Poma Fertility

Clinic is very clean, looks organized, big enough, with great equipment/tools. Although the part that is sometimes frustrating is how busy they always seem. Sometimes you have to wait 15-40 min at your appt. and also with harder times to change your appt, or choosing another day.

They are really good at caring for patients, although due to what seems like a super busy clinic, you sometimes feel like a number. They sometimes forget to follow up or give certain directions ahead of time, which is crucial for me. But I guess the patient can also be on top of their own journey as well.

Nurses staff is great, very understanding and for the most part very organized. Sometimes due to how busy the clinic is, they forget to email you information or call in prescriptions. But for the most part they are on top of the schedule and are helpful.

Dr Opsahl is caring and understanding. He does rush through appointments sometimes it feels like he is always in a hurry. He is a busy doctor, I understand but due to infertility as a super sensitive journey, I feel like he is always in a rush. Overall, he is a good doctor. He will listen, and explains the procedures.

Just to be prepared for anything that can happen in your journey. Mine was not easy, and am still going through it. But Dr Opsahl will remember you, and has a smile on his face every time he sees you, which is comforting while you're going through this uneasy journey.

We started with fertility boosting meds to see if I can ovulate more and get pregnant by myself. Then we tried IUI's, which failed. Then we decided to do egg/embryo retrieval due to some cervical cancer issues. We proceeded with that treatment, and froze our embryos. Now I am working with Dr Opsahl on IVF cycle, with some complications of my cervical surgery, we are starting round two of injections and pills to prepare for the first IVF cycle soon.

They are usually done early in the mornings of specific days, which is pretty convenient due to work schedules of most people. No problem with those appts at all.

Very expensive, since my medical insurance does not cover any infertility, we have to pay everything out of pocket. We have spent around $15,000 already for treatment provided by Dr Opsahl.

Dr Opsahl strongly suggested due to our age to use single embryo transfer instead of multiple for a safer healthier pregnancy.

When I was researching fertility clinics, these were some of the factors that I was looking for and wanted in a clinic that would care for us. First is obviously the reviews others have made about this clinic. I had originally heard about Poma through a friend, who knew someone that was a patient there. They had raving reviews about Poma and conceived their first child through IVF. I utilized social media and online reviews as well. I looked into more than one clinic. I found that some had several doctors. While others like Poma were smaller "boutique" style clinics with one doctor. I did not necessarily want to be treated at a clinic where I would be passed around from doctor to doctor, depending on who was working that day. This is one of my bigger reasons why I chose Poma. However, the reality is that this can be a challenge as well because he is only one person and needs to oversee all his patient's care. He does have a physicians assistant whom I've seen and think very highly of as well. So that helps. Location is also a big reason I chose Poma. Going through fertility treatment is grueling and you often need to be seen several times a month, if not a week to monitor your progress. This clinic was the easiest to commute to, close to my home and my husband's work. This made it easier for him to leave work for appointments. Lastly, Poma worked with my insurance. Fertility treatment is such a big expense and a lot of times, a medication or procedure is not covered. Poma is also very upfront with the price of IVF. Which helps because IVF is not a covered treatment on a lot of insurances. They also have a guarantee program where you pay an extra premium to guarantee a live birth and take home baby. They refund a portion of your money if that is not achieved.

In my previous OB/GYN care, I've felt like I was just a number. Countless times waiting in the lobby past my appointment time and not recieving the compassion that I so deserved in my experience with miscarriage. When I was researching the different fertility clinics in my area, I chose Poma Fertility due to many factors, but mainly because Dr. Opsahl was going to be the sole person to take charge of my care. There were not dozens of doctors that I would be passed around to. I've heard that at some other clinics, you would hardly even see the doctor and would mainly be seen by the nurses. My expectations were more than exceeded with my experience so far at Poma Fertility. They're warm and welcoming and know you by your name. You're taken back on time and Dr. Opsahl and his team have shown me so much compassion for my situation and my losses. I truely feel like they care for me and I'm not just a number that they make money off of. I'm certain that this is how all his patients would feel.

Most of the nursing staff I've dealt with are compassionate and kind. There are a couple that I really love. They are the epitome of who I would expect to be working in such a personal field like fertility. Kindness, sympathy if not empathy and compassion are such necessities in this field. Naturally I've dealt with some nurses who don't possess this trait as strongly and one that has really dropped the ball during a critical time in my cycle. But overall I would say they are highly reliable to depend on getting your concerns/questions answered and important information relayed between you and the doctor. Poma has a convenient online portal messaging system that they consistently check throughout the day. I've usually had my messages replied to, Monday-Saturday. All the lab results are promptly uploaded to this portal as well. Important information is usually given by a phone call by the nurses. I remember once, I was anxiously awaiting for a response to a concern I had. Because of my history with past providers forgetting to get back to me, I was checking in with the nurses at Poma frequently to remind them. I was pleasantly surprised to be reassured that they haven't forgotten about me and that they were just finalizing the instructions from Dr.Opsahl before getting back to me. I've been able to fully trust that these wonderful nurses at Poma, know what they're doing and do their jobs well.

My husband and I went for a consult with Dr. Opsahl when it had been almost a year after the miscarriage of our first pregnancy. I had expressed my concerns even thought my situation didn't fall into a typical type of patient that fertility doctors would start seeing. He was very informative and reassuring that he could help speed up the process to conceive with less aggressive treatment. He did not pressure us with IVF right away. Unbeknownst to us, we were actually pregnant during that consult but it was too early to know. Although it was a spontaneous pregnancy, Dr. Opsahl continued to monitor the pregnancy closely due to my history with miscarriage. Unfortunately, it did not work out and ended in a miscarriage again. He had recommended a d&c so that we could do testing on the tissue and recommended I go back to my OB and consult the surgery due to his tight schedule for the upcoming week. I expressed how I did not want to see my previous OB again and was in the process of switching. He went above and beyond, and somehow got me into his schedule a couple days out. The care that I received at Poma was far surpassed my first experience with a d&c from my previous OB. Even afterward, they monitored me to make sure I would get back to "normal" for 8 weeks post op. I was left in the dark with my first miscarriage with the OB and had no idea what was happening to my body. Dr. Opsahl helped educate me and helped me understand what I was going through. Now that I fall into Recurrent Pregnancy Loss, he has done absolutely all the testing he could possibly do to give us an explaination. Although we have not found the answer, we know we are in good hands with Dr.Opsahl.

