RMA of New York

I have seen MANY doctors in the office. Dr. Grunfeld has called me a few times to explain next steps. I wish that questions were answered at the time of the visit, however. I find that I have to call into the office or email the nurses with questions. He also isn’t the doctor that does my retrieval, but I know timing does play a factor in this.

Ask a lot of questions and demand to get answers before you leave.

We did 3 IUIs due to insurance purposes. Those failed and we moved into IVF. The first round resulted in zero embryos that could be used. We moved into another round of IVF but only had 4 eggs and body was responding well to meds (GonalF- 225 and Menopur 2 vials). We changed to an IUI cycle which ended up failing. I was also diagnosed with endometritis after the retrevial.

I have insurance. Currently an IVF cycle is approximately $6,200.

No comment here. Haven’t gotten to a transfer yet.

Dr Stein is smart, experienced and knows his stuff. He explains things well and is a realist - a described pessimist. I think he did a good job with our egg retrieval, as he was very exacting about my timing and when to trigger. We got good results from the retrieval (though a lot of that is because of my eggs). I found the transfer VERY uncomfortable (I am not a great gyno patient) and he was incredibly impatient and unsupportive in the moment. My transfer took, but then I miscarried at 5.5 weeks, exactly the same time I had miscarried with my two natural pregnancies. Despite the fact that he had pushed for IVF to control for embryo quality, and then the embryo quality didn't seem to make a difference (they were PGD tested), he had no explanation for why I might have miscarried. He also was not overly sensitive and wanted to just 'try again.' he said it's a numbers game. He was very dismissive of my suggestions (other women in my family had a bicornuate uterus, but he immediately said I didn't have that). When I went to get a second opinion from another clinic, they suggested a different protocol. I brought that suggestion back to him and he was immediately dismissive, judgmental and unprofessional. He told me that clinic had a 'terrible reputation' (despite the fact that he had trained the doctor) and that their suggestions were off-base. This was a phone call, after not responding to my email for a few weeks. He claimed he had. Overall, he left a very bad taste in my mouth and I felt unsafe/uncared for in his care. I think he is very smart and knows his stuff but is very arrogant and not open-minded. While I think he likely provides good care overall and helps a lot of women have success, I would not recommend him to a close friend.

Be your own advocate, and push him hard if you disagree.

I believe it was a standard protocol, with menapur, gonal F, and the trigger. for the transfer, we used PIO and estrace. When I wanted to add lovenox for low grade anticardiolipin levels, he was not supportive. Said it was risky (for bleeding) and wouldn't help.

I liked that the hours were early and I could go before work, and the window of time was substantial. However, it is such a huge place that sometimes I would wait an entire hour. And there was no way to predict it! So I'd have to go much earlier than I wanted just in case. It did feel a bit like cattle call.

For me, Dr Stein believed strongly in transferring one embryo, because multiples bring higher risks. I agree with this assessment and appreciated it. (He also has twins himself, so that may bias him).

The only issue I really had is after 2 failed IUI's she never enforced my husband to do a sperm analyisis. Considering I had been pregnant 3 times naturally before coming to the clinic, I think they just assumed his sperm was healthy. It wasn't until I personally had to enforce it did my husband get his sperm analysis and now here we are 8 months later still not pregnant, but found out that my husband has 0% motility. My 40th birthday is this year, and we will have to make a big decision about IVF. I loved her bedside manner and how personal and sweet she was, but I felt like she would just increase my dosage of Clomid each month I didnt get pregnant and was chalking it up to unexplained infertility, and shouldn't have even allowed us to do IUI without him having a sperm analysis.

To make sure you ask every question you have, as she doesn't really give answers unless you come with questions.

First we tested my AMH and it was very good, and since I had been pregnant 3 times before we just did a non-medicated natural cycle that she monitored. I produced follicles on my own, ovulated according to the blood work, etc. Then when that didn't work she suggested we go right to IUI unmedicated and I did one unmedicated and it didn't work. Then we did one IUI cycle where I took 50mg of clomid, and then they gave me the trigger shot of ovidrel and that IUI also failed. Then I didn't have any more money for IUI's and my insurance covers NOTHING for fertility treatments. So then she decided to increase my dose of clomid to 100mg and then I gave myself the trigger at home, negative again. Then she increased me to 150mg clomid and I did the trigger shot again at home, negative. That following month she discovered a polyp on my uterus and I had read that was a side effect of clomid. On Feb, 14th 2017 I had the polyp surgically removed. Before we started trying again and while I was healing I had my husband go get his sperm analysis. Thats when we discovered his motility was 0%.

