New Hope Fertility Center

Dr. Merhi is jovial, and seems knowledgeable about general IVF. But, i'm not confident that he's able to monitor each of his cases individually because of the volume. He also suggests his Ozone Sauna Treatment (Research) 2 times a week for 3 weeks...but it's an additional $1500. Dr. Merhi is nice, but nice doesn't do Individualized care as I thought would happen.

Stay on top of him, and make sure you go to monitoring 7am-9am if you need to talk with him. Other than that you're left to random Dr's or RNs sending follow up emails.

I was never told which specific agnostic or type. Just learning this myself via research. They wanted to do Natural IVF, But I reminded them that I wanted to do Mini IVF. I started with half of Isisbloom BCPs, Monitoring, Chlomid, Letrizol and then Trigger and retrieve. I have to do more rounds of retrieval.

Well oiled machine. Sign in, Screen Monitoring, and name appears on the list.

A little over $6 K total, not including meds $150

They recommend single embryo transfer. I am not at that stage.

I have unfortunately had a long experience with some set backs trying to conceive. Dr Merhi has cared for me since day one and I struggle to imagine a better doctor. He has been thorough, showed me kindness and I can tell he genuinely wants us to have our baby. No matter how long it takes I would never want anyone else to be in charge of my care. I would not consider myself an easy patient as I like to understand everything that is going on, ask many questions and the process can be very difficult for me He has never once made me feel rushed or like a number. He is thorough, kind, empathetic, charismatic and most importantly extremely good at dictating and adjusting the protocols needed for you to have your baby.

Book in with him as soon as you can. You will not regret it. Expect that at New Hope the doctors often work as a team effort so know that even if it doesn't seem that you see him often, he is still always reviewing your results and making decisions.

Many natural cycles (usually producing one eggs) Few mini ivf cycles )usually producing one-three eggs)

I have no fertility insurance coverage so everything for me is self paying. Monitoring unlimited $800 Egg Retrieval $1250

SET only for tested blasts Willing to be flexible for 3 day untested embryos

We initially began the IVF journey at the New Hope clinic with another doctor. However, my OBGYN doctor had recommended Dr. Merhi, and I had felt put off by some of the communication with the other doctor, so we decided to switch to Dr. Merhi. I am so grateful that we did. Along our journey, there were definitely unexpected twists and turns -- a smaller number of eggs than expected reacting to the stimulation medication, a need for me to have a hysteroscopy done, uterine lining not thickening up to the desired level by the scheduled date. While we had direct consultations with Dr. Merhi at only some of these junctures, with every one of these "setbacks", Dr. Merhi implemented some kind of solution-oriented strategy to try to obtain a better outcome. Sometimes this meant just continuing medication and waiting a few days for the situation to change, and in other times it was really about building the best possible conditions for a successful transfer. I knew that he was personally checking my charts after every monitoring session I had, so I felt personally cared for. I am a firm believer in doing my own research and making sure that as a patient, I always advocate for myself. I also knew that I could express my worries or doubts to Dr. Merhi and his responses were always honest, but comforting. Is the IVF science perfected for pregnancy to be guaranteed each time? Of course not. But having a doctor who is truly your cheerleader and doing their best to strategize the best scientific road to success is crucial.

Dr. Merhi is busy, busy, busy. There is always a line out the door of patients out the door to see him. If you choose to be treated by Dr. Merhi, I would suggest: - Communicate! Be open about what are your concerns are with your cycle. - Do your own research and always advocate for yourself! Prepare your own questions so you can best make use of the time at the in-person consultations. - Don't be discouraged if you can't always see him in person. We would occasionally see other doctors for consultations just for questions or concerns, if we couldn't see him.

During the retrieval cycles, we used birth control pills, letrozole and Clomid pills, as well as Gonal-F and Cetrotide injections. My second cycle (which was when we had switched to Dr. Merhi) produced better results than the first cycle (with another doctor). I actually asked to be placed on a higher medication dose because I felt that the dosage in the first cycle wasn't stimulating enough follicles -- Dr. Merhi prescribed a higher dose of the Gonal-F and added in some of the other pills, and we were able to retrieve more eggs and create more embryos the second time around. Regarding transfer, I had one failed FET and one successful FET. Leading up to the first FET, I was taking Prometrium (progesterone). After the first failure, Dr. Merhi expanded the medication protocol to include Progesterone in oil injections, a small dosage of Prednisone and baby aspirin. I believe that these medications helped my body to be more prepared to successfully accept the second FET.

