Institute for Reproductive Medicine & Science at Saint Barnabas

Dr. Thompson was the only doctor in the Hoboken location, she saw dozens of patients but also had limited hours. She sticks to standard procedures (for me it was 3 different paths I could take), you barely get a chance to speak to her, its always through her nurse or someone else at the practice. I felt like a number, someone spending all their lifetime max on useless treatment that didn't get us very far. Her explanation was diminished ovarian reserve, blocked tube, and male infertility factor. She never thought of the latest research, or anyhing tailored to my ethnicity/background.

If you really would like to try her out, and can afford it, do no more than one round with her. I would recommend going to one of the other locations, but even there, you are a number.

we started with antagonist I believe. The second time it was the opposite, but with priming (birth control pills).

It was full on weekday mornings, the earlier you get there, the sooner you can be seen. On weekends you have to go to their Livingston location, and that could take up to 3 hours to be monitored. It's pretty bad either way.

n/a, we didn't do embryo transfer with her.

As previously discussed, Dr. Hessler has great bedside manner, I felt fully heard and listened to. She took her time walking me through her recommendations, I never felt rushed while in her presence. She has a great sense of humor and great disposition overall.

Feel free and empowered to ask your questions. If you don't understand something ask the questions. She's also great via email as well.

I'd gotten a second opinion which diagnosed endometriosis, PCOS and insulin-resistance. Per the protocol recommended by the second opinion, Dr. Hessler added Prednisone, Lovenox, baby aspirin and ultimately Neupogen to the protocol pre-transfer and into the pregnancy. So far, I am almost 4 weeks and counting.

Monitoring at IRMS Clark is a well oiled machine. They really do get patients in and out in a timely manner regardless of how busy they get.

Insurance covered the bulk of the cycles but I had my deductible ($2700) and co-insurance. For each cycle, I paid btwn 3000-4000 out of pocket for genetic testing, deductible and co-insurance payments.

IRMS strongly favors single transfers advising that multiple embryo transfer increased the risk of failure and complications. I was in agreement that the goal was to have a safe and successful pregnancy and opted for single embryo transfer.

I like a lot of explanation, and I have had to push to get my questions answered. I would recommend requesting a consultation appointment after each (failed) cycle, because the clinic does not automatically schedule them. Dr. Thompson answers questions completely, you just have to get the appointment to ask her.

Keep track of your treatment plan yourself and be sure to advocate for yourself.

My cycles have been Clomid and a converted-to-natural because a cyst formed from the Clomid. There is no plan to change from Clomid for my current cycle, despite the cyst. Both completed IUIs resulted in negative pregnancy tests. Dr Thompson’s recommendation has been to go directly to IVF since the beginning, but my insurance requires three IUI cycles to cover IVF.

My insurance covered most of it. Ovidrel injections were about $200 each.

Dr. Keegan is extremely knowledgeable, passionate and patient. She leaves no stone unturned. My husband and I had two unsuccessful IUI and IVF cycles under another doctor's care and turned to Dr. Keegan with the hope of a different outcome. Upon meeting Dr. Keegan, her passion for the industry and her positive, fresh perspective restored our hope. Unfortunately, the first IVF cycle did not result in a healthy pregnancy so the next cycle she collaborated with the IRMS team and tweaked the protocol. The retrieval was successful and we were lucky to send the embryos for PGS. We had 2 healthy, vital embryos and so the plan was to have a single FET, but Dr. Keegan wanted to maximize our chances and delayed the transfer. Dr. Keegan suspected a concern with my endometrium and referred me to a surgeon. I had laparoscopic surgery, confirming endometriosis. I never would have known. After healing and preparing for the transfer, I am 9 weeks pregnant. Yes, it is early but I remain hopeful as Dr. Keegan and her staff always monitor with a careful eye and offer support. My husband and I recommend Dr. Keegan and the IRMS team without reservation!

Ask questions and trust in Dr. Keegan.

Monitoring was a breeze! The staff has a routine and it is efficient!

I am very fortunate to have health insurance that covered most of the expense. As with any fertility treatment, it is expensive but the office will provide support and best options.

Dr. Keegan will always prefer a SET when possible.

