California Fertility Partners

Although there have been hurdles along the way, our confidence in Dr. Ringler never faltered. My husband and I have as much faith in him today as we did when we entered his office for the first time over three years ago. Without going into great detail, our experiences thus far with our journey to parenthood have been disappointing. While we had hoped to have a healthy baby long before now, we also realize it is no one's fault. We are also aware that other intended parents often have much longer roads. Everything went very smoothly during the process until the retrieval and outcome of PGT-A testing. All of our embryos were mosaic to varying degrees. At first, we did not fully understand the gravity of the situation. Dr. Ringler took the time to call us from his vacation in Europe to discuss the results. He was candid in saying that he was quite surprised due to our donor's age of twenty-four and excellent history. It was a rare but troubling result. During that call and subsequent conversations, Dr. Ringler laid out our options. He was supportive when we needed it most. In order to fully explore the possible ramifications of transferring a mosaic embryo, we met with a genetics counselor at Harvard on Dr. Ringler's recommendation. We ultimately decided not to proceed with a transfer based on the high degree of mosaicism. Several weeks later, COVID struck and our plans to immediately resume the process were dashed. Life also intervened when my husband lost his father unexpectedly. During this lengthy period, Dr. Ringler checked in periodically which was much appreciated. We met with him again recently in person to discuss our three potential egg donors. He provided guidance which led to our final selection. If all goes well, we are hoping for a retrieval to take place in several months. We are cautiously optimistic and feel that we are in great hands as far as Dr. Ringler and his entire office.

I would tell a prospective patient that while Dr. Ringler seems reserved, when it matters most, he is extremely compassionate. Dr. Ringler is not "warm and fuzzy" upon meeting him. He is serious and business-like. However, we learned that he is incredibly supportive during a traumatic experience. It is easy sometimes to write off people whose personalities do not jump off the page. This is true of Dr. Ringler but based on his calls from a European vacation to counsel us, among other things, he is all we could have expected and more.

Our course of treatment was standard in terms of a gay couple intending to be parents. We had a detailed physical examination and semen analysis during our initial appointment. Thereafter, our egg donor was cleared and began her cycle. We actually traveled to Los Angeles on the day of the retrieval to provide fresh samples. The retrieval went smoothly; unfortunately, the result was not what we hoped for. For our second attempt, we are proceeding similarly. My husband and I feel confident we were simply victims of bad luck. There was nothing that could or should have been done differently.

I believe that the total cost of treatment from initiation through transfer was about $40,000.00. This seems consistent with similar practices in LA.

Dr. Ringler encouraged eSET as the healthiest option for our gestational surrogate. We had not considered otherwise so everyone was in full agreement.

Unfortunately, we did not get to that point with CFP. That said, we have no reason to believe there would have been any problems down the road.

While he is very likely a highly skilled physician, he was unprofessional in handling our case. When we questioned him on why his own medical standards were not being followed, and rather relying on things the donor or donor agency said rather than actual medical / lab documents, he became defensive. Worse, when he realized how bad our case had transpired at his office and apologized and claimed he was embarrassed, he did little to correct the situation and actually ignored emails.

While is likely a very skilled physician, make sure your case in handled properly from a medical perspective if using an egg donor (e.g. her exams are done there and/or transferred from other medical facilities to his).

We were still evaluating both the donor and host for viability of egg/embryo transfer.

$35 for full egg donor cycle and one embryo transfer

Doctor Marrs really cared about me as a patient. I had a HORRIBLE results with SCRC and had my records transferred to Dr. Marrs at California Fertility Partners. He clearly spent a lot of time reviewing the records because at our first appointment, he knew the entirety of my file without even having to reference the documents. He knew my partners name, the disease we were trying to eliminate during genetic testing, the dose of Gonal F Dr. Danzer loaded me up on, etc. Dr. Marrs made me feel hopeful again and he ABSOLUTELY delivered above and beyond any promise. We had 35 follicles retrieved, 30 fertilized, and 16 made it to blastocysts! Mr. Marrs saw me at every appointment and personally conducted my ultrasounds. He is so calming, honest, and trustworthy. Please do not make my mistake and go to SCRC. Dr. Marrs and California Fertility Partners are the team we all deserve. IVF is hard enough. Dr. Marrs is our angel!

