Reproductive Science Center

Dr. Reid was incredible. I felt at ease in every situation with her during the initial consultation in her office, testing visits, operations, and our frozen embryo transfer. I always felt cared for. I fully trusted her treatment protocol was specific to my body. I was sorry to say goodbye to Dr. Reid when we graduated from RSC after our successful transfer. I am 21 weeks along and will always be grateful to Dr. Reid and RSC for our little girl.

Ask lots of questions. She will answer every one of them completely, and that will make you feel more knowledgeable and at ease.

I stimulated for 8 days with 150 units of Gonal F and 150 units of Menopur. I used a Lupron trigger, which I questioned Dr. Reid about. I was concerned Lupron would not yield a good quality egg retrieval outcome, but she assured me this was the correct trigger choice for my body (to avoid OHSS). All of my follicles yielded an egg. 18 eggs were retrieved. 12 fertilized (ICSI). 6 made it to blastocyst and were frozen. 4 of these embryos were PGT normal. We transfered one embryo 2 months following my retrieval. My first baby--a girl is currently 21 weeks gestation.

$16,100: egg retrieval workup and procedure costs for freeze-all cycle $3,200: stimulation drugs $1,500: PGT testing $4,300: frozen transfer workup and procedure $410: post-transfer injectibles $25,510 (TOTAL)

Dr. Reid highly recommended a single embryo transfer. On my final visit with her when graduating from RSC, the last thing she said to me was, "If you come back for more, put them in one at a time.".

Dr. Pittenger-Reid was very helpful in crafting an IVF strategy and explained things every step of the way. She was flexible when we didn't get as strong of a result as hoped for and tailored the protocol during the process. She is clearly passionate about her specialty and shows genuine empathy and compassion for her patients. I appreciate that she called me directly when there was news to share, rather than having my case manager simply type a response through the patient portal (which could've left questions unanswered). When it was clear that we needed to change course, Dr. Pittenger-Reid was proactive in coming up with another course of action. When other unanticipated things came up, she was communicative.

Don't be afraid to share your full medical history with Dr. Pittenger-Reid. She will work with you to find a tailored approach.

When the first round of IVF stimulation didn't produce as many eggs as hoped for, Dr. Pittenger-Reid was proactive in suggesting a new drug protocol for the second round. First round included Gonal-F, Menopur, and Ganirelix with Lupron for the trigger. Subsequent round included Micro-dose Lupron, Gonal-F, and Menopur, with Novarel as the trigger.

We used a third-party guarantee/refund multi-cycle package that cost roughly $35,000 upfront but covered 2 cycles and would refund 50% if no baby. This was an easy process as all billing from the clinic then went through the company with which we were contracted for the multi-cycle package. Genetic testing, embryo shipping for genetic testing, and prescriptions were additional fees paid to other third parties.

Dr. Pittenger-Reid said that she nearly always only recommends elective single embryo transfer, over transferring multiple embryos. This may differ with patient age, but if you are in your 30s, the clinic will likely only transfer one embryo. However, with the use of preimplantation genetic testing, the embryo that is selected for transfer is very likely to be healthy and to implant.

Dr. Reid is very compassionate and patient. She explained the procedures/expectations extremely well. In addition, she encouraged me to speak with other physicians (at the clinic and elsewhere) to ensure that I am comfortable with the next steps.

Ask questions, think critically about the treatment you are receiving, and ask more questions.

Estrace priming; Gonal-F 300 IU and Menopur 150 IU daily for 14 days; Ganerelix 250 IU the last 5 days of the stimulation cycle; HCG 10000 IU trigger

15,000 including medications, IVF up to egg retrieval and PGTA (no transfer)

She prefers eSET.

Dr. Sara is good. But I believe if she would have taken more interest in my case. After my negative pregnancy test I never received any change of protocol. I would have appreciated if I was told what best can be done for my case. But unfortunately that did not happen.

Please take more interest in the patients cases. And give them a convincing plan and help patients with their dream of a baby. It is a very emotional journey.

Clomid on day 3 of cycle for next 5 days. Ovulation ultrasound 2 days prior to IUI treatment. Ovidrel 250 mcg subcutaneously 2 days prior to IUI. the protocol was done to help increase chances of getting successful. IUI treatment. But resulted in negative pregnancy.