Dr. Cekleniak was extremely warm and compassionate. She took the time to explain everything to me, and was happy to answer every question and repeat it for me. She was honest and I felt looked out for my best interest. One time when I asked for her to call me, she called back within 20 minutes. When we needed time to make a decision, she let us have it and did not pressure us on what to do- she only gave us her recommendation. I did not see her often during monitoring, but she assured me that she was the one reviewing my charts every day.

If you are looking with good bedside manner who is kind, warm and compassionate- she is the right choice for you.

We tried three medicated IUIs at first, with increasing dosage of Gonal F. We then moved on to an IVF cycle with the maximum dose (300) of Gonal F with cetrotide. Unfortunately, I only created 2 follicles. So the next time, we moved on to Gonal F with microdose lupron twice a day and that resulted in 10 follicles, with 7 eggs retrieved, 5 of which were mature.

It depends on the day. Most days it was a well oiled machine and I was able to get out quickly. There were at least three times within 6 months where the dr was so late, I was there for over an hour and a half.

IVF is $12,000 at this clinic

No comments

Doctor Mann is an extremly compassionate, trust worthly and overall outstanding doctor. I began to see her for treatment of my urterine frybriods. This is after two seperate OB's said there was nothing to worry about. She performed a simple surgery to remove them. What a difference. I was amazed. My periods were lighter and I did not have pain. After I healed I continued to see her for fertilty treatment. We were successful on the first round. My pregnancy resulted in a miscarriage. Even though by this time I was treated by my OB. I continued to communicate with Doctor Manns office weeks after my D&C. This is because I was not getting my period. Doctor Mann got my blood tested and we found out that there was remaining tissue left over from the D&C that was preformed by my OBGYN ( not affiliated with Doctor Manns office) Doctor Mann was able to perform another D&C and help me recover. I trust this women with my life.

Go in early, make sure you have all your medical records.

Dr Hughes has 30+ years of experience and when i initially went to consult her i felt so confident that she was the right fit for me , but 1.5 years in treatment with 5 failed iuis and 2 failed ivfs later (more than $30K later) , i feel i should have switched sooner. I know REs are not god but if i took any question or suggestion to better the result of our treatments she was not very open to them . I had to literally argue with her to get ERA procedure done . Initially she had also advised me against PGS testing , which i still did . I am glad i did that else i would have wasted more money on transfering aneuploid embryos . I felt she was less flexible with her approach. When i met her after my failed cycles she would put a sad face and she also said "i don't know how could i couple be so unlucky". You don't expect to hear this from a fertility Dr. Bottomline is - If i was a millionaire and if i could afford all the IVFs in the world i would not have gone to her again. I would have tried RMA instead (which is so expensive) :( I am still struggling to start a family. I have left her clinic and am on a break before i dive again in this ocean of treatments and find a better RE who listens.

Please don't trust blindly on her. Do your research and take second opinions.

I did the following 3 iuis with clomid 2 iuis with letrozol 1 ivf with - Gonal F + cetrotide + hcg trigger +icsi + pgs testing the only euploid embryo 2nd ivf with - Foliistm + Menopur + cetrotide + hcg trigger +icsi + pgs testing the only euploid embryo . I also did ERA (Endometrial Receptivity Analysis)

I would usually spent 1.5 hr for blood work and monitoring.

Close to $30,000

She always promoted single embryo transfer . Unfortunately both my IVF rounds only resulted in 1 euploid embryos each time.

Dr. Thompson is an amazing doctor. She is compassionate, intelligent, and a great communicator. She listens to her patients, is always well prepared, and has compassion for her patients. It is a stressful time and she gets that. She tries to make the process as smooth as possible and is quick to adjust when necessary. In my particular situation, I was heavily involved in the course of treatment and needed to understand every single step-- she respected that and allowed me to feel comfortable enough to ask every question I had.

Understand that this is a process and results are not guaranteed. You will not see Dr. Thompson every visit and you have to be willing to trust the other staff members and Dr. Thompson's judgment. If something doesn't make sense to you- speak up.