You made the right decision.

150 follistim and 75 menopur. We reduced later to 100 follistim.

I don't remember, but worth every penny. It is cheaper to do it here first than to have to do it multiples of times with other careless doctors. Learn from my mistakes.

Dr. Baek is really invested in my quest to have a child. She took the time to carefully review all my history at previous clinics and RPL and built a protocol to improve on my results. Which she absolutely did. She doubled the quantity of eggs from previous cycles... and quadrupled the quantity of embryos. Ultimately PGT testing was unsuccessful, but she has adjusted each cycle as a result. She has also paid more attention than other doctors to my partner's stats and how to improve them, which may be part of our improved numbers. She and her partners run a very tight ship, meaning there is absolute clarity and never a dropped ball about the next steps.

Provide her with as much background information on your fertility history - she really does factor in a lot to tailor your protocol.

Estrogen priming then antagonist protocol with a HCG trigger. The estrogen priming was to keep from suppressing my ovaries too much and to synch all the follicles. Dr. Baek would only proceed on months where there was a good number. She adjusted the meds trying to get to an earlier trigger to preserve quality.

$15k egg retrieval $4k additional monitoring $5k meds $2k PGT-a

During the initial consultation, Dr. Chung discussed my history and went on to describe what the process was like, what I can expect, her projections, challenges that we might face and the reproductive system in general. I also noticed that her approach is a combination of experience and sciences. She was very thorough in her recommendations and did not cut any corners. She seemed like she was in it with me.

Ask questions and trust her- she knows what she is doing.

375 -425 menopur, estrogen priming, ganirelix as the antagonist double trigger (HCG+Lupron). I used both triggers at the 34hour and 12 hour mark. For IUI it was Clomid100 and Follistm - 200 HCG trigger. We also did icsi and zymot for the sperm For IVF retrieval, we got 7 eggs, 5 mature and 2 blast with one pgt normal. For IUI I had 3 good sized eggs and must have ovulated all 3. Dr. Chung likes to complete the IUI either very close to ovulation or after which makes sense as a matter of science. I am currently waiting for the result

iui and ivf were approximately over $30k, each monitoring usually cost about $600 because of ultrasound and blood work and a cycle had about 5 of those. Medication cost about 8k for my ivf cycle and retrieval including pgt biopsy cost approximately 15k.

na - i haven't transferred yet

I am a 2 time cancer patient and unable to have children. I tried to freeze my eggs before starting chemo, but only able to retrieve one egg...which did not turn into a viable embryo. I was gifted embryos by an amazing anonymous donor. Part of my contract with the donor was that I had to use Dr Ringler and I am so glad because Dr Ringler has been so kind and compassionate through this whole procedure. Having to use donor embryos AND a surrogate has been hard but Dr Ringler has been my rock. After 1 (and a half) failed transfers, I have a new surrogate lined up and our medical clearance appt is on Monday. I can not wait to start this process again and am so glad to be working with Dr Ringler.

To trust him. If I had another dr who told me to move on from my first surrogate, I may not have listened and probably would have just wanted to go ahead and try again. But I completely trust Dr Ringler and when he told me to look for a new surrogate, I took his advice.

With my first surrogate, we did 2 months of BC and then the transfer. the transfer failed. We started again with 1 month of BC and then went in for her lining check appt and determined she had swelling in her uterus that would not be good for a successful implantation. After months/or a year of searching for a new surrogate, I have found a lovely girl and we are excited to have her medical clearance appt on Monday. Hopefully from there, right to transfer!