It's a pretty efficient monitoring system. Most of the time I was able to be in and out (bloodwork and sonogram) within 20-40 minutes. Once in a while, the wait was so long and I had to check in with the front desk again to make sure they didn't forget about me. Make sure to not be afraid to check in again if you feel that you've been waiting longer than 30 minutes for bloodwork.

We paid out of pocket for costs as our insurance would not cover any of it. Costs, with medication, ran around $10,000 - $12,000 per retrieval cycle. The FET is around $3000. It helped to get medication for a pharmacy recommended to me by a friend (Medcal Pharmacy), which had a special discount with patients from New Hope and also delivered the medications straight to my door, free of charge.

I was told that it was safer for a woman at my age to transfer one embryo. Personally, my husband and I weren't interested in transferring more than that at one time, so we were already on board with Dr. Merhi's approach to eSET.

Dr. Merhi reviewed my history and on our first visit knew immediately what the challenge was. He caught and diagnosed what was missed twice, by another very reputable IVF clinic. It was confirmed during surgery and he corrected the problem. We had gone through 11 unsuccessful IVF's and 3 IUI's at another facility and had just about every test imaginable. We were told there was nothing wrong but there obviously was and hadn't we seen Dr. Merhi, we believe we would never have discovered the true reason for the infertility. And now that is had been surgically corrected, we are pregnant!

Dr. Merhi is kind, compassionate, funny and extremely knowledgeable. He may not always be available as most doctors cannot be, but his staff is great at getting back to you. He does call and reach out which was great, as our previous doctor didn't typically do that. We felt he was also on point with all the new technology, studies, standards of practice etc and did not subscribe to anything that was not proven or did not have statistical significance.

We did donor egg cycles What was different vs. other donor cycles I'd done at another facility was: addition of low dose prednisone, progesterone suppositories, no lupron, no lovenox, no birth control pills prior to cycle initiation, Estradiol throughout. On the second transfer, addition of 1 ml of progesterone sub q.

The costs for self pay were more reasonable and fair than other clinics in other states. Also, I was delighted that we did not have to pay for everything up front all at once as we had to do at another clinic. They have a fair pricing and payment structure.

Due to my age, Dr. Merhi advised on single embryo transfer. He educated us fully on the risks so we could make an educated decision.

I was at New Hope for 2 months before switching doctors (from Lipkin to Dr Olcha…did a review for him too). I had a consultation with her and she seemed cold, robotic, very factual which is fine, answering questions with a smirk (ego type of laugh)…I felt like I was just one more for her. It was our 1st meeting & not even 5 minutes in she said “You know….you don’t have to take so many notes…we are the experts, you need to trust”. I explained that I do that anywhere for future reference in case I forget. When asking about retrieval & if she would do all my procedures she laughed and said “no there is a group of doctors here & depends who is assigned for it that day. But don’t worry (insert laugh)…’it’s a very easy procedure – anyone can do it” (thought it was very unprofessional & didn’t like fact she thought this was a joke. For someone who’s never done this, it’s a pretty big deal specially the 1st time. She did not give me that comfort security feeling at all. On our 2nd meeting (which I scheduled since after 2 months I hadn’t seen her yet since our original consultation), I had a list of questions. I felt rushed & was trying to get as much in since I could feel her being annoyed. One of my questions was “why where we doing “mini ivf vs. regular ivf?”. Her response was “because we cant create something out of nothing”…after this I froze, felt shocked & realized no point in asking more questions. I felt like crying. I realized then that she did not care for me. She did not believe she could get me pregnant. I was just one more…one more body. I asked what was my ovarian reserve & she said it should be 4-5 follicles per ovary so yours is low even for your age”. I asked my new doctor the same question a month later & he said it was consistent with my age (2-3 total). Our 2nd meeting was also when I found out by a nurse I was pregnant but when talking to Dr Lipkin 5 mins later as she explained “well you are ..except you are not”…she had no compassion when telling me, just told me I had a chemical pregnancy and happens to a lot of women. I left the clinic and had to google what a chemical pregnancy was since still wasn’t very clear. I had a trigger shot & came next day to confirm retrieval. It turned out I had ovulated so missed the chance. The doctor that came in to explain is the one who became my new doctor (Dr Olcha – did review for him here too). She never called me or emailed me. After 2-3 weeks post that event & not hearing from her plus all reasons above, I decided to switch to Dr Olcha & Im soooooo glad I did. The experience has been night & day. Anytime I talked to friends who had gone thru this process they would ask me questions & I could not answer. I had lists of questions for my doctor yet felt like I was just one more, going for blood work & sonogram but no real doctor connection, a doc looking out for me & really watching/customizing my case. The clinic is super efficient but her bedside manners are not the best. A friend of mine who had her wife pregnant there said the same thing…bedside manners are lacking. Dr Lipkin – THUMBS DOWN big time. Big disappointment, big waste of time. Dr Olcha (separate review) – THE BEST! So happy I made the switch. They are night & day & he is pure LIGHT