For IUI it was $1300. This included the pre-cycle monitoring. But medicines, shots, blood work was all separate.

N/A

Dr Reid was very nice. We like her personally but after 5 failed tries, we have very mixed feelings. One thing we're particularly upset about is in the beginning, we asked whether we should buy insurance to protect against failure but then decided not to because Dr Reid assured us that success rate was very high. In hindsight, we think it was a bad decision listening to her: we should've bought the insurance and saved a lot of money in our worst scenario: 5 failures and eventually gave up.

This is not Dr-Reid specific, but plan for the worst. We indeed failed 5 times and ran out of money.

We tried 5 times: Dr Reid did 3 transfers, and 2 other doctors did the other 2 transfers. I think the clinic did this way so that we don't completely blame Dr Reid. Our surrogate took a lot of medicine prescribed by Dr Reid that we were not aware of.

The cost was about 10% with US costs. We picked RSC because we believed they were of higher quality.

Yes, but in US, the practices are eSET. Looking back after 5 failures, we are not a fan of eSET.

Dr. Reid is wonderful to talk to and I bet makes a great friend. However, as a doctor, we found her to be almost lazy in her approach. She didn't know her own stats in terms of success, couldn't point us to specific reasons for decisions beyond "usually" and "probably fine..." My partner is a scientist and Dr. Reid made us realize what we wanted was an active, curious doctor who revels in data and is up on the latest research. If that's you, steer clear of Dr. Reid. However, if you're the sort who doesn't want to know reasons for things or dive into information, she'd be great.

I'd say I'd only go to her for IUI, and not if you're curious about potential diagnostic issues that haven't been discovered yet.

antagonist protocol with Gonal F and Menopur for stimming- and a fairly high does, I think Menopur was 450. Cetrotide for hanging onto eggs and a regular trigger.

A cycle was $15,000 plus $4000 for meds. They've just raised their prices.

She preferred single transfer, but we never got that far as our cycle resulted in just one embryo.

Dr Reid, individually was awesome. She seemed really genuine and easy-going. She listened to us and validated our concerns. I felt like she was invested in us and truly wanted to see us succeed. I wish that I loved the rest of her office staff as much as I enjoyed her.

I really loved working with Dr Reid, it was just her support staff that I didn’t really trust. The communication was poor and several times I was told “well call you by the end of the day with instructions for meds tonight” and I didn’t get a call, so missed instructions for time sensitive meds. So you must be proactive with the support staff, call them, don’t wait for them to call you.

We did 3 induced ovulation and 2 IUIs using letrazole and an Hcg trigger shot.

My insurance covered diagnostics. I think an induced ovulation cycle was about $200 and and IUI was about $800

Mandatory

Quite kind, delicate and quiet bedside manner. Limited access to her. Aside from initial consultation, will only see her at egg retrieval (if scheduling fits) and embryo transfer (if I specifically schedule it for a day that she works at my site.)

* do all your homework ahead of time. It'll help you not feel lost in the process. * do not expect undue hand-holding. You won't be seeing the doctor very often.

antagonistic w/ lupron trigger

$ 7,500 ivf w/ icsi $4000 - frozen embryo transfer $1000 embryo freezing $1500 PGS

eSET strongly encouraged by doctor (especially with PGS tested embryos) and advised or increased complications during twin pregnancies.

Dr Reid works with a great te if doctors and they all took great care of me through both of my retrievals. I appreciate Dr. Reid and her guidance throughout the IVF process and our journey to have a baby.

Ask a lot of questions. Ask about the different options. Be open to Dr. Reid’s advice. Be sure to weigh out your options before making any decisions.

The very first cycle started with bcp protocol before starting stimulating hormones but that didn’t work because I developed an ovarian cyst and so we skipped a cycle until cyst disappeared. The 2nd cycle I started with estrogen priming. I was on stimulating hormones for 14 days. My first retrieval yielded 14 follicles, 8 fertilized, 5 made it to blastocyst, 5 sent for PGS testing, all came back abnormal. The 3rd cycle was exactly the same as the 2nd except I I had 17 follicles, 10 fertilized, 5 made it blastocyst, 3 sent for PGS testing, 1 embryo came back normal. After retrieval I had myectomy to remove fibroids and hysteroscopy to removed scarring. Next step is mock transfer then FET transfer.