1st cycle used Clomid (50 mg) w/ Ovidrel (250 mcg injection ) caused visual disturbances- not pregnant 2nd cycle used Femara/Letrazol (2.5mg 2x day for 5 days) w/ Ovidrel (250 mcg injection )- not pregnant 3rd cycle used Femara/Letrazol (2.5mg 2x day for 5 days) w/Ovidrel (250 mcg injection) - pregnant

$50 copay per monitoring visit. Ovidrel was $120 out of pocket or $100 deductible then $40 thereafter Clomid $18 per fill (Not covered by insurance) Letrazol $8 per fill (Covered by insurance)

Dr. Keegan is fantastic. Knowledgeable, up-to-date with current research, flexible, does not give up and has excellent bedside manner. I could not imagine not going through this "journey" without her. I trust her fully and knows she has our best interests at heart. With her by our side, we have not lost hope in having a family and believe it will happen soon for us.

Just because IRMS is not RMA, CCRM, Cornell, etc. does not mean Dr. Keegan isn't one of the best in her field. Go to her, she listens and wants to truly help. IRMS East Windsor isn't a mill, you will be taken seriously and treated well.

1. Antagonist: only 4 eggs, 1 embryo and it tested PGS abnormal. Determined I was a poor responder. 2. Microdose lupron flare protocol: 10 eggs, 3 embryos for PGS testing: 2 abnormal 1 mosaic. Better response. 3. Microdose lupron flare protocol: 8 eggs, 2 embryos for PGS testing, both abnormal. Suspect egg quality as I am 37. 4. About to start an estrogen priming protocol followed with microdose lupron flare with HGH. Estrogen and HGH to help with egg quality.

Bloodwork and Ultrasounds are done between 6-8am, first come first serve. Very quick and everyone is pleasant in the morning.

Monitoring was billed to insurance, drugs from Schrafts are OOP between 3500-7000 each cycle, cycle costs range from 4500-12000 OOP, egg retrieval 1000 each time to the Surgical Center, CooperGenomics ~$350 per embryo tested, embryo transfer 1000.

Dr. Keegan is all about single embryo transfer. If we ever get that far, I will ask for multiple transfer as I am concerned about keeping embryos on ice for years and having issues later with implantation should I be 40+.

She takes the time to listen to you. She doesn’t let any questions go on answered. Every question has an answer, she doesn’t make you feel like any question is to silly or too small. Even when she’s talking about very technical things, she’s professional about it but make sure you understand what she’s saying.

You’re going to want Serena Chen to be your best friend! If you are searching for a fertility doctor that is going to make you feel good and not make you stress more about the process, she is the one!

I came to her with unexplained infertility. I only just turned 35 and I’m not 100% ready to get pregnant just yet. She did a very very thorough work up. Everything from ultrasounds to bloodwork to an HSG. Where we go from here will depend on my most recent results.

I have extremely good insurance. So at this point, I have only paid my own co-pays.

I haven’t gotten to the stage just yet.

Dr. Thompson has excellent bedside manner. She thoroughly explained what she was doing/testing every step of the way. I am still in the diagnosis stage of my treatment, but I feel ask though Dr. Thompson has the right plan for me. I told her that I may have PCOS but she wanted me to get tested for it just to be sure since I wasn't positive. She did not push the most expensive treatment on me. I appreciate her honesty and the time that she spent with myself and my husband during our consultation.

She seems like a very compassionate Dr. Just make sure that you come prepared with your entire health history and background so that she can make the right course of treatment for you.

I have not been prescribed any drugs yet, but Dr. Thompson suggested that she will most likely prescribe Letrozole with a ovulation trigger shot. I have one child that I had naturally, so I am assuming that is why she didn't jump into suggesting IUI or IVF right away. I appreciate that!

So far I only had to pay for my first consultation and pelvic ultrasound. It was just over $300. My bloodwork was covered 100% by my insurance.

This is N/A to me.

She was not always the doctor that saw me, or did procedures. I only consulted with her if something went wrong. She was a sweet doctor but sometimes i felt there was a lot of miscommunications and at times i felt like maybe she didn’t know what she was doing knowing my issues. She would give me wrong dosages, at wrong times and would have to cancel cycles. It was a lot of frustrations.

Be patient and always ask for her to get back to you, to check you or monitor you, not a technician or a nurse. Communicate well with her and ask her to explain things instead of just rambling on.