She has no bedside manners, not compassionate. if you care to have someone who has your best interests, actually cares, is compassionate - I would NOT go with her. Advice - schedule consultations once a month or whenever you need them since she wont....she relies on nurses to send email with recommendations but not much personal touch/interaction from her side.

trigger shot $100 never got to retrieval since I ovulated. before my next cycle/retrieval I switched to Dr Olcha thank God!

Dr Olcha was my 2nd doctor here. He came in to explain how they couldn’t do retrieval the next day (what would have been my 1st) since I had ovulated…Orlissa didn’t work for me. He explained to me in 5 mins more than my prior doc at same clinic had explained to me in 2 months with her. He gave me options (clomid to grow rest of follicules vs timed intercourse which he recommended the later). I had a consultation with him since I noticed he was an RE & I just kept thinking of how different (good) I felt with him vs my prior doctor. 10 seconds into the meeting I started crying…it was like all my walls came down & I felt safe…I felt I could ask him and I wasn’t being rushed. He said “don’t cry, you are going to make me cry!”…something my prior doc would have NEVER said. I knew right there he saw me as a person, a human, not just another body. He went on to explain the whole process, calm/not rushed, would draw as he explained, talked in simple terms so you can understand. He looked at my prior results & immediately said what needed to be tweaked. On my 1st egg retrieval – it ended up being an empty follicule (Cyst). Again he came to give me the bad news (vs sending a nurse). He knew my plan didn’t cover it & it was all out of pocket so he said he would process it thru my medical insurance as a cyst removal and if they covered it, I would get a credit with New Hope. That was the case which was a $1250 relief I could use towards next procedure. This also was my 1st retrieval ever. He kept me so calm, telling me what he was doing as he was doing it. That helped a lot! He said we would grow the remaining ones (lutheal fase & plan of action) On my 2nd retrieval, I had 2 eggs retrieved, 1 fertilized. It didn’t make it to day 7. He said he would call me but since we had a consultation he figured he explained 1:1. Again he explained everything so clearly going step by step of the process & where my embryo stopped growing. I literally leave his office with so much hope every time since he explains every step & he has a plan of action already. He makes me feel safe & taken care of. He works weekends which is great since less people there. When I get monitoring (blood & sonogram) – I usually see him right after looking at my results & getting to plan of action. He sometimes will either come in during or after the monitoring and answer any questions. He is very hands on. My prior doc I was with for 2 months & saw her twice (1st consultation + a meeting scheduled by me). With Dr Olcha I’ve seem him almost every time I’ve been there & If I don’t, I get very detailed emails from his nurse support team with his recommendations. Im so happy I switched to him. He is the reason I have hope & feel like I can trust the science. That he is looking out for me & doing what is best for me. Its truly customized & making changes as we go & know more. He is night and day from my prior doc & I will recommend him to ANYONE (I already have). He is the best combination of knowledgeable, calm, compassionate, very good at explaining…..he is the PERFECT COMBO OF SCIENCE MEETS HEART! I feel so lucky God put him on my path. I trust he will get me there

Ask him anything. He will explain and you will feel so much better after.