$75 per blood test $250 for monitoring, $1250 for IUI, $150 for sperm analysis, $125 for phone calls, $375 for in person meet ups. All in all I spent 10K in 2017.

As this is my first IVF, I wish Dr. McAvey explained to me which treatment is choose for me and educate me a little bit more on what to expect. I did most of my learning through reading and google online. I wish I have more options available to me for me to consider if the 1st treatment failed.

Educated yourself more on the IVF topic. I was abit overwhelmed and clueless.

Lupron protocol was used for me, don't know the rationale of why using Lupron. That was exactly my previous comments that I wish Dr. McAvey explained to me more on the treatment strategies. I didn't know how many protocols are available and options before my treatment. All the blood work seemed normal as progressed. As a result of this Protocol, 2 matured size, 2 mid size and 1 small one. Dr. MaAvey did push 1 more day before the trigger shot to give more time for the small one to grow. Result: 5 retried and only 1 inseminated. And the only 1 inseminated one didn't grow after few days.

the overall experience is good. 95% of time are pretty quick and standard. wish I get less bruise from the blood drawing. There are 2 nurses's technique are bite harsh.

3 times of IUI - $2,000 1 IVF - $20,000

I didn't get to that stage of process yet, so I don't have good and valuable comments on this topic that I can provide.

In the initial consultation and on follow-up conversations about next steps, Dr. Copperman was very helpful, informative and empathetic. I felt like he really cared about our outcomes and was confident in his expertise during the transfer process which we had to modify at the last minute, switching from one embryo to two. His reasoning was clear and I felt confident in our decisions together.

Ask any and all questions you have. If you feel strongly about one path or another, he's open to hearing that feedback.

Some days the waiting room was busier than others but you could always tell that the support staff was moving through the patients as quickly as they could.

Dr. Copperman ordinarily is a very strong proponent of single embryo transfer but on my second transfer, the defrosting process didn't go as smoothly as expected and rather than cancel, they called me that morning to request thawing a second embryo. We did that and then decided to transfer both, which was very unusual for him, as his staff and he reiterated at our transfer. This transfer ended up in a positive pregnancy and a single baby so I'm glad we went this route.

Eric has a fairly laid back attitude, but he is willing to sit and answer as many questions as you have. When I did see him, he was patient and thorough in his explanations. He is thorough when asked questions, but does not proactively provide a lot of information. It was my first time doing any fertility treatment, so more information regarding expectations and how I was progressing along the way would've been helpful. But if you know what to expect and what questions to ask, you should be ok. I only saw Dr. Flisser a couple of times...during my first consultation, on day one of my cycle for monitoring and maybe twice more quickly for monitoring. A different doctor did my retrieval, whom I had never met, based on the day my retrieval fell and their schedules for doing retrievals. Overall, I think Flisser is a nice guy and is smart/very knowledgeable about fertility treatments. I didn't get the feeling he was paying close attention to my treatment and was invested in my outcome (even if he was, I didn't get that feeling). The communication and follow up with the doctor wasn’t great post cycle. My cycle was unsuccessful and I had questions about options for another cycle and I had to follow up several times to get answers.

Ask a lot of questions. You have to be proactive to get information. Know that you may not have him for your retrieval. This is more a statement of the clinic though because each doctor is scheduled to do retrievals on a certain day.

First 5 days: 300 IU of Gonal/F every day ( in the morning ) 2 amps of Menopur ( in the evening ) Last 5 days 300 IU of Gonal/F ( in the morning ) 3 amps of Menopur ( in the evening ) 250 mcg of Cetrotide (in the evening) Trigger shots night before retrieval: 40 units of LupT 1000 IU of hCG

The monitoring hours are from 7am-9am, but the waiting room gets very full and the wait times can be very long. The best time to go is first thing in the morning and be there when they open at 7am. Each time I did this, I never waited more than 10 minutes. However, the waiting does have WiFi, which is nice.

Approx $18K

He is obviously a brilliant dude, but there were times I felt like he spoke down to me, as if I couldn't possibly understand the intricacies of ART treatments, when in reality I was reading academic journal articles regularly to try to know as much as possible.

Don't be afraid to ask questions because he will answer them.