I will display my full journey. I was diagnosed with PCOS, an ovulatory dysfunction and a blocked dysfunctional tube. met with dr. Garrisi on 10/18/2017 after being referred to her by my gyno. had an ultrasound done. Prescribed Provera and started taking it on 10/19 for the next 7 days. ** Nurse said once I start bleeding on the first day to call them to schedule an appt. for an HSG test. Started first pill of Provera, same day. Few days later, 6th day of pill, a few clots of blood, Spotting. On November 6th had a Saline Sono done. Days later i followed up wit Dr Garrisi, discuss the surgery for removing the polyps. Blood work and ultrasound. Discussed My husband’s blood work and mine. He is a carrier of genetic disorder and I’m negative. (Nothing to worry about) On the 16th- started taking birth control as prescribed to stop my cycle, waiting for surgery schedule date. Surgery scheduled for 12/11 at 10am. Went well. Surgery done on 12/11 - went well. follow up after surgery. found out my polyps were benign but have a chronic endometriosis infection on my uterus lining. Prescribed antibiotics for 14 days to cure the infection. RWas told on the 2nd week to make an appt for the 3rd or 4th week to have follow up biopsy done again. Cervix is back to normal. 12/23 - started taking the antibiotics. Metronidazole 3x a day Doxycycline 2x a day 14 days. *2018* 1/5 - ended the two week antibiotics. Follow up appt done for the 4th week, on 1/17 3 pm No bleeding since. 1/17- follow up appt with dr. Garrisi, has a biopsy done to check if the infection is gone. 1/25 - results in... infection gone. Dr wants to do a saline sono once my period comes to double check if everything is okay to proceed. Need to get on the pill for my period to come. 1/29 - blood work and ultra sound to put me on medroxyprogesterone. 1/30 - started taking the pill for 7 days (call dr. office at cycle day ) 2/13 - Cycle day 1. Called to make the Saline sono for Wednesday 2/21. (Cycle day 9) 2/21 - Saline sono - everything is good and prescribed meds to start the ivf cycle Started birth control at 8:51 pm to stop my cycle For the next 5 days. Cycle day 9. IVF cycle treatment starts March 3rd 2018. 3/3 - started IVF cycle. appt in Livingston, blood work and ultrasound. First injection of gonal F pen 225 units and menapur 75 units. 7:30 pm Saturday, Sunday and Monday only. Tuesday 3/6 appt at 7 am Hoboken. 3/4 - cycle 3 - bleeding less not as heavy. Injections day 2. 3/6 - blood work and an ultrasound in Hoboken. 7 am. Continue injections. Menapur, gonal F and cetotide 3/8 - cycle day 24 - blood work and ultrasound 7 am Hoboken - tech said i had a lot of follicles and that’s good! Take three injections as usual. 6th day of stimming. 3/9 - cycle day 25. Blood work and ultrasound 7 am Hoboken. 3rd time this week. One shot of HCG at 11:30 pm, no other shots. Found out the retrieval is Sunday!!!! 3/10 - cycle day 26. Cramping a lot, a lot of pain. No shots. 3/11 - cycle day 27. Retrieval surgery done at 11:30 am by dr. Thompson Took out 15 follicles/eggs. Went well but In a lot of pain. Starting new medication. Shot of progesterone and two sets of pills. So much pain! 3/12- pain!!!!! Cycle day 28. Found out only 4 eggs fertilized. 3/13 - pain decreased but still there. Cycle day 29. 3/14 - not the greatest of news! Estrogen Levels are really highly 5860 and i have OHSS. Couldn’t do the transfer on day 3. Pain still there. 3/16 - we decided to cancel the day 5 transfer. Ovaries are still enlarged even though my levels went down to 3000 but doctor said it was wise to cancel and wait till next month to do the transfer. I’m okay with this decision, my health comes first. I could’ve gotten very sick. Less pain but still feel it. Super bloated from the fluids in my uterus and back. 3/18- learned the 3rd embryo didn’t make it and i could’ve miscarried. Did not get frozen and i only have two day 3 embies. 3/21 - blood work and ultrasound- estrogen levels are back to normal, ovaries still a little large but everything is healing good. Have a few ovarian cysts due to the retrieval, which according to dr garassi, will go away. 3/27 - appt for blood work and ultrasound. I’m okay. Starting birth control pills to control the cycle, evening. 3/28 - period gone. Cycle day 4 - 2nd day on bc pill. 3/29 - cycle day 5, follow up with dr. Garrisi, everything went well. Will start the meds next week and transfer will be scheduled for 4/24 or 4/25 or 4/26 4/2 - last day of birth control pill. Cycle day 9. 4/3 - follow up for monitoring. Asked to stop the bc pill and will hopefully start Saturday the hormone pills. 4/5 - cycle day 12. Everything normal so far. 4/7 - appt in Livingston- found a lot of cysts in the ovaries and must continue birth control till Thursday. Was not able to start hormones. 4/12 - last day of birth control pill. Monitoring check up Tuesday. 4/17 - no bleeding, doctors appt. I’m okay to start the estrace tonight. 2 pills 2x a day. 4 mg (HERE WE GO! Starting the cycle again!) 4/21 - monitoring, hormone levels went up from 48 on Tuesday 4/17 to 208 and was Told to start taking 2 pills 3x a time. 6 mg. 4/23 - blood work; everything came out okay to continue pills. Levels 296. 4/30 - Doctor appt for monitoring, everything came out okay. Received the email that I’m ready to start preparing for the embryo transfer and it’s scheduled for 5/7. MONDAY IS THE BIG DAY!! start all the rest of the meds and injections on Wednesday. 5/7- was not the big day!!! A huge mistake with the medications happened and the injections were given to me two days too soon and the transfer should’ve been on 5/5 not 5/7. My heart broke! Second time this process has been cancelled. Have to start all over again due to the staffs mistake. Have to wait for my period to come. Stopped meds. 5/14 - first day of period, spoke to nurse Kim, refilled my hormone medications and hopefully after monitoring tomorrow, i can start Tuesday May 15th. 5/15 - appt for usual. Everything came out okay to start hormones today. Second time starting meds for the thaw cycle., third time starting hormones for the IVF cycle. Started estradiol two tablets twice a day, to Friday. Saturday, appt in Livingston 5/23 - day 9 on hormones. doctors appt for monitoring. One week completed. 6/4 - transfer day!!! Two baby embies went in! Finally. 6/15 - positive result. I’m pregnant! My HCG BETA levels are low (22) but have to go in Monday to test again and see if they rising up. Staying positive!! nurse says it’s too soon. 6/18 - results stated i lost the embryos and had an early miscarriage. In July went for a follow up and found out my insurance will no longer cover another treatment and must pay out of pocket. I was not told this during my first and only cycle that it would be my only shot. It was a nightmare of journey which ended up in a big disappointment.