1st retrieval was a cyst so we grew the remaining follicles. He tweaked the Clomid dosage (from 100mg from prior doc to 50 mg)...not sure if since I was in lutheal phase. Next cycle he might do clomid + injectables (Im doing "mini ivf")

super well oiled machine. Window is 7am thru 1pm....7-9am if you want to speak to a doctor. I would get in 7:45 and be our by 8:30-8:45 in time to get to work. Super easy

retrieval - 1,250 fertilizing egg to embryo - 1,500 Trigger shot - $100 Monthly monitoring - 200-250/month (my health plan covers 80% so I guess cost would be 1k if not)

I had renewed hope after seeing him as he was confident that we could use my eggs as opposed to donor even tho my first RE at the age of 30 had told me I needed to move to donor eggs. What he explained made sense but then I felt rushed into an egg retrieval that I didn’t feel confident would work considering the cycle before (my cycles are very unpredictable) they thought I had two cysts. Then 9 days later they thought they were eggs and good to retrieve and we went in and got nothing.

He has great bedside manner but I am unsure that he really has the best course of action as a physician. He is willing to try unconventional things.

He had me try a 14 day course of BC pills in an attempt to lower my FSH. The last BW I had done 2 months prior was 79. I had to stop after 11 days as I had gained 9 lbs. Coming back in after that my FSH was down to 10 and I don’t remember the last time it was that low. At the ultrasound they thought I had two cysts. I had a period. And came back in for more BW and ultrasound on CD 9 after taking estrace for 14 days and they said I was good to go and rushed me in for an egg retrieval 2 days later. Turns out as I suspected they were still the two cysts from before. So we got nothing.

Dr. Zhang is an extremely smart and willing to think outside of the box. I am thrilled I found him when I did, only 1 cycle led to success!! Knowing that he is the owner/founder I understood he would be very busy but trusting a doctor of his caliber assured me to trust his staff.

Do your own research, bring your own questions and take a chance!

Mini ivf using clomid, letrozol, cetrotide and very small doses of follistim.

I think in total the cost was ~14k. The part that was annoying was since I was doing outside monitoring it cost me an additional 1k each month for NHFC to review the results.

No comment.

He's very knowledgeable and does cutting edge stuff. However he's not very present. I would like to be able to see my doctor more often or feel like I'm being heard. Most of my questions were answered by ultrasound techs. Also because I understood the plan for the day I have found myself asking for things I was told during the previous appointment, that the people I interacted with on the day of were not aware

Ask for a full explanation of the pros and cons of each step or procedure

We did an ultra mini IVF cycle which involved clomid and femara tabs only. I was able to produce 4 mature eggs which all got fertilized, however I ended up with one very good grade blastocyst. We also did PGS testing for aneuploidy which came back aneuploid. I think I shouldn't have done PGS testing on my only blastocyst especially since I have never had a miscarriage. I was able to get them to do a saline sonogram which showed i had a possible polyp and was then scheduled for hysteroscopy.

Reasonable. My ultra mini IVF so far has cost about 10k

He is very nice but consultations with him seemed rushed. He didn't really ask questions or informed us much what was coming next. He started us off with an IUI (natural cycle) which didnt work. We moved on to Mini IVF and he never called, emailed, or followed up with me before or after IVF. At this point I dont even think I am his patient.

Be prepared to not see him, he will not follow up with you.

Dr.Merhi began with a natural IUI cycle since I already ovulate on my own. I dont know why I dont get pregnant. After it failed he didnt call me or follow up. I called the clinic and told him I wanted to do IVF which his answer was ok no problem and just sent me to a coordinator to explain meds for IVF. I was on clomid 100mg and Gonal F for about 10 days. Again, didnt see him or hear from him. Retrieval was coordinated by nurses and another RE in the clinic was the one to do the procedure.