I would give the advice of being your own advocate to any patient, not just ones who I would recommend see Dr. Opsahl. I've been in that type of situation where you just need to be firm about what you're feeling and your concerns. It shouldn't be shrugged off or ignored. Don't just take 100% , your doctors word for it. Express your concerns and why you feel a certain way about a certain thing. Communicate.

After an array of testing had been completed ranging from testing tissues from both of my previous miscarriages to auto immune, karyotype, mthfr, and blood clotting disorders, we finally got to a point where we could start trying again. Dr. Opsahl had prepared us on what to expect, treatment wise, if genetic testing of the pregnancy tissue or ourselves came back abnormal. It would mean we would need to do IVF to better our chances. All of my testing came back normal except for my thyroid. My TSH was elevated to a 3.8. My clinic wants you to be between 0.5-2. I was placed on a small dose of synthroid for hypothyroidism and was recommended to start with medicated IUI cycles. Because the tissue and our karyotype came back genetically normal, he explained IVF would not necessarily resolve the issue that could have caused the miscarriages. We first tried clomid 100mg, cycle days 5-9. I did not respond well. Only 1 mature Follicle that took much longer than the typical day 12 and my lining wasn't great. On day 18, Dr. Opsahl gave us an option to go ahead with the IUI or take the trigger shot and try on our own with timed intercourse to be more cost effective. We opted for the latter. That cycle was unsuccessful. Next we tried a natural cycle with an IUI due to some confusion. This too was unsuccessful. However, my husband's sample was abnormally low and we had only 2.7million motile sperm to work with. Our 3rd cycle comes around the holidays and we missed our window yet again, due to another confusion and delay. Our 4th cycle finally came and we changed the medication to letrazole/femara at 7.5mg, the max dose, for days 5-9 again. This time I did respond great. Two and a half mature follicles on day 12 and a great lining measurement. We triggered that night and went in 36 hours later for the IUI. My husband's sample was great this time at 88million motile sperm before wash and 12.4 million progressive motile sperm at 80% after wash. That cycle, unsuccessful again. Deflated, I needed to take a break but not a complete break. Our current cycle is going to be the same dose of the medication letrazole without a trigger and timed intercourse on our own. If we're not pregnant by April, we will try another medicated IUI.

The first consultation is $350 but was covered by our insurance as an office visit. So we only paid our co-pay. Clomid and femara were covered by our insurance but the trigger shot was not covered. They ordered in the prescription to a specialty pharmacy based out of Arizona. It cost $135 each time. Our first IUI was fully covered due to our out of pocket max being met. But looking at the claims, it cost roughly about $300 including the sperm preparation and the IUI itself. He did not charge for the specific ultrasound scan during the procedure but all other monitoring ultrasound scans were charged. Costing just under $200 each, but after our insurance coverage, it was $25.

Strengths - Organized overall. I like the organization and communication with financial. They answer any and every question you may have because it's all very confusing. You can even set up appointments with financial and then e-mail as well. The front desk remembers you when you walk in. The lab is very organized and they synchorinize your bloodwork with your ultrasound appointments well. Overall the clinic is great and a huge reason why we never wanted to switch anywhere else. Weakness: Communications needs to be a little bit better. Describing what each med is for, why you're taking something and why certain meds need to be taken could be expressed more. I felt like I always had to ask why I had to take something or what it's for. I'd hope that Dr. Opsahl could stop accepting patients if they feel that they are juggling too many in one cycle. I can tell during some of my appointments that they are rushing. It's not horrible but I've definitely noticed a difference in the years.

I've been going to Poma, pretty much since they opened. The nurses at Poma are so caring and really take the time to make you feeling comfortable and ask all the questions you need. Dr. Opsahl is a nice and caring physician but as the clinic got busier, I felt like it was harder for me to see him and ask questions.

Working with Kirsten was the best. She's so organized and remembers me every cycle. She's also very detailed where I don't have to ask too many questions but when I did ask, she never gave me short answers and didn't make me feel like I was bothersome. Working with Shanita was difficult at first. It was hard to get a full understanding what happens during donor cycles, she was out of the office a lot and would forget to answer my questions where I'd have to ask multiple times. I've expressed my concerns to her and communication is now a lot better. There are other nurses at Poma who have been there throughout our journey, Jessi, Edden, Jessica, Jennifer, to name a few. They always remember you when you come in and are so caring.

Dr. Opsahl is compassionate and kind. He makes sure he's present for almost all your ultrasounds and definitely for all your procedures. As the clinic got busier, we did notice that he'd be in and out of the room faster, answers got shorter and I felt like I was bothering him if I had to ask questions. They hired an ARNP to help out but since I've been with the clinic for so long, I felt so comfortable working with Dr. Opsahl the most in every step of cycles.

Dr. Opsahl can be very blunt or forward with your diagnosis and treatment suggestions but he wants you to succeed in your goal. If you truly feel a certain way about treatment or your plan, make sure you discuss all options with him. Don't be afraid to be your own advocate as well.

It's really hard to remember each cycle's protocol. My follicles did not want to respond to meds each time so Dr. Opsahl would max my dosages to get the most we can out of them. One of my best cycles was when we used growth hormone as Dr. Opsahl had done some research that it helps with egg quality. After the first cycle fail, Dr. Opsahl suggested me use donor eggs but my husband and I were not ready yet to go that route. He respected and worked out on our decision to still try with my own eggs. After 2 fails, we are now ready to start the donor route.

Poma is considered one of the more affordable clinics in the area. On top of their lower cost, they also offer a discount when using cash for IVF. Our insurance does not cover any of it so it's all very expensive anyways but we feel we get the best deal with Poma.

He knew the quality of the embryos I was producing so transfering more than one was usually the option we took.