I mean, not sure of exact cost but it's so much...not because it's Dr Ringler but because all IVF costs are expensive and not covered by insurance. I feel like I had to spend extra because of working with a surrogate. Again, Dr Ringler's fault, so more out of pocket expenses for someone using a surrogate

No comments. I am only looking to transfer one embryo as I am a single intended mother and one is what I'm looking for.

Dr.Chung performed all my ultrasounds, retrievals, and transfer. She tailors to my need- what to expect, answer questions I had, shared information that I should be asking, but didn’t think to ask. I will be graduating from Dr.Chung’s care soon and I wish she was my OBGYN too.

There is a waitlist for new patient consult with Dr.Chung. My advice is be practice patience, she is worth the wait (trust me on this!) I did my fair share of IVF RE consult based on my previous fertility experiences. You will know she’s the one when you first meet her!

Again this is different for everyone and these protocols are tailored to you individuals based on your diagnostic test and how you respond to them.

I am grateful for the company I work that provides fertility benefits

N/A

Dr. Ringler is pretty dry but once you get to know him is very sweet and compassionate. This man means business! He is very committed to success and everything he does is with extreme precision. I understand his bedside manner is not for everyone but I was at a previous clinic with a doctor well-known for being sweet and it just wasn’t cutting it. I’ll take getting pregnant over niceties any day. Many fertility doctors also don’t do their own ultrasounds and that was never the case with Dr. Ringler. He has his finger on the pulse every step of the way. We had been trying for nearly 2 years prior to seeing Dr. Ringler. He took a look at my paperwork, all our previous attempts and within minutes was able to see exactly what the problem was. It was such a relief to finally feel like we were in good hands and I’m so grateful. He’s truly a master of his art.

I was apprehensive about doing IVF but Dr. ringler advised against IUI due to low sperm count from our donor and borderline AMH levels. He said he would give IUI a shot but that we shouldn’t get our hopes up and he was right. We went to IVF for our second cycle and it stuck right away.

I went to Dr. Ringler at CFP for a natural cycle IUI. I had an initial consult app. On Skype with Dr. Ringler that cost $490. As part of the consult, we discussed the treatment plan for the IUI cycle. At the end of the conversation, he asked me to upload the past tests in the patient portal and also send them to his email address, those tests were critical for the success of the IUI cycle. He was supposed to provide his feedback on whether he had all the tests needed or if any test was missing or needed to be repeated. His promise of looking at the documents was never fulfilled. He did not review the documents uploaded in the patient portal and never responded to my email either. I never received any sort of response and wrongly assumed that he does not need any tests to be repeated, it was only after I started the cycle, that I asked him about the medical history, which he mentioned that he has never looked at the documents I have uploaded in the portal and never received my email, when I mentioned the date that I sent the email, he was able to find it and then informed me that one of the tests is missing! At that time, it was already too late to repeat the test and the chances were that I missed the cycle altogether. Doctors in CFP put notes in the system that nurses, and staff become aware of the discussed and agreed treatment plan and be aware of what needs to be done when the patient starts the cycle. Dr. Ringler did not put any notes in their system and the treatment plan which was agreed on bet. me and him, never been discussed with the nurse and the rest of the team. The goals of the consult session have never been fulfilled, it was a complete waste of time and $490 was a complete waste of money. Unfortunately, Dr. Ringler did not do enough to clarify and resolve anything. He put his staff before the wellbeing of his patient, for not putting any note in the system and not communicating clearly with his staff.

Make sure that you and him are on the same page when it comes to treatment plan. Make sure he puts notes in the system and let the staff and nurses know - ahead of time - of the agreed treatment plan. Make sure he reviews the medical records that you upload in the patient portal or send to his email address and ask for his feedback BEFORE you start the cycle.

Natural cycle IUI, no mediations used.

No insurance accepted. Please note these fees belong to 2020. Consultation session $490. Progesterone: $130, Estrogen $125, LH $125, Blood draw fee: $45, Ultrasound: $285.

