New Hope Fertility Center

It is very obvious that Dr. Zhang is extremely knowledgeable and competent as a doctor. I very much appreciated his candor and the humor he infused in our conversations. He always took the time to explain everything to me and made sure I understood everything before moving on. I appreciated that he canceled one transfer cycle when he didn’t think that it would be successful instead of just going for it. But he also gave me the option to continue if I wanted.

Don’t be surprised by his direct nature.

I came to Dr. Zhang as my second doctor so I went immediately into another egg retrieval. He decided to do mini IVF with me. I had previously done traditional IVF protocol at my previous doctor and did not respond very well to that and had OHSS. He believed that mini IVF would have less side effects for me with the same results and possibly better egg quality.

Monitoring was very easy to schedule. They give you a window and you can show up anytime during that window. You check in at the front desk then wait for your name to appear on the screen. You get your blood work first and then go back for an ultrasound after you complete bloodwork. I always went first thing in the morning before work and was never there for more than 20 minutes.

I do not remember the exact breakdown of cost for my treatments as insurance covered the majority of my treatment except the egg retrieval and that was around $3,000.

I was recommended to do single embryo transfer because of the number of embryos I had and because of my age. I was not given information about doing a multiple embryo transfer.

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 did 4 egg retrievals (yielding 12 eggs total, 6 embryos) and 3 embryo transfers (two frozen, one fresh). I trust Dr. Zhang and his mini IVF protocol definitely works better for me, having had poor results from a standard stimulation protocol. He is compassionate and seems very optimistic but perhaps doesn't really give the full picture as to your chances of success. His communication is also somewhat lacking. He has adjusted the protocol after each retrieval, but doesn't explain why he is adjusting. My last retrieval was the worst and was a natural cycle, but I was left to guess why this didn't work.

Make sure to ask the nurses to send you your blood results and follicle counts after each monitoring visit. Don't be afraid to ask for more communication. If you're doing a mini IVF, be aware that it could take several cycles to achieve a pregnancy.

Cycle #1 (6 eggs retrieved, 1 degenerated, 5 fertilized, 1 Day 6 blastocyst - FET after hysteroscopy unsuccessful): Clomid 100mg for 5 days, then 1 tablet for 4 days Letrozole 5mg every evening for 5 days Gonal F 225 units for 2 days Orilissa 1/4 tablet vaginally at bedtime one night Gonal F 150 units @ bedtime one night Ovidrel 250 mcg Cycle #2 (6 eggs retrieved, 1 degenerated, 5 fertilized, 2 day 3 embryos, 1 day 5 blast, 2 day 6 blasts - fresh transfer of both days 3s did not implant): Estrace 2mg daily for 6 days Clomid 100 mg for 6 days Gonal F 225 units for 3 days Gonal F 150 units for 2 days Clomid 50 mg, Gonal-F 150 units, 1/4 tablet Orilissa for 2 days Orilissa 1/8 tablet Ovidrel 250 mcg FET protocol # 2 (2 blastocysts failed to implant): Estrace 2mg daily for 14 days Prometrium 400 mg one day Prometrium 200 mg 2x daily until morning before FET Cycle #3 (0 eggs retrieved): Birth control HALF a pill a day by mouth for 7 days Clomid 50mg 1 tablet one day Lupron trigger

Egg retrieval, including fertilization and culture to blastocyst, is $2750. Fresh transfer is $1500 and FET is $3000

Dr. Zhang will transfer multiple embryos. I have had two multiple embryo transfers.

She was very nice when I met her. I didn't feel rushed and she was sure to answer all our questions about egg freezing and the process. But I realize now that I didn't even know all the questions to ask, because there was a lot about the process and my body and potential risks that I just didn't know, so I do wish I had been given a more thorough overview of what was involved and what could happen both during and after an egg retrieval.

Do your research and write all your questions down ahead of time, and maybe be upfront about the type of communication you want and expect in order to feel safe and supported. I remember a nurse telling me she had developed OHSS after her cycle and had been in a lot of pain (this was after I was dealing with my OHSS symptoms), and she said "I remember calling my doctor in the middle of the night crying!", and I thought, "I wouldn't even know how to get a hold of my doctor."