Monitoring was the best part of this experience. Everyone is so nice and efficient

IVF-4000 Medications- Gonal F and Clomid- 1500 Monitoring per month 800 IUI 800 Egg Transfer 3000 (Havent done this yet but we have to pay it soon) 750 PGS Testing per embryo... we are doing 3 embryos 2250 in total

Dr. Merhi did my transfer that resulted in my little one - so I will forever be grateful. He has a great bedside manner and is very personable and obviously he is skilled at transfers. A year or so later, when I went back to try for number two, my transfer with him did not succeed (not saying it was anything he did, could have just been the odds game). Then I decided to try to create more embryos, and had a failed attempt on a cycle. When I discussed the failed IVF attempt, he really didn't offer any tweaks or adjustments to my protocol. It was kind of - it is what it is at your age. You just need to try again and maybe you will get a good egg next time. I felt like this was a bit disappointment. I'm not sure how knowledgeable he is on the various protocols and research being done in the infertility areas.

Do your research, ask a lot of questions, demand that a specific doctor follow your protocol.

Mini-IVF: clomid, letrozol and follistim, followed by Ovidrel as a trigger shot. For the transfer, progesterone suppositories and estrogen pills.

Egg retrieval & fertilization (excluding monitoring and drugs) ran around $4500 (with anesthesia). This was pretty reasonable comparatively.

Dr. Merhi transferred 2 normals for me -- ended up with one baby.

As a patient, it’s important for me to feel safe and understood. It’s important for me to feel comfortable with people in the clinic and it’s important for me to feel comfortable with doctors. All that I had just said described Dr. Zhang and his clinic. He listens to our frustration and how much impact it’s carrying us and also financially.

To always trust your gut feeling. Listen and ask millions of questions.

I was preparing for retrieval’s of my own eggs (one or two he sees), he uses minimal meds. Trigger shots when it’s time for retrieval in two days , I don’t remember the meds I had taken. For preparing egg donor transfers, I have been taking estradiol, promethium....depends on my blood work result if it needs some adjusting I had taken prednisone, progesterone shot on my butt, baby aspirin, enoxaparin injection on my stomach. Sometimes my lining needs to be thicker so they up my use to progesterone sometimes.

My monitoring experience is great. The ladies who gets my blood has no problem. Although I have small veins, they still manage to get it done. They always ask me if I’m doing ok. As for sonogram, I love the ladies there. So respectful. I get along well with them. They know how hard and how long and our loses. They’ve become my friends there. Always smiling. :) which I love. Makes my day.

We’ve been doing fertility for 9 and half long years. My husband and I have seen numerous doctors. The billing at the Dr. Zhang’s office is very organized. There’s always three there. They know your name and what needs to be paid. They even tell you what it’s for and if the insurance paid or not and explained why. They even have online service to pay online now too. They are friendly. My husband and I pay out of pocket fertility for nine and half long years. For donor eggs we have $13,200 for 6 eggs. Then they tell us how survived. For example, embryologist will email and tell me they get 5 out of 6 ready to be sent out for genetic testing. Before sending we have to pay $750 per embryo to be tested first before being sent out. Ones we do that we have 7-10 days to wait and they will email with results. Then they will email again and tell us how many survived and how many healthy with grades on them and explanation of their grades. So imagine having failed donor eggs many many times $13,200 x 5 times. We are financially medically in debt. We need help!

When we did our transfer in Cancun Mexico, the doctor there transferred four embryos all the time. Out of three cycles, I was pregnant but resulted in 10 week miscarriage. Dr. Zhang and his colleague transfers one embryo at a time per rules. He picks the best embryos for transfers.

Dr Merhi was the first doctor in a long time to try to use my own eggs. I was initially going to him for the egg donor program and he told me to try with my own eggs first. When you are with Dr. Merhi he gives you his undivided attention. He answer all your questions and is very personable. He has great bed side manner and makes you feel very comfortable. But yes there is a but.... here are my dislikes... His email response could be better and yes I understand they are busy but isn’t that a part of your job. Also I went two months without seeing him at any of my monitoring although he would provide instructions via email. I am currently still being treated by him so let’s see. I will give another review when everything is completed.