I would have liked for my doctor to monitor me but it was always a technician who never said a word to me but good morning and have a good day. Never worried about hurting me.

My insurance had a limit of $10000 for infertility treatments once in a lifetime

Dr. Thompson is compassionate and has a great bedside manner. She was a wonderful advocate in dealing with my insurance company to cover treatments. All of the pros and cons of our procedures were given to us in a way we could easily digest. We have not conceived as of yet but will certainly stick with Dr. Thompson and the IRMS staff.

Ask any and all questions that come to mind. I would encourage you to make a list. I would also add, be patient with the process.

First IVF cycle: Dr. Thompson used 300uI Gonal-F/150uI Menopur (Trigger 5000 HCG). The rationale used for this dosage was due to me only having one ovary. 19 eggs were retrieved of which only one was mature. The mature egg was fertilized using ICSI. Dr. Thompson decided against a fresh transfer because I was at high risk of OHSS due to the number of follicles retrieved. We ultimately had a frozen transfer cycle with the one embryo which resulted in a negative pregnancy test. Second IVF cycle: 225 Gonal-F/75 Menopur (Trigger 10000 HCG). Stimmed additional 2 days to increase the number of mature eggs retrieved. 11 eggs retrieved, 2 mature fertilized with ICSI. NGS testing on Day 5 embryos resulted in one genetically sound embryo for transfer. Frozen transfer cycle resulted in negative pregnancy test.

Monitoring appointments are early from 630am-8am. Weekday monitoring is swift. Weekends take a bit longer because there is only one clinic used for all of the patients.

