Procreate Fertility Center of Virginia

The clinic is small and has a lot of traffic as it shares the office space with an OB/GYN, which makes it feel very busy when you are there. They have very few staff which means several people carry multiple titles. But they all are very good at what they do, just make sure you are speaking to the correct person in regards to your question or problem or you won't get an answer or the correct answer. Don't hesitate to ask questions or keep asking until you get the answer you want or need. I really appreciated that all tests, procedures, and surgeries were done in the clinic and that I didn't have to go to a different location or deal with multiple doctors. Having a smaller staff number to deal with was more personal in many ways because you were always dealing with the same people and you recognized them.

I definitely felt like I have been treated individually. The office does get very busy and I frequently have to remind them of requests or questions but for the most part they are really good about knowing who I am and why I'm there. Dr. Perez and his team are very kind and friendly!

The nursing staff was very kind, compassionate, and easy to work with. I did feel quite a few times that they had a bit to much going on and it was frustrating to get the answers that I needed. Or that I got incomplete information and I had to make extra phone calls or send emails. They were good at responding the same day to emails though. Just be persistent and keep pushing and you will get through!

I have really enjoyed working with Dr. Perez. He is current with all the medical studies and treatments. He listens and always make sure we understood where we were coming from and where we were going next. He personally called me to discuss our day 3 embryo results and the next steps. And when our cycle failed he sat down with us and gave us plenty of time to discuss why it failed and what the plan was going forward. Most times he answered my questions before I could even ask them. I have never felt like I had a stupid question or felt belittled or that he didn't have time for me. I have always felt confident in his care.

Be persistent to get what you need but be patient as well.

We came to Dr. Perez with the thought that we were dealing with a male factor infertility issue, which was correct. But being as thorough as he is, he had me go though a bunch of tests as well to rule out any female issues. After those were complete, he sat down with us and said that there were a couple options in varying degrees of intensity starting with IUI and moving up to IVF to deal with MFI. He felt an IUI would fit the bill for our needs based on the sperm numbers and that we had a pretty good chance it would work. He put both of us on over the counter vitamin supplements such as Coq10, multivitamins, and Vit D3. I did Letrozole and a HCG trigger shot as part of the IUI cycle. On the day of the IUI however, my husbands numbers were significantly lower than they had ever been. So much so that the subject of IVF with ICSI was raised. In the end the IUI didn't work, which wasn't much of a surprise. We then had a consult to discuss IVF with ICSI, which we all agreed was the logical next step. I was put on birth control for 1 month until I could get in with their next available cycle. My protocol was an antagonist protocol. I did stims for 8 days before triggering and had my retrieval on the 10th day. 16 eggs were collected, 14 of which were mature. Unfortunately my husbands sperm counts were even worse than before, which resulted in only 3 eggs fertilizing. Day 3, all 3 embryos looked great but by day 5 they had all arrested in development. So going forward they will be doing some hormone therapy with my husband using clomid and hcg and we will be doing another IVF cycle in a month.

My husband has excellent insurance so everything was covered other than the co-pay. Everything was covered for our testing and all but $300 was covered for our IUI. We were quoted $1800/out of pocket for the entire IUI minus meds if our insurance wouldn't cover it. The lady that handles the insurance in the office is seriously skilled in insurance matters. She was on top of every little change and frequently called me with updates. She worked very hard to make sure our insurance covered as much as possible. Our IVF cycle was quoted to be around $16k just for the retrieval cycle with ICSI minus meds but we only had to pay the out of pocket and deductible totaling $4500.

Dr. Perez highly prefers to only transfer 1 embryo at a time, especially when they are strong healthy embryos, to decrease the risk of multiples and the complications that come with it. He did say it was up to us in the end and he would work with us in this regard. I appreciated his straight forwardness and the educational aspect yet he gave us the ability to make the decision.

The office shares a space with another doctor's office so the lobby can appear busier than it really is. With that said I would say about half of my appointments were never on time. The up front staff is nice and when ever I have called for anything they have always gotten back to me quickly.

Dr. Perez takes his time when explaining everything to you. I never felt like he was in a hurry, he made sure that me and my husband both understood everything and answered all of our questions.

Kat was great- she was always very encouraging. She was very organized and went over my meds on every visit to make sure that we were right on track. She would comfort me and give me great pep talks when I wasn't sure that I could go on.