As soon as you walk in the feel of the office is so comforting and relaxing. Which is a lot to say when you are so nervous and stressed out for these appointments. Front office staff is friendly and helpful.

Dr. Opsahl and his nursing staff and front office make you feel comfortable when you are there. Knows you by name but just another patient.

I loved how she was compassionate and caring. She was very organized and would respond back very quickly usually the same day with hours. When she was not there the other nursing staff would also get back to me very quickly to answer any questions or give me dosages. Love there patient portal system. Very well put together.

Dr. Opsahl is friendly, smart, and makes you feel like he genuinely cares and wants to help you start a family. I loved the atmosphere of he office. If he see’s you in the waiting room he will come and say hi and call you by name. I also like his nurse practitioner Megan.

Give him and his office a chance. They all genuinely care and want this to work for you. He has a great bedside manner. Try not to stress when you go in for your appointment and don’t be afraid to ask questions.

He gives you a list of supplements to take if you would like and they really helped my egg production. I used menopur, gonal- f, pregnyl, progesterone vaginal tablets, birth control. I am getting older so each time a did a cycle my egg count went down a little bit but not horrible. I usually used two bottles of the menopur a day and gonal -f was about 350 units to start and taper down at the end of stim.

Very willing to work around my schedule since I lived four hours away. As long as I was there in time to get my lab test results back in time to change med doses if needed.

We talked about what the embryo quality was he day if the transfers and then decided on how many to put in at that time. He ask your opinion and then he also gives you his. We did multiple each time we did a transfer.

Strengths: Lindsey (nurse) Weaknesses: not very proactive I found myself needing to reach out to see what next steps were which was stressful. They got so busy they wouldn’t take a phone call and would only communicate via the patient portal which was very difficult for complex matters. Dr’s bedside manner in how he communicates is not very compassionate and treatment doesn’t seem personalized. Megan the nurse practitioner is very rough with ultrasounds and was very invalidating to my thoughts and feelings based on what she’s seen with others, again making me feel like a number.

I do not feel he took time to understand our specific situation or story, and rather looked at our test results and advised treatment solely on that. If he would have I feel our results would have been different. Not personable and bedside manner brash.

I am not sure if the clinic designated Lindsey my nurse or if she designated herself, but she was our saving grace and provided the care and compassion we needed. We felt like people rather than a number to her and she really cheered us on.

I felt like a number and did not receive personalized care. Bedside manner was not good. I do feel he knows what he is doing however I mentioned concerns at our initial meeting which were not further looked into and later found out my concerns were true after having undergone multiple treatments. Discovery of this blockage sooner would have saved years, thousands, and miscarriage potentially.

Be warned of his bedside manner and delivery of words are very blunt. Not a great listener.

$30K total for IVF including “Poma care” and all expenses $2K for IUI

Very pro eSET and pushed us towards it initially. Until our results were not what he thought and he ended up transferring 2.

Strength: Dr. Opsahl is the main doctor there and he has an assistant who helps with some of the procedures. Due to the limited number of doctors, I feel that they know me and can better address our medical needs while feeling a personal connection. Weakness: For me the commute to a busy city is not ideal (typically have to leave my house 2 hours prior to appointment) especially with morning appointments and morning commuter traffic, but am glad the clinic is above a parking garage with ample parking.

Poma has always made me feel like they have time for me and are willing to answer questions I have, reiterate information, or even provide a shoulder to lean on during the emotional process.

We have had a couple different nurses depending on the procedure which is taking place. They have also been great in answering questions and holding conversations to distract and keep my mind busy. The thing I probably appreciate the most about the nursing staff is their prompt response time to online portal communication. Typically when I ask a question or need clarification, there is a response waiting for me in less than 24 hours. They are also available via phone (leaving a message, but they call back), however I prefer the online portal.

Dr. Opsahl is a doctor whom is sought after and often has a long list of patients waiting to see him. When we initially began at the clinic, his appointments were booked out about a month in advance. After meeting with him, we have never felt like he is too busy to meet with us and have been pleasantly surprised to have him remember names and specific information from prior appointments. As others have mentioned, he can be brief in some appointments but if asked specific questions or want to know more information he does open up. While we have not had the success that we went in hoping, we are now beginning the IVF process and will be working with Dr Opsahl on a more regular basis.

Don't give up! While it is an emotional process, Dr. Opsahl and his team are there to help and work with you. I have truly appreciated the small clinic feel and while I am spending thousands of dollars, I believe that Poma is working their hardest to help us achieve our dreams and not charging above and beyond.

I had started at a local ob/gyn after a referral from my family doctor. After several rounds of oral medications, she recommended I seek additional guidance from Dr. Opsahl. We scheduled our initial appointment, where Poma reviewed previous medical records and used these to make a plan. We opted to begin with an IUI cycle, as all tests returned normal and there was nothing obvious causing our infertility. Poma offers a package of 3 IUIs for a reduced rate, so we opted to give them a try. During these three rounds, I took Clomid. The first cycle I took 50 mg, but for the 2nd and 3rd we increased to 100 mg. We have now completed the IUIs and all negative results. Poma provided us the information and statistics for continuing with IUIs or moving to IVF and ultimately left the decision up to my husband and I.

There was an initial appointment meeting price of a couple hundred dollars to meet and discuss options with Dr. Then initial bloodwork and ultrasounds. IUIs had a package if you pre-purchased 3 together. This ended up being about $600 a piece (medications and trigger shot were additional and purchased outside of the clinic). IVF has a couple different options - an all-in one price for about $11,000 or an insured price through the clinic which offers a percentage pack. Unfortunately, my insurance does not cover anything associated to infertility. I have had to pay 100% out of pocket.

They are wonderful! So helpful and work around the clock. I felt like towards the end they were starting to get more patients. I hope they don't get too big they lose the small clinic personality.

I loved the constant contact once I was pregnant. They allowed me to come in for weekly ultrasounds as they knew I was so nervous after 2 miscarriages. The nursing staff was great and would answer right away if I had a question or concern. When I'd be waiting in the waiting room the doctor always said hi and crossed his fingers or said "this is it!" ...just always positive and kept saying "failure is not an option".