We applied for a double retrieval and paid $36k. We opted for PGS testing which was a separate cost of about $4k. Medicine/hormones were also an additional cost of about $10k.

Dr Reid will only do a single embryo transfer because of the removal uterine fibroids.

She's very thoughtful and comprehensive in her thinking. She tries to set expectations and gives some rationales when things don't go as plan. She's willing to think outside the box and incorporate ideas from other physicians within her practice as well as from her previous clinics and any research you bring in. She may not always follow or endorse things, but she's willing to consider it and give a rationale why she thinks it will or won't be beneficial in this scenario.

Become friends with your nurse, who will be your primary point of contact.

We started with an estrogen priming antagonist with hgh protocol and that cycle was converted to iui due to lack of synchronization. Then we went to micro dose Lupron with hgh and had a chemical pregnancy (11R, 8M, 4F, transferred 2 at day 3, nothing to freeze). We did some further work up to make sure we weren't missing anything. Our next cycle would be a micros dose Lupron with hgh again, but was canceled at baseline due to a cyst. Final cycle was exactly like the second (MDL with HGH). We had 8 retrieved, 7 mature, 7 fertilize, 7 fabulous at day 3, all gone by day 5. Nothing to transfer or freeze. While she does not know why we don't make blasts, she's not pushing us to cycle again. She assumes it's poor egg quality as all sperm tests came back completely normal (including DNA frag). She's now recommending donor eggs or donor sperm.

12k for ivf (not including meds) 17k for freeze all with PGS (not including meds)

They prefer eSET, but we transferred 2 day 3 embryos. I'm not sure what they would have said if we had gotten to day 5 blasts or had any left to freeze in our case.

Dr Reid was amazing throughout this process. We started our treatment with IUI and after 2 unsuccessul rounds we wanted to change courses. Dr. Reid throughly explained our other options and supported us with all options. She was neutral throughout the decision making process and did not push us one way or the other. We ended up choosing to do IVF and were so happy we did. She was kind and patient with all of our many questions and helped us understand what to expect along the way. She made sure to schedule us on a day when she was doing embryo transfers so we could see her familiar face. At every step of our journey she impressed us with her compassion for what we were going through and knowledge of her field! We are now expecting a healthy baby boy and are thrilled with our decision to seek treatment from Dr. Reid.

We had an insurance benefit through Progeny and Dr. Reid's clinic was one of the clinics they recommended and was covered through our insurance benefit.

Dr. Reid explained that they support eSET in most cases especially ours. After understanding the risks that accompany multiples I can understand their support of this practice.

From our very first appointment, my husband and I felt like we understood the plan Dr. Reid had for us. Any questions we had were answered clearly and completely. Throughout my treatment she was there to answer any questions quickly for us and we never felt like we were wandering blindly. We lost our twins from our first transfer at 23 weeks, and truly felt like she cared for us and them, going as far as providing us with some information about what happened so that we could understand th medical side better. We started our FET protocol 3 months later and she was so supportive and helpful. We could not have asked for a better doctor.

The same as I would tell anyone considering fertility treatments, ask questions. Lots of questions. Do you own research and understand what you are putting your body through.

I don’t remember much about our fresh cycle, only that I had a great response to all of the medications I was given and my body produced plenty of healthy eggs. I did have nausea as a side effect, but in my opinion, that was par for the course. My egg retrieval went very well, 21 eggs retrieved and ICSI was used to inseminate. Because of poor sperm quality we had 4 good quality embryos, 2 of which were transferred on day 5, while 2 were frozen. The two that were transferred, resulted in perfectly healthy boy/girl twins. Unfortunately, due to preterm labor and rupture, they were born far too early at 23 weeks. We began FET protocol roughly 3 month later, once I was cleared by my OB. I was on estrogen to suppress my ovaries and boost my lining. I was also started on progesterone suppositories but switched to progesterone in oil shots, as I was finding the mess from the suppositories too much. My Frozen embryo transfer resulted in a healthy baby girl, born at 39 weeks exactly.

Single transfer was much more preferred by Dr Reid, using multiple transfers for specific reasons such as egg and/or embryo quality and maternal age. She explained that multiple pregnancies come with high risks that need to be weighed out carefully.