We did a mini-IVF cycle for egg-freezing because of my (relatively) young age, doing a combo of Gonal-F injections and Clomid + Letrozole for about 10 days before my trigger injection and then egg retrieval procedure. It was very successful and we were able to freeze 22 eggs. I developed OHSS afterwards which was very painful and uncomfortable and was prescribed Cabergoline.

I appreciated the "window" for monitoring appointments and I usually didn't have to wait too long, and the nurses were all very nice. The Brooklyn location had no wait at all but you do have to make a specific appointment for it, which is a bit less convenient only because if the night before I realized Brooklyn would be much easier, there would be no way for me to contact them to make an appointment (rarely would someone respond quick enough to an email, and their office/phone would be closed).

In total, out of pocket (my insurance covered maybe 1 medication), it was about $7,000 for one egg freezing cycle, not including storage beyond the 6 months.

The first time we met with Dr. Makarov in a consultation, she seemed gentle which I really appreciated. She walked us through her suggestions for treatment and highlighted some of the treatments and procedures that her practice was known for and some things they were "pioneering". We were really drawn to the non-invasive and gentle way they claimed to approach infertility treatments. Initially she claimed, that I would only take oral medications and then 1-3 injections total for an egg retrieval cycle. She explained a new fertilization process that they use that is less invasive to the egg when injecting it with the sperm. And she explained that they only use local anesthesia for egg retrievals which is more gentle on the women's body as you don't have to be completely knocked out. I was really drawn to all of these claims as my partner and I have MFI and I am fairly young so I didn't feel that I needed the most invasive and intense treatment right away. Sadly, every single one of the claims Dr. Makarov made ended up being false and I didn't find out until right before the course of treatment or procedure. For example, right before I began my egg retrieval cycle, I was told I would actually be doing multiple injections/day. I was confused as I had been told there would only be oral medication plus 1-3 injections toward the end of the cycle. At that point, I wasn't too upset and I followed all the instructions of course. Then, a couple days before the egg retrieval procedure, I asked about the less invasive form of fertilization that Dr. Makarov had claimed we could utilize and she said "oh that is just experimental; we can't do that". I was really caught off guard as this was one of the primary reasons we had even selected this clinic, but since we were just a couple days out from the procedure, we moved forward. Then I went to sign the paperwork for the anesthesia for the procedure and I asked if I could do local anesthesia as Dr. Makarov had described to me. The nurse responded by saying "I don't think you'll be able to tolerate the pain; you should just get fully knocked out". I was again completely taken off guard and now I was too scared to do local anesthesia only after this nurse told me the pain would be unbearable so I of course opted for full anesthesia. The first egg retrieval cycle completely failed. We retrieved 11 eggs but 0 made it to blastocyst. We had thought that we would perhaps switch up my treatment plan for the next cycle since the first one completely failed. And when I spoke to Dr. Makarov on the phone, she said that we would do things differently. But when the time came around, they put me on the exact same treatment plan and medication list as the first time. I tried to keep asking why we weren't switching things up like Dr. Makarov said we were going to, but I was just told "this is what Dr. Makarov is prescribing you." It made me feel like she completely forgot about my previous cycle and my situation as a whole. The day of the second egg retrieval was extremely upsetting and stressful and was the "final straw" for us in deciding to switch clinics and doctors. The entire cycle leading up to the second egg retrieval, I had been trying to stress that we would like to use a different vial of frozen sperm from my husband to inseminate the eggs. My husband froze sperm before his cancer treatment and that was what we were using for IVF. The first egg retrieval cycle (which failed), the lab used one vial of sperm and none of the eggs made it to blastocyst. I wanted them to use a different vial of sperm for the second retrieval as we had no shortage of vials and we felt that there was no point to keep trying with a vial that obviously hadn't worked from the first cycle. The embryologists really wanted to just keep using the first vial again. I believe their thinking was they wanted to preserve the vials of sperm for us for future use but we have 20+ vials frozen so we were comfortable using a second vial for this cycle. But the embryologists essentially put their foot down and refused to use a second vial. I had to try to get Dr. Makarov to intervene and speak to the embryologists on our behalf so that they would follow the instructions and use a second vial. The morning of the retrieval, I was thrown back and forth between nurses and staff trying to explain what we needed and trying to get Dr. Makarov to instruct the embryologists downstairs in the lab. Dr. Makarov completely avoided us and wouldn't speak with us. Finally, one of the PAs made a phone call and then rushed me back downstairs as my procedure was scheduled to begin in 5 minutes. It was just a really stressful way to go into a procedure and we felt that we couldn't trust the staff at the clinic or the lab after that. As I mentioned, that was the final straw that led us to switch doctors and clinics. Dr. Makarov didn't perform either of my egg retrievals.

