Fertility Centers of Illinois

I could never get ahold of my nurse or doctor when I needed to (at one point, I left a voicemail in tears on a Monday and didn't hear from anyone until Friday). And I think something was off with the protocol. I was never told ahead of time what medications I may need in the near future, so I wasn't prepared with Cetrotide when we needed it. Then I only got 2 eggs frozen - I went to another clinic and 2 months later I had 12 eggs. VASTLY different results!!

Do not go here for egg freezing, especially if you are paying out of pocket. Go somewhere that will make you a priority and not waste your money, and will be available to answer your questions and fears.

I had been on birth control for 10-15 years, so I went off of it for about 3-4 months. Then I did 5-6 days of Minivelle/Estradial patches and Cetrotide for priming. A week later, my period started and we began with Menopur and Gonal F. Stimulation lasted 11 days. We kept Menopur at 150 the entire protocol, while the Gonal F we increased from 225 for 3 days, then 300, then 375, then 450 for the last 4 days. I started Cetrotide again on day 8. We triggered with just 10,000 HCG.

Dr. Rodgers is always willing to answer our questions. She never acts like we are bothering her by asking questions. I wanted to try a different medication and she was open to discussing that option with me.

Go into an appointment with your questions written down. She doesn't rush you and will answer all your questions, but she sometimes talks fast. For me, it was easy to get sidetracked while in our meetings. Writing everything down kept me on track during our meetings and made sure all my questions were answered.

My first cycle was clomid. My next two cycles were letrozole. We switched from clomid to letrozole per my request. We are currently moving on to IUI.

I have insurance so it's just been my normal deductible for now until I reach my limit.

She is very determined to make you successful. I am one of 4 friends who has used her and we all have gotten pregnant. She takes time with you and is very blunt about her expectations. She is all business but is also very compassionate.

Make sure you are ready to hear the hard truth. She is willing to do whatever you want for the most part but does not want to waste your time or money.

Before egg retrievals she did not use birth control but instead waited for natural ovulation before starting estrogen patches and Lupron. Then after your period started, the stimulation meds began (follistim, ganirellix, menopur). I then had appointments every 2 days for monitoring. We also did ERA cycles to make sure Lining was receptive before frozen transfers. For transfers we used Lupron, estradiol patches, vaginal estrogen, and progesterone in oil.

We were very lucky to have insurance coverage for IVF. We were only responsible for our copays until our deductible was met.

Dr. Rodgers is usually against multiple embryo transfer until several attempts have failed or embryo quality is not ideal.

Dr. Rodgers has a lot of experience treating patients with PCOS and was fully equipped to handle my condition. My treatment plan appeared to take into account the PCOS and she took over my metformin treatment as well. It was a little challenging that she chose not to be the treating doctor for my hypothyroidism. My main Endocrinologist still had to order her own bloodwork and adjust medications. During the IVF cycle, when I was already being poked so many times, it was challenging to then have to be poked again separately for TSH/T4 tests. During consultation visits, Dr. Rodgers makes decisions very quickly. Sometimes I felt like she left me out of the decisions. The decisions were medically sound, but her thought process was not well explained. I was happy that she was the doctor on call for my first egg retrieval. It was comforting to know that she already knew me. I would have liked her to check back on me post-op before I left. She did call me a day later to give results. Her explainations about the eggs/embryos were a little misleading. Her words confused me and concerned me, although when i talked with the Embryologist from her office, they were able to describe things a lot better. Overall, I think Dr. Rodgers is a good doctor and has good follow through with her patients, but could work on improving her communication skills about the treatment.

Dr. Rodgers’ explainations are not the end-all. If you are confused, ask her supportig staff and they will offer more explainations.

The first cycle included 21 days of Orthocyclen, then baseline ultrasound, then on the first day of my period I started with 2.5 MG Letrozole, 75 IU Menopur, and 225 IU Follistim. At the first ultrasound they upped the dose to 250 IU Follistim. Later it was upped to 300 IU Follistim and added Ganirelix. They explained that the increased Follistim would help the eggs get bigger. Monitoring was every other day at first, and then every day. Monitoring on the weekend is downtown at the River North office (over 1 hour away from the main clinic). 36 hours before the surgery I was instructed to take an IM shot of Pregnyl. After the surgery, they told me that the eggs were “granular” because they had given me too much medication too fast. Basically they told me that the eggs were low quality because I’d been cooked on high. I am about to start the second round and they have adjusted my dosage. This second round I will have 150 IU Menopur and will start at 175 IU Follistim. It is anticipated that the cycle will last slightly longer.