I would say that if you are sensitive than be prepared because he does not sugar coat anything. My first few appointments with him he was not shy to repeatedly bring up my age and my weight. I left in tears a few times. We had to postpone a transfer because I started my period out of the blue and he was very matter of fact about it- there was no comforting. With that said both me and my husband never felt as though we did not know what to expect or what was going on. He remembered conversations and concerns from previous appointments.

To be prepared to hear the straight truth. He is going to tell you exactly how it is the good, the bad and the ugly.

For the egg retrieval I am not sure of everything that was used but I remember that the first retrieval I used 500mg of Metformin and had no issues and the second retrieval that was changed to 1000mg of Metformin and I developed an allergy- I had hives and itched all the time. I went to my primary care doctor twice before the Metformin was found to be the cause- I had a meeting with Dr. Perez about stopping it and I was a little disappointed at how not a concern it was to just stop it even though it had been explained to me that it was important for egg quality. While on the 500 mg 11 eggs were retrieved and on the second go when I was not taken the metformin only 5 eggs were retrieved. I am not sure if that was the only cause. The first transfer was 2 embryos and neither took. The second transfer was only 1 embryo and embryo glue was used this time and that one did not take either.

I believe we paid around 14,000.00 a cycle not including mediciation

Dr. Perez offered an opinion on the first transfer but he did not push us either way. The second time there was only one so there was no discussion.

I seriously have nothing bad to say. They have been amazing. My lack of a baby is not to any fault of theirs. They are timely, accessible, knowledgeable, and offer new technology. Dr. Perez is an amazing surgeon. Katherine is an amazing doctor who sees the patients on a day to day level. They answered every single question, let me know all the risks, and kept me informed as well as checked on me.

I left another clinic after being treated like a number, when I came to Perez, it was completely different. I was treated like an individual at all times

His partner at the clinic is Katherine Duey. I cannot say enough good things about her. She is kind and caring, listened to all of my irrational thoughts, helped me wipe my tears, but also told me the truth and didn't sugar coat. The nurse team was all kind and helpful.

He diagnosed me and put me into surgery within one week of my first visit. He knew exactly what my issue was and a course of treatment, after I had spent three years with someone else told I was "unexplained" and throwing me to the side. He was caring, and down to earth.

Listen to him. It isn't always what you want to hear but it is the truth. You need to know the good and the bad to get the best outcome.

I was given surgery for endometriosis for the best chance. I decided to do iui vs ivf that was suggested because I couldn't afford the latter. He gave me ovulation stimulation (I think menopur), trigger shot (novarel), and then progesterone shots after the iui itself.

I think the cost for our iui was $2700. Plus the cost of medication. They worked to find us a good price on that.

Communication is great with the clinic. We primarily utilize the patient care portal to communicate between appointments and for the most part someone responds within 24 hours, even on the weekends. Communication is great too when it comes to billing. My insurance doesn’t cover very much on the testing due to me not meeting my deductible yet and they always make sure to call before the appointment so we don’t have any issues at the appointment with payment. It takes a little bit of the stress out. As far as weaknesses, I’m not sure if it was my inability to listen/remember, but I didn’t know that they were going to call in the RX for the birth control the day of our last appointment. I thought I had to call the day of my period and they would call it in that day. It would have saved a little stress and worry if I had clarified this prior to leaving the office that day. However I think this is my weakness as much as theirs. If you don’t fully know something, make sure you clarify to be sure.

Every time my wife and I go to the office they treat us as if we are their family. We started this process in August to go through all our testing and every time we have been to the office since then they remember details about us that we wouldn’t have expected them to remember. Dr. Perez is very patient and understanding in making sure you completely understand the process. And Katherine Duey (a Nurse Practicianer at Procreate) remembers even the tiniest of details from previous conversations. They truly do seem invested in our progress like they are our own little cheering squad!

Katherine is simply amazing. She remembers just about every conversation we have ever had and is very helpful with even the “silly” questions with great compassion. She is very good at putting you at ease even in the most uncomfortable situations (definitely taking about the ultrasound wand while looking at a polyp—which sounds terrifying, but isn’t).

