Institute for Reproductive Medicine & Science

Dr. Thompson was willing to try other options with me prior to us turning to egg donor. We still are happy we tried other options first as we needed to do that be mentally prepared for that next step. Once we decided to go with an egg donor it was a smooth and easy process and was successive the first time!

She has a nice Professional behavior. She has effectively listened to the questioned that we had. But it would be good to understand all the steps and the processes ahead of the time in an transparent manner.

Please perform research on the process involved and frame your questions ahead of time

I learned of Dr. Thompson through a friend who highly recommended. When I met her she was extremely friendly, knowledgeable and made me feel comfortable asking questions. I felt as if she knew exactly where I was coming from.

Be prepared to ask questions ahead of time.

I went through a Natural Chlomid Cycle. Conceive during my first attempt.

Dr. Thompson was terrific, especially during such an emotional time in our lives. She was reassuring and confident with the plan of action. She always had an answer and knew what was going on. I liked her so much, my sister is now seeing her!

She is wonderful in person, but can be hard to get in touch with once you leave the office... this is when the nurses come in and you have direct communication with them. It would be nice to talk to her more, but it worked out.

She knew I had to go on Menopur with trigger for ovulation. She was 100% confident this was the line of therapy

Monitoring was covered by insurance, but not medicine

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

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.

I think she's been extraordinarily helpful during a very trying process. We're currently going to work with her on a third procedure, fully aware that we have a chance, just not a high one. That's on us though.

I'd definitely say to do some research with ANY reproductive endocrinologist before seeing them. I wasn't calm when we saw her, obviously upset about not conceiving. If I had taken a moment to breathe, I could have looked up IUI and IVF beforehand and decided multiple courses of action before being presented with a whole bunch of information.

Antagonist for IVF 1 - at 40, I have an AMH of 4.86. 9 eggs retrieved, 5 immature, 4 mature, 3 fertilized, only 1 made it to day 5 and tested abnormal. Microdose lupron for IVF 2 (rationale: to get more eggs) - 12 eggs retrieved, 10 mature, 8 fertilized, 1 arrested by Day 3, 3 arrested at Day 6, 3 arrested at Day 7, 1 made it to blast and tested abnormal. Estrogen priming and microdose lurpon for IVF 3 to start in February 2017. Rationale - egg quality and larger number of eggs.

About 10 K OOP for the first, $22 K for the 2nd and a bit under that for the 3rd due to a combined discount, although meds will be more expensive

Dr Chen is warm, very knowledgeable and no nonsense. She explains everything, answers questions and truly listens to out concerns. She is also very kind when giving bad news, which is something I've struggled with in the past when seeing other doctors.

Call way ahead. It took me 6 weeks to get the first appointment.

Not there yet, but we'll 100% have to do IVF since my tubes are blocked.

The cycle of ivf (fresh transfer) will cost $9k, plus 5-8 thousand more for medication.

As a doctor, she is warm and knowledgeable. She cuts to the chase and makes sure you understand what she is saying. She has a confidence about her that makes you feel comfortable and makes you feel confident going into the process.

She is a wonderful doctor, but you likely won't see her at appointments or hear from her directly, so be sure to ask everything up front and demand to speak to her or see her when you feel it is needed.

First IUI: Clomid cycle. After days 3-7 on pills, monitoring. Follicles were not growing sufficiently and was given another round of Clomid. Finally had a lead follicle and triggered. Second IUI: Letrozole. Was incorrectly told to come in for IUI when bloodwork did not match the follicles. Subsequently cycle did not end in IUI, but instead timed intercourse.

My insurance covered almost everything. We were not told ahead of time that a male genetic test could cost up to $400, but insurance did pay for it 100%

Prefers single embryo, but never got to the stage in discussing whether multiple could be appropriate.

Back in 2018 my husband and I could not conceive naturally. I heard about Dr. Garissi from a friend and immediately saw her. She was very knowledgeable, understanding, caring and determined to help us through our issues. She can be blunt which is a good thing in my mind because we didn't want anything sugar coated - just the facts and what our plan was. This is exactly what Dr. Garissi did. She told us how it is and kept us at bay as there is no guarantee. Now I don't want people to get the wrong idea. SHE HAS BEEN AMAZING! I ended up getting 4 eggs and 1 took and now I have a beautiful 3 year old girl, Samantha! Fast forward to 2020 and we wanted to try again, and did. This time not only do I have issues with Diminished Ovarian Reserve but my husband also is having fertility complications. Throughout this time we needed him to see a urologist and eventually have a surgery. Dr. Garissi was also amazing through this process explaining that I needed a retreival at the same time as my husbands surgery so they may create the embryo immediately. She explained how it was all going to work and what to do to coordinate with the urologist. Sadly at that time we only ended up with 3 eggs and nothing fertilized. We are still going strong and Dr. Garissi is still working with us to date. I did another retrieval with 1 egg to freeze and we are currently in process to do a few more retrievals to give us our best chances with multiple eggs. I don't physically see Dr. Garissi often, but we do have video chats a lot which I actually like better - saves time traveling. I would HIGHLY recommend Dr. Garissi to anyone - she is a great doctor!