I cannot recommend Dr. Karine Chung enough. Upon her first meeting with me, Dr. Chung thoroughly explained the entire fertility process and that helped me understand what was going to happen during my IVF / embryo freezing process. She is also an expert in oncofertility which meant she knew all the latest research and could help make personalized recommendations for me. I was so happy with Dr. Chung.

Have your questions ready to ask her. She will take time to answer them all.

For the first cycle she started me on 75 Menopur and 300 Gonal F. However at my first monitoring appointment she increased me to 150 Menopur and 300 Gonal F which is the same protocol I used for the second cycle. I used Pregnyl and Lupron for my trigger shots.

My Progyny insurance covered all of it in full, so I'm not sure, but they said it could cost about $20K per cycle including medications.

He is our second REI doctor after we exhausted options with our first. He had read through all of our charts and history prior to our first consultation, which means he actually understood where we were with our history. His sense of caring, warmth, and expertise is simply wonderful. His experience and reputation in the field are unparalleled, so we were quite shocked that he still spent so much time with us as if we were his only patients. He analyzed our case and charts and presented his opinion about the reason for our recurrent pregnancy loss. Other doctors had thought it was a bicornuate uterus and other issues, but Dr. Marrs believed it was another issue that could be solved surgically. He had his colleague Dr. March perform the surgery with him in attendance.

[See previous response] After having surgery to remove the uterine septum, we are now planning on another FET.

He’s compassionate, caring and detailed oriented. Answers every question and ensures that I understand everything before he leaves the room. Dr Ringler diagnosed me with a septate uterus and the amazing (now retired) Dr March repaired the defect and I’m ready for IVF.

Listen to him and ask questions. Have information written down i.e. period dates, any medications, any previous miscarriages or treatments you have had. If you have any test results bring them with you along with a CD of images if applicable. He will answer your questions and if you don’t understand tell him, he will make sure that you understand and are comfortable with your treatment plan.

Total for IVF 2021 is about $35k including meds, ICSI, PHS, etc. the entire package.

With my age he does multiple embryo transfers, which is amazing.

I trust Dr. Marrs and he will even listen to you as we all know we google things! He will explain why this or that does or doesn't work so that you understand the science of it all. And he doesn't act like he knows everything being in the field for a long time.

Ask questions to understand why he is a certain protocol. He tailers to your journey to you individually.

I have thin lining and after several attempts to get my lining to at least 7mm, I came to him noting my lining was a little thicker using egg retrieval protocol. It has proven to help me but we are still in the process to see if I can get the embryo to implant.

~$25K for egg retrieval ~$1500 egg retrievals meds $8K embryo transfer ~$1200 embryo transfer meds

Kelly Baek is a great doctor. She is trustworthy due to her skill, competence, and ethics. I have met with her for all my appointments and she is kind, efficient, and directly communicates. Sometimes it is a lot information thrown at me, and especially if the news isn't great, it's hard to process all the details while having an emotional response. It'd help to have a summary in writing to follow the visit, for us visual learners. I have worked with Dr Baek since 2016, when she has advised me on timed intercourse, which was successful twice, but only lead to one live birth. More recently, we did an IVF cycle for my second child, but had no embryo success. We are going to try again, and Dr Baek has outlined a new strategy for retrieval. We are hopeful and I have a lot of confidence with Dr Baek's support.

Do what she says and you'll most likely end up happy.

Gonal F and Menopur. I had some negative side effects from the Menopur. Because of my diminshed ovarian reserve and age, she didn't want to "overcook" my eggs. She thought she'd be able to retrieve 3 eggs of the 8 since they grew at different rates, but on day of retrieval only 2 were large enough. One had a abnormal PN, and the other embryo didn't grow to a blastocyst by day 7.

We have Progyny insurance so the IVF cycle was covered, with the exception of Zygot sperm procedure for $520.

