How was your experience with John Rinehart at Reproductive Medicine Institute?
Our situation was a bit different as we had to do IVF due to not wanting to pass on a genetic issue to our kids, so IVF with PGD was always our only option, with no prior attempts at pregnancy. We had done a lot of research before meeting with him, I knew his training/read some of his publications, and had an idea of what he would be like before we met. When we met he was exactly what I was thinking, and he remained professional the entire time. I am a psychologist, I'm not sure if he did this purposefully to demonstrate he had read our intake information or if it was a chance fluke, but during our initial meeting he had a journal article about the toll on patient's mental health and improving it throughout IVF on his desk that was current and he was clearly reading. That stuck with me. He always explained procedures and options clearly, compassionately, but he did not bullsh*t around. He was able to joke with us and overall I had a good first fertility doc/treatment experience.
What's one piece of advice would you give a prospective patient of John Rinehart at Reproductive Medicine Institute?
Have a list of questions available and don't be afraid to ask them- he will answer all of your questions, and he's willing to have phone consults as you go as needed.
During treatment, were you treated like a number or a human with John Rinehart at Reproductive Medicine Institute?
Dr spoke candidly about our options, always gave me step by steps regarding what would happen/what to expect before doing anything, knew my name, and took the time to answer our questions to our satisfaction.
Describe the protocols John Rinehart used in your cycles at Reproductive Medicine Institute and their degree of success.
After speaking with genetic counselors, our only options were either IVF with PGD or adoption. Pretty straight forward. We met in December '16, did all of the testing to make sure no other problems were present for either of us, Was on & off birth control for a while, Started Lupron 10ml injections Dec 31 '16, then added Menopur and Gonal-F, did the Egg Retrieval by the end of January (we had 15 eggs, 12 were useable, 10 continued to mature, then 7 were able to be biopsied, and then only 2 were useable without having the genetic disorder), had my body on "shut down/recovery mode", was back on & off birth control, then back on Lupron, then on Estradiol, then added Progesterone in Sesame Oil, then Frozen Embryo Transfer April 10th, found out through bloodwork 10 days later we were pregnant, I was discharged from the clinic after we did a transvaginal ultrasound the week after and told to contact my OBGYN and continue my meds, I continued 2x/day PIO shots until ending May 17th, then on Progesterone suppositories for 2 weeks, and then done with medication.
Describe your experience with your nurse at Reproductive Medicine Institute.
Overall I felt very much understood and cared for. There were a few things I didn't like including being given timelines that were not always accurate , but in general I had confidence in my nurse.
Describe your experience with Reproductive Medicine Institute.
My husband was not allowed in the room when we did our Frozen Embryo Transfer. After the transfer I was left to "relax" (as if anyone can) for 5 minutes in the quiet, and it would have been incredibly comforting to have him in the room at that point if he couldn't be there earlier. It is their office policy to not allow any unnecessary people in the room to preserve the "embryo friendly environment" (my husband was absolutely necessary in that moment), and I HATED that he wasn't allowed to be with me at this important moment in our lives.
Also- after we did our blood work and came in the next week for an ultrasound I was discharged from the practice and told I needed to schedule with my OBGYN for follow up appointments so we called and scheduled an appointment with my OBGYN for another 3 weeks from then. This was on a Thursday early evening. Less than 72 hours later I started hemorrhaging and when we called to see if we could get in to see the fertility doctor, we were told he could not see us because we were discharged. I was actively bleeding and 6.5 weeks pregnant and told to call my OBGYN they couldn't do anything about it. Even though my apt wasn't until another 3 weeks. Even though I literally work down the street from the fertility clinic and it hadn't even been 72 hours since I had seen the doctor, they refused to see me and instead could only refer me out. I almost miscarried, and during that scary time instead of letting me talk to the nurse, the front desk staff clearly had me move on. Although our overall experience was a good one and we luckily got pregnant on our first cycle- it left a pretty bad feeling ending that way.
Describe the costs associated with your care under John Rinehart at Reproductive Medicine Institute.
In total we paid out of pocket rates- our insurance covered nothing. We spent about $15-18k
Describe John Rinehart's approach to eSET (elective single embryo transfer) vs. multiple embryo transfer at Reproductive Medicine Institute.
I was given the choice between transferring 1 or 2 embryos. I was told the chance of getting pregnant with only transferring one (both were graded the highest grade quality) we had only a 30-40% chance of getting pregnant. If we transferred 2 we had a 60-70% chance, and if we did 2 there was only a 20% chance of multiples.
What specific things went wrong at Reproductive Medicine Institute?
- Failed to call in prescriptions to pharmacy
- Failed to call with results
- Provided conflicting information
Describe the specific things that went wrong at Reproductive Medicine Institute.
During our IVF cycle, the pharmacy did not have a prescription that lasted long enough for my protocol, so I had to ask the nurse to have them call in another script as I was running out. Also- I needed 1 inch needles for my PIO since I'm a relatively tiny person and the 1.5 inch were too long, and I had to call the pharmacy to make sure they were going to send the 1 inch needles... needless to say had I not called they would have sent the 1.5in ones.
There were a handful of times I did not get calls when they said they would call- I received them eventually, and then at other times I only received the information after me reaching out to find out the results.
Oh also, the clinic has a policy about having the place that does your genetic testing not provide you any information. So we could not get any of our results from the lab- it HAD to come from the doctor.