Always flexible with my early schedule, happy, positive and knowledgeable. If they didn't know something they would get the best person to help.

Pros: 1. Always available to perform my surgeries, procedures, etc. Made sure we were comfortable and had no questions and concerns m ocing forward. If we did, we were taken care of immediately. 2. Positive. He would always say "failure is not an option" Always have his fingers crossed for us. 3. Knowledgeable 4. Not wanting to overtreat. Example, for the egg retrieval he sis not want ohss to occur as that can cause pain and setbacks. It was all about the quality of my eggs vs.the quantity. 5. All testing had to be done prior to IVF round. Example, tested sperm to make sure we did not have to go through icsi. I hear of stories where couples do all of this after a failed round. He wants the best chances of getting it right once. Pro or Con depending: 1. He can be blunt. I liked knowing all options and what we were looking at and this may not be good for everyone. He gives you the true picture

They are a smaller clinic trying to accomdate more and more couples. Cycle times may be hard and they do a 5 week cycle system where as large places can be more flexible of if tou see different doctors. Example:I missed the frozen transfer cycle by a few days and had to wait a month until they were back in that transfer cycle vs retrieval cycle. He can be blunt; this may not work for everyone. We liked it. And example: talking about our options after our first fresh cycle transfer. We had success, embryo too but I miscarried for the second time. Talking about next steps were transfers and then he brought up surrogacy. That shocked both of us! But he was trying to give us a larger picture of if this continues to happen, we run all tests, make a changes and and carrying still happens. It was probably silly odbhin to bring up burbhe was trying to say there are options. We have a healthy growing baby now.

Egg retrivals were the Gonal F, trigger, estrogen, something else. Progesterone suppositories and estrogen pills after transfer and through 10 weeks if successful. FET was with low doses of lupron depot, nenopur, progesterone in oil, patches. I SWEAR BY THE PIO!

The best part is they offered essentially a la carte or poma care. They ran your health, age, etc. information into a system that gave you information on the likelyhood of success with a round of ivf and following transfers. You got a number. We had a 90% chance of bringing home a baby. This allowed us to decide if we wanted to so a la carte... pay for one round of IVF and a transfer then additional would be any added FETs, etc. This includes ultrasounds associated with procedures. Or poma care, pay more but if you don't have success with every one of your transfers (for how ever many embryos you have), you'd get whatever percentage of your money back based on the system they ran your numbers with. So we did poma care and if we didn't walk away with baby, we got 90% of our money back.

He did not let us do more than one embryo due to risks foe mom and baby. This was non negotiable and I asked all of the time! We knew we had healthy pgs tested embryos too.

I very rarely was seen at my actual appointment time. There are so many people who go through IVF cycles at once that the staff ends up running behind. The staff also gets stressed out because they're so busy. I didn't think any of this affected the quality of care I received though.

Dr Opsahl and his staff were always very caring. From the consultation to the embryo transfer, I felt like I was a part of their family. Everyone was always supportive and available to answer my questions during my cycles. I always felt well taken care of.

The nurses ate Poma are a rarity in the medical field. Most of the techs are nice, but ALL of the nurses are incredibly caring and compassionate. I had the best care before and after my egg retrievals.

Dr Opsahl is a very thorough doctor. He's great at looking at the big picture of every patient and adjusting treatment as necessary. He was usually very kind and patient, but sometimes he gets a little stressed during the months where many people are going through IVF cycles at once.

Don't waste your time going to other Fertility specialists if you need IVF!! I went to another local fertility clinic before Poma, and I had a terrible IVF cycle there. Poma's lab is phenomenal, and Dr Opsahl is an incredibly intelligent man. Dr Opsahl takes amazing care of his patients.

I used an estrogen priming protocol with both of my egg retrievals. I have low ovarian reserve and high FSH, and this protocol seemed to really help me! I also didn't use birth control before my cycles because my body doesn't handle suppression well. I used high doses of stimulation drugs, and I think it hurt the quality of my eggs. I had a lot of embryos between my two retrievals (around 25), but at 5 days I only had 5 were good quality. If I were to go through another egg retrieval with Dr Opsahl, I would ask to do lower doses of stims.

I believe our IVF cycles were $10k a piece. I also spent $6500 both times on medications. We spent another $3,000 on PGS testing. I think for two cycles it was around $35,000.

De Opsahl recommended I transfer two of my 'fair' embryos because they weren't going to make it to freeze. I was able to PGS test and freeze my 'good' embryos. I ended up pregnant with a singleton.

Ambiance isn't right. Staff seems very rehearsed in what to say. Doesn't seem to care about patients. Money driven. Felt like a number and felt fake. I would never step foot in there again, it just was an awful experience. So much so, we didn't return to a different fertility clinic until a few months ago. I feel that their experience really soured everything and took some time away that we cannot get back. It feels like they truly take advantage of some patient's despair and urgency to want a baby.

Spent less than 15mins reviewing all the paperwork. Dismissive of our questions. Rushed us to the finance office. It was traumatic.

Discouraging, unprofessional, rushed patients.

We have been told by all our doctors that IVF was not something we had to even consider, that our tests looked good and just needed to looked at by a fertility specialist. He was 20mins late to our appointment, and when we told him we were not interested in IVF, he immediately said that is what we needed to do. He was dismissive of our questions and made us feel completely blindsided. He also said that all my tests would likely show worse results because I was about a year older than when they were taken. Said we should start IVF right away and sent us to finance. Felt like we were buying a car. The nurses all remarked that there was no way we could get pregnant because "vasectomy reversals require IVF"...TOTALLY FALSE. It all felt very rehearsed and the doctor has clearly drank the koolaid and is in this for money. We left in tears, completely traumatized. I did go back to do bloodwork and ultrasound. Wouldn't you know, some of my tests IMPROVED ornstayed the same. The doctor and his office are absolutely awful, lack professionalism, and give out incorrect information. My naturopath and acupuncturist had other women around that same time go to Poma and report similar experiences and as a result, stopped referring women there. It was just a terrible experience all around and the lack of compassion was disgusting.

To go elsewhere or at least get a second opinion.

