My husband had a couple semen analysis after some things were found wrong with him and Dr Minassian had my husband start on Vitamin E, CoQ10 & Selenium. We were told that IVF would be the best option for us. Through much blood work & testing I was diagnosed with hypothyroidism and my prolactin levels were a bit high. I was told I have low egg quality & Ovarian Reserve...Dr. minassian wanted to do a Mock transfer to see how progesterone was affecting my body, we did get some results to know how much progesterone I needed
The nurses [at RHPN Women's Clinic and IVF-Fertility] have always been really nice to me when I have appts. I don’t spend a lot of time with them. Deb Schott is the IVF coordinator and she’s AMAZING. Love her. She is kind and seems to really care for the patients she deals with. I am happy that we get to deal with her on a daily basis during treatments. She returns phone calls and emails in a decent timing. She is blunt yet encouraging.
How was your experience with Shahab Minassian at RHPN Women's Clinic and IVF-Fertility?
Dr. Minassian is a good & kind hearted doctor. He seems to want what’s best for his patients. Dr. Minassian answers the questions as best as he can and like any doctor, sometimes they don’t have the answers you are looking for. I have felt like nuisance once when I needed to call him over a weekend but later he apologized after checking my circumstance out. During my transfers, he seems rushed but I know that timing means everything.
What's one piece of advice would you give a prospective patient of Shahab Minassian at RHPN Women's Clinic and IVF-Fertility?
Make sure to ask all the questions you want answered and listen closely because he does seem to talk fast and it’s okay to ask for a repeat. He cares what you have to say and he does his best to answer you. Be patient because he does run late for appointments sometimes so make sure you schedule enough time between jobs and other activities.
During treatment, were you treated like a number or a human with Shahab Minassian at RHPN Women's Clinic and IVF-Fertility?
I felt a little bit like both. He seems to care about you and answers the questions you have. Sometimes he may seem like he’s in a hurry. He can be very blunt and to the point, he doesn’t seem to dance around the issues which is what I like.
Describe the protocols Shahab Minassian used in your cycles at RHPN Women's Clinic and IVF-Fertility and their degree of success.
I had a laparoscopy from a previous doctor before Shahab to diagnose me with Stage 1 Endometriosis through an Endometrioma and she didn’t write too much for Minassian to go off of to start with us. He recommended another laparoscopy to see what he was dealing with. After the laparoscopy, we did a lot of blood work to check hormone levels. My husband had a couple semen analysis after some things were found wrong with him and Dr Minassian had my husband start on Vitamin E, CoQ10 & Selenium. We were told that IVF would be the best option for us. Through much blood work & testing I was diagnosed with hypothyroidism and my prolactin levels were a bit high. I was told I have low egg quality & Ovarian Reserve. We have had a few set backs & all but we have accepted them because reality is infertility sucks! We started IVF last April 2017. We had our first transfer last May with two frozen embryos and a pregnancy did not occur. August 2017 we had our 2nd transfer with one frozen embryo. It resulted with a low HCG level. The numbers did not increase but lowered. I consider it an early miscarry because I felt the cramping & back pain when the little one was implanting. One of my babies was transferred, it’s still a life. I hate the term “chemical pregnancy.” It’s still losing a life. Dr. minassian wanted to do a Mock transfer to see how progesterone was affecting my body, we did get some results to know how much progesterone I needed, so that’s good I guess. We were planning to start back January 2018 but our clinic is temporarily closed due to an inconvenience on their end with much confusion on our end. We are still currently waiting to hear back from them. We have two frozen embryos left.
Describe your experience with your nurse at RHPN Women's Clinic and IVF-Fertility. (Assigned nurse: Deb Schott)
The nurses have always been really nice to me when I have appts. I don’t spend a lot of time with them.
Deb Schott is the IVF coordinator and she’s AMAZING. Love her. She is kind and seems to really care for the patients she deals with. I am happy that we get to deal with her on a daily basis during treatments. She returns phone calls and emails in a decent timing. She is blunt yet encouraging.
Describe your experience with RHPN Women's Clinic and IVF-Fertility.
The clinic is very nice and clean. The check in/out staff are prompt and very pleasant to deal with. If you call and have to leave a message, the team is good at responding in a decent time. The nurses and ultrasound techs are als very kind and patient. The doctors are nice. As for most doctor offices, the place is busy and you might have to wait a little bit for the appt. but overall very nice clinic.
Describe your experience with your monitoring appointments at RHPN Women's Clinic and IVF-Fertility.
My monitoring appts have been mainly for our IVF & transfer treatments. Usually they are scheduled for a particular time. I have a good job that works with my treatments and has not been an issue. Sometimes I need to go in for a random appt but they have been pretty good with setting them up when it conveniences me.
Describe the costs associated with your care under Shahab Minassian at RHPN Women's Clinic and IVF-Fertility.
Insurance doesn’t cover anything, we have to pay out of pocket. The costs are expensive as we knew it would be before starting any type of treatments. They have worked with us for payments and such. Everything is expensive.
Describe Shahab Minassian's approach to eSET (elective single embryo transfer) vs. multiple embryo transfer at RHPN Women's Clinic and IVF-Fertility.
Dr. Minassian said that he prefers to do single embryo transfers only due to the high possibility of multiples. My husband and I made a plan before going into IVF so that we don’t drain our bank accounts. We are okay with the decisions that he stuck to. We plan to do two embryos for the last round in future.
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Clinic
RHPN Women's Clinic and IVF-Fertility
West Reading