I truly can't recommend that anyone see Dr. Makarov. Luckily there are lots of other great fertility doctors in the New York City area and I hope that any prospective patients will take these reviews into consideration when making their decision. Don't be swayed by their claims of new and non-invasive treatments as they do not follow through.

For both my egg retrievals with Dr. Makarov, I was on Clomid (oral), Letrazol (oral), and Gonal-F (injection). I triggered with Ovidrel once and Lupron once. I also took Orilissa to prevent premature ovulation.

The office unfortunately did not stagger monitoring appointments, so a large group of women would show up quite early in an attempt to get in early. Many of us would arrive around 6am and wait outside until the building was unlocked, then wait in the lobby to take the elevator upstairs, then wait in the waiting area. The longest I waited for monitoring was 2 hours.

I believe that Dr. Makarov recommends single embryo transfer which is what I wanted and so I was happy with approach.

I think many of the issues stem from the fact that she has too many patients to be able to even remember them, but she gives no indication that she's at all invested in your success. I feel like she could not give one hoot if I get pregnant, or not. The cycle that my eggs both failed to fertilize, she didn't even contact me for 2 weeks. Every time I had an appointment for a call, she called late, or changed the time, or called when I couldn't talk. If I suggested a treatment, she'd say "oh, I guess you can try that" - I am not the expert, I need your expertise to advise me.

Pick another doctor.

Mini IVF with clomid, letrozole, follistim, ganirelix, HCG trigger. Always 150 units follistim. Sometimes birth control, sometimes orilissa to prime. Did some luteal phase retrievals. Retrieved between 1 and 5 eggs each retrieval. Zero normal embryos. INitially they recommends NICS (non invasive chromosome testing) for embryo abnormalities, but then they decided that is not accurate and changed to recommending send-out biopsies. I tried to retest 2 embryos which were NICS tested, and one disintegrated with thawing and was thrown out.

Efficient and fast.

Covered by insurance, except PGT-A testing ($850/embryo), sperm freezing ($400), sedation for retrievals ($650).

They offered to transfer multiple due to my age and abnormal embryos.

I think I already covered this in the last question. But to add a little more colour, I grew up a physician's daughter and was treated in my father's medical community by his colleagues until I was an adult. I was used to doctors treating me like their own daughter. Now of course as I independently navigate the health sphere I understand just how rare it is to find a doctor who treats you like family, especially when you're a perfect stranger. Dr. Olcha loves what he does, he's extremely talented at it, but above all else he truly cares about his patients and their outcomes. He is patient, honest, thorough, and proactive. He is an excellent communicator. We feel like he is a part of our family now, and can't imagine going through any future cycles without being under his care.

Ask for him first.

By the time I switched to Dr. Olcha, it was in time for my first transfer. There was some debate about whether to go for a third IVF cycle/egg retrieval because we hope for a large family, but ultimately we decided to do the transfer after two cycles. So far so good!

We had amazing insurance and were incredibly grateful. I honestly don't have a sense of what we spent out of pocket because the overwhelming majority was covered and then we weren't balance billed.

I can't speak to this but we transferred one embryo.