$1700 for the cryopreservation and storage for 1 year. Additional years of storage are $500. Everything else was covered by insurance. Semen analysis (at the beginning) was $100.

My doctor believes that only one embryo can be transfered at a time because it is already a high risk pregnancy. I have done IVF with Pre-Implantation Genetic Diagnosis for my BRCA1 mutation. She considers all PGD or PGS patients high risk and will not implant more than one at a time. Since I have depression, my therapist told me to ask if I could do two at a time (because it is anticipated that I will have post-partum depression), but Dr. Rodgers did not think this was possible.

She has been a great doctor for me. I know she cares and tries her best. We have had many setbacks and she is willing to fight with us. The negatives are FCI does not prescribe HGH. You do have to be very vigilant in getting your concerns and information to everyone you work with.

Make sure you remind her of important details especially during the phone calls.

First retrieval was an antagonist protocol with 300 Gonal F & 300 Menopur along with Cetrotide. I retrieved 10 eggs, 8 fertilized and all 8 arrested by day 3 so no transfer. My second retrieval I did a lupron protocol with Gonal F & Menopur doses changing almost daily. I retrieved 11 eggs, 6 fertilized, and 1 embryo had to be frozen as my progesterone was too high for a fresh transfer. My third retrieval was lupron, 300 gonal F & 300 Menopur. I had 16 follicles going into retrieval and ended up ovulating during the procedure. 2 follicles were retrieved, 1 fertilized and I don't know yet if it makes it or not to be frozen. We found out during our second & third retrieval due to an ERA that I am pre-receptive by 12 hours so going forward I always have to freeze embryos.

I could always get an appointment time that was convenient. Some days you are in and out and others they are backed up.

I am running around $12,000 per retrieval cycle which includes meds, monitoring & retrieval. I do have some insurance but no coverage for meds.

We have not transferred anything yet but we have discussed positives & negatives to both.

We had lots of set backs and unexplained infertility. Dr. Jacobs always explained all of our options and what our next course of treatment was. He seemed to share some of our feelings with set backs and wanted us to succeed with a live birth-not just as a doctor but as a person.

Ask lots of questions if you don't understand something. He explains everything and he's very scientific with his explanations which can be confusing; however, if you ask more details-he's great at breaking it down so you can understand it better and make informed decisions.

I had good insurance but after everything was done-we ended up spending about $25,000 of our own money.

I didn't have many embryos to transfer so we didn't really have much choice.

Dr Rodgers was very helpful and understanding during this process. Still to early to know if IUI worked. But appreciated Doc and her staff. I only wish the protocol was outlined a bit clearer considering the several appts needed. Sometimes I didn’t know why I was coming in for an appt, I just showed up.

Be encouraged to ask questions

Not sure as this is my first time.

High deductible plan$1500

Dr. Rodgers makes changes to try to give the best outcome. The second egg retrieval we made changes that helped retrieve more eggs. She's open to talking about supplements. She will go to bat for you if medically she thinks it worth perusing. I think she tries to do the right thing for each patient. I'm no just a number.

She's great at answering questions, make sure you bring some because she doesn't always cover details unless directly asked-why do you think this treatment plan will be better for me, etc.

1) Schoyer Ganirelix 175 Gonal F/150 Menopur-increase to 450 Gonal/F 2)Micro dose Lupron with 300 Gonal F/300 Menopur no changes made to stim doses

I used Attain $26,600 for two cycle program and FET transfers until one worked. We paid that amount and $10,000 in stimulate medications, $3000 in donor workup for sperm, $1,000 for FET medications

My doctor suggested 1 and said we have a good chance if you'd done an ERA and the embroyo is PGT tested. I'm aware of the health risks to both mom and baby with multiples and from past failures don't want to waste embroyos. Plus we signed up for Attain so the transfers are covered until one works.