Dr. Perez has an acccent so initially I was nervous that there would be things I wouldn’t understand about the process due to misunderstandings due to language, however, after our consultation with him those worries were put to bed because he makes sure you are understanding the process step by step. He also utilizes pictures (both on the computer and hand drawn) to make sure everyone is on the same page. I really appreciate the patience he has as my wife and I had a million questions about the procedure. He laid out our options and explained everything to us about IUI, IVF, and Reciprocal IVF. We selected reciprocal IVF using my wife’s eggs and my uterus and we are planning on doing the November cycle.

If you have questions, don’t hesitate to ask. He will answer them no matter how “silly” you think they may be. He also likes to jump right in the testing process. We went to the consultation and the very same day I had my ultrasound and blood work.

We have completed the testing phase of the process and we are about to enter the protocol phase. We are currently waiting on my wife to start her period so she can begin the birth control. Once we report her period to the office, they will give us the rest of the information about when we need to do what. As far as vitamins so far, they have me taking Ovasitol (2x a day), 4000 mg of vitamin D, prenatal vitamin, and birth control. My wife is taking Ovasitol (once a day), CoQ10 ( I don’t remember the mg).

Our initial consultation with Dr. Perez was free due to winning a drawing from a pride festival in our area. For my wife’s testing, it was $50/appointment due to her insurance covering the fertility testing minus the “specialist” copay. My insurance covered very little due to me not meeting my deductible so my fees were as follows: Ultrasound: $140 HSG: $329.29 Sono: $352.69 I’m not sure about how much the blood work costs due to lab corp citing the reasoning for the blood work incorrectly so my insurance declined it. I am currently in the process of trying to get this resolved

From the conversations we have had with Dr. Perez, he as left it up to us as to how many embryos we will transfer. It is our plan to transfer 2 embreyos, which is basically what we told him at our consultation.

Their Strengths are their genuine advise and demeanor, their personalbility, they are always helpful when I am confused of have a million questions and understanding of what the patients are going through and the stress they are dealing with. Weaknesses - I wish I had my baby by now. I hate being told I am “an easy case,” but going into our 3rd cycle.

They have invested in my personal life & check up via text messages/emails. I believe they geneuinely are routing for me.

I LOVE the nursing staff; however, at times it feels like they do not have enough nursing staff to support the large amount of patients. Also, the nurse that draws blood is not pleasant.

He thoroughly explains all angles every time. In addition, he isn’t taking failure as an option. He is always willing to work with us and help us get the cycle done. Dr. Perez is genuinely rooting for us and has helped diagnose many issues in my fertility journey.

Ask questions and don’t leave until you understand fully. Ask to take home the pictures he draws.

First cycle - menopur, gonal F, estrogen and trigger shot. Take COQ10, metformin (for PCOS), thyroid medication, baby aspirin and prenatal vitamins. Invocell capsule used and 8 embryos went into arrest and did not make it to “day5 embryos.” Second cycle - same regimine. Freeze all delayed FET transfer. 3 embryos and 2 FETs.

Invocell - appeoximately $10k Ivf - approximately $14k

Occasionally, when information is passed to the office staff to communicate, it gets a bit confused or hard to understand. However, they’re very responsive and great at quickly providing clarification. The office is clean and welcoming.

At Procreate, they know their patients. They remember our names on sight and many details that we share with them. It’s a very comfortable, personal experience.

Kat is phenomenal. She is kind, patient and personable. She puts special emphasis on comfort during tests and procedures. She is a available for questions and is easy to reach. The full staff of nurses are wonderful.

Dr. Perez is very knowledgeable and great at transferring that knowledge in a way that is easy to follow and understand. He is incredibly patient and genuine. He showed many pictures and made drawings and diagrams to explain the procedures to us. He provides his email address and phone number so we can reach out if we have questions. He is very positive and optimistic, and has made the process very enjoyable.

Bring a notebook and take notes. You will get a lot of information to digest.

We are awaiting our exact protocol for retrieval and transfer in November.

RIVF is just over $12,000 including transfer.

When he was at the Bew Hope Center the staff was good but had some errors. His new clinic Procreate is very friendly. It is a smaller space but he is trying to expand. His NP is amazing and all of his staff is helpful

Dr. Perez remembers everything about me and my husband. He is so warm and seems to genuinely care.

They were all friendly and helpful

Dr. Perez gave me his cell phone to communicate with him after hours if needed. He called on weekends when I had emergencies to check on me. He let me watch everything he was doing and showed me while telling me what was going on.

He has an accent that you need to get used to but he is there for you and will make your experience as easy as possible.