He said that due to the vasectomy reversal and sperm analysis, 9ur ONLY option was IVF. They do an extra test on sperm called the 'AR' test...which I later found out is unreliable and other clinics do not use it or have heard of it.

Most was covered by our insurance with the exception of the sperm analysis...which was more due to an added test that other clinics do not recognize as valid (AR test)

Location, POSITIVE: I preferred the Kirkland location of POMA Fertility to that of the other, Seattle-based clinic we went to previously. The freeway access was easy from Tri-Cities, Washington and we didn't have to travel into the city, adding at least an hour of traffic time, to our eight-hour round trip. Price, POSITIVE: We did not have fertility coverage with our insurance policy and paid out-of-pocket, which included our savings, a personal loan, and a home equity loan. Frozen retrieval one: $10,610 cash discount price. Frozen retireval two: roughly $7,000 including cash discount price. Our medication was $5,000 per cycle. Although included in our treatment, we had to have several ultrasounds in our city as we could not travel for each, therefore, we had to pay another clinic for the ultrasounds. Each ultrasound was roughly $175. The price was a major factor in our decision to switch clinics to POMA. The other clinic started at roughly $15k per cycle, not including medications. In-house lab, POSITIVE: This was the last deciding factor for us in selecting POMA Fertility for IVF, even though, perhaps with our knowledge now, it should have been our first consideration. I cannot express the impact of meeting Mr. Klaus Wiemer, PhD Lab Director. He is warm, supportive, and so knowledgable! He directly oversees the lab, it is NOT left to lab techs. He called us daily with updates! He was present for my transfer and worked in tandum with Dr. Opsahl. I have heard of many other clinics who never met their lab physician. Ours called us daily with updates of our embryos! Reception, WEAKNESS: This is one area that needs work. The two front desk clerks at the time we were at POMA were gossipy and rude.

Our care was customized, we felt that Dr. Opsahl truly took the time to personally handle all of our medical issues and requirements which was certainly positive. My other experience at another fertility clinic did not have the same personal depth that we were shown at POMA Fertility in Kirkland, Washington. Dr. Opsahl completed each ultrasound, mock transfer, and explanation/discussion while the other clinic had a different non-doctor (medical staff) complete these procedures which left of feeling that we were unknown to them. This personal handling of all our fertility treatment made us feel confident in POMA Fertility, our doctor, and lab. Dr. Opsahl also made a recommendation for acupuncture at a nearby clinic, Abundant Spring, which we believe impacted our success greatly. The one drawback of POMA Fertility may be Dr. Opsahl's bedside manner. He is very direct and, I believe, will lower your expectations so as not to raise your expectations to an unrealistic perspective. As a 42 year old woman and 41 year old male, seeking IVF with our own eggs and sperm, our outlook for success was below 12%. My husband was very discouraged in our first meeting with Dr. Opsahl and wanted to look elsewhere for help. However, we were referred by a friend-of-a-friend who had twins with her own eggs at 38 and I wanted to try with POMA Fertility. It may be that, as fertility patients, we are ultra-sensitive during this stressful time in our lives and we were too sensitive to Dr. Opsahl's directness in his assessment of our chances to conceive.

I am sorry that I cannot remember my care coordinator's name, possibly Amber? She was our coordinator and nurse. Her disposition was similar to our doctor, very clinical. She is not the person I would have selected to work with us. However, other than meeting for protocols, my contact with her was limited to emails through the patient portal. My questions were always handled in a timely manner, within a day. The other nurses were fantastic! Very personable, outgoing, positive, and fun! One of them drew my blood several times and remembered things like where I lived, how far my hours-long drive was, and personal details. I really wished she had been our contact person.

Dr. Opsahl was recommended by a friend-of-a-friend who conceived under his care with her own eggs and sperm as an older, first-time IVF patient (38). We had come from another clinic in the Seattle area and were hesitant about changing clinics. Our first meeting with Dr. Opsahl did not go well. He is not overly warm, very direct. As a teacher, I may need a little more "hand-holding" than he is capable of offering. He was very clear in his expectation that we would have almost less than a 7% chance to carry a child to term (age 42, own eggs). My husband felt that he did not want us as clients due to my age. Although Dr. Opsahl's information and delivery was off-putting, I thought about the reference we were given: that this doctor would handle each step of our treatment personally--each ultrasound he would complete, each mock transfer, and the transfer itself. This was a deciding factor in proceeding with Dr. Opsahl at POMA Fertility in Kirkland, Washington. A specific example of our experience after our frist of two egg retrievals for insemination: I was hopeful and we were discussing the embryo quality in his office after retrieval. I was told that we had, "...one quality embryo...and one poor quality embryo." With a quick smile I said, "So they are all rockstars, right!" And he repeated, "...one quality embryo...and one poor quality embryo." My heart sank. I realize now, especially since he was the second doctor we had worked with for treatment, that he did not want to raise our hopes beyond a realistic expecation. However, his delivery, although accurate I'm sure, felt void of feeling and I left worried and disappointed. Dr. Opsahl never mentioned donor eggs for our treatment. I never mentioned donor eggs, either. I find this surprising now, after being a part of so many support groups. It seems many women of my age are not offered treatment due to their age and doctors do not want to work with the eggs of a woman over 40. Positively, I never found that to be the case with Dr. Opsahl. He relayed clear expectations of our chances to conceive, even though they were bleak. I was not at a point to discuss donor eggs and I appreciate his willingness to work with us. He recommended two retrieval cycels, one frozen and one fresh. These combined cycles would be allowed to grow together for the best results and greates number of transfer since it was not expected that our embryos would make it to genetic screening. We followed his advice and had two retrievals that resulted in one transfer of 5 untested embryos. One resulted in a healthy, bright, bubbly baby boy who just turned 13 months old!

The advice I would give to a prospective patient of Dr. Opsahl's is: prepare to be "low-balled." I think he will work with the worst-case scenario so as not to raise expectations. This can be painful to hear. However, the personal care you will recieve will outweigh the discomfort of the moment. He will know your case, your body, your goals and work with you!