1 Clomid cycle with IUI, 3 letrozole cycles with IUI, and 1 last letrozole cycle with TI (because I felt that we were headed for IVF anyway and didn't want to waste money on another IUI). Then, IVF/ICSI with PGS on antagonist protocol (preceded by 10-14 days of OCP), using max dosage of stims because -- as it turned out -- I have DOR! This was never verbalized to me until after the first cycle failed. Good thing I read all those journal articles because I had figured that out myself. The next cycle was supposed to be micro dose Lupron flare protocol preceded by OCP again.

I covered this earlier -- it is very busy during morning monitoring but they have so many phlebotomists that it takes no time to get blood draws done. Sometimes there is a minor wait to get twanded but I was never there more than an hour. Just don't expect to ask questions or get much information during the monitoring ultrasounds because they have to see a million patients in a row before and after you.

This is important -- they bill your insurance for a complete cycle, so if you don't make it to transfer, it is still billed as a complete cycle. I don't know if it is different for self-pay people. All told, we used up 8750 of our 10K insurance limit, plus another 4500 out of pocket for PGS, freezing (even though there was nothing to freeze), anesthesia, and extra meds beyond what our insurance was willing to cover ( I was on very high doses).

Dr Talebian was completely professional, smart, compassionate, knowledgable, caring and very kind. My experience with her was EXCELLENT! I am currently about to start another IVF cycle for a second child and I tracked her down at her new clinic (CCRM) just to make sure she was my doctor again. I recommend her highly!!!

Don't be afraid to ask anything! She is totally nonjudgmental and always responded to all my questions (some of which were kind of crazy!) with patience, compassion and clarity.

Honestly, I don't remember all the details. But she described everything well and I opted for the conservative choices and I paid extra expenses to try to maximize my potential success, including genetic testing and ICSI. My only regret (not her fault at all) is that I feel I spent too much time on IUIs and should have gone to IVF sooner. She had recommended this but was totally understanding of my choice not to.

This was a real pain at RMA! I had to go to Midtown Manhattan for certain procedures or on the weekends which was not as convenient and monitoring hours were only early in the morning and there were always tons of women waiting. At CCRM now, it's MUCH better. You can schedule monitoring any time!

IUIs were about $1000 each (plus the cost of sperm). The whole IVF cycle was about $15,000 plus $5k for genetic testing and $5k for meds.

She highly recommended single embryo transfer because I did genetic testing on the embryos.

Alan was very knowledgeable and always seemed completely committed to getting me pregnant. he does not show much compassion though and he didn't tell me about pre genetic testing, which I found out from a friend, and found it to be extremely valuable in my final successful IVF.

Ask a lot of questions about your options. The nurses are your friends, and the doctors do not generally have a lot of compassion.

We first tried two IUIs every cycle - no success. The 2nd IVF, the Dr. advised only putting in one good embryo, although I had asked for the previous embryo to be included. It was a frozen embryo with a different donor and therefore, he said the practice wouldn't put two embryos together from different donors. This is understandable but he didn't tell me until the day of transfer, but he did come personally to explain it to me.

It was fine

not much because of my health insurance plan.

None, he did a good job.

Initial impression was good. Over the course of several treatments, failed cycles and two attempts he became more distant. Second pregnancy I was made to feel as though I was more of an inconvenience than a patient. As if I were greedy wanting to try to have a second child.

Expect good results but not a lot of hand holding and warm cozy feelings. They run a very efficient factory with high ratings but not touchy-feely.

First cycle was just IUI, second used ovidrel and IUI, third was Clomid, Ovidril and IUI (I had severe reaction to Clomid), 4th was injectable with Ovidril and IUI (result ectopic). Last was injections, egg retrieval, IVF, 3 embryo transfer resulting in 1live birth, 1 embryo frozen. 1 year later, embryo transfer resulting in 1live birth.

Usually convenient. I was there at odd hours but could be forced to wait, especially my second experience, almost as a vendetta even if I was the first patient there.