Most of my care was covered by insurance with the exception of ICSI and genetic testing. Those items were out of pocket. The costs associated with each are listed on their website.

i only had one embryo available each cycle so I do not have experience with her approach on multiple embryo transfer.

Dr. Thompson was great and I would recommend her to anyone. Although the I did not get pregnant, I believe she did everything in her power to help me. She was realistic with me and even though I knew egg donor was a possibility and we discussed it, I never felt she pushed it on me (as I have heard from friends about their doctors). She was always willing to listen to my concerns and was very compassionate. She was sensitive to the fininacial stress of infertility as well as all the emotional stress. I think a lot of people write bad reviews of doctors when they do not get pregnant, but it’s not her job to perform miracles, it’s her job to work to the best of her ability to help us achieve a pregnancy. Unfortunately, she is not magic and she is working with the human body. She can not control my advanced age or medical problems. She did everything she could to help me and was sincerely disappointed with me when it did not work. She is supportive, knowledgeable, kind and available and that is really everything I wanted in a doctor.

If you need more from her, just be kind and ask and if it is a realistic expectation she will probably be willing help you!

I went through 4-6 (can’t remember exactly) egg retrievals and we honestly used almost every protocol available.

Sometimes on the weekends (in Livingston) I waited a little, but in Hoboken and Jersey City I felt there was very little wait.

I worked with Lisa in finance and I really don’t remember the total of everything over 4 years.

We have not yet started our cycle so we've only had a few appointments with the doctor. However, she has been candid and compassionate along the way and this has made my husband and I feel more comfortable with the process. She has explained everything in a way that is easy to digest, even if it's not been the information we were hoping for at the time.

Take notes! She is thorough and she provides answers to all of your questions but be certain to take notes so you can reflect on it all after you've left the appointment.

Again, since we haven't started our cycle (but are hoping to later this spring), this is difficult to answer. I have my list of medications planned but this will all be finalized as we get closer to the start date.

The minimum cost for one cycle will be $12,000. If we opt to do two cycles then we will be faced with a cost of approximately $21,000.

Dr. Thompson is sweet and I'm sure she is a capable doctor. That said, I had almost no interaction with her or any doctors throughout my cycle. It didn't seem like anyone was reading my charts, and even after my cycle had failed, she wasn't familiar with my condition or retrieval results. It seems that IRMS has too many patients for individual attention.

Email her directly with questions or update every step of the way.

I was suspected of having endometriosis (endometrioma on one ovary), and was given an antagonist protocol (225 Follistim, 75 Menopur). After my cycle failed, I was told I was a low responder despite having normal AMH levels.

Monitoring hours are well-organized. If you go to a branch office like Hoboken, there is an ultrasound technician. If you go to Livingston on the weekends or holidays, a doctor will give you your ultrasound.

$3775 for monitoring (ultrasounds, office visits, and various blood tests); $10725 for procedure/embryology fees, ICSI would be an additional $2120 if needed; Embryo cryopreservation is $1350; PGD biopsy is $2500; PGD testing is through an outside company and would be an additional ~$6000; Surgery center fees were ~$1500; anesthesia fee was around $600. We had insurance, so we had insurance adjustments. I was told that if you pay everything out of pocket, the IVF procedure/embryology fees would be around $9000, which does not include monitoring.

A different doctor did my embryo transfer. We transferred our only two embryos on day 3 because they were low quality.

Dr Thompson gave us realistic expectations. Even when using my own eggs and the chances were extremely low, she still gave us a chance at embryo transfer. When we had a chemical pregnancy, she encouraged us to consider donor eggs. Her goal was to get us pregnant and live out our dream of being parents. Her mission was accomplished when I got pregnant on the first embryo transfer. However we lost the baby at 5 months. In using a donor. We were disappointed to only get 10 eggs retrieved wondering if she was a good candidate. We are about to do another embryo transfer and we only have 2 good embryos left.

If you’ve never experienced IVF, ask a lot of questions you might have. It’s a lengthy process.