Second Treatment for fresh retrival (age 42): 10 days of injectable hormones Day 1: Menopur 150 iu in the am Gonal F 450 iu in the pm Day 3: estrogen and bloodwork Day 6: ultrasound and bloodwork Trigger shot: 10,000u (Pregnyl @ 5,000iu) Ganirelix.25mg, Crinone 8% gel, baseline ultrasound, and baby aspirin My fertility treatments began with a uterus hystogram (not sure if that is the right terminology). The mapping of my uterus and tubes for blockage. No blockage was found. Many find this procedure painful but I did not have any growths or blocked tubes and so I found it pretty akin to a regular pap smear. Secondly, I underwent an ultrasound for a baseline measure of uterine lining. I was then placed on injectable hormones for a period of 10 days. My injections were in my stomache and daily. I was able to self-inject all medications. I have heard of inter-muscular shots and they sound horrific and many needing help to complete their injections. These were never discussed or prescribed. Although my stomache became a little bruised and tender, it was well worth the discomfort. I used a trigger shot for my egg retrieval. I went to the clinic so that my last ultrasound and mock transfer could be completed. I was placed under anesthesia and my eggs were retrieved. Our first retrieval included sperm injection. My husband began taking supplements and sperm injections were not needed for our second retrieval. Five of six surviving embryos were transferred on Day 3 of lab growth. Our embryos were not pgs tested. Our last remaining embryo did not survive the night. We were successful in carrying one child to term with a low positive blood test of 38.

First retrieval, frozen transfer: $10,610 (cash discount from $10,875) Second retireval: $6,275 (cash discount from $6,430) $305 thaw of first retrieval embryos $5,000 per cycle (not paid to POMA Fertility) $2,290 PGS (refunded) $650 Anesthesia labs $350

Due to may age, 42, eSET was not an option. It was highly unlikely that any of my five transferred embryos would take and quite possible that we would need another transfer of any surviving embryos. We agreed to transfer the maximum of untested embryos for my age--five. This is the MAIN REASON we chose to change clinics and proceed at POMA Fertility--our other clinic would not transfer more than two embryos, regardless of the age of the patient or quality of the eggs/embryos.

Strengths: Intimate Clean Colorful and pleasant Professional Weaknesses: Because it was a smaller clinic, there were a lot of conversations and huddles near the waiting area between the Dr and nurses. Nothing ever specific to a patient or inappropriate, but sometimes that extra space is appreciated. My first attempt at IVF had to be canceled due to a cyst. Because of that, I had to wait until the next round of IVF a month and a half later, rather than being able to wait out the cyst and have a personalized cycle. I am personally okay with waiting, as I have been through this all before and have prepared myself for various curve balls and unknowns, but with IVF being highly emotional as it is, for some, having to wait that long for a cycle to start can be hard.

Dr. Opsahl is the only Dr seeing patients at this clinic. By the time of my retrieval, he knew who I was by name and would always make it a point to say hi to me if he saw me in the waiting area before my appointment. He is very hands on and does not stay cooped up in his office when he isn't seeing patients. There were many times I would overhear him answering questions patients had about dosages, triggers, etc and he would stop and take the time to answer questions. I didn't give him a full positive, because during IVF months (since it's a smaller clinic, he would do 1 month on, 1 month off) he would sometimes be rushed during appointments - but a lot of Drs should be expected to be.

Unlike the our first clinic, we did not have an assigned nurse while going through IVF. There are a set of nurses that do non-ivf appointment and then a set of IVF nurses. All communication outside of the office is through a portal. They do offer phone communication, but I preferred the portal. They were always prompt in responding and were clear in their responses.

Dr. Opsahl is a somewhat reserved Dr who you can tell internally processes quite a bit. I learned that the more questions I would ask about what he was doing, why, etc, the more he would open up. As with most Doctors, the longer I saw him, the more open and stronger the Dr.- Patient relationship became. At times though, because of his more reserved side and business, appointments would feel a little rushed, or I would have unanswered questions. There was always a nurse in the room with him who would stay behind though, which was helpful, as I was always able to follow up with them to ask any questions I had.

I feel that if this were my first time doing IVF, I may have felt a little overwhelmed with the whole process. Because he is the only Dr. in the clinic and they use a portal for communication, there were times that I thought to myself that if I hadn't already done IVF before, I would be anxious. I had even overheard a few different conversations in the waiting area at times with some patients asking questions that probably should have been discussed earlier. They also recommend patients watching the videos online for injection courses (although they do a run-through in the clinic too). My advice for Dr. Opsahl would be to not be afraid to ask questions. He will answer and give a great explanation if asked.

After being suppressed with BC for 2 weeks, I was put on a 150iu Menapur and 300 Follistim to start off my cycle. By the 6th day, I increased my Follistim to 375 because I am historically a slow responder and was responding about 2 days behind the ideal schedule. From there things really picked up. I stimmed until day 12 and then triggered. They did change my plan post retrieval though because my progesterone had gotten too high before the trigger, which impacts the lining. What threw me for a loop though was that since I wasn't planning on transferring this month and was planning on doing PGS testing, I didn't think it would be a problem. What I learned though is that Dr. Opsahl essentially wants a contingency plan in case something happened to the embryos (not enough to freeze, didn't grow well, etc). So he wants the patient to be available to do a transfer no matter what. Since I was not able to transfer, he recommend that I do a day 2 freeze all, and then prep for a transfer in January. Then in January, they will thaw all embryos, let them grow to day 5 and we can choose to PGS all day 5 embryos and refreeze all, or transfer one without PGS and then PGS and refreeze the rest. Because we are in a money-back program, if we do not choose the Dr's recommendation, then we forfeit our participation in the program and don't get our money back. It was a bit odd to me, but after taking out the emotional component of expecting everything to go as schedule, I appreciate the steps he takes to ensure the most success with our embryos. Right now, we have 9 embryos frozen on day 2 and will be prepping for a transfer in January.