I came to New Hope Fertility Clinic after a failed IVF experience at another clinic. During our 1st meeting with Dr. Olcha, I knew that we would be in good hands. Dr. Olcha is direct yet personable. He answered all of our questions in detail and made us feel heard. Although New Hope is a big clinic, I did not have the feeling that I was just a number. Prior to my procedure, Dr. Olcha checked on me frequently throughout email and phone. He answered any questions that I had quickly.

If you are trying to determine what doctor to use at New Hope, I would definitely recommend Dr. Olcha.

I had already froze 29 eggs from another clinic. After meeting with Dr. Olcha, we decided to thaw 15 of those eggs and complete another IVF cycle. Dr. Olcha was able to do fresh egg retrieval which resulted in 19 eggs. We ended up with 9 embryos then sent them for PGS testing. We now have three PGS normal embryos. I was so nervous of transferring the frozen eggs to a new facility but Dr. Olcha and the embryologist team at New Hope put me at ease. Their communication was amazing! I was also very nervous during my fresh egg retrieval because I did not use anesthesia. Dr. Olcha was great and I'm so glad I did it that way.

My insurance paid for majority of treatment. I believe we had to pay $1,200 co-insurance and $5,500 for PGS testing

I had my first appointment over the phone with Dr Zhang. He seems like a good person but it was hard to understand him sometimes. This is the first time I'm going through infertility treatments and had a lot of questions on the process. In addition, he did not review my chart and I could tell because after I told him some of my results, he changed his recommendation of my treatment. All communication is done via email or phone after this point and never with the doctor. I'm supposed to get a phone call from him after my next monitoring session and will assess if I want to continue 'working' with this doctor/clinic.

He is extremely busy and only has time for first patient appointments. It sounds like he speaks Mandarin so it might work out if you do too. Coordinators are responsive but a lot of times you want to talk to the doctor or even a nurse. Be prepared to talk to the coordinators or the front desk the most.

I'm at the beginning of the process but he recommended ultra mini ivf for me, meaning all oral medication, because I have a low AMH level. I was researching a lot online and asked if he can use injectable medicine for me and said he'd check my next monitoring session. (When I say 'he', it refers to the team, not directly spoken to him.) He also said if the first round of oral medication didn't work he can prescribe injections. I am paying out of pocket for this treatment so I can't afford to go through multiple rounds of extractions. I read that his clinic performed a study that the success rate of ivf increases with the number of eggs. It doesn't make sense to me then why he wouldn't want to try and get more eggs even with low dose injections.

800 for unlimited monitoring but be aware that all the monitoring won't happen in one month. When I asked how many months it spans out, the coordinator told me it could be 2-3 months. So you're spending 1600-2400 for up to 3 months of monitoring.

She was polite and has good maners, and sometimes even friendly. But still many times we could tell that everything was about the money. In this kind of treatment, when you're almost hopeless and a completely ignorant, I guess the human part is very important. You have to fully trust that your doctor cares, that she understand that what you're about to do is the biggest thing in life. Yes, we know it cost money. We know it is a company... but there's a difference between a company and a factory. And then your doctor doesn't see you anymore after you reject a test because of a money issue (which was embarrasing to confess), neither before the transfer, neither 8 weeks after it... You feel like she only cared about your wallet.

I would explain my whole experience.

In general, they were all before eggs retrieval. Only after I had cysts in both ovaries, she try to put me on a very strong treatment to make them dissapear, whitout any explanation. Just got an email saying "take this". Didn't even explain for what. So I looked for it on internet, and after reading about the side effects that it could have, I rejected it. At that moment, we decided to try the first transfer, hoping that my own and natural hormones would help with the cysts, since the medication she told me to take was full of it.

So far so easy. Nurses were amazing!

I guess we have spent around $30.000 in 3 egg retrievals (one didn't work) and one transfer. Plus genetic test, a water sonogram and many other things.

She agreed with me that, because my age and my height and weight, I should go only with one per time.

Dr. Olcha was very friendly and cleared every doubt we had regarding the IVF. He took personal interest at every level to make sure we are comfortable. He even wrote a letter to our insurance explaining our situation for shifting from IUI to IVF. Our first FET was unsuccessful due to unknown reasons which was done by another doctor. He made sure the second one be a success and took every measures to make it success and it did. We are happy, we choose New Hope and Dr. Meir Olcha.