~15k

he is a talented doctor but definitely lacks bedside manner. You go to him for his expertise and success rates, not because he is going to make you feel warm and fuzzy. I liked seeing other doctors in the practice who were a little warmer, but knowing that he was reviewing all the blood work and sonograms was good. i did have some losses, one in particular that was devastating, and he was very helpful. at the end of the day i owe my two amazing sons to him.

he is a clinician first with a high volume practice. you will get pregnant there but he won't be your best friend.

i dont remember sorry. i think I blocked it all out.

ugh. you had to wait. you didnt know if it would be 10 minutes or 40 minutes. during a 10 day cycle its awful when you are racing to get to work. The waiting room is absolutely packed. And they make you go back into the waiting room between blood and doctor sonogram (in 2010/2011 you went right in). general impression of the difference between 2010/2011 and 2013/2014 was that they got too big too fast

we had 5 cycles. insurance paid for 2 and change but even after that the doctor's visits were covered by coinsurance. it was just the transfer, retrieval, ICSI, etc that wasn't covered. Probably 20K out of pocket for all of it

Dr. Kimberley A. Thornton is caring and kind. She answered all my questions and gave us suggestions for our treatments. She thought we had a good chance during our consultation. We had 2 IUIs and 4 IVFs with her for 10 months. My embryos didn't last until day 5 and I never had a transferred with total 50 eggs retrieved as RMA doesn't do day 3 transfer. We tried differnt protocols for my IVFs but still no good news. I feel she is supportive and responsive. I wished we tranferred to another clinic sooner.

If you're going to RMA, I would find a more experienced doctor.

I had 4 cycles. 1st one we used antagonist protocol and Lupron flare protocol for rest of the cycles. I responded to better to Lupron flare and retrieved more eggs as well.

Monitoring hours are easy and efficient.

The billing department is nice to work with.

We also used ICsI for all cycles.

I would've appreciated a more thorough consultation. My case isn't a particularly complicated one, but I felt that I was brushed off rather than engaged for what my concerns were. I also felt that my concerns were met with a don't-worry-about-it sort of response rather than answered more directly and thoroughly. I'm detailed oriented and felt that the response was a bit disconcerting.

To not be afraid to act direct questions and follow up if the answers aren't as thorough as you'd like them to be.

I went in only for an initial consultation for possible egg freezing.

I encountered only the initial consultation, which was covered by my insurance.

She is friendly and understanding. She took her time with my husband and I and gave us thorough explanations. She is excellent at putting me at ease, which I experienced when doing the saline sonogram. Years ago I had a terrible experience with the hsg and was nervous. She is good at making conversation and is pleasant all around. I had Dr. Copperman before, she is a million times better.

Nothing in particular

She has used gonal f, menopur, lupron. This cycle she upped the menopur, isnt doing lupron, and is doing cetrotide. She started this cycle earlier (I was on the pill for less time) This is the second IVF cycle I have done with her.

Pretty efficient. It is from 7 - 8:30 in the morning, which has been difficult as I live in queens.

Costs are very expensive, over 15,000 per cycle, not including medications and the anesthesiologist. I have gotten a discount through using Bonei Olam, but it is still very expensive.

No comments

We had a very straightforward experience with Dr. Thornton- - a successful FET. Overall, she was competent and pragmatic about the whole process, which we appreciated. She clearly explained and outlined all procedures in a digestible manner. Furthermore, she was accessible and available to answer our questions.

She's a good RE, but I don't know how well she would handle complicated cases. Partly, that hesitation is because we didn't have a complicated case, but nevertheless, if I had an out of the box diagnosis, I might have gone elsewhere.

We had a straightforward eSET when we were trying for our second.

We had copays and premiums for monitoring and procedures.

Strongly preferred eSET for us.

Previously stated what I think are his strengths. Weaknesses: working in a reproductive clinic this large makes personalization of attention and treatment hard. He did not perform all of the IUI, IVF procedures which would have been preferred. Overall we were more satisfied with him than another female doctor that we had.

Do your research, ask questions, and do not take the first suggestion as the oracle.

Agonist protocol, standard treatment for woman of my age.

Variable, but usually able to get in with little wait time or difficulty.

IVF per cycle ~$7 vs. IUI per cycle ~$300

At my age, multiple embryo transfer should be the standard, to increase the chances of success. I know it also increases chances of multiples, but that can be sorted out later down the road in my opnion.

I love Dr. Lederman and his nurse Martha. The finance staff is terrible and the phone system is frustrating, but Dr. Lederman really gives 100%.

He can be very clinical, so you may have to ask him to explain things in a more simple way. Just know that you can ask him anything at anytime and he will get back to you, even when he is on vacation.

I used the "standard" protocol for my first IVF and did not respond well, resulting in only 4 eggs and 2 making it for PGD testing. He now changed the protocol and I'm hoping to start again. He has also done a lot of testing to find out why I miscarried at PGD/PGS tested embryo.

