Dr. Jain listened to our concerns from our previous two IVF cycles and adjusted our protocol to help achieve our desired results (i.e. no OHSS) for our third cycle.... After my second retrieval, in which they harvested 29 eggs, my husband and I told Dr. Jain that we didn’t want to go that route again. Dr. Jain said that more eggs out better but felt for us and did what he could so that I wouldn’t produce an over abundance of eggs.
I would definitely recommend the Northwestern Fertility Clinic. Given that they’re part of the Northwestern network of hospitals, it gives me faith that I am working with top notch care givers in a top notch institution. The appointments are usually very well run and efficient. The only drawback is that since they’re such a large clinic, there is little room for flexibility. If you are unable to make it to a monitoring appointment betweem the ascribed times, you will have to wait until the next day.
How was your experience with Tarun Jain at Northwestern Fertility & Reproductive Medicine?
We were initially introduced to Dr. Jain during our third embryo transfer. He was kind and careful during that procedure. I ended up becoming pregnant but lost the baby nine weeks later. As an aside, it turns out that the baby had a severe case of down syndrome. In between the embryo transfer and our miscarriage, our doctor had retired and it was recommended that we meet with Dr. Jain for our follow-up appointment. Despite being a large clinic, Dr. Jain remembered performing our embryo transfer and gave his condolences several times given that we lost the baby from that transfer. We decided to move forward with Dr. Jain for our third, and hopefully last, IVF cycle. We just had our egg retrieval two day’s ago, but so far Dr. Jain has been extremely sympathetic to our situation, needs and wishes and has done whatever was in his ability to set us up for a good outcome. Most importantly, he listens to what we have to say.
What's one piece of advice would you give a prospective patient of Tarun Jain at Northwestern Fertility & Reproductive Medicine?
I would tell a perspective patient that they most likely won’t see Dr. Jain often but know that he is working behind the scenes and will monitor your case and implement your wishes however he can. So please speak up. Dr. Jain is there to listen and craft a plan with your assistance.
During treatment, were you treated like a number or a human with Tarun Jain at Northwestern Fertility & Reproductive Medicine?
Dr. Jain listened to our concerns from our previous two IVF cycles and adjusted our protocol to help achieve our desired results (i.e. no OHSS) for our third cycle.
Describe the protocols Tarun Jain used in your cycles at Northwestern Fertility & Reproductive Medicine and their degree of success.
I am prone to OHSS. After my second retrieval, in which they harvested 29 eggs, my husband and I told Dr. Jain that we didn’t want to go that route again. Dr. Jain said that more eggs out better but felt for us and did what he could so that I wouldn’t produce an over abundance of eggs. He put me on 75 units of Menopur and 125 units of Follistim. After five days, he reduced my Follistim dose to 100 units and we discontinued my stims after 8 days. The doctor who performed my egg retrieval, Dr. Boots, ended up getting 16 eggs of which 11 fertilized. We are much happier with this modest amount.
Describe your experience with your nurse at Northwestern Fertility & Reproductive Medicine. (Assigned nurse: Dana M. Sullivan, RN)
My primary nurse, Dana Sullivan, RN, could not be a better caregiver. I have work with three different REs (the first two retired) and she has been my one constant. Dana is kind and companionate and the one that I’ve talked to when I had a positive beta and a negative beta. She also sought me out at the clinic after my miscarriage to give her condolences. She is great at what she does.
Describe your experience with Northwestern Fertility & Reproductive Medicine.
I would definitely recommend the Northwestern Fertility Clinic. Given that they’re part of the Northwestern network of hospitals, it gives me faith that I am working with top notch care givers in a top notch institution. The appointments are usually very well run and efficient. The only drawback is that since they’re such a large clinic, there is little room for flexibility. If you are unable to make it to a monitoring appointment betweem the ascribed times, you will have to wait until the next day.
Describe your experience with your monitoring appointments at Northwestern Fertility & Reproductive Medicine.
The clinic down monitoring within a two hour window each morning during the early hours (6:45 to 7:45, I believe). While this doesn’t always jive with our schedule, especially with a little one at home that needs to be dropped off at daycare, once we get to the clinic, monitoring appointments usually run very smoothly. I am usually in and out within twenty minutes.
Describe the costs associated with your care under Tarun Jain at Northwestern Fertility & Reproductive Medicine.
We are lucky in that our insurance covers the procedures related to IVF. We only have to pay for medications and genetic testing. That being said, we asked Dr. Jain to send in the request for medications in December even though we weren’t doing IVF until February because we had already spent our deductible in 2018 and the medications would be free (we’ll take our small wins where we can). Dr. Jain complied but failed to order enough Follistim to cover a minimum of 8 days. What we had only covered 7 days. We had to purchase more Follistim in February because we were 75 units short and it cost us $1.5k. We will also have to pay for genetic testing, which will likely cost around $5k.
Describe Tarun Jain's approach to eSET (elective single embryo transfer) vs. multiple embryo transfer at Northwestern Fertility & Reproductive Medicine.
The fertility clinic as a whole has a very strict one embryo transfer policy. I’m not sure what circumstances would make the doctors change this protocol. Perhaps if the patient is over 40 and did not test their embryos they would be more willing to transfer more than one.
What specific things went wrong at Northwestern Fertility & Reproductive Medicine?
- Failed to call in prescriptions to pharmacy
- Lost appointments
- Failed to consider drug intolerance
Describe the specific things that went wrong at Northwestern Fertility & Reproductive Medicine.
I have had the clinic fail to order the right dose of stim medications causing me to spend an addition $1.5k for just a one day dose (100 units) of Follistim. The clinic has also failed on more than one occasion to refill my Synthroid prescription despite my requests and they have sent the prescription to the wrong pharmacy. That being said, these are minor errors in the grand scheme of things. They have never made a critical error.
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Clinic
Northwestern Fertility & Reproductive Medicine
Chicago