Los Angeles Reproductive Center

Dr. Winkler and her partner Dr. Mark Kalan sometimes alternate days in the office, but she makes all the decisions about my treatments in conjunction with input from me and my TCM doctor. Dr. Winkler is totally open to complementary treatment which is very important to me. I do have a diminished ovarian reserve so we figured out early on I would likely be a poor responder to stims, so she's willing to do cycles as naturally as I want (only drugs we use are Ganirelix antigen and Ovidrel trigger). She's always looking for ways to optimize the protocol. She's also been incredibly helpful introducing us to surrogacy agencies and giving candid advice on how to find the right Gestational Carrier. In fact, every agent we talked to is eager to work with her again because she has such a good reputation, which in our opinion is well-earned. I see her often enough that I can usually ask her my questions in person, but if we have further issues I set up a phone appointment (free of charge) or even text her (I try not to abuse this privilege).

Dr. Winkler is the least ego-centric fertility doctor I have ever encountered. If you have ideas about how to approach your treatment, she will discuss them in detail. Be proactive!

Please, whatever you do, find a different practice — your fertility and ability to build a family is far too important. I’ve been to a lot of different fertility clinics (we’ve moved a lot, and dealt with years of fertility struggles) and have never seen a practice that’s so disorganized, chaotic, and uncaring — working with Dr. Marc Kalan was frustrating but more than that, heartbreaking. For months we worked to find an egg donor, after which we only got one embryo from 24 eggs, and the donor had such a bad experience she decided to never donate again. Trying to stay positive, I chalked that up to bad luck and circumstance. The pandemic hit and so we had to leave LA to go east, but Marc insisted he do the transfer back in LA. While we were gone we interfaced with his staff, who never seemed to know where we where or *who* we were — after paying them upwards of $30k, they’d call me by the wrong name, and instruct me to come into the office when we’d literally spoken the day before about me being on the other coast. It felt like I was interfacing with an Arby’s where they couldn’t get my order right — only this ain’t sandwiches, it’s my fertility. I should have stopped it there but I was trying to remain positive and trust Dr. Kalan. Finally, after months of shots, acupuncture, prayer and preparation we flew to LA during the pandemic for the transfer, where I asked him why he hadn’t performed the saline test he’d mentioned previously. “Whoops!” He said. Whoops? He’d forgotten. Thousands of dollars, travel, injections and stress and he’d forgotten a very basic part of this job. In doing the test that day he learned there was an obstruction in my uterus, so instead of doing the transfer, he said I now needed surgery. Terrified and sad, the next day we came in for a blood draw to prepare for the surgery and, upon arriving at hour hotel, got a call from his staff — they forgot to draw the right amount of blood. And that’s when I was done. Nothing — and I mean nothing — was done correctly at LARC. If they can’t do a basic blood draw, how can I let them put me under anesthesia? I flew home immediately and went to an OBGYN in my hometown… who told me there was no obstruction. So even that was incorrect. I had the embryo sent east and had a lovely experience at a different clinic. Dr. Kalan’s office refused to pay for travel, apologize, or take responsibility for any of their mistakes. Please, go elsewhere. I wish I had. I’ve had a miscarriage before — working with Dr. Marc Kalan was worse.

Find a different doctor

It was like $30k -- not cheap. And the same as a Beverly Hills clinic.

Dr. Kalan is knowledgeable and outgoing. He tries to understand. However, he is frequently pre-occupied, causing him to not explain everything, particularly what will happen in the future. He seems too busy to explain things thoroughly ahead of time, causing him to have to explain after the fact or to correct his staff. We liked his personality but his staff is horrible and he's too busy to overcome the mistakes his staff makes in real time.

Have him explain ahead of time what needs to be done, even it requires multiple, separate consults in person or by phone, so you know what to expect and how to prepare. Before each major stage, i.e. injections, retrieval, fertilization, implantation, make him explain what will happen and how to prepare.

We went through the standard injections/IVF treatment but stopped short of implantation due to COVID-19. Our eggs are frozen. Make sure the doctor checks his staff's ordering of medication to make sure you have enough of all the drugs you need.

We can't completely review billing yet. Through work, we have a fertility benefit and the benefit is doled out through a third party that is billed directly by Kalan's office. We've had some snafus so far but not seen the final billing so we reserve judgment. We can say one of the billing coordinators is much more helpful than the other in the office.

We have not implanted yet due to COVID-19.

Dr. Winkler was very patient with any questions I had. During the first visit, we weren't really sure what to ask but after I did research and had more questions, she spent a good amount of time on the phone with me to answer every question I had. If I expressed concerns about money, she tried to find ways to help me save. She was always warm and comforting in the appointments and gave me the information I needed to decide if I wanted to move forward with the cycle (even though I only had five follicles to start with). Even with the bad news about our abnormal embryos, she gave us our options of how to move forward, what she would change, and the facts surrounding success rates and is letting us decide. Despite the negative outcome, I think Dr. Winkler and her team did everything right.