First of all, she initially didn’t have an appointment available until January, but agreed to adjust her schedule so that she could see us before the holidays in November. At our initial consult, Dr. Baek was more clinical than I would have necessarily wanted, but she found a congenital defect in my uterus that 3 other doctors failed to find. Not only that, after my last doctor told me my only option was to pursue natural cycles, Dr. Baek had other ideas as to how to proceed with treatment for me. At that point I had to make the decision to look past the clinical tone and feel of the first appointment and decided to switch doctors. I’m glad I did because when I saw Dr. Baek to start a new cycle at the beginning of February, she was anything but cold and clinical. At my first ultrasound appointment for the start of my first cycle with Dr. Baek, I found her to be very warm, friendly and engaging. She cancelled my cycle that day because I’d been sick with the flu but she was very thorough in explaining why she cancelled. It’s been a few months and now I’m working with her to try to figure out why I still haven’t gotten my period since having the flu and she’s been very thorough, communicative and willing to see me for ultrasounds and testing despite the pandemic.

She’s very smart so don’t mistake her clinical tone as unfeeling. I believe she really cares about her patients.

We haven’t been able to implement our strategy yet but it is to monitor a natural cycle and trigger ovulation when the lead follicle gets to 18. Then add estrogen and maybe an objective to sync the follicles in the luteal phase and then do an egg retrieval.

Every ultrasound appointment is $285, initial consult was $350-400 I think and phone consult was $315

Dr. Chung is compassionate and knowledgeable, but most importantly you can tell she cares. She took her time to truly understand our unique situation which I really feel does make a difference, as well as to fully explain our prognosis, options, and risks. Unfortunately we ran into a road block that has stalled our journey, however Dr. Chung helped us find the right specialist to help shed some light at the end of the tunnel. As soon as we figure out a way through this hurdle, we will be sure to make our way back to Dr. Chung.

Ask all the questions you may have to understand the journey ahead of you, Dr. Chung is very knowledgeable and there is a lot of information.

I was to complete a typical egg retrieval cycle using hormone injections daily and for the first week, and have appointments every other day at the clinic. We were likely going to be using the ICSI procedure with my husband's frozen sample to create embryos.

I don't recall

We have been very happy for Dr Baek so far. We have done one IUI with her and currently are in our first IVF cycle now. We just did an egg retrieval. While previously diagnosed as "Unexplained", Dr Baek dug further and figured out that I have Endometriosis. She was very thorough in her approach and I felt like she was a detective working on our case. Dr Baek did all of my ultrasounds herself and called me the day after my egg retrieval to check on how I was doing.

Dr. Baek’s ultrasounds are fairly quick, she has a lot of patients and a busy schedule so this is understandable. It’s best to be proactive, ask questions, and she will take the time to explain things to you.

We did 11 days of stims, two triggers (HCG and Lupron) and many ultrasounds to be sure she did not overly cook my eggs. She was very careful to base my treatment off my lab-work and not just the ultrasounds.

Our first cycle was about $20,000 including medications. For Los Angeles this is average. Her care and devotion is well appreciated.

n/a yet

I first met Dr. Chung at USC Fertility where I did one IVF cycle with her. Soon after, she moved her practice over to CFP and I followed her to do a second IVF cycle. For my first cycle, she put me on BCPs for two weeks and then a micro-dose lupron protocol, with Follistim and Menopur, and a Pregnyl trigger. 9 eggs were retrieved, 5 mature, and 4 were fertilized with ICSI. On day 3, my embryos were not doing too well so it was decided that they would freeze any that progressed to 6-8 cells. Two were frozen and I was told I would have a 10-15% of getting pregnant if I transferred the two. I decided to proceed with a second cycle. For IVF #2, Dr. Chung did estrogen priming (patches) with an antagonist protocol, added clomid and omnitrope and triggered with lupron and Novarel. 10 eggs were retrieved, 9 mature, and 6 were fertilized with ICSI. One day 5, I transferred an early blast and a morula. I did not get pregnant and none of my other embryos made it to blastocysts/freeze.

Ask questions! She will answer them all and make you feel so much more at ease.