$17,000 for IVF with PGS and includes all future transfers. We qualified for the bottom tier of their program, so if we do not get a baby after this first cycle, we can do another IVF with PGS for $3500 or get 50% of our money back. This option goes on for 3 total round of IVF. If at the end of all 3 rounds if we are still not pregnant, we get back 50% of everything we invested. Drugs are not included in the $17k, neither is $650 for anesthesia or $1900 for the Genetic Clinic's fee for PGS. The $17k did cover the option for ICSI if we chose it, but we didn't. It also covered the freezing and refreezing, so we weren't hit with additional fees, which I know we would have been at the other clinic.

Parking is free. Front desk staff knows you by name. Appointments can be hard to get and they are a busy clinic. IVF treatments are only every other month. They offer competetive pricing for IUI and IVF and have a really great refund program for IVF. Finance there is great in explaining the different optiona.

Clinic was pretty busy but the front desk always knew your name. Saw Dr. O or the PA for every visit.

Nurses were all great. Good communication and they were great when we did the injection training for ivf. They were all positive despite how the treatment ended up

He was very conpassionate. Explaining my diagnosis of Diminished Ovarian Reserve, it was very straightforward and well laid out. But he was conpassionate and hopeful at the same time. Gave several options for treatment at that appointment. After we decided to move forward with IVF and that cycle was cancelled, he suggested wr move forward with donor eggs as our best chance to conceive. We felt we could have done another cycle of IVF using a different protocol but he didn't seem to go that route.

Clinic is busy and if you are an IVF patient, they only do cycles every other month. Parking is free.

We did one medicated IUI with clomid and trigger shot, negative cycle. IVF was an estrogen primed antagonist protocol. Primed with estrace and cetrotide, stimmed with menopur and gonal F (max dose). Only resulted in 1 mature follicle and a handful of smaller ones- only about 5 smaller ones under 10mm if I can remember correctly. We were given the option to cancel or convert to IUI, so we opted for another IUI which was a negative cycle.

Upfront, $1500 for 3 IUIs that was refundable. We paid around $20,000 for IVF, but since our cycle was cancelled we got about $17000 refunded.

Super organized office and staff. Communication with the nurses was great. They have a portal used to document all visits, tests, communication which was helpful.

I felt like meetings with Dr Opsahl were rushed and he didn't have time to spend thoughtfully answering questions. I also felt like he had a single protocol and if it didn't work well for someone, he didn't have any other ideas or approach. His immediate next step was "donor eggs". Didn't have a great bedside manner.

The nurses were all fantastic. They responded to all questions in a timely manner. They were very organized and efficient. They were friendly, knowledgeable, and showed a lot of compassion.

I didn't feel like the treatment was tailored to me in any way. It appeared from my experience as well as others I've spoken with that there is a system followed, and if it isn't successful, the next step is donor eggs. Even after a single cycle, there was not even a discussion to be had on other possible options or ways to approach the protocol. Terrible bedside manner in my case and lacked sensitivity in how conversations were handled. Also had several situations where we felt rushed through an appointment with little to no time to ask any follow up questions. Overall felt that I was rushed through a process. He also didn't seem open to any questions I asked regarding chinese medicine and acupuncture nor that it was helpful in the IVF process, which I found odd. And although I did disclose I had a thyroid issue, he didn't monitor it closely during the process, which was also a red flag to me. His nurses are amazing though - have to mention that. They were beyond helpful and very responsive anytime I had questions or needed help.

Ask questions on the process and protocol and if/how they are tailored to your specific situation/needs. In general, ask lots of questions and don't assume you are being told everything you need to know!

Very friendly staff. The clinic is clean and welcoming. The rooms for before and after procedures lack the so much needed privacy. They could use a separating wall instead of curtains for after procedure. It would be nice if partners can go into the op room for egg retrieval.

They are very very busy and seems as they should need to be better organized. There is no on call person that eould answer your questions that need immediate attention. You hace to wait until the end of the day to get a response

Very compassionate doctor. Explained our procedures and was very friendly and professional. Very lgbt understanding which is what we were looking for. Made sure our questions and concerns were addressed

He isvery very busy, tou have to be patient and make sure you jave good communication with your whole team, he is the last one to talk to you but when he does everything goes smoother. Be understanding that he has a lot of women in the same shoes as you

We did Reciprocal IVF. My wfe went through egg retrieval with no fertility issues. I was under suppression meds in preparation of embryo transfer, no fertility issues.

They checked insurance coverage and sent us the estumated amount we would owe.Elwe had to pay that amount up front before beginning the he procedures. Once they were done refunds and adjustments were made

Multiple due to quality of embryos

I can’t think of a weakness. The office is very calm and comforting. It’s small so everyone knows each other so you feel like a human nd not a number. It’s clean and inviting. After any procedure, the staff takes exceptional care of you.

The entire staff at Poma was like family! Never once did I feel like I wasn’t being cared for.

Wonderful! I cried when we walked out of the offcie for the last time because we weren’t going to see them anymore. The nursing staff is amazing. They were with us every step of the way. They cried with us, hugged us, listened and cheered us on. I wouldn’t have changed a thing

Dr. Opsahl was wonderful, hands down. If money wasn’t an issue, I’d run back to him today! Even though our IVF failed, he allowed me to be pregnant, even for a short while. He showed compassion through the tough days, he listened to our concerns and gave exceptional care

Write down all your questions before your first consult

I don’t remember much... Fresh transfer we used crinone and Lupron. The other 3 transfers I opted out of crinone and use the progesterone shots. I had severe OHSS after our fresh transfer. I had to be drained every other day for 2 weeks. All transfers we used estrogen patches and 2 of them we used estrogen pills vaginally.

$16,500 plus meds. This was a guaranteed route. We had as many transfers as embryos and once we ran out and didn’t have a “take home baby”, we were refunded 90%

We did single transfers up until we failed twice. We decided to transfer two to double our chances but it failed too. Dr. Opsahl was always cautious about multiples because the pregnancy could be hard

Strengths- easy to find, nice, professional, small, personal Weaknesses- hate the giant pictures of flowers on the wall that seem to flaunt their fertilization ;)

Dr. Opshal never made me feel like he was rushing is while we were meeting with him, he took time to answer every question, and gave all the details I wanted without sugar-coating anything when it was a bad outcome.