Dr Reid is compassionate and caring, and is always willing to talk about any issue that comes up. When I first went to see her, I just assumed that we would need to do IVF - but she gave us a treatment plan that did not require IVF. Although we have not gotten pregnant yet, I have seen better results with her than previous doctors, and she is working with us to move on to other treatment options in the future.

Don't be afraid to ask to get her on the phone - she will always hop on the phone if needed.

We did IUI with Clomid. Dr Reid recommended IUI over IVF because of my age, and the fact that I don't produce many eggs each month. We have not gotten pregnant yet, but have had a chemical pregnancy, and continue to see decent sized follicles.

Each IUI cycle was about $1200 + meds.

Dr. Reid is incredibly thorough. She helped me stay calm and positive. I really appreciated her honest approach and proactivity. She really cares about you as a person and help to dispel my self diagnostic fears.

Be as open and honest as possible. It's not always an easy subject to broach, but it's important that your physician has all of the information, even if you think it's not pertinent.

Easy to communicate & got the answers in timely manner. She knows which treatment is suitable for each patient rather than trial basis. Very lucky to have her as my Fertility Specialist. Avoided unnecessary tests & her treatment was up to the mark.

She was great at answering questions and talking through options with me. I appreciated she was willing to tell me what she would do personally as a course of action and was willing to think through pros and cons of a decision.

Do not expect to meet with the doctor at every appointment, but she or someone from the practice will respond if you have questions the nurses can’t handle.

We did not have any physical issues and no explanation for the recurrent miscarriages aside from bad luck. We did 4 rounds of Chlomid to try and accelerate conception (resulting in 2-3 follicles each round). We then time boxed the decision and moved to IVF after 4 rounds of chlomid. We did one round of egg retrievals which gave 13 mature eggs, 12 fertilized, 8 made it to day 5, and 3 returned genetically normal. I learned the sex of each and did a frozen transfer with a single embryo. It worked and I am now currently 10 weeks. The stims for IVF included Gonal-F, Menopur, and Centride, all of which I mixed and injected myself. The frozen embryo transfer protocol included oral estrogen, progesterone suppositories, and progesterone injections. I continued those through week 9 (first transfer was successful).

Out of pocket we paid about $15k for the procedures. We spent another $3-$5k on medications.

My doctor recommended a single transfer because of my age and we did PGT testing.

Good communicator and very compassionate and delicate bedside manner, which is very much appreciated. Not rigorous in terms providing data to back up protocol adjustments. Had not read the latest NIH papers regarding one of the additions to my stim cycle.

Do your own homework. You won’t be told the ugly naked truth and unless you do your own homework, you won’t know what questions to ask and might be surprised by the outcome.

GonalF, Menopur, Cetrotide, Lupron trigger. About par in terms of result. 2nd cycle, up the GonalF dosage.

Egg retrieval $5,000 Frozen embryo transfer $3,000 Drugs: $3,800

eSET highly recommended.

Dr. Homer is the best. I was fortunate enough to be referred to him specifically through a RE I consulted with on Maven. Initially the RE recommended I find a young female doctor, however when she learned I live in the Bay Area, she told me to forget everything she just said and go see Dr. Homer at RSC. I am so thankful I took her advice! He was very transparent about the process and expectations and always answered all my questions - which I always had a lot of! After my first transfer, which resulted in a chemical pregnancy, I appreciate that he wanted to leave no stone unturned before trying another transfer (we tried different forms of estrogen for priming to see how my lining responded, an ERA/Receptiva test, hysteroscopy, and repeated pregnancy loss lab-work since I have a history of chemical pregnancies). He was always optimistic that we would find the solution and gave me hope throughout the entire process.

Trust Dr. Homer because he truly has your best interests at heart.

We did 2 egg retrievals with the same medications, but different doses. My 2nd cycle yielded a higher number of mature eggs which I contribute to the dosage change. The medications we used were Gonal F, Menopur, and Cetrotide. We used a Lupron trigger for the first retrieval since it as a freeze-all and an HCG trigger for the second retrieval since it was a fresh transfer. We did 2 FET cycles with different forms of estrogen. My first FET resulted in a CP most likely because my lining only reached 7.4mm using oral and vaginal estrogen. For the next FET cycle, we tried estrogen patches and then injectable estrogen but unfortunately neither produced a thicker lining. Dr. Homer recommended a hysteroscopy to investigate why my lining was not thickening. He was able to remove adhesions and compacted tissue and my next transfer was successful.