Just don't be afraid to ask questions. She can get a bit sciency so if you aren't understanding just ask and she will be happy to explain.

Back in 2018 I Used the Microdose Lupron Flare Protocol and that resulted in 4 eggs - be mindful I have been diagnosed with Diminished Ovarian Reserve so that can explain the low eggs retrieved. I didn't have any issues that I can remember with any medications. In 2020 I used this protocol again and did 2 retrievals which in total yielded 3 eggs. In 2022 I was changed to the Femara Antagonist Protocol given my increased age and low AMH. This yielded 1 egg only. In May of this year we are trying Estrogen Primed Microdose Lupron Flare Protocol to see if we can get more eggs.

In 2018 our IVF costs were $10,000 for IVF then medications came to another $10,000. Site fees were $2000 ($1000 each) for the retrieval and surgery. We do not have insurance that covers anything. In 2020 we had some insurance so out of pocket for 2 retrievals we paid about $8000 total (Meds, site fees, IVF that wasn't covered with Insurance) In 2022 we have already done one retrieval which cost $14000 plus $8000 in medications and $1000 site fee for the retrieval. We do not have insurance this year either. We have paid an additional $12000 for 2 more retrievals and will also need to pay another $16000 in medication then each time we do a retrieval another $1000 for site fees. Oh also we know Anesthesia is not covered so we will probably pay another $1000 or so each retrieval for that. In 2020

I dont have any comments. I didnt get that many eggs so we are just hoping to get a good one to transfer this year

dr chen is a knowledgeable doctor who spends her a lot of her time researching and making a name of herself on social media. however, her treatment plans for her patients are not of newer medicine that she often speaks about on social media. she does not reach out to you on her own free will bc you are her patient. she will only speak w you on an appointment basis. with that said, after failed IVF and IUIs, i only speak w a nurse from the office and do not hear from her personally. so if you’re looking for a doctor with compassion, find another one. shes even failed to show up to a scheduled appointment without notice and is often late to every appointment.

don’t get caught up with social media hype. find a doctor who truly cares about you as a patient

clomid and ovidrel for IUI and i can’t recall for IVF. IVF didn’t have any embryos to transfer.

care was covered 100% due to my insurance coverage

only does eSET for the safety of the mother

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

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.

While she was nice and seemed understanding from our initial consult. It became clear that was a facade. She is constantly rushing, seems overwhelmed by patients, no control over her team, and was cavalier with embryos because we could “make more”. While in for the appt to confirm my baby no longer had a heartbeat she quickly switched from “I’m so sorry” to well what did you do? And proceeded to question me on where I had been or what I did to cause it. Very insensitive and just appalling behavior from a doctor.

Be better. Listen to your patients, like truly listen. It’s clear you don’t and are quite dismissive.

Starting out we did a saline sonogram which lead to a D&C to remove tissue from an unexplained miscarriage of a natural pregnancy. She stated multiple times that there was just so much tissue but didn’t investigate why that could have been. Egg retrieval followed after multiple delays and waits from their contracted embryo screening company. Medication times were not given for the medicines. Also their restrictive schedule of only doing procedures on a Wednesday impacted results. 7 eggs retrieved, 6 fertilized, 4 made it to Blast. Genetic testing left 3 normal embryos. Moved into a frozen FET, that failed. Performed another saline sono that I requested and it showed a possible polyp. A hysteroscopy was performed and showed evidence of Adenomyosis. The next FET followed an Adeno protocol. This was successful but ended in a miscarriage.

Approximately $50,000 spent between out of pocket and insurance for one retrieval, two FETs, two D&Cs, and one hysteroscopy.

She said there was no reason to transfer more than one.

Jessica Mann is very detailed and patience with all our questions. She is a very knowledgeable Doctor. She is very passionate in what she does and she truly want to help couples have their own family. After my third miscarriage, Dr. Mann called me to check up on me and to tell me to go into the office so she can make sure everything is good with me after the miscarriage. She would discuss with us what would our next process be. We truly feel that Dr. Mann is there to help couples to have our dream family and not there to just make money.

Going through this is very nerve wreaking and confusing but be sure to ask all the questions you have and no question is stupid.

We didn’t start any IVF with Jessica Mann yet but we are scheduled to start May 2020. We did all the testing that was describe by Dr. Mann and came back with “unexplained fertility”.

SHG - two times Remove Cyst IVF - coming soon May 2020

Dr. Mann would like to transfer single embryo vs multiple embryobevause she feels that is safer. But Dr. Mann said, “ If the embryo isn’t that great she would consider to transfer multiple embryo but that would be our decision.”