It is clear that Dr. Kaplan is extremely intelligent but he is more of a salesman than he is a physician. In our initial consultation, he raved about how 'easy' our case was and was so bold as to promise it would not take much to get us pregnant. Unfortunately, in doing so he ignored blatant indicators in both my labs and imaging that I had PCOS. I was put on a generic protocol. Even when the protocol failed and we looked for reasons and potential causes he continued to ignore the notes in every single one of my ultrasounds on the condition of my ovaries.

Dr. Kaplan is not the right physician if the cause of your infertility is still unclear and if you want a protocol that is customized to your unique diagnosis. He does not do much in terms of work up and pushes hard for IVF as the first course of treatment even if underlying issues are still unclear. As a result, the protocol you're initially put on will not be tailored to you. If you feel strongly about using Dr. Kaplan (he is very nice and very warm) I can't stress enough how important it will be to advocate for yourself to do research on testing before starting your protocols. Despite the fact that he agreed with me (wholeheartedly) I had to ask for an ERA with only 1 embryo to transfer, I had to as for PGT testing, I had to ask for ICSI despite my husband's poor morphology. He has a cookie-cutter template and if you want a unique approach you will have to do the research and present it to him.

When we came to Dr. Kaplan we believed our issue was MFI (poor morphology, good counts, and motility). We moved directly into two medicated IUIs. I am a hyper responder and got 3 follicles each cycle with just 5mg of Letrozole (he is not a Clomid fan). After both failed we moved to IVF. I did 21 days of birth control, 225 gonalF, and 75 menopur with an antagonist protocol. We did a Lupron trigger because my estrogen climbed very high and my retrieval yielded 40+ eggs. Only 14 were mature, 11 fertilized, 6 embryos and just 1 tested PGT normal. I believe this protocol was far too aggressive for a hyper responder like myself.

I understand that I'm not the ideal patient. I have had 2 natural pregnancies and losses and advanced maternal age with diminished ovarian reserves. However, Dr. Kaplan remained positive for me and optimistic during my cycles. But also remained very honest. I appreciate the fact that Dr. Kaplan performs all his own retrievals and transfers with his team of embryologists in Highland Park. So the retrieval and transfer dates are set each month. So you can plan your life around those set dates. Dr. Kaplan is also creative in his treatments. He changed the protocol for my 2nd cycle to improve my #'s. He is creative and adjusts the medications depending on my response. Prior to my 2nd cycle, my blood tests showed that I was not ready to proceed with stimulation. I expressed that I was disappointed but he told me to return in a couple days to test again. My numbers improved slightly and he allowed me to proceed with IVF. I really appreciated that he just didn't cancel me and have me wait another month but was understanding and compassionate to give me a 2nd chance.

You won't be able to see Dr. Kaplan often or hear from him directly, but you can trust his IVF coordination nurse Ilynne. Trust that he is reviewing your labwork and providing the best treatment even if you don't hear from him. If you have questions and need answers, be persistent with the nurses and they will communicate with Dr. Kaplan for you.

1st cycle: Priming: Endometrin 3 times a day for 4 weeks prior to stimulation. Estrace pill once a day. Stimulation: 1) Follistim 450. 2) Menopur 150. 3) Microdose Leuprolide. 4) HCG. 5) Ovidrel trigger shot Retrieval: 10 eggs, 6 fertilized, 2 blastocyst sent for PGS testing. Both embryos returned as aneuploid. 2nd cycle: Priming: Endometrin 3 times a day and Estrace pill 1 times a day. Stimulation: Clomid for 12 days during stimulation. 1) Follistim 450. 2) Menopur 150. 3) HCG 4) Ganirelix 5) Ovidrel trigger shot Retrieval: 6 eggs. 3 fertilized. 3 blastocysts sent for PGS testing. All 3 returned as aneuploid. Awaiting to commence 3rd cycle. I also took the following OTC supplements: Prenatal Coq10 Ovasitol Probiotic Omega Fish Oil Vitamin D Magnesium/Calcium Melatonin Acupuncture and Yoga

For each cycle not covered by Insurance: Biopsy of embryo for genetic testing $2600, Freezing $1200, Thawing $200. Genetic Lab testing $2500. HCG Shots $700-800 Insurance Out of Pocket: $3k each year. 4 cycles retrievals covered by insurance. Vitamins/Acupuncture/Yoga out of pocket. $2k

I believe that Dr. Hirshfeld is well informed and I trusted her care. I wouldn't characterize her as a "warm" person, but rather she is straight to the point which for me was totally fine. I appreciated her direct answers, but I could see how some other women might need a warmer experience especially during such a trying moment in their lives.