See above. After my first failed cycle, Dr. Chung made major adjustments to my protocol such as estrogen priming instead of BCPs since they were too suppressing in the first cycle and took a much more aggressive approach by adding clomid and omnitrope.

At USC, it was $15k (including meds) but I did not transfer any embryos. At CFP, I spent $25K (including med) and that included a fresh transfer.

My husband and I love that Dr. Baek is a scientist. After (and during) every cycle, she is modifying and fine-tuning the treatment. When we went in for a consultation after our first failed IVF transfer (no pregnancy), we were inspired by her explanation of what could be fine-tuned to get a better result on the next cycle. It wasn’t just “I’m sorry, you can try again”, it was “here’s what I saw when I examined the eggs and here’s what we can do differently”. She will lay out all the possibilities, make recommendations, and support our choices when they are viable. Our second round of IVF, after refining the process through her evaluation of the data she collected, resulted in a successful pregnancy. Four years later, we are trying again. We are confident that if anyone can help us get pregnant again, it will be Dr. Baek.

She’s worth the cost.

In our current attempts, Dr. Baek is using less medication, starting the shots later, and triggering earlier. She has explained that as women age, the eggs mature quicker so triggering needs to happen earlier. I come in mid-cycle and use estrogen patches (2, switching every other day) from post-ovulation through period start then leave on the patches until I see her a few days later. She usually sees me around day 3 of my cycle to assess egg growth and quantity. I come in frequently (sometimes every other day) to monitor the growth of the eggs. She tries to start the shots (combinations of Follistim and Menopur) as late as possible and adjusts the dosage along the way. She monitors the egg growth carefully and is triggering a little earlier in each cycle we’re doing. She triggers twice, about 12 hours apart, to try to get the eggs that weren’t ready at the time of the first trigger but might be ready by the second (that’s my understanding, at least).

Probably between 16-20,000 per cycle.

CFP will now only transfer a maximum of 2 embryos at one time. During our previous rounds (2014), we transferred 3 embryos both times, the first resulting in no pregnancy and the second resulting in a singleton.

Dr. Ringler has performed every procedure, answered every question, and has been willing to go in depth to educate us on what our options are at every step of the way. He also has been completely available and willing to build strategies to accommodate our schedules. He's clearly steeped in the latest science and is incredibly knowledgable (as you would hope) on the subject matter, but more importantly is top notch at explaining things in a way that we understand.

There are so many steps and variable to the fertility process. You can't necessarily expect your doctor to proactively explain everything. Advocate for yourself. Ask the dumb questions (they're not dumb if they're making you anxious). Stay as long as it takes for you to fully understand your options. Dr. Ringler will patiently be there to answer all your questions and advise you on the optimal path.

We have a pretty straight forward IUI (one failed pregnancy test) and now IVF (awaiting transfer). Other than the small tweaks and adjustments to various hormones, injections and medicines things have been fairly status quo as best I can tell.

From what I can tell online, it seems prices here a little higher than other clinics in other states, but in Los Angeles they're in line with the market.

Dr. Ringler strongly prefers to do single embryo transfers for the simple reason of the safety and health of both baby and mother. He was open to multiple embryo transfers if we wanted but he stated his preference and rationale for a single persuasively and we agreed.