He did not perform my mock transfer or transfer. He only performed surgery to remove polyps. I don’t believe he read my previous medical records and just prescribed a standard protocol. He also over prescribed antibiotics which I questioned. No discussion was had just told me through case manager to not take. Very impersonal. Bed side manner was ok but not note worthy.

Question everything he prescribes. Double check and make sure he reviews your previous medical records. Push him to explain everything to you. Make him tell you the odds of success. He made us think this was going to be a guaranteed success. Or simply ask for another doctor with more experience.

Pio once a day, vaginal inserts x2day, estrodol 4X a day. No explanation or rationale explained just do it attitude from case manager. Prescribed 5 days of antibiotics before and after transfer just in case infection. I argued rationale and they just said nevermind. I had successfully transfer bit six week scan showed no development. I had to induce a miscarriage

Total around 15k for one transfer

Due to my age they only do single transfer

Dr. Wachs is straightforward, kind, and quite professional (even as I got irritated with our lack of initial success). She has of way of making the unpleasant a little bearable. Her tendency toward tried and true evidence based medicine is mostly an asset, but when that doesn’t work it takes a bit but she will adjust. I found myself pushing for out-of-the-box ideas and finally found success in when listening to her once we got off into less familiar cookie cutter territory. The things that should have worked didn’t but she found something that did.

Come with questions written down, she’ll have a plan already based on initial evaluation.

Two identical 450 fsh cycles, 3 lupron 450 fsh cycle, and one mini. 3 with hgh.

Quick, in and out appointments. Printed amounts, get your next appointment and out the door.

Very expensive but insurance help cover all of ours.

Did multiple for us, transferred 3 days...I would guess she’s a eSET doctor as she goes for what’s successful.

We came to see doctor Homer after 1.5 years of trying to conceive. From the beginning he was positive yet direct (which we liked and I believe he recognized that at therefore made a point of doing that). He was very knowledgeable, personable and made the whole process feel much easier and even fun. All through the process he was patient, responded to our 1000 questions (we learned a lot about the topic) and was open to adjusting treatment according to outcomes and our preferences. I really couldn't have asked for anything better from him and feel so lucky we choose him. I'd give him 10/10 regardless, but the outcomes were also amazing - we have the coolest awesome daughter from our first round with doctor Homer, are now expecting our second child (the second normal embryo from our first cycle), and have 5 more normal frozen embryos from cycles 2&3.

You won't regret it!

All covered by the insurance

He recommended eSET (with normal PGS tested embryos)

I am very satisfied with my experience with Dr. Homer. He never pushed me to go beyond my comfort level, and unlike some doctors he is not too aggressive in his treatment method. I came in ready for IVF, but he convinced me to try IUI 1 more time, with a different medication than I was using with my previous doctor. We were successful at the first try.

Definitely do your homework before you see him. He explains everything in detail but it's always best to be educated in the subject prior to seeing any doctor.

He switched me from Clomid to Femara. I have PCOS and had previously had 4 IUIs with another doctor (not from RSC) that failed. He had me and my husband do the genetic testing to make sure there were no other underlying issues, then did a sperm count for my husband. After the IUI, I was using progesterone supplements until I got my positive result.

About $600 per IUI cycle.

A wonderful, knowledgable doctor who truly cares for her patients. Dr. Wachs is very empathetic and available when needed. Dr. Wachs is honest and open with her patients, so you know she is doing everything she can to help you conceive a child.

I would push to get extra tests done. Ask her to turn over every rock until we find the answer. Sometimes, fertility clinics and doctors wait to do something after a few tries. I want answers after first miscarriage, not after 2 or 3.

Antagonist approach based off of ERA testing we did. Changing protocol for next round. Will had a hormone to improve egg quality.

She was very warm and welcoming. She seemed to be very empathetic about our situation, and always had a smile on her face. She explained everything thoroughly, and seemed optimistic about our treatments.

If you want a kind, warm doctor, she is the one to go to.

My first and second IUI's had exactly the same protocol. My lining thinned out for the third one, so they added Estrace into the mix. It was explained to me that it helped thicken the lining, but then the lining was never rechecked. The 4th IUI I used progesterone suppositories but I never knew why. I understand it was to aid in implantation, but they never drew my progesterone levels to see if that was necessary. None of my IUI's resulted in any kind of pregnancy.