If you are looking for a no-nonsense, fact based experience that gets results and don't need someone who is warm and fuzzy to deliver the good and bad news, Dr. Hirshfeld is a good option.

I had diminished ovarian reserve and my husband had some motility issues. Dr. Hirshfeld prescribed some vitamins including Vitamin D and CoQ10 for each of us. I was prescribed Letrozole for 5 days, then after an ultrasound confirming I had a viable follicle I used the Ovidrel trigger shot and then took Prometrium every evening following. We had one unsuccessful IUI, but we got pregnant on the second try. I used Prometrium every evening until I was 9 weeks. I am now 16 weeks pregnant.

My insurance is pretty good so much of my costs were covered. I think I only paid for the ultrasounds and the prescriptions. All in all, with two rounds of IUI I think we spent around $500. After the first unsuccessful IUI I did more research on IVF and that would have been considerably more, in the range of $5K-$8K, due mostly to the prescription drugs.

Perhaps my opinion is schewed by the fact that both my wife and have each worked with Dr. Hirshfeld to try to get pregnant, and we have not yet gotten a healthy embryo to implant, but I often felt like I was a lower priority than my wife because my probability of producing healthy eggs was lower. This would manifest in time spent focused on my options during a consultation and how quickly she recommended moving on to only my wife attempting egg retrieval. However, at a recent appoint in the last 6 months, I felt like she started to "click" with us a bit better and really understood that my wife and I are both going through the fertility treatments as patients who might both conceive and not just a carrier and supporter. We have been seeing Dr. H for nearly 3 years and will stick with her through the remaining pursuit to have a baby. Despite some of the concerns I had about her interest in my fertility options (as opposed to my wife's), I trust her judgement and appreciate her compassionate approach to the ups and downs of the last couple of years. She also always took the time to explain the processes in great detail, in terms we could understand, was honest about the percentages of success for most procedures and took the time to answer questions.

Make sure she understands your family dynamic and that you ask questions if you feel unsure that all options have been explored or offered.

I started an egg retrieval cycle following standard diagnostic tests and consultation. IUI was not an option because of a blocked tube. My bloodwork and ultrasounds revealed that my estrogen levels were very low and only 1 follicle per ovary reacted to the drugs. Per this info, Dr. H said we could not go through with the egg retrieval. We are now working to use an egg donor, and I have completed a new round of ultrasounds and bloodwork to prep for this process. I am now on birth control pills to regulate my cycle while determine the egg donor and associated paperwork.

We are lucky that we have insurance that covers some of the costs associated with fertility, but only to a point and for so many attempts. I feel that the cost most glaring was tied to the storage of sperm and/or embryos. That was a significant cost for us during this process and it is not covered by insurance. This is especially difficult to get a large bill like that following an egg retrieval that results in abnormal embryos that need to be destroyed (or used in research). Long-term storage of embryos or sperm seems reasonable, but short-term storage while viability is determined seems unfair.

No comments as it is not relevant to my treatment to date.