Make sure, you are open to Dr. Olcha and explain him all your concerns and questions so he could treat you accordingly.

I was prescribed a medicine for the follicles to grow. 20 eggs were retrieved. Among them, 18 were fertilized, and 11 reached the blastocyst stage. Others were abnormal so were discarded. I was prescribed some other medications to make sure the 2nd FET to be a successful. And one of them was stopped on the day of FET and others were continued till 10 weeks of pregnancy.

75% was covered by our insurance for all fertility treatment and copay of 20$ for diagnostics and 30$ for doctor visit was charged.

Dr Zhang and Dr Olcha suggested single embryo transfer to avoid any complications or birth defects.

From the moment I met Dr. Olcha, I knew I would be in the best hands. I didn't know much at the beginning of the process about anything and he was so patient and explained everything to me. During my first retrieval, I had a ton of questions but he answered everything and really made me feel at ease. My experience was really positive - the medication he prescribed to me for both cycles was so easy - the injections didn't hurt - it was a dream scenario. I responded well both times and had good outcomes and he was happy with the results and was really with me every step of the way both times. I am so fortunate to have had Dr. Olcha as my doctor. He made what tends to be a stressful situation so easy and positive! I truly have only good things to say about my experience.

My advice to a prospective patient of Dr. Olcha's would be NOT to worry. He's the best! You can't go wrong!

For both cycles, my treatment was pretty similar. Before my first cycle and before the second cycle, I took birth control to baseline everything. Then once I started, it was a Follstim injection every night for the whole time with Clomid for the whole time as well and Letrozole for the first 5 nights. Orillissa before I triggered, and then the retrievals! It was really easy and pain-free - the injections did not hurt me at all even though I was so scared in the beginning! I would go in for monitoring early in the morning and he would always have instructions for me on what protocol to do next right away and I never had to wait long. The results were good both times - he seemed really happy with it - overall, 18 eggs retrieved and 17 frozen.

I loved going in for monitoring! It the highlight of my weeks! The lobby/waiting area is so lovely and spacious. Tons of seating and really open and bright with lots of windows. I visited other locations with waiting areas that are dark and depressing with women waiting packed together in a room - that does not work for me! After checking in with the receptionist (who were all so friendly), I'd sit and wait for a few minutes before being called in for bloodwork. I don't love getting my blood taken but everyone at New Hope was so gentle and I survived every time and it barely hurt and they made me feel at ease. Then when I would get called in for the ultrasound, it was so fun and informative to see everything on the screen and how my follicles were progressing. Dr. Olcha works so hard everyday so every morning that I would go in for monitoring, he would be there! It was nice to have him in all of my scans! Chelsea, the physician's assistant who works with Dr. Olcha, is also a star. She is so lovely and I am so thankful she was there doing most of my scans for me.

The costs were in line with what was originally outlined - I did my research so I pretty much knew what they would be. I think it was well worth the expense.

He is very experienced with mini IVF using oral medications mostly and/or low dose injectables and IVF for women over 40. He also experienced in doing ovarian PRP for women who struggle with egg quality and quantity.

They seem like a busy clinic so be your own advocate and don't let yourself fall through the cracks.

The clinic and he have a lot of experience doing mini IVF. So they use a combo of both letrozole and clomid together or separately as well as very low dose injectables. The rationale is having quality over quantity.

the prices are al la carte. The prices are pretty affordable

The clinic does a lot of PGS testing due to the low pricing of in house PGS testing and the advanced ages of the women. So they do many single embryo transfers in this case. They will transfer multiple embryos if not tested or if they are day 3 embryos.

Zaher Merhi is a clear communicator and blunt about risks and costs. He deals with severe infertility patients and older patients, so he is very clear about treatment options and your odds of getting pregnant. That said, he has always been smiling and positive. He is always willing to fight for you and your fertility if you understand the risks and want to fight. He gave me hope. I would only change one thing. He did not call when my little embryo (the only one I've ever gotten) died on day three. I got a cold, one sentence email from the lab. He should have called.