Dr. Kelly Baek is by far one of the best and most talented REs in LA. I was so lucky and fortunate to have found Dr. Baek and had her as my RE. I am 4 month pregnant and looking forward to what is to come. Yelp post is not long enough to describe what Dr. Baek can bring to any fertility case. I came to Dr. Baek after failed IVF at SCRC, after consulting with 8 different REs at other prominent clinics including Reproductive Partners, SCRC, HRC, USC, even flew to CCRM in Colorado… Dr. Baek is absolutely an expert. Extremely knowledgeable, with abundance of common sense and incredible attention to detail she will be the best detective on your case. I’ve seen so many women go through number of clinics and IVFs to be correctly diagnosed only after several failed attempts, sometimes not even then. Dr. Baek seeks those answers at start and checks everything. She was absolutely on top of every detail to maximize my results. She was always making sure my follicles are synched and grow close together so we can maximize number of mature eggs. She used less medication to help improve egg quality and has applied “early trigger” methodology that has resulted in better blast development and improved egg quality as well. I started getting normal tested embryos in every cycle. When I came to Dr. Baek, I was already tired of mistakes doctors were making and I had zero tolerance for mistakes as well as doctors not paying attention to things. Those mistakes cost me thousands of dollars, lost time and emotional stress. With Dr. Baek I always felt absolutely confident and safe, knowing that she has everything under control and has my best interest at heart. That is evident from her precise planning, calculations, inviting me for ultrasound even day in between to make sure we hit the best timing and don’t miss anything. This is absolutely incredible and very rare to find in this day and age when most clinics are factory lines, where patients interface with never ending phone systems, ultrasound technicians and see RE only at first consult, egg retrieval and to receive good or bad news on the phone. By the way, at CFP all RE’s do their own ultrasounds, no techs! Dr. Baek is honest, direct, will tell you as it is. She will be patient and methodical in her approach and will achieve results. I read some of the negative reviews here where people complain about lack of time Dr. Baek spend with them or lack of compassionate care. I do want to say this journey can be very emotional and difficult and if you are someone who needs a lot of hand holding, long conversations and need some difficult information sugar-coated this may not be the best match for you. Dr. Baek is focused most on your case and achieving results for you. She is direct, pragmatic and quick but that may be difficult for some people in this process. Without Dr. Baek, this journey would have been much longer, more painful, costly and possibly without results. I owe enormous gratitude to her and she will forever stay one of the key people who had profound effect on my life.

If you want someone who will be honest, dedicated to your success and absolutely one of the best experts in the field then look no further.

Dr. Baek absolutely on top of every detail to maximize my results. She was always making sure my follicles are synched and grow close together so we can maximize number of mature eggs. She used less medication to help improve egg quality and has applied “early trigger” methodology that has resulted in better blast development and improved egg quality as well. I started getting normal tested embryos in every cycle.

I had a bad experience with my last RE, and never even started a cycle. Going to Dr. Baek (on the recommendation of my acupuncturist) was night and day. I had full trust in her as a expert in her field. While I only had one normal embryo in two cycles (we opted for PGS testing), I still believe this is a better outcome than any other RE could have provided. We are waiting to transfer the one viable, but I do fully believe that I have the best possible chance with Dr. Baek as my doctor.

If you are someone that needs a lot of hand-holding or are unable to advocate for yourself, she might not be the right fit. I am very happy with her, but my partner does not care for her. She is not for everyone, but she works for me!

Dr. Baek counseled on supplements (CoQ10) and acupuncture (weekly) and Chinese herbs. We went through 2 months of monitoring before starting and hormones. She monitored me very closely - at least once a week and was always the one conducting the US. She would constantly revise retrieval date based on the progress of my eggs during stimulation.

Each cycle was about $20,000 including medications. Not cheap, but I did not find this to be vastly more than other RE in the area.

She does everything herself. Ultrasounds, visits, retrievals, everything. Everything there was to do, she did. It was never left to a tech or anyone else. I did have a procedure with Dr March but she was there and they worked well together. I appreciated being able to see her every time I came in. If I had questions afterwards I went through a nurse but that’s to be expected. But she was hands on through the entire 3 cycles of IVF we did with her.

First of all, IVF is HARD. It’s tempting to make your doctor God, and to expect to have your feelings soothed, and look for comfort when some cases there is none. We had vast amounts of eggs- and a minuscule fraction were genetically normal. We spent all our money and we’re running ragged by the drugs and the worry and the strain of it all. None of this is the doctor’s fault. She is doing her best to figure out he best course of action. She is not warm and fuzzy as primary qualities. And we tend to expect that (unfairly) from women. Hold it together and try to approach her scientifically while you get your emotional needs met elsewhere (sliding scale therapy is a godsend.) that way you can have sole emotion processing and be able to hear what the doctor says with a Little more objectivity and less emotion. Dr Baek is taking care of one part of the equation and make sure you take care of the other parts- the pain and suffering and grief.