Things with Dr. Alvarez started out well. We had an initial consult during which he was empathetic, patient, and detailed in explaining what next steps would be given that my diagnosis of diminished ovarian reserve probably came as a shock at my age. We then ordered some testing and he walked me through the results and my options in a follow up conversation in a thoughtful and sensible way, making sure I had no questions. That's where the good experience ended. Separately, in the nursing section, I provide detail on what happened over the next five weeks with his nurse. Working with her for over a month, I couldn't get the requisite attention from her to even successfully order the prescriptions necessary to accomplish the egg retrieval, and missed two opportunities for egg freezing cycles in the process. At this point, I decided to loop in Dr. Alvarez. In a telehealth appointment, I explained to him everything that had happened with Rebecca, his nurse, and told him it had been 5 weeks just trying to get medications ordered and I was losing faith in their ability to oversee a complicated and time sensitive process. He had emphasized that time was of the essence for me to do this freezing procedure and so I asked for his help in giving Rebecca more supervision and making sure we were able to proceed. Although I made it clear that I felt my experience with her went beyond the typical complicated insurance dance of fertility treatment, which I was familiar with and knew what to expect, he did not seem willing to accept that Rebecca had done anything wrong. He excused Rebecca's inattention to detail and lack of responsiveness by explaining that they have many patients to balance and that insurance can be complicated so hiccups are to be expected. He explained Rebecca's perspective to me, which was that everything had been lined up and ready to go for weeks and she didn't know why I was saying that there was a problem. I encouraged him to look at the messages we had traded back and forth, which he has access to, as well as the record of the prescriptions she'd called in for me and what she hadn't called in, to see that her version of events was clearly not supported by the facts. He continued to resist any implication that the delays in my treatment were somehow Rebecca's or his fault, or that any mistakes had been made so far, although he did admit that he was concerned that at one point she had lied to me about having done a task I asked her to do, which she had not done. I began to feel like his priority was in protecting himself and Rebecca, not providing quality care to me particularly in light of the time sensitive nature of my diagnosis. During this appointment I also asked him a medical question about what could have caused my diagnosis. He at first gave me a very confident answer, however, moments later, he interrupted my response to that answer and said that he was just now looking at some medical articles online that indicated that actually maybe the answer was more nuanced than what he'd said moments before. I was a bit unnerved that he would answer so confidently if he wanted to do some research, instead of simply saying that he needed to look into it and get back to me. My problems with Rebecca continued for another two weeks after I looped in Dr. Alvarez, and I describe those further details below in the nurse section. If Dr. Alvarez did discuss with her and intervene, it did not have any obvious impact on Rebecca's ability to run things to ground effectively, and he never followed up with me to see if we were ready for a cycle or if things had improved. After 7 weeks of Dr. Alvarez and Rebecca and two missed opportunities for cycles, I decided to switch to Dr. Kaplan in the same practice. His nurses got me completely squared away within 36 hours of my first appointment with him, and I started my cycle just a week later. I only mention that to underscore the point that what I experienced with Dr. Alvarez and Rebecca was truly not typical and went beyond the normal insurance dance with infertility treatment. The whole experience made me feel like an inconvenience to them, not like a patient.

Go to Dr. Kaplan instead.

I never proceeded with a cycle with Dr. Alvarez because the simple process of ordering prescriptions was never able to be completed.

Dr Sipe can be considered a nice, caring, friendly, knowledgeable fertility doctor. Many patients believe he's amazing and dedicated to helping them become pregnant. However, this doctor didn't show that same dedication, compassion, hope, and heart for wanting to help me become pregnant. It's hard to ever meet or have an appt with Dr Sipe unless you have surgery or a procedure scheduled, especially during the Covid years. Dr Sipe acted like it was an inconvenience to have a phone call. He doesn't accept email either from patients even though the company newsletter encouraged emailing your doctor. I did have a couple Zoom video calls that included nice conversations with the doctor, but I do not feel this platform is the same kind of connection as an in-person or phone call consult. I didn't feel as much compassion was given towards myself and my file in the same way as other content patients. Dr Sipe chose to not listen to comments about issues with how the office staff communicated and handled paperwork with some of the patients, which I believe he should have stepped up to assist his staff to manage. One positive mention is that I felt cared for and safe having surgery done by Dr Sipe. The nurse anesthetist Dan did a great job administering anesthesia also. One great day of care can't replace or make up for the many days of various communication and paperwork issues that occurred with some of his staff on my file. Dr Sipe should have some respect of his patients' honest truths, as several of my file's issues and the treatment of some staff towards me were presented to Dr Sipe and dismissed.

My advice for prospective patients of Dr Sipe is to only have a consult if you have a healthy body in general. Write down all your questions in advance of your consult because he’s very hard to reach, as you’ll mostly be having communication with his nurses and office staff. During the consult, make sure to find out exactly the type of other doctor appointments and prerequisites required (ex: a primary care physical, mammogram, or missing shots) from the doctor in order for him to allow you to do the fertility treatments and when appts need to be completed. Write this info down. Otherwise, his staff do not provide a worksheet of medical prereqs needed and this will take precious months of your time. Advise the doctor the qualities you need as far as dedication and caring toward your goals, and not the goals that influence the office pregnancy stats. Encourage this doctor to not play the wait-and-see game when it comes to deciding on IUI or IVF protocols / plans. Be prepared to do extra outside office work for his staff on your own time, especially if you're having records transfered there because the office staff misplaces records and signed docs often.