He works in a high volume, fast-paced clinic. If you want to speak to him directly, be clear and let the nursing staff or his team know. Also, you can always reach him via email. Expect a blunt, but consistently cheerful and positive man.

I have severe infertility and very low egg reserve, so we have done estrogen only and natural IVF. I also did Ovarian rejuvenation with PRP.

I did outside monitoring and they made that process easy for me and updated me quickly.

$500/month for outside monitoring during natural IVF cycles. $3000 for egg retrieval. Very decent pricing.

By the time I met with Dr Mehi I had consulted with a lot of clinics and was set on moving forward only with low dose IVF. I had been through a lot of cycles and he listened to each step I had been through and asked questions along the way. He validated what I was already thinking - that low does was the path forward. He also encouraged me that there were quite a few other options before donor eggs needs to be discussed which has been a change from other clinics I spoke to. But at the same time he was realistic and let me know that I would likely need more than one cycle and why that was case which was appreciated.

Be open to both positive and not so positive info since I think he is realistic. He wants to help and will spell out how he can do that but he also wants to provide you with the facts.

Mini IVF/low dose IVF is the treatment recommended for me mainly because I have diminished ovarian reserve. I have already tried a high dose IVF and had no better response than when I did medicated IUI. So he said it really didn't make sense to use high dose since we know my body won't respond to it.

The costs seemed very competitive to me. However, mine were related to low dose IVF. They are very open about sending you the full price list after your consult so it all seemed very clear and there was no grey areas.

He is a strong proponent of PGT testing embryos and because of that recommends single embryo transfer.

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

Dr. Olcha made the entire process very simple. His expertise, professionalism and personal manner made it very easy for me and my husband. We were more than happy with every detail of the process. The entire experience seemed so simple yet personal. Never did we have any doubt on anything as Dr. Olcha was very good in explaining everything.

Please pick him as your primary doctor. He is simply the best! If I needed fertility treatment again: he is my number 1 option!

Dr. Olcha made sure I didn’t need too much IVF injections and was monitored on a daily basis. Once my eggs were at a good size; in one simple procedure he was able to retrieve 26 eggs! And 8 embryos were then then frozen. We also did genetics testing as we hoped our first born be a boy along with checking for diseases. The entire process was well communicated at all times. In my next cycle he performed our chosen embryo transfer. Everything went very well and I am now 9 weeks pregnant thanks to Dr. Olcha!

All the nurses and staff were super nice and very friendly. They always remembered me and made feel comfortable. Thank you! I will miss seeing you.

Costs were very good and way within budget. We were very happy.

He seems to be a very knowledgeable doctor and I really love the fact that he is using the Mini IVF and doesn’t feed the patient a lot of medication. Unfortunately I didn’t get to talk to him a lot and can’t say if he was behind my treatment or somebody else even if he was in Charge of my case.

If you have other medical problems find doctors to take care of them or monitor you for them because at NH they only check the blood work that are at interest to them not other things that can be related to your fertility issues. Not testing your thyroid hormones or things like that and rose could be very important in your journey.

He used a Mini IVF for 5 days :Clomid, Letrozole, Follistim and other 2 days of Letrozole and Follistim then retrieval. For transfer I was doing Progesterone Estrogen, Lovenox and Prednisone. Stimulation was minimal and still got 2 good embryos.

Monitoring was ok they have 6 rooms for that. Some ultrasound equipment is better than other.

$500 for first appointment. Retrieval process plus frozen egg transfer plus monitoring plus pgt testing for 2 embryos cost me more than $12 000.

She is LGBTQ friendly and culturally competent. She is patient and a good listener. She considers my desires and opinions when creating her management plan. She clearly communicates her plan and strategy and is happy to answer all of my questions in detail.

Don't hesitate to tell her what is important to you because she will listen and take your priorities into consideration.