After having a cycle canceled with another clinic, dr Thompson took us on and changed the protocol after we were told by the other clinic there was no other protocol to use. She gave us our best chance as using our own eggs. When I didn’t produce enough eggs, she still gave me the opportunity of egg retrieval and embryo transfer. Unfortunately it ended in a chemical pregnancy, which we knew the chances were high. Next time around she highly encouraged donor eggs to give us the best chance at pregnancy

We used insurance for our ivf cycle but capped out after the cycle. When we did donor cycle we paid out 27,000 which included cryo and icsi.

She only does single embryo transfer

We really respect Dr. Garrisi for her experience and knowledge. In addition, her husband, who also comes highly recommended, works in the lab. I spoke to 5 of her patients on the phone (I found them on Facebook) and spoke to each one of them for an hour asking about their experience and if they would recommend her. Out of those 5, 4 said they would highly recommend her. She has caught very difficult to catch conditions and is extremely knowledgeable.

I would recommend that they also reach out to other patients/former patients of Dr. Garrisi's. It's important to feel good/confident about choosing the right fertility doctor. You are spending a ridiculous amount of money and you want to make sure you feel you have made the right choice. The doctor must not only have a great deal of fertility knowledge to understand your condition, but they also must be able to help you focus on solutions to get you your wanted end result, a baby!

Drugs for Egg Retrieval: Follistim (900 iu), Menapur (25 vials), Ganirelix (250 mg), ACG (One 10 unit Vile) Progesterone Olive Oil (Two 10mg vials), Methylprednisolone (Four 16 mg tablets) and Doxycline (Eight 100 mg capsules). Drugs for Transfer: I was on BC for about 10 days (I believe that's how many days), Estrace and Progesterone. I think I also took Doxycline. Throughout this whole process, I was also taking Metformin (not prescribed by Dr. Garrisi, but used to regulate my period) and Vitafol Prenatal.

The Hoboken clinic was run like a well-oiled machine. I get very stressed at ultrasounds because the technician cannot discuss your scans and it causes a tremendous amount of anxiety. I wish this part was done by a doctor.

IRMS is located in Hoboken (City) and located right next to NYC... It's a very expensive town, so the bills have coincided with the location, fairly expensive.

I have heard that single embryo transfer has much healthier results. I'm 39 years old and don't want to risk multiple pregnancies, risking the health of the babies.

She is honest and didn't judge me or decide on a treatment based on what categories (age, weight, etc.) I fit into. She doesn't see infertility as a box that we must fit in, rather as an individual who needs individual attention. She calls personally when there is an update good or bad and returns every phone call herself (and quickly!) she is truly vested in my success, health and happiness.

Be in honest about every experience you had before, every fear, concern, worry, etc. Let her see the real you and she will treat you for you. Leave any baggage from previous experiences at the door!

I am 39 and after years of not conceiving and PCOS/Insulin resistance, she recommended IVF. She ran every diagnostic test beforehand to make sure her data was up to date which in turn discovered a new male fertility issue in my husband. She sent him to a Urologist and assured us that with ICSI we will still be able to move forward, just perhaps a month late.

Everything is covered by my insurance except embryo genetic testing! AMAZING!

We haven't gotten that far yet but during our initial conversation it was brought up with regards to quality of embryos and our desire to have twins vs. wait based on my age.

The doctor is very nice and very detailed, though it's expected that you learn the process through on-line videos and some questions you know to ask only after the treatment is finished. E.g. we did 1 cycle of IVF and during the visit it was expected that the meds would change due to poor response first time. During next cycle I received prelim chart with the same dosages and no comment from the nurse/doc. It took me some time to force a nurse to give me chart of IVF with expected timing, procedures and dosages since she didn't want to make me feel that everything will go as expected. The billing is messy unless you control it, there are no paper bills coming in mail, if billing person is on vacation there is no communication between the person on vacation and replacement person. So at the start of one of my first IVF they forgot to get my authorization from insurance. With meds: sometimes the authorization for the medicine is not sent to the pharmacy and the other time the prescription should be changed due to wrong med name. As usual some nurses and docs doing ultrasound are nice, but there are a lot of them who are very rush and abrupt, 50% of time i got bruises after routine bloodwork . People on the phone are most of the time talk to you like they've never were trained to talk to the clients on the phone, never mind patients. The only professionally sounded people are on the general Livingston number and nurses on call. Technicians doing ultrasound usually are not very warm (especially there is one in Hoboken and one other patient in the room said that her experience was not warm as well) and they don't talk to you/your partner what they are doing at all. Even doctors who do the ultrasound are not commenting on what they see. Dr.Chen only does ultrasounds during the initial visits and never the ones during the cycles. More times than needed I felt as a number and as a part of the huge standard fertility factory that making standard protocols and not addressing my particular situation. Dr. Chen is nice, but overall experience with the facility is not making me feel welcomed.