We have insurance, thank god! So it has costs us about 7K with medication.

I found DR Stein to be very available, he explained things well. he managed my expectations but not in a damaging way. he was very kind and warm. he spent the time with me needed during crisis situations

to make sure you fully understand the expectations of the cycle proposed

I did 2 types of cycles. first without BCP and then with. based on first 2 cycle results, went on to do only cycles without bcp. the strategies ere aimed at increasing number of aggs without sacrificing quality.

some days it was terrible other days it was nice and quick. if you get there early around 7, it is always quick--under 30 minutes

around 15,000$ per cycle

single set was highly recommended and reinforced.

Dr. Stein did not take me seriously as a patient from the moment I met him. When he opened a chart with his assistant, they asked me if I was a lesbian and laughed when I said this is not the case. I had explained my desire to pursue embryo cryopreservation with my partner's sperm. Dr. Stein asked me how long I have been with my partner and his age, and proceeded to tell me that it would be a mistake to proceed with embryo cryopreservation. I felt that it was extremely inappropriate and none of his business.

Draw your own conclusion and try not to get persuaded by doctor's opinion.

IFV for egg cryopreservation

The costs of IVF cycle were reasonable compared to other clinics in NYC (15k), and the clinic offered to help with grants. I was able to obtain a reduced rate on medication which resulted in $4K savings

Did not undergo embryo transfer

Dr. McAvey was very warm, optimistic, thorough and personal. Dr McAvey was very warm, optimistic, thorough, and personal. I appreciated her bedside manner and her level of involvement in my care. I would definitely recommend.

Be communicative with Dr.McAvey regarding your care. She helped me when the clinic failed me. I appreciated her involvement.

Traditional IVF with ICSI

I believe it was $12,500 for an IVF package including one FET if the fresh transfer failed. Plus $2500 for ICSI and around $5000 for meds.

She recommended SET based on my age, diagnosis, and past success.

I think Dr. Sandler was a very smart doctor who handled a pretty textbook case of diagnosed infertility very well. I was a VERY nervous patient, and he handled me well, was very honest and practical, and got me to where I needed to be. Sometimes I wanted more compassion, but also understood our goals were aligned, and he was doing everything he could to get me to where I wanted to be,

He is not going to hold your hand, but he will do whatever he can to get the best otucome.

Horrible. Very long waits unless there right when the doors opened. VERY long

He was very honest and clear. He is very accessible via email, always responding promptly. He takes the time to speak and explain things whenever he calls with information. He is always open to answering questions.

Ask questions because he will take the time to answer your concerns.

We did a frozen egg retrieval with ICSI and genetic testing.

It worked pretty well, I usually didn’t wait over 15 mins.

We are a military family and received 25% off because none of our costs were covered by insurance. The cost for egg retrieval and first transfer was around $12,000. This doesn’t include medication costs.

Was very thorough during my initial consultation & pointed me towards exploring endometriosis (which was a blessing & I am eternally grateful for that conversation as it was the first time it was brought up) but seems out of touch with me personally & relies on numerous coordinators.

Be your own patient advocate

First recommended I meet with a speciality obgyn to explore endometriosis & then also address a previously undiagnosed thyroid. Then 4 cycles of IUI before IVF

We only did a consultation and ended up going somewhere else because we wanted a doctor with stronger bed side manner. However, he did answer all of our endless questions and was very blunt so I knew if I went with him he would not have sugarcoated anything.

If you’re looking for bluntness and don’t care as much about bedside manner, he is for you.

We only went to him for a consultation. He did say we would have to be aggressive. I only had a few follicles.

My insurance covered it fully.

Said he preferred single. Also said that they would not transfer mosaic but you could ship them to someone else outside their clinic to do it if you wanted.

I found it very comforting that she was sympathetic with my apprehension regarding the ultrasound exam, and even had her nurse hold my hand during the procedure. I think that she was able to explain the realistic expectations that I could have regarding potential success of a cycle.

Be prepared to hear honest feedback about the potential that you have for success in a future cycle.

I was only seen for a consult, did not yet begin a cycle.

So far, I have only been seen for a consult. For the consult, I was covered by my insurance with only a small copay. However, I am not covered for a cycle or medications, and those will be full cost out of pocket.

We did not discuss, as I am only looking to freeze my eggs at this stage.