None of our treatments were covered by insurance so it was rather expensive. Every IUI was $1200 out of pocket. Our IVF quote was quite high as well, but that could also be the Bay Area.

I really loved working with Dr. Wachs. The only issue is since she was out of the Los Gatos office, there were times my iui fell on a day where she wasn’t there to do the procedure or with IVF, I had to wait an extra week for transfer for her to be in the San Ramon office if I wanted her to be the one to do it (which I did). I trusted her implicitly and believe she had our best interest at heart and was rooting for us and wanted it as much as we did. She was always smiling and always encouraging and there if needed. She paid attention to our emotions and feelings, and made sure we always had all the information to make the best decisions and that we were okay with our course of treatment. She empowered us to know that we were in control of our treatment and we could change course at any time if we felt we wanted to do anything different.

Trust her. She knows what she is doing and she will lay out every option for you and what it means. Don’t be afraid to ask questions to understand the process. She is wonderful at being patient and explaining things so that you know what you are going through and what to expect.

For our iui cycles, I took letrozole days 3-7 and then started going in for ultrasounds around day 12. Once the follicles were appropriate size, I was instructed to give myself the ovidrel shot to trigger ovulation, and iui was performed 36 hours later. My husband would go in 2 hours before the procedure to give his sample and then we would go together for the IuI. After, I would lay on the table for 10 min or so then leave and go about my day. 2 weeks later I was given a blood test to determine if we were successful. We attempted this 3 months in a row with no success. We decided at this point to take a break, then switch to IVF. I took gonal-F and menopur, then added cetrotide 5 days later. I also started monitoring appointments on day 5 and went every other day. At my third appointment I was found to have 24 follicles growing and my dr sat me down and explained that while this is a great response, it increased my risk of OHSS and I wasn’t a good candid for a fresh transfer anymore. Afterthat appointment I switched to daily monitoring for a day or two and then triggered with Lupron on a Saturday night for a Monday morning egg retrieval. 15 eggs were retrieved, 13 were mature, 9 fertilized with icsi. We chose icsi since we had secondary unexplained infertility and were unsure what was causing this - so wanted the best option for fertilization to occur. Of the 9, we ended up with 3 day 5 blastocysts and 3 day 6 to go into the freezer. We opted out of pgs testing as we’ve had a previous successful pregnancy and no known genetic issues. We performed one 5 day FET the following month. I took estrace 2mg 3x/day starting on day 2 or 3 of my cycle, and then started progesterone shots and vaginal progesterone 2x/day 6 days before transfer. I had my blood test 9 days later which revealed we were unsuccessful and the transfer failed. Dr wachs then believed we had a timing issue, so we did ERA testing the following month - medication all the same as the previous month. The test found I was more receptive for transfer on day 7. The following month we did everything the same except I started progesterone 7 days before transfer. We opted to transfer two embryos this time to give ourselves a higher chance at success. We had multiple conversations with dr wachs about the pros and cons of a dual embryo transfer and she agreed to go ahead with it once she knew we had thoughtfully considered the outcomes. We found out 8 days after transfer that we were successful (hcg 71) then another blood test 11dpt (hcg 314) and was told it was probably only one embryo that took. We just had our first ultrasound at 6 weeks 3 days and saw one perfect embryo with a flickering heartbeat. I am continuing all my medication until my next appointment 2 weeks later (at 8 weeks, 3 days) at which point I hope to be able to stop the injections and wean off all other meds and “graduate” back to my normal OB for the duration of my pregnancy.

Around $1200 per iui $14,100 for IVF with icsi $4062 per frozen transfer $2000 ish for ERA testing (half to clinic, half to lab where testing was sent)

So for the first transfer, my doctor only ever transfers one - especially in my case of secondary unexplained infertility as she was confident the transfer would work. After the first didn’t take, and we did the ERA testing, we had a conversation where I brought up the prospect of transferring two as I read it increases your odds of success. My doctor stated she usually didn’t go to multiple until she was doing the same treatment that hadn’t worked prior, but if we wanted it and were ok with the possibility of having twins , and if having twins was better to us than having zero, she was okay with us transferring two. I appreciated her honesty and candor and I felt like she really listened to us and heard our perspective and agreed