Never made me wait more than a few minutes. Always responded to my emails quickly. Always friendly when I saw them.

I think if you want someone who is going to do anything to get you pregnant, maybe he would do that, but he doesn't seem like he's just in it to make money and was always very honest about what he could and couldn't do for us. I really enjoyed working with him- I just wish he could perform miracles!

Go in knowing the questions you want to ask because he will be willing to keep answering as long as you keep asking!

Advanced sperm analysis because we already knew we had male infertility but he wanted to know how the sperm functioned. Blood tests and ultrasound to test female fertility. Clomid Challenge to see how my hormones would respond.

Most things were covered by insurance because they billed them as diagnostic except for the advanced sperm analysis. And the Clomid cost about $30.

I really like Jennifer at the front desk. Super friendly and helpful. I also like the location. It’s a bit busier than i was anticipating but i feel heard with Megan the PA. The music needs to change though!

Nurses always confuse me, give me the wrong directions, forget to call me back, etc. I really like the PA Megan though and do not feel like a number with her.

The nursing staff was constantly forgetting to call me back, confusing me with someone else, etc. The nursing manager ended up taking over my case because so many people forgot to call me back or give me the correct directions or call in my Rx and she has been great.

He was knowledgeable and patient but constantly couldn’t remember what I had done and would suggest medications that would cause me to overstimulate. I think he’s a good doctor but slightly rushed with me as an IUI patient.

Advocate for yourself.

Three IUIs for $1500 I believe? Ultrasound is $165 I think. They no longer offer the package of IUI and i think it’s $625

The clinic is welcoming, clean and easily accessible. The office runs on time and very rarely makes you wait. In the beginning, I did have some issues where they confused me and sent me information for another patient. That was concerning but has not happened after I alerted them.

The doctor is very respectful, honest and gives a high quality of treatment.

The nursing staff was very responsive and available. They were good about answering questions and working collaboratively on the cycle calendar.

Dr. Opsahl is honest, kind and clearly wants to see success for his patients. We have not gotten the results we want yet, but have felt like we are in great care with Poma fertility. I would highly recommend him to a friend. My one negative comment is that the clinic is quite busy and so your time to with the doctor is short and there is not always time to have all questions answered.

Be ready for an honest conversation about your situation and a doctor who genuinely cares.

We used the same protocol with slight variations for each of my cycles.

Each cycle is roughly $11,000 out of pocket with the option to get insurance to cover failed cycles.

N/A

Its got highest success rates in WA state. Having some inside knowledge - the lead embryologist is one of the best in the area

Struggled to get responses from nursing staff

Overall I didn't have problems with nurses, with a single exception. Shanita had made several errors (without acknowledging any wrong doing) and continuously ignored my questions which she did not have answers to. In my job, I would have been fired for such behavior.

Dr. Opsahl is very knowledgeable and blunt. I do feel that he had way too many patients for the size of the clinic. When I saw him, he was always in a rush. He wasn't very interested in experimental procedures.

There has been some miscommunication of which procedures will be performed. Make sure you know what will be taking place. Also, drug suppliers (in US) POMA suggests do not always have best prices. Do your homework

I pushed for all the protocols and dosages based on experience. Do your homework

about $7k for stim and retrieval. $3k for embryology (getting from day 1 embryo to 5 day embryo). $3k for FET

eSET was not required from me because I have failed 3 PGS screened embryo transfers already

The clinic almost always ran on time and I was seen on time at nearly every visit. I feel like I probably had more questions than an average patient there and every time but one had my questions addressed relatively quickly.

I was closely monitored and had any questions answered in a timely manner every time but one. I never felt rushed when he met with me for consults or care. He was overall very personable and seemed genuinely invested in my and my husband’s succeeding.

Everyone was very attentive and compassionate during the process of IVF and the subsequent transfer.

Fertility treatments are quite invasive, but I felt respected and as close to comfortable as was possible under those circumstances. I was very apprehensive about certain aspects of IVF, but found myself really trusting Dr. Opsahl

Feel free to ask any question, no matter how inconsequential it may seem—Dr. Opsahl won’t make you feel stupid and will gladly answer.

Dr. Opsahl recommended transferring one embryo because the success rate was higher than with multiple embryos.

Very easy access to the clinic and parking. No complaints about location at all. Great location and great building and facility in general. The clinic is clean, many rooms and very organized. Sometimes there is a wait time but not too long and it seems organized over all.

He did care. But our situation was different due to cervical Cancer cone biopsy problem That made this more difficult.

Jessi is good. But seems very busy.

Good experience overall. Sometime it feels like they are way to busy, therefor overlook certain details or patient history specifics. But the doc is always there with a smile, remembers you and the staff is there to answer the questions well.

IUI, then egg retreval, then IVF trials.

Pretty expensive overall we’ve paid out of our pocket with very basic insurance coverage that does not cover infertility around $18,000 total put ornaments pocket.

There was one amazing MA that had the knowledge and info I needed to feel comfortable with what the protoco was. She was super informative and was the only one I felt comfortable with. The coordinator was nice but lacked empathy, organization and delivery of messages.

In the beginning we had good communication with the Dr. Once Ivf started, I was to be in contact with one of the nursing staff.i had many question that didn't get answered and felt like I was just a number. When I asked questions the Dr sent me to one of the nurses to answer them.

Make sure to go in with questions when meeting with the Dr and get them all answered the first time.

8,000 for 8 frozen donor eggs 10,000 for Ivf . 1200. In medication

A kid free lobby for the most part. If you're short on medication you can borrow and replace the clinic's supply.

Personal attention from Dr Opsahl and staff

The nurses were amazing. Always kind and cautiously optimistic when you needed them to be. They kept you entertained during the wait before a retrieval and updated you with very timely test results via an online portal. I didn't want to leave them!

Dr. Opsahl is kind and funny. He was always willing to explain or elaborate a procedure or test result if we didn't understand the reasoning behind a recommendation. He was prompt to all appointments and efficient too, an appointment rarely ran long.

Dr Opsahl strongly encouraged an eSET. When we transferred two embryos for our failed cycle, he explained why that was the best course of action.