was covered by insurance so we paid very few out of pocket costs

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We live very close to the Brigham and Women's hospital, so it is very convenient. All the doctors there (not only mine) are experts in the field. The clinic is clean, well maintained, and comfortable.

She personalize my care, and her team worked together to modify my IVF protocol to help me get pregnant. Also, I have a "unique" uterus that makes embryo transfers difficult. She placed a Malencot catheter in in me few a few days to make the transfer easier. My understanding is that this clinic is the only one in the country to do this. And it certainly helped make the next transfer easier. Also, I got pregnant!

Kelly is kind, knowledgeable, and communicates clearly and timely.

She is an excellent practitioner with great bedside manners: She has skillfull hands and is part of a great team. She came to me recommend from several friends (all healthcare professionals). I will recommend her to all my friends who need fertility treatment. Also, as a plus...When I had a miscarriage, the whole office treated me with compassion and kindness.

Ask her to clarify any terms/vocabulary that don't understand. People new to fertility treatment may find that the amount of information shared initially is very dense and overwhelming

I did a low dose AB agonist protocol during the first cycle. While I got 18 eggs retrieved, we had lower fertization rates than expected. Also, the embryo transfer was very difficult because I have a tight cervical opening (which my Doctor hypothesized lead to my uterus to contract post transfer, and pushed my embryo into my Fallopian tube, and causing my ectopic pregnancy). After my failed cycle Dr. Ashby and her whole team met for a "cycle review" and suggested I do the same protocol, with the addition of Menapur, ICSI, and placement of a malencot catheter (to make the transfer easier). This resulted in 21 retrieved eggs, 6 five day blastocysts (they transfered one, and froze 5). The transfer was much more smooth, and I am happy to say we are now pregnant!

Ultrasound and blood work monitoring was very streamlined and organized

My insurance covers 6 rounds of IVF, so I am unsure about actual costs. I paid $75 for all my meds and a $50 copay each cycle

I think the clinic has good doctor's and being in the Brigham has access to great resources. I also think they are a business and their goal is to get people in and out (pregnant) so at times it feels a little too much like a factory. Overall, though, I had a good experience and I would (and am) going to go back.

I really appreciated Dr. Ashby's approach - very much "down to business". She clearly cared about how I/we were doing, but there was a game plan. I wanted results and Dr. Ashby was there to discuss what to do, when and how to get the results.

It was not as organized as I would have liked it to be. I believe I sent a few emails that needed quicker responses and I had a massive billing situation that took a long time to work out that should never have been an issue.

I really appreciated Dr. Ashby's approach. I was working with another doctor before who was very knowledgeable but I felt was almost too timid in her strategy. Dr. Ashby was willing to be a little more aggressive and understand that I wanted results immediately. For each appointment she was up-to-date on where I was in the process and ready to explain the next steps and why. She was very efficient, yet I felt that I had time to ask any questions I needed.

She moves fast and is down to business. If you need someone to go slowly and be a bit more nurturing, I am not sure if this would be the best fit. That said, I would never say Dr. Ashby doesn't care and/or is cold.

I was on Letrozole to help me ovulate and then tried timed intercourse. The first round did not work. The second round we decided to do IUI and that worked! Another round of letrozole and follicle monitoring. There was question about whether or not I had too many mature follicles, but Dr. Ashby felt it was fine to proceed with IUI and I'm so thankful I did.

Insurance covered my treatments so I do not know exactly the costs.

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Brigham and Women's is a big clinic and you may not get the personal attention that you get from some of the smaller clinics. I liked the team of doctors there and also liked that they have options where you can see some of the doctors from the city in the suburbs and not have to drive into Boston all of the time. They are also some of the best doctors and I was happy to be getting help from them to start our family.

She would explain what options we had. I was older when we started and knew that it might not be easy but knew that she was there to help us start the family that we so badly wanted.

This is the team that we had most of our communication with when we received test results along the way and would share with us what we needed to do in terms up changing dosage of medications I was taking.

