How was your experience with Christian Perez at Procreate Fertility Center of Virginia?
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.
What's one piece of advice would you give a prospective patient of Christian Perez at Procreate Fertility Center of Virginia?
Be persistent to get what you need but be patient as well.
During treatment, were you treated like a number or a human with Christian Perez at Procreate Fertility Center of Virginia?
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!
Describe the protocols Christian Perez used in your cycles at Procreate Fertility Center of Virginia and their degree of success.
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.
Describe your experience with the nursing staff at Procreate Fertility Center of Virginia.
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!
Describe your experience with 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.
Describe the costs associated with your care under Christian Perez at Procreate Fertility Center of Virginia.
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. We did learn however, after our first cycle failed, that our insurance would not cover any of my husbands procedures or tests besides a Semen analysis. So we end we ended up paying roughly an additional $2000 for them to cryopreserve 3 semen samples, do additional blood work for him, and put him on medication to ensure our second IVF cycle didn't fail.
Describe Christian Perez's approach to eSET (elective single embryo transfer) vs. multiple embryo transfer at Procreate Fertility Center of Virginia.
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.
What specific things went wrong at Procreate Fertility Center of Virginia?
- Failed to call with results
Describe the specific things that went wrong at Procreate Fertility Center of Virginia.
They forgot to call with my husbands Semen Analysis results which was frustrating but didn't delay or change anything at the time.