I had the hysteroscopy surgery in summer to remove uterus polyps. Then we moved towards an IUI due to low egg reserve. It wasn't until the winter months when my body was ready for the IUI due to a few setbacks, so the initial protocol was changed. The IUI protocol changed into doing Follistim injections for several nights plus oral Letrizole for five days instead of doing Estrogen priming first. This plan didn't work and the cycle was canceled, so now I am focused on Estrogen priming first.

I had to pay approx. $2400 total to FCI over the course of the year for blood labs and ultrasounds, using insurance. I paid Labcorp, which bills separately for genetics testing, the cost of $331 for the blood draw done at FCI. Then I paid $1700 to FCI plus $546 anesthesia costs to Lakeshore Anesthesia for my hysteroscopy, with my PPO plan. Since I met my deductible by the time of the IUI cycle, I didn’t have to pay for the Follistim injectable meds. However, if I had attempted the IUI four months earlier Walgreens Alliance were going to charge $2600 for the first two Follistim vials shipped and then remainder vials shipping would be free since the deductible would have then been met. My cycle was canceled halfway thru, but my insurance would have paid for IUI costs since I met the deductible.

Dr. Hirshfeld took the time to listen to my story and address my concerns. She provided facts and research while answering my questions. She adjusted my treatment plan after failed attempts. She was clear and precise.

Be prepared with questions; as she can not help you if she doesn’t know your concerns.

I began my journey a few years ago with the hopes of preserving my eggs for future use. I went through hormone shots to increase the number of follicles. And now have 6 eggs in freezer. About a year ago I went back to start my journey to motherhood. At that time my bloodwork came back that my thyroid levels were to high so was put on medicine. She then did the saline ultrasound and told me I had polyps within my uterus. I would then have surgical procedure to have them done. I was given a vaginal pill to thin my lining the morning of the procedure within 1 hr I was having every side effect I could related to that drug. They took me back flush my iv to clear the drug and then put me under. Before the surgery I was told it would be 15mins but 4hrs later i was able to go home. (partially cause of all the allergic reaction). Originally they said they would scrap the fee polyps but when I woke up I was told there were way more then they thought so they performed a full D&C. A few months later I decided to pick a sperm donor and start the iui process. The 4 trials I always took clomid the first 2 were same dosage the 3rd time she up’d the dosage and the 4th she added a hormone shot.

IUI treatments monthly roughly cost me $1500 out of pocket after insurance.

Dr Rogers always did her best to make the process as easy as possible for us including helping us complete appointments locally as we do not live in the same town as the office. Sometimes medical explanations were too technical which was difficult to understand but she always did her best to explain further when probed.

I would tell a prospective patient of Dr Rogers to keep asking her questions, she will answer and she is genuine.

I used protocols using Gonal-f, Menopur, Ganarelix, Omnitrope, letrizole, progesterone injections, estradiol, estrogen patches, as well as hcg injections. My first cycle produced upwards of 25 eggs with slight hyper-stimulation of the ovaries. The second retrieval focused on egg quality rather than quantity which produces around 15 eggs. Genetic testing was done on all cycles and only 2 embryos on each cycle made it to the 5th day. Only one in each cycle was genetically normal.

$35,000 for two cycles (retrieval’s, transfers, medication, monitoring, testing)

I never had multiple embryos available to transfer.

He is very busy and not very accessible; most communication is done through the nurses. But otherwise we had no complaints about working with Dr. Sipe. He was warm, funny, and direct, which was what we wanted. He was never pushy or judgmental, just laid out the options and the odds and left it to us to make the decisions.

Take notes during your consult because he goes over things pretty fast and the clinic doesn’t provide a lot of written summaries.

I’m not sure what this question is asking. First we tried IUI 2 or 3 times in early 2015, then changed to egg retrieval and fresh embryo transfer. My protocol included intramuscular injections of progesterone. That led to a single live birth. We tried a frozen embryo transfer in early 2020 with the progesterone IM injections, as week as pills, patches and suppositories. Although my lining ended up at 10 mm, which was good, and everything looked good with the embryo after thawing, sadly this transfer resulted in a negative pregnancy test.