Email! Email! Email! Would be your best form of communication with him.

Dr Merhi is trying a more natural approach. I am currently on estradiol. He also had me take hgh for an 6 week period. Also he provide me with a free trial of ozone therapy for 8 weeks. I also had an ovarian rejuvenation done as well. After six month of not ovulating I finally ovulated two eggs but the second one was too small. They received one egg and that a lot because the first time I had egg retrieval I had no eggs. But my embryo did not make it to blastocyst. I am now back for my second go at it and it has been 5 months since my last egg retrieval.

No complaints

Fairly reasonable

Didn’t get to the point

Dr. Merhi is confident and cheerful and I can truly appreciate that feeling of optimism. He did one of my retrievals and it was so painful, but that was perhaps due to a follicule being, as he put it candidly, “in China”. I don’t interact with him as much as I’d like. I really would love more phone calls but I do feel I can assertively seek him out and will be ensured a response.

Prepare yourself for a big clinic. Alter your expectations if you think this will be a more personal exchange. I am having a very different experience than I had with Dr. Davis of RMA but I believe in the clinic’s competence.

Initially, I went in to freeze eggs. Dr. Merhi suggested I fertilize them as he instructed embryos had better survivability. My status with my partner did not allow the confidence to move ahead so I froze eggs. I tried, several months later (after my relationship ended) two donor sperm IUIs (one with Dr. Davis-RMA and one with Merhi’s staff). IUI was unsuccessful and I wasn’t thrilled that the Merhi’s clinic kept me waiting, delayed in the reception area bc of some administrative error. I made a written comment but did not receive a reply. Now, I’ve moved on to create one embryo and one mosaic embryo. I am on the verge of meeting with my doc to talk about the viability of the mosaic. I am surprised I wasn’t told about mosaics in my first fertilization round / genetics testing, but Merhi says that it wasn’t available then.

Generally, these guys are a well-oiled machine. Only once, after many monitoring experiences that went well, did they have an admin issue and make me wait even though I had been cleared by Finance! The nurses providing the sonograms are generally nice and competent.

Insurance is mercifully covering monitoring (I still pay $40 copay). The genetics tests is expensive $2-$5K. The retrievals are $1500-2000.

Merhi will move one at a time. Although, and I will find out, he may move 1 normal and 1 mosaic together.

What I says before. She was nice, but not very invested in our success. When we came for the follow up after retrieving the eggs and them being abnormal she hadn’t even looked at the results until we were in her office.

Keep on top of everything. Make sure they are giving you the proper information and that you get it on time.

She never explained why did anything. First cycle started with pills, and didn’t have shots til the end. Resulted in 3 eggs. Next she started with pills and shots. Resulted in 13 eggs. Next round she did pills and 1/2 the amount of shots. Results 8 eggs. Never discussed why the change. Finally after the third round I asked her why she thought we were getting numerous eggs but no normal ones. Her response was she basically didn’t know. It felt like she just hadn’t thought about it.

This was actually great. You had a large window and rarely a long wait time. The Dr did most of the sonograms, if she was there. She only came in 3 days a week. In 3 retrieval she never did ours

It’s was about $6000 plus medication. This was only retrieval. We never got to transfer.

They prefer single

Dr Merhi is thoughtful, on top of the latest developments in the field, willing to think outside the box and incredibly supportive. He is very responsive to emails and always made time for me when I asked either via phone or in person. He even dropped everything he was doing on one day to perform an emergency retrieval after my first retrieval didn’t go as planned. He’s been able to adjust along the way while remaining very positive - almost disconcertingly so at times. Very satisfied with him.

Be persistent. He will make time for you but you need to stay in front of him or connect with his coordinator to get on his schedule. He is very busy so don’t be afraid to push!

Mini IVF (clomid, letrozole, 150 follistim) Conv IVF (clomid, letrozole, 225 follistim)

Monitoring hours are very flexible here. Weekdays are 7am - 2pm, weekends are 7am - 12pm which was huge selling point for me. Scans are done by techs and not MDs. Some of were much better than others but nearly all were quite competent.