Be prepared to control everything in the cycle, insist on getting the schedules, read a lot on-line, read other reviews. Be prepare to have it rough.

IUIs were on chlomid, all looked very good, no problems with number of folluculs, but all 3 - negative. First IVF was on follistin 300 and menopur 150. Due to the planned facility shutdown, we had to time the next period and I was taking contraceptive meds. After that there was 1 follicul leftover and there were not enough of other so the cycle was cancelled. The doctor recommended the prep cycle, but i refused since i didn't know how my body will respond to extra meds and the studies show mixed results. The second cycle there is another leftover, and the meds added the ganorelix 150. the doctor recommends growth hormone (mixed studies), accupuncture and CoQ10 and Vit D (all - no proven medical results). Questions to doctor 1) what to do with leftover follicules - doctor recommend to do nothing, 2) the doctor never texted if I have an ovulation by my own - it's assumed that the meds provoke it.

it was round $2000 for IUIs and now with IVF - growth hormone alone is $2000, visits - $150

There is recommendation for only 1 embrio - since multiple pregnancy could be more risky for both mother and potential babies.

Our experience with Dr. Chen has been invaluable. Her knowledge and willingness to educate others has been essential to our process. Dr. Chen consistently made herself available to answer any question we had during the process. In addition, Dr. Chen always made the effort to supply us with resources that extended beyond her clinic.

Be prepared to take it all in! Dr. Chen is extremely thorough from the onset of treatment throughout the entire process. She is extremely knowledgeable in the field and loves to share the latest information.

At this point I wish I had more details to provide regarding fees. We are still in the process of completing the IVF process. We also were very lucky that insurance covered most of the IVF.

I should have trusted my gut, after the first time my name was mispronounced. But, I looked at it as not as important if her aid was going to ultimately lead me to the success that I was looking for. I emailed the nurse pretty much every day and would repeatedly ask for the Dr. I would say the only time that I really heard from was after the retrievals and when I had to come in after the transfer and after the last cycle ended. They didn't test my thyroid the first cycle, but she discovered for the 2nd that "oh, we should have tested this the first time around". There was also the way I felt they were pushing donor eggs on me; knowing my hesitance with that choice, right out the gate. I believe she is probably a great doctor for other patients; I just don't believe she was a good fit for me.

Just take the time to listen to your patients; and maybe make yourself a bit more available.

I honestly don't remember the overall protocol for either cycle. I know for the first cycle (where we were able to transfer) it was a more aggressive protocol. For the second cycle, there was not as many meds. Estrogen Patch Clomid Follistim Ganirellex Letrozole not in that order, were the main meds that I took

I had issues with one phlebotomist in particular, but they changed her out & sometimes the nurses that would do the Ultrasound didn't seem very versed on how to administer them.

in total over 22k.

Dr Chen was quite busy most days, sometimes arriving a little late or cutting our visits a little short. But I believe that was due to her being the director at the facility. But she has a good knowledge base and always remained positive during the 3 years I was under her care.

If you can’t have a face to face meeting with Dr. Chen, know that she’s also available via phone or email to answer questions or concerns. There were many of times that I called her clarity and she was very helpful. But you should also know, while she’s your main doctor, you likely will not get her for your retrieval or transfer, as that’s based on the rotating schedule they have between the doctors at IRMS. So if you want to be seen by her exclusively, that will be tough.

My first egg retrieval yielded 9 eggs and for my age at the time that seemed low. During the next cycle, the doctor and nursers provided recommendations to possibly boost egg quality to get better results. While my injectables remained the same, I also took dhea and cq10 for a few months before my second cycle to potentially yeild better egg quality. It was also recommended that I utilize acupuncture, which I did.

Through the 3 IUIs, 2 egg retrieval’s, and 3 transfers, he cost was approximately $25,000 (inclusive of meds)