I was happy to be working with Serene since she was part of the Brigham and Women's team and she also had other doctors that she could consult when she wanted to bounce something off another doctor. During our meetings she was present there for us to discuss our options. We went through 5 IVF cycles with her and the last 2 were donor egg. Our first donor cycle went terribly wrong and she had felt bad. Knowing this she wanted to lay out our options and went above and beyond if we opted to do a 5th cycle in which we did. She was very surprised by the results of our 1st donor cycle that being worse than my cycles. When we opted for the 5th and final try she even worked with us to secure a donor. The only thing that I wish is when we had a failure she was the one who reached out and not to hear it from the nurses. While we always met with her during our appointments we never spoke with her during the tests and results always came from the nurses. We would then meet with her but it was often a few weeks after we had received the news.

She is busy and you will see her for your appointments but most of your communication will be with the nurses. Also she is only in Foxboro once a week so it limited the times that she could make an appointment if you wanted to see her there verses Boston.

This process was so easy and they had time set aside in the morning where we could come in. Super easy and did not add stress to an already stressful process.

We are lucky to live in MA where fertility treatment is covered through our insurance so other than medication co-pays we did not have much in terms of costs for the IVF procedures. Our expenses came in with the egg donor process and that can be costly.

We did multiple embryo transfers since I was older and the quality of my eggs/embryos. She also tried icsi where they place a small pin hole in the embryo increasing the chances that it would take.

Dr. Ginsburg knows her stuff and has seen dozens and dozens of cases. In some instances, this means that she knows what has worked and doesn't really need to know a lot about you personally. But she still makes an effort to be kind and get to know you - she's pretty cut/dry (not a lot of chit chat), but friendly. Her nursing staff is great, but administrative staff is super unresponsive, and that makes it frustrating.

One of the nurses specifically recommended we try Clomid without IUI. The doctor hadn't actually suggested this, but she turned out to be right. That's what ultimately worked!

Dr. Ginsburg is an expert - not necessarily warm and fuzzy, but super fair and helpful and patient. I was seeking a compassionate caregiver, but also one who could help guide us on the right next steps when you aren't always certain what to do. She's no nonsense. Her nursing staff is super sweet. Her administrative staff sucks (bluntly - rude and unresponsive, hard to make apps, etc.). That part can make it difficult. Also, since she is at a hospital, simple procedures like IUI will cost a lot more (need to pay hospital fee vs. just doing it at a clinic). Luckily she pointed this out, so we went to do IUI at the Harvard Vanguard clinic.

Figure out which simple procedures may be cheaper to do elsewhere so you can avoid expensive hospital fees. For IVF, I believe it's the same cost. Also, figure out a way to make appts while you're there so you can avoid having to call their unhelpful staff.

He was very hard to get a hold of personally, I was always talking to his nurse. When we did sit down with him he had to re-read his notes on our case, as though he was not familiar with it. When we did have appointments with us he went over everything in detail and made us feel positive about our progress. However, when I was diagnosed with severe ovarian hyper stimulation I spoke to almost every doctor in his practice, only speaking to him once when hospitalized for the week.

I spoke to Barbara the most. I think because they see so many patients that sometimes they forget this is new to us, so they go through the information quickly. She was very nice, but sometimes a little inpatient relaying the information.

He was very thorough in his testing and in our health history for both my husband and I. We never felt rushed when we had appointments with him, however, he was very hard to get in touch with personally- we spoke mostly to his assigned nurse. I felt like he definitely explained everything to us in a way we could understand, but sometimes the process wasn't always clear to me. I will say, having had 2 prior miscarriages he allowed us to stay on as his patient past the 8 week mark until we felt comfortable being released to our regular OB/GYN, which I was very grateful for.

Write down everything he says, have your questions ready...and make sure you get his nurses direct line for follow up questions. He's very smart and it can sometimes be a little intimidating, but ask your questions until you feel like they were answered in a way you can understand. Also, just know you aren't always going to get him on the phone, so you need to be ok with talking to his assigned nurse.

You definitely had to get to the ultrasound clinic right when they opened, they were on a first come first serve basis and the waiting room was always full. They opened very early so it was convenient for traffic and to get to work on time.