Consult $350 Unlimited monitoring for 30 days - $800 Retrieval + ICSI + freezing + PGS - 4000

He prefers PGS tested blasts, eSET but is very open to multiple transfers of day 3 or mosaic embryos.

I trust Makarov's intellect and experience, but felt in the dark quite often about why things were being done the way they were. I liked knowing what was happening and would have to bother the nurses to explain everything.

Keep notes of questions you want answered at the visits. After monitoring she has to run elsewhere, and doesn't have time to discuss side effects, make predictions etc. On one hand, it's nice not to have a "performer" giving false assurances, on the other, it would be nice to hear some positive thoughts on the process.

We did mini ivf both times. The second time around we used more GonalF per dose, so that we could get more follicles and more chances for successful embryos. The first 2 that made it to blastocysts were complex abnormal and not recommended for transfer.

The 3rd floor monitoring experience was nice. There was a screen for the 4th floor appointments with people's names coming up that were not in the room. Not sure why that was there. There was coffee, tea, water and snack. It was quiet and intimate and not as perfumed as the 4th floor. The upstairs monitoring is sometimes standing room only and a well oiled machine. But still can mean a wait for over an hour some days.

For the first egg retrieval we were covered by insurance. The second time, our plan had changed and it was out of network. 2750 for egg retrieval and fertilization (ICSI). 550 for anesthetic. 750 for NICS PGS testing (which includes free ICSI) and 1200 for freezing...some additional costs as well.

We didn't get to that phase.

After being told by a different doctor that we would have to use donor eggs in order to get pregnant, despite me being 33 years old and having gotten pregnant with my 2 other children without a problem, we did more research and found New Hope and Dr. Zhang. During initial consult, Dr. Zhang went over the treatment plan, which was just going with my natural cycles and using Clomid to control timing of ovulation. Dr. Zhang told us we’d be pregnant in 6 months. We went through 6 retrievals with 4 viable embryos. Had the first transfer with a 5day frozen embryo and got a BFP! I am now 33 weeks along with a baby girl and have 3 more embryos on ice. I call Dr. Zhang our miracle worker

Be patient with the treatment plan

Dr. Zhang used Clomid with me for all of the cycles

Monitoring hours are 7am-1 or 2pm. Was in and out every time I went in. You get the blood work done, go back into the waiting area and are called in for sono moments later

The cost can’t be beat. Cost of an IVF cycle with Dr. Zhang is close to cost of IUI cycle at other practices

Dr. Zhang recommended a single 5day embryo transfer and that is what we did.

Dr. Merhi was always so kind and encouraging. Even when I got news that wasn’t so great (when I learned of my low AMH, failed iuis, etc) he presented information clearly but when a gentleness that made me feel like he always cared deeply about our goals of growing our family. When our transfer worked he shared in our joy and excitement.

Do not feel the need to interpret every test result- Dr. Merhi will let you know if levels are abnormal or of concern. When monitoring you may not see him as often, but he is still absolutely pouring over the data and making smart decisions based on what he sees. Trust his judgement.

In my protocol for egg retrieval I was on gonal f, cetrotide, and clomid the two weeks leading up to my retrieval (all low doses). For my transfer I followed the procedure with taking estradiol orally and suppositories of progesterone.

Monitoring hours were a little tricky for me because I had to be at work by 8:00 am as a teacher. However, if I arrived around 6:45 I was never late to work and ready to leave the clinic by 7:40.

We’ve paid under 3,000 in total for both the egg retrieval and transfers.

He is very knowledgeable and he doesn’t turn you away if you are over 40. In my case he told me egg freezing should be my number one priority. He said I can make you have a baby at 55 but at 55 I cannot retrieve eggs. Also he suggested MINI IVF based on my endometriosis in which I had surgery for and did a successful retrieval 7 days after my NYU surgery to remove 1 Fallopian tube 2 fibroids and polyp. Dr Zheng doesn’t give up on you and his office is innovative and high tech so they are current in the latest advancements in reproductive medicine.

Make sure you have the time to put into the process because right before egg retrieval you have to go to the office for daily monitoring which is time consuming. The office runs well like a well machine you can be in an out and they have great refreshments. It’s a very comfortable and nice office.