I cannot say enough about the professionalism and care that Dr Mann and her staff show their patients. The fertility struggle is exhausting and can be devastating at times. Throughout a very long, emotional road to become parents, Dr Mann helped me and my husband to push on when we felt hopeless and wondered if our dream would ever come true. After a surgery and 6 failed IUI attempts (required by our insurance), we moved onto IVF and welcomed our baby boy in 2019. We proceeded with another IVF cycle in 2020 and will welcome our 2nd baby boy next week! Dr Mann was our miracle worker and we will be forever grateful for the support of her and her team.

Trust and have faith, even when it's hard. You are in good hands with Dr Mann

Not only was Dr Hughes great about communicating with me, she also went to bat with my insurance company. I was required to do 6 IUIs before I could be approved for IVF and it was taking a toll on my body. I was having multiple cysts between cycles which would cause delays in going forward with the next cycle. Since I was older, she realized that time was of the essence. It meant a lot to me that she tried so hard to be an advocate for me with my insurance.

She knows what she’s doing! Trust her… always ask questions of course but she truly does know her stuff.

It’s been a while - but I had to go through 6 IUIs before I could be approved for IVF. Once I had my final failed IUI we got ready for IVF. I think it was a pretty standard treatment with progesterone shots after retrieval.

Mine was covered by insurance except co-pays

For my fresh transfer we did one embryo based on the grade of that embryo. It was a successful transfer and I had a baby girl! We froze the other 4 eggs. When I was ready to get pregnant again, we also did one egg transfer because of the grade of the embryo. That first one was a failed transfer. The next one we put back was also a single because of the grade and it was successful! I was told of that one hadn’t come to fruition we would have put the last two back together because they weren’t rated as highly.

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.

Seeing Dr. Chen was a terrible experience. We started IUI and failed several times. Meanwhile, every single time I went in for monitoring, one of the Dr.'s commented on the giant cyst on one of my ovaries, but no one ever mentioned doing anything about it. After feeling confused by conversations with Dr. Chen, my husband and I decided to get a second opinion. When we went to the other fertility clinic (RMA - which I highly recommend!), the Dr. refused to start any type of fertility treatments until the cyst was surgically removed. He said it was dangerous and could potentially pop, harming the baby if I were to get pregnant. I went back to Dr. Chen with this information and she responded with "That seems like a reasonable plan of action". YET she never mentioned it herself and was actively trying to get me pregnant!

Run! Go to a different Dr.

I did not receive any positive results with Dr. Chen

Everything was covered by health insurance, which is what made it so attractive.

Dr Cekleniak is kind, patient, and sympathetic. She has all the time in the world for questions and concerns and responds to emails almost immediately. She also does her best to make the cycle work- for instance, I wasn’t going to be available the day that I was supposed to do IUI. Dr Cekleniak worked with me to come up with a plan that would enable me to do an IUI the day before and the day after, to cover my bases. Also, I was constantly frustrated by my diagnosis of unexplained infertility so I sought a second opinion who suggested a laparoscopy given that I previously had a D&C. I brought this suggestion to Dr Cekleniak who didn’t think it was necessary but at my insistent, did it anyway (she was right-it found nothing but gave me peace of mind). As I was going under, she held my hand and was sweet and caring the entire time. She was always positive and optimistic, and honest. She always understood my fears/hesitance to IVF and didn’t pressure me. She was always available via email, although getting an appointment face to face could sometimes be tricky when you’re working full time. I absolutely love Dr Cekleniak, and all of the doctors at IRMS. I saw many of them for monitoring and IUI and each one was helpful and caring.

Dr. Hughes has extensive history in fertility treatments. I love that she explained how IVF was only really relatively new in terms of truly being effective. The fact that she set expectations during each visit was gratifying and I loved that she only revolved my cycle around her hospital schedule so that she could be the one to do the retrieval.

To trust her.

I had a lot of eggs that were showing up on the sonogram. SO much so that we started off on a low dosage to grow them because Dr. Hughes didn't want me to explode. Despite that, I only had a small amount of viable eggs. It was disappointing and I did a second round of retrieval to get more eggs. Setting the expectation- that you really don't know until the retrieval- made all the difference in terms of handling the disappointment.

I think it was about $10,000 per cycle.

N/A

We were new to fertility treatments and the doctor explained the treatment well. I was anxious initially but the doctor and the nurse made me feel comfortable with every visit. It was nice that the same doctor would visit me every time unlike some other clinics.

Ask lot of questions.

The IUI for a cycle was about $200

She is very empathetic and even when she delivers hard news, she doesn't shrink away from it.

Stick it out. Her staff is horrible, but she herself is great.

Still going thru.

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.

Wonderful doctor. Provided detailed information regarding our infertility issues. Was straight forward as for the expectation of treatment and likelihood of success. Her experience and knowledge shines through is her practice.

Ask lots of questions! They can’t read your mind

Had male factor infertility which impacted ability to conceive. Tried IUI on chlomid 2x unsuccessful. IVF 1st times was a success. Dr. Mann did explain the likelihood of IUI working and IVF.

4000 for 2x iui total cost 12000 for Ivf plus meds and facility fees

Happy she recommended single transfer as it was a success and clearly explained the risks with multiple transfer given the issue was male factor.