I produced scads of eggs- one time, 44. And only one in all my cycles was genetically normal. She could see from my first doctor that my eggs were post mature and that I was triggered too early. So she changed the protocol to include fewer meds and adjusted medication and timing each time with labs and ultrasounds. Each cycle was fitted to me- no cookie cutter protocol. She was ALWAYS adjusting. And despite all my egg production I was never overstimulated with OHSS. I thank her for that.

It was all out of pocket. She’s comparable to most clinics and i s surprised- I thought she’d be more expensive than others. I think with medication and all labs and procedures and everything, i rounded the number to figure about 25K per cycle. But that includes things like hysteroscopies and the endometrial function test so I may Jaheim paid more than someone who didn’t need those things. They are upfront about all costs and give you a sheet of paper with the rates.

We only had one normal embryo to use and she implanted one which so far has been a successful pregnancy.

I felt like I was a car on a factory line - she didn't treat us like we were human beings experiencing an emotional, somewhat stressful experience. She's robotic, irritated if you ask questions, and generally just made us super stressed and nervous to raise any concerns or even ask about what was coming up next. I'm a medical doctor myself, and I cannot imagine treating my patients with such a complete lack of empathy. I believe that a lot of the success in fertility treatment relies on the emotional wellbeing of the patient, not just on how technically good the doctor is. This is where she falls so far short of what you would (and should) expect from a clinician. She can't seem to see her patients as whole people with feelings, just eggs, sperm and a uterus.

Please look for another doctor - there are so many good doctors in Los Angeles. It's not worth it.

Dr Baek didn't really take the time to explain her treatment strategies or protocols. I truly don't really know what her treatment protocols are. We just arrived at the appointments, were seen hurriedly by Dr Baek, and then were shunted to the nurse who gave us a print-out with instructions for the next set of medicines for me to inject, and the date for our next appointment. It seemed like we were driving the process - IUI failed, so we asked if we could do IVF next and she agreed. We had to stop an IVF a few days into the cycle as my oocytes didn't synchronize, and she didn't suggest any alternative course of action after she told us. We sat there sad and disappointed, and then my husband then asked if we could convert to an IUI, and she said "yes, I supposed we could". I only found out a few days into that IVF cycle that she was planning to send our embryos for genetic testing, and she didn't bother to explain that would mean they would freeze and implant in a later cycle - I heard this from the nurse later almost in passing.

I don't know - our insurance covered this, so I'm not sure of the cost.

All she said (as she was running out the door) is that she would usually transfer one, but said we could transfer two if we were happy with twins. She didn't go into any of the risks or benefits or trade-offs.

Dr. Baek is extremely sharp, thorough and diligent. She does all of the ultrasounds herself compared to other clinics that have a nurse complete this procedure. She was dedicated to our treatment from beginning to end. She is extremely busy, so there were times when I felt rushed or felt that she was short with answers, but she ultimately answered all questions. Initially, I thought she was not warm but as I got to know her better, I experienced warmth and kindness.

Trust her process as she knows what she is doing. If you feel rushed during your visit, the nurses are there to provided support and are happy to answer questions.

Medicated IUI -- failed. 1st round of IVF: Follistom, Menopur, ganirelix antagonist, HCG trigger -- resulted in 2 poor quality embryos along with a few eggs that were premature. Fresh transfer of 2 embryos - Negative. 2nd IVF: Augmented minimal med cycle. Later administration of Follistom, Menopur, ganirelix antagonist, HCG trigger + Lupron trigger. Resulted in 5 eggs retrieved, 4 mature, all 4 made it to day 5 blast. 3 PGD normal embryos. Result: Positive pregnancy test!

Each round of IVF costs approx $10-$15k. Medications are additional $4k approx.