Low dose birth control pills (1/2 a pill for 14 days) 5 - 7 days of Clomid 50mg 1/2 a pill, lupron trigger shot then egg retrieval for MINI IVF. THIS PROTOCAL WILL ONLY YIELD 1 or 2 eggs for retrieval however as a more natural cycle it will yield quality over quantity

Well oiled machine

$800 per month unlimited monitoring $1250 egg retrieval $800 for genetic testing $2700 for embryo testing

Not yet

Dr Zhang has a very warm caring personality and he works tirelessly. I do wish he would be open to trying different things when I would for example as for different estrace they would not switch it. I feel like if they did I could have had more sucess.

write everything down keep track of what is working and not working and compare what protocols they give each cycle so you can make sure you are getting the best result.

He was a strong believer in less is more which I get and agree with. But I had a specific issue of thin lining that did not respond well to the estrace they were giving me and we did cycle after cycle where I had to cancel because of poor lining. when I told them I had met people who had great success with using the patch they were not receptive to that so after years of trying with them Left and that was good because now my lining is perfect and I just need to get the right eggs.

monitoring was the easiest and best part. no stress in and out within 30 mins and they really watched out for you if it was taking more than 15 minutes they were back there moving things along. it was the results and protocol that took til the end of the day or next day to get the info.

it was very expensive and the prices kept getting higher and higher. when i first started a transfer was 1200 when i left it was 2500.

Dr Zhang really likes to implant only 1 embryo at a time he wants that embryo to have the best chance. he will implant mosaics too.

When we first came to New Hope, we had already been told by a previous and hospital affiliated clinic that the chances of us naturally having a family were slim, and to start considering other options, which we were open to. However, as one last effort, my husband found New Hope Fertility and we were uplifted after our first consultation with Dr. Zhang. He explained I had advanced low egg reserve for a woman my age, but that would not be a barrier. I remember him stating that all we needed was one good egg. He managed our expectations by explaining the process, how it takes time, their philosophy and approach to use minimal drugs, and their team would work with us to accomplish our goal.

I've learned the entire process takes patience: between waiting for your cycle to start, bloodwork, sonogram, egg retrieval, success of fertilization, success of embryo going to Day 3/5, the ups and downs during any of those steps mentioned, patience & perseverance is necessary; surround yourself with the best possible support team - from Dr. Zhang and team of doctors and those in your personal life to support you during this journey.

- adjusted pills/hormones based on cycle prior to egg retrieval - hormones/pills in preparation for egg transfer - hormones/pills after transfer (successful transfer and pregnancy prior to being released to regular OB)

- Best to go in early (7:30am/8:00am) to avoid extended wait times during busy morning cycle. - Nurses and tech staff for blood/sono were great; I was always seen by a doctor afterwards

- We were lucky that my husband's insurance assisted us with cost. - We had a co-pay that we always paid upon check-in

When we first met Dr. Zhang, he stated they preferred to do single embryo transfer. However, we were given an option to do up to 2 embryo transfers, but we agreed the single was the best for us.

Dr. Zhang did an excellent job of managing my expectations given my personal circumstances. He was even able to tell me (which he later substantiated via ultrasound) where my fibroids were located based on my description of my menstrual cycles since stopping birth control pills. The RE I saw after Dr. Zhang shared some things with me that suggested IUI was an irresponsible course of treatment for me given the placement of my fibroids. Having said that, I have no regrets about having tried the less invasive procedure because I always would have been curious if we'd gone straight to IVF.

We did three cycles of Clomid, only two of which we completed with IUI. A fill-in doctor convinced my husband that the risk of multiples was too great during our first cycle so we didn't do IUI. However, given my age, the chance of pregnancy was so low he needn't have worried we'd end up with multiples. The second cycle the dose of Clomid was lowered and we didn't get pregnant. The third cycle, the dose of Clomid was returned to the original and we didn't get pregnant. However, Dr. Zhang forewarned me that the placement of my fibroids made pregnancy very unlikely.

Approximately $800/IUI cycle

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