I have only completed 2 cycles with Dr. Lipkin. The first cycle she used Letrizole to gently stimulate my ovaries. I produced 4 follicles. After and ovidril trigger, all four were retrieved. Only two were immediately mature enough to have ICSI. The remaining 2 were cultured until they were mature enough and also had ICSI. Only one made it to blastocyst (rated: 312). That single blastocyst was transferred and did not end in pregnancy. The second cycle was again with Letrizole stimulation. I only produced 2 follicles and began to have an LH surge on my own. She monitored my LH (but did not trigger me). They were able to retrieve both eggs and only one reached blastocyst (rated: 411). This blastocyst we decided to freeze due to the stress of Covid-19 (I am an essential worker) and in order give my ovaries a break before attempting to stimulate them again in 1mo in hopes of getting another blastocyst for transfer.

Well oiled machine. They offer early hours which allowed me to monitor without missing any work. They move people through in a timely and respectful manner.

Our insurance doesn't cover our fertility treatments but New Hope has significantly reduced prices for patients paying out of pocket. We have been pleasantly surprised by the cost and expected it to be almost twice the cost.

Dr. Lipkin and I both decided that it would be best to only transfer one embryo at a time. I typically am unable to produce more than one egg that reaches blastocyst anyway.

Dr Olcha is very communicative and you can reach him with a simple email. He makes it a point to meet with you after procedures. My medication changed and he called me on his day off to explain why he wanted to change things around. He's compassionate and very thorough. At our initial consultation he even told us an ideal diet you should have when trying to conceive. He was the first doctor to mention that and educate me, with all the other doctors I did a ton of research and found out all of this info.

Stay positive!

Clomid 2x a day and Letrozole 1x a day. Stopped Letrozole and then stopped Clomid because FSH was rising too high. I did a mini ivf which Dr Olcha thought was a good way to go because sometimes many places use too many drugs and that could harm the egg/embryo. I received 2 eggs, when in the retrieval he actually had one retrieved that was 10 mm (which Ive never heard of, usually they only will retrieve if theyre 18mm). The egg matured and was fertilized but sadly by day 3 failed to grow. I am now on birth control to hopefully get my hormones more balanced for the next try.

Monitoring appointments have great hours. 7-2 pm and they even offer a 6-9. Really convenient

about 1500 for retrieval, transfer about 7000. Every monitoring appointment, cost varies, Medications are separate. Freezing of eggs 1500. light anesthesia 150

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.

Dr. Makarov is very nice and she helped me understand how the whole IVF journey would go as it was my first time. She encouraged us to switch our insurance company so that we could have more IVF cycles for the new year which we didn't realize was an option. A lot of times I felt a little lost as to what the big picture plan would be which I guess can be the nature of IVF.

Understand that NHFC is a very very busy clinic that specializes in 'natural IVF'. You may be someone who won't need too much meds/stimulation to be successful but if you're like me (DOR), you may need more and I wish I would have figured this out earlier and started somewhere else.

Monitoring was any time from 7am-2pm during the week and 7-12pm on the weekends. There were a lot of different ultrasound technicians that would perform ultrasounds when the doctor was too busy or wasn't in (on the weekends). The clinic seemed to hire a bunch of new technicians when I was going there and it just felt like so many different people were caring for you that I would worry info would be lost among all of these moving parts.

Dr. Lipkin has a very straightforward way of talking, but more so like someone who knows what she's talking about a not a blunt, rude person. Talking with her instantly makes me feel better because she's so smart and clever, even. She's one of those people who's nodding in understanding before I'm done bumbling through my half-formed questions. She listens as well as she advises, which is awesome. She's a very busy person, but she finds time to call back or meet in person, whichever is most convenient. I'm glad I chose her.

You won't see her all the time, so take advantage of your meetings and calls with her. Have all your questions prepared. She knows her stuff.

First cycle: birth control pills for a week, 300 units of Gonal-F per shot until they later reduce, Clomid, Letrozole, and Cetrotide taken in separated parts. Second cycle: the same, but the Gonal-F units were smaller.

The monitoring happens at every visit or appointment. Your name will come up next to its own monitoring room number on the television, so pay attention!

Roughly 10k, give or take. Much cheaper than the competition.

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)