The first round of IVF was covered by my insurance so our total costs including drugs ended up being about $6000. The frozen embryo transfer in 2020 wasn’t covered by insurance. They charged us $2575, not including drugs or out-of-state monitoring.

The doctor initially told us in 2015 that they’d recommend transferring two embryos, on the day of, Dr.Sipe switched to recommending a single transfer. When we did the frozen transfer in 2020, he again recommended transfer of one.

I loved working with Dr. Sipe because he has a great personality, doesn’t sugar coat things and tells you his honest opinion, and gives you information to help guide you to make a decision. He doesn’t push you one way or another.

Be your own advocate and ask questions when needed.

I went through 3 IUI cycles with clomid and they were unsuccessful. He gave me the option of doing another IUI with a 10% chance of success or IVF with 50% chance of success. I chose to go with IVF and had a failed fresh transfer and have no embryos left. He is changing protocol for our next retrieval and we will be getting started as soon as the covid restrictions are lifted. The clinic has kept us very informed as far as what their plans are with covid going on.

Costs seemed the same as other clinics from the other ladies I have talked to. I have had no problems with the billing department.

Dr. Sipe felt that with my age and other factors, the risk of multiples was not worth the benefit of transferring more than one embryo. I agreed with his assessment.

Dr. Kaplan explains everything very thoroughly. He also has a calming presence to him that helped me feel comfortable. I appreciated how he took my input into account. I had started my cycle before Shelter in Place went into affect. Dr. Kaplan called me and we talked - for a long time - about options (keep going or stop cycle) and he allowed me to feel empowered. Sadly my embryo did not take, and again he took his time talking and checking in. I felt very cared for and in the end felt a lot better about what happened.

Take your time and ask all the questions. You are not inconveniencing him, so don't rush things.

For my IVF I used shots and medication. I had progesterone shots that I needed help with due to having to put them in my bum. The stomach shots weren't bad. It was all based on my personal information.

I was able to setup a payment plan for the egg retrievals and IVF. Medication for egg freezing was paid out of pocket, but I got a group deal. IVF medication was covered by insurance and the clinic helped me facilitate getting those.

We only did one embryo, but I am going to ask about doing two next time to increase my chances.

Dr. Hirshfeld-Cytron has been very straightforward in her communication with us. She made time for us during our first consultation to ask any questions and she honestly laid out potential plans for treatment, as well as expectations. She doesn't over promise, but is very truthful in what to expect from treatment cycles. She may not come off as the warmest doctor at first, but she is very caring. She always has clear communication every step of the way so I've never felt in the dark or unsure about next steps. Everything has been laid out for us in exact terms. She has performed the majority of my procedures and I've always felt like I was in good hands with her. I left my first consult feeling like she was the right choice and haven't changed my opinion of her in four years. She has been sympathetic to our losses, and has celebrated in our success. We have done an IUI, egg retrievals, PGS testing, hysteroscopy and embryo transfers with her. I've felt safe and empowered in her care. I would recommend her to anyone.

I would say to prepare to receive honest answers and information from her, even if it isn't always easy to hear.

I have had an IUI cycle using Clomid and a trigger shot. This cycle resulted in a miscarriage due to abnormal chromosomes. We moved on to IVF with PGS testing. I had an egg retrieval using Follistim, Menopur, Ganorelix, and Dexamethasone. We retrieved 18 eggs, five made it to day 5, and two were normal after testing. We transferred one and did progesterone shots, but lost the pregnancy around 7-8 weeks for unknown reasons. We transferred the second embryo and had a successful pregnancy. We are trying again and did a second egg retrieval using the same protocol. We retrieved 17 eggs, six made it to day 5, and 2 were normal. We had ICSI done for all of our retrievals. Our transfer is now on hold due to COVID-19.

Our most recent egg retrieval, ICSI, prescriptions was about $10,000 out of pocket even with good insurance that has a fertility benefit. Our genetic testing was about $5,000.

Because we did PGS testing on our embryos, our clinic will only transfer one embryo since it would not increase the odds to do more than that. Dr. Hirshfeld-Cytron also went over the risks of multiples.