Do some research before going in for a consultation and have a list of questions ready. We didn't and she didn't really fill us in on what we needed to know until I asked questions later.

Due to my age of 41, Dr. Winkler did a modified mini IVF protocol explaining that at my age with diminished ovarian reserve that it wasn't about quantity but about quality. Clomid-2 pills every day for 5 days Menopur-2 vials every day for 8 days Gonal F-every day for 8 days Omnitrope-every other day Cetritide- starting day 5 Lupron to trigger Novarel to trigger On day 11 of my cycle, we did the egg retrieval which resulted in 3 of 3 eggs retrieved. Of these, they informed me that one fertilized normally and one fertilized abnormally. However, on day 6, they informed me that two had grown into blastocysts. These were sent for testing and both were abnormal. Dr. Winkler explained that my eggs were of good quality for both of them to have grown to blastocysts but the quality of the egg doesn't mean that the embryo will be normal.

Embryo banking option: $13,845 - included Ultrasounds, in cycle blood tests, intravenous set up, oocyte extraction, oocyte identification from follicular fluid, sperm capacitation/wash, culture of oocytes, fertilization of oocytes, embryo culture, embryo freezing and 1 year of storage, anesthesia, ICSI, PGS screening $150 - first Ultrasound $3,809 - medications $300 -fragmentation semen analysis $349 - Genetic testing for both partners

We did not get to this stage

Dr Kalan is warm and energizing, yet also calming. He joked with me, was delicate when giving bad news and allowed us to ask billions of questions. He never rushed us out of the appointments and was a positive force.

Write everything down - he talks fast and sometimes I’d forget what he said so I was unable to follow up

Menopur, gonal-f, cetrotide. A trigger shot (unknown name) was also prescribed but a last minute change was made to Lupron. Problem was a)already spent a billion dollars on 1st trigger that is not useless in my fridge. And b) the lupron was specialized and came from a compound pharmacy so we had to wait for the pharmacy to mix it and pay out of pocket. Md office told us it’d be ~$150 total but it was $450 total. The last minute change was because md was worried about hyper stimulating the ovaries.

I was very pleased with Dr. Kalan and his entire staff. They were friendly, knowledgeable and caring. As a travel patient, I had to plan my trips precisely and I was always informed of the next steps. I appreciate their care and kindness.

Be sure to bring your list of questions! This journey can be overwhelming, Scary and unknown. Dr. Kalan is very kind and you are in good hands.

I don’t remember the exact medications, but I know I used Clomid. I was montored frequently and Dr. Kalan knew when to trigger for IUI. I loved my experience with him!

For IUI, it was around $4-5,000. I didn’t move on to IVF, but if I remember, it was around $20-26,000.

Dr Kalan is a very compassionate and kind doctor. He was thorough and patient with us and explained things well. My only concern was he was vague about the particular situation I had in terms of his experience treating this condition and typical success rates and outcomes. He also forgot one important detail about my story during one conversation (recurrent miscarriage), and I feel like he could have been more thorough about what testing I need and could have explained that better. Overall he is kind and patient and I appreciate that and seems to know his stuff for the most part. He is also very available

Try to get a better understanding of his success rates with your issue

Clomid, D&c, HSG, MRI To test for fibroids and other uterine problems

Pretty average and some things more affordable than other clinics

He has been incredibly kind, considerate, available and attentive. He truly cares about you and your journey and wants the best for you. He is always accessible, including by text and will often check on you.

Trust him and the process. Know that he will present all options and be honest with you.

Dr Kalan tried IUI with chlomid as well as a trigger shot. He then tried IUI with some injectables to help me save money. When not successful, he encouraged IVF, which was his favored option from the start. I simply struggled with the cost. He also conducted various tests prior to treatment to ensure there were no complications.

I felt that the clinic was cold and no one cared. There were barely anyone at the front desk monitoring the area. It did not seem like a warm place. Overall, I did not feel comfortable there. I wanted to spend more time with the doctor but he seemed in a hurry to go.

Be more compassionate

I did not begin treatment with this doctor. I searched for other doctors after seeing him. I searched for over 10 doctors. Spoke to a few and met one more ferti

I believe it was around $10,000 per round.

Dr. Kalan comes off as very personable. He explains everything, but its so fast and in no detail to fully understand the process. After we talked, I was handed off to a nurse at ever visit. Some visits, I did not speak to Dr. Kalan. All my questions were answered by a nurse. Dr. Kalan does make you feel comfortable during a procedure but his time with patients are very slim. He is a good person, but I would not go back to this clinic.

Make sure to do your own research as well. Know what youre dealing with because details may be left out or not thoroughly explained.

I was quickly recommended to do a natural IUI with donor sperm. The process was fairly quick. Bloodwork was done the same day as the consult. Once I started my period, I was told to come in on day 7. HSG was scheduled and done. Donor sperm was selected but without bloodwork results back. Fortunately, my bloodwork came back and donor sperm was not affected by anything. I had only a few days to get the donor sperm delivered for insemination date. Everything was very fast, too fast. There were too many unknowns that seemed to be “okay” with the clinic. I felt like they just wanted my money.

Unfortunately, I did not know the costs before anything was done. At the consult, my blood was taken which I thought was included in the consult but I ended up having to pay for it.

Embryo transfer was not even talked about

Can sometimes be hard to get a hold of. When I did talk to her, she gave me all the time I needed to understand everything. First egg retrieval was not successful so I had to get another donor and go back to square one. That was very expensive. Since the first donor hadn't donated before, there was no way to predict the outcome. I recommend going with a proven egg donor. I wish someone had told me that. It would have saved me a lot of time and money.

Much higher than average.

She recommends transferring only one embryo. The reasons she gave make sense.

Dr. Winkler is very thorough, kind and compassionate. She explained every step of the process and was very proactive with my treatment. My husband and I felt very confident in her care. She is a wonderful doctor!

While I am not pregnant yet, I have every confidence that if my body can do it, Dr. Kalan will find a way. He is always knowledgeable and honest. I appreciate That he doesn’t run unnecessary tests and keeps the overall goal in mind. I’ve done some research on my own and when I bring it to him he always knows about it and tells me why we should or shouldn’t do it. He is also very kind. I believe he wants me to get pregnant as badly as I want to be pregnant, and that is important to me.

You won’t be treated like a number with Dr. Kalan. Your specific case will be looked at and A personalized plan will be put in place.

Since I am older, I only have one ovary, and have endometriosis we went straight to IVF. The first round we got two normal embryos that were frozen and one was later and implanted but never got a heartbeat. After that we thought we would try IUI just to see what happened and it didn’t work. Then we did a bunch of testing including an ERA and then another egg retrieval and then planted a second egg that implanted but didn’t grow. Now we are going to try for a third egg retrieval and then we will try Lupron (to try and reduce the inflammation from the endo) before we implant the next embryo.

I’ve asked around to many friends who are going through the same thing and Dr. Kalan is not the least expensive but he is not the most expensive either. He is somewhere right in the middle!

Dr. Kalan recommends only doing one at a time because of the risk of complications and birth defects.

Dr. Kalan was always available for questions via email and text. When I was nervous about some cramping I had the night after an egg retrieval, he answered his phone at 11:00pm and discussed everything with me and was a huge comfort. He had wonderful emotional intelligence and when we had a setback after our first retrieval, he provided emotional support. He also had excellent ideas for multiple ways to improve our odds, and we had fantastic results for the second retrieval. We switched fertility doctors specifically because our prior was a terrible communicator. I am so glad we switched to Dr. Kalan, who was able to explain everything to us with compassion and patience throughout the experience. He made the egg retrievals as stress free as possible and I felt very safe. He made the transfer experience truly a special experience.

You've found the perfect physician and guide for this difficult life experience! His partner, Dr.Winkler, is also absolutely wonderful. His nurses are extremely helpful and responsive. You will be in great hands at this clinic.

We had a fairly standard protocol for our first egg retrieval, but we did not make many embryos. For the second retrieval, Dr. Kalan added testosterone priming and HGH, and we ended up with 9 embryos--6 of which were genetically normal. I am pregnant after the first transfer.

I only wanted to transfer one so this was not discussed.

Dr Kalan made me and my husband feel confident and comfortable. He was very reassuring and we trusted him completely. We never felt rushed when we went to see him and he took the time to explain everything to us in terms we would understand.

Don’t be afraid to ask questions or to call the clinic or email them. I must’ve sent a thousand emails and called with so many questions during my cycle and each concern was always addressed right away.

I took 2 vials of menopur, 250 our of Gonal f in the evenings for about 10 days. Also was put on Cetrotide. I had an ultrasound every 2-3 days and was closely monitored.

Appointments were always made at my convenience and we never had to wait long

15345 for egg retrieval, icsi, pgs testing

He recommends single, but ultimately it is the couples decision. He takes the time to explain risks and makes sure you understand before moving forward

Dr Winkler is the most compassionate physician I met. She will always call/ email communicate in a timely manner. She is very knowledgeable and explains every steps in details and make sure to guide us to the best possible treatment plan

The clinic staff is not as professional as they should. But the doctor is so wonderful, trust her!

First cycle - regular FSH cycle (with added menopour and antagonist) 30 eggs retrieved- 1 embryo - chemical pregnancy Second cycle - flare protocol 24 eggs retrieved- 4 embryos- chemical pregnancy

NA

Dr. Winkler was warm, caring, informative, very patient with us and understanding of our desires and obstacles. She spoke with us in detail about the pro's and Con's of natural IVF, Mini IVF and regular IVF with our unique situation. In our first consultation she also recommended my partner take the genetics testing since I had already and was a carrier for 1 vulnerability. We agreed and she arranged and set it up as soon as we walked out of her office. We didn't feel like we were inconveniencing anyone and that everyone was there for just us lol. We cannot wait to continue working with Dr. Winkler.

We were quotes a price and given a couple options for costs of hormones