Dr. Hirshfeld is compassionate, personable, and an effective communicator. But most importantly to me, I felt that out of all the doctors I consulted with before beginning IVF, she was the most professional and practiced using the most up to date and evidence based practices. She was always willing to provide education when I had questions, and made recommendations that were direct and appeared to be based on current science and good sense. I always felt I could trust her guidance - a really important thing in this confusing, emotionally trying process.

Come ready with your own research and questions! She will take you seriously and the more you bring to the table, the more you will get out of the process. Dr. Hirshfeld isn’t likely to automatically recommend every additional test and intervention under the sun, but will point you in the right direction about what would be helpful for your situation, and what may not.

One thing I really appreciated Dr Hirshfeld recommending was to have a laparoscopy for endometriosis AFTER my egg retrieval. This both minimized the potential impact of the lap on my ovaries/fertility, and meant the lap would be done right before my frozen transfer - maximizing the benefit of the lap for implantation.

Egg retrieval - $9800 FET - $3500 Cryopreservation - $1525 Embryo biopsy - $2600

I specifically sought a clinic that used eSET for younger women (as I was) - this was one of the reasons I was drawn to FCI and Dr. Hirshfeld over other clinics in the area.

Dr. Rapisarda was very kind and compassionate. He listened, but he did not give me enough details on my treatment. On my first IVF cycle, the dr. nor the nurses showed me how to do my injectable meds. I had multiple cancelled FET's due to thin lining, and not one time did I receive a call from the doctor. Only from the nurse, who always gave me the feeling that I was bothering her. We tried ~5 separate times for an FET and the doctor barely made any changes to my protocal that clearly was not working.

Be your own best advocate. Document everything.

Monitoring was a well-oiled machine, but sometimes long wait times. There were at least 30 people waiting for monitoring each time I went.

My insurance covered most costs. Out of pocket for ERA test, genetic testing, embryo storage

I wish I had gotten to meet with him more frequently, but I always felt extremely confident he knew what he was doing and was putting me on the best possible course of treatment to ensure success. My only complaint would be the limited windows of time he was available each month for procedures, causing longer wait times (~2 months) between cycles than I would have liked. I wish this schedule had been slightly more flexible, but realize this is how they are able to treat so many patients.

If there’s anything you want to ask or make sure he knows about you, be upfront so you can use the time with him most efficiently.

Used ganirelix and menopur for retrieval cycle and Luprolide (sp?) for the trigger shot. Due to number of eggs retrieved, froze all embryos rather than doing transfer right away to increase chances of success. Used Estradiol tablets for the first frozen transfer, then after that didn’t work, switched to patches for the second frozen transfer, which worked.

The only part of my treatment not covered by insurance was a $300 admin fee, and I was able to appeal to get this covered under my insurance plan.

Because of my age (31), no prior history of issues or known risk factors, and the fact that a pregnancy with multiples is considered risky, Dr. Kaplan recommended transferring only 1 for at least the first two cycles.

No personalized assessment at all. He just uses the same protocol on everyone, in the same order, and admitted to doing so. Never saw him outside of consultations. I do not feel like he set realistic expectations.

Do not use this doctor if you require any sort of personalized treatment.

He is very charming. I feel though unless you have a fairly easy case, easy to stimulate, lots of eggs, good rate of fertilization then he is willing to work with you. If you are a challenging or slightly difficult case, meaning you have DOR, poor eq quality, high attrition rate of your eggs then you should definitely look elsewhere. He seemed to have no added advice or plan of action if you had a poor stim cycle.

If you are older, 40 and over, DOR, this is not the doctor you should choose. He is very sweet, but if you are a difficult case, then I would choose another clinic.

Initially, he started me on OCP, which over suppressed me. That was stopped half way through. The 2nd time, he primed me with Estrogen and Progesterone and that helped my numbers. The Menopur and Gonal were high doses. I cannot recall the exact numbers. 5 eggs from this cycle. The 3rd time, he did Estrogen and progesterone priming, but added Lupron, and same doses of Menopur and Gonal. 1 egg from this cycle. My AFC was 10-11.

All my costs were covered by BCBS AFTER I met my deductible which was $2400 in network.Meds covered pretty much under my insurance.