Shady Grove Fertility

Shady Grove Frederick is one of their smaller office in my opinion, so we always felt like we were getting individualized attention. We always saw the same friendly faces at each appointment which took a lot of the anxiety away. The clinic is well organized. From our first contact to set up a consultation, to financial counseling, to our final appointment before discharge, everything always ran smoothly and the staff had all bases covered. I really liked how patients get a patient portal online where you have direct access to your test results, monitoring and treatment schedule, and messaging for your doctor, nurse, front desk, or financial coordinator. If I had to name one weakness it would probably be that they are not open on weekends for monitoring or phone calls, so if one of your monitoring days falls on a weekend you have to travel to another office. For us, it was Rockville, MD which was an additional 30 minute drive.

Although we only saw Dr.Bromer a few times during treatment (our nurse was our main go to and was the absolute BEST!), Dr. Bromer took his time and answered our questions at the initial consult. He also checked in during a follicle check appointment to see how things were progressing and called us after PGS testing was complete, before and after egg retrieval, and before our embryo transfer. He was also there on the day of our first ultrasound to congratulate us, show us our baby, and her heartbeat! He was compassionate and we always felt like we were in good hands under his care.

Our nurse Toni made our experience exceptional. We looked forward to hearing from her and actually miss her now that we are pregnant! She was extremely organized, prompt, friendly, and positive. She made sure to call at a time that my wife and I would be available. She never treated us like a number even though I’m sure she was extremely busy. She always took her time when speaking to us and made sure to answer all of our questions...and we had a lot of questions! Shady Grove Frederick was a wonderful experience and the main reason was because of Toni and the staff there. We always felt like we were in good hands when we were there.

We switched to SGF after a not so great experience with another clinic in Pittsburgh. We had heard so many wonderful things about Shady Grove and were so excited and full of hope to start treatment with them. Dr. Bromer is friendly, positive, and honest, but also to the point which we appreciated. He took his time with us at our initial in person consult. Prior to this, wewere even given a free of charge phone consult before scheduling our first office consultation since we lived 2 hours away from the clinic. Both times he was very knowledgeable, kind and answered our questions about treatment, PGS testing, ICSI, and medication protocols.

If you are a self-pay patient as we were, don’t be afraid to ask questions about the financial options offered. You will meet with a financial advisor at SGF as well, and she is awesome. But we went with the “shared risk” plan and probably could have gone with the “multi cycle” plan to save some $. Hindsight is 20/20, but be sure to ask questions about chances of success based on your particular situation or diagnosis before making that big decision!

I was treated with a high responder antagonist protocol. I believe the reason for this was that I don’t have any diagnosed fertility issues (although I *may* have some underlying problems, read below) and Dr. Bromer was confident that he could retrieve eggs. I am in a same sex marriage, which was the primary reason my wife and I chose IVF to start a family. However, I also have a substantially sized endometrioma on my right ovary which was likely getting in the way of IUI success and most likely points to endometriosis elsewhere, although I’ve never had the lap surgery done. As far as the treatment plan goes, I was on birth control for 18 days prior to starting 150 IUs of Follistim/Gonal F daily (after my first follicle check this was increased to 175 daily) and 75 IU Menapur, daily. I started Ganirelix 1x per day once follicles were >14mm. Triggered with Lupron. The results were: 16 eggs retrieved, 15 mature, 13 fertilized and 8 made it to 5 day blastocysts. Of those 8, 6 were PGS normal.

Our treatment was not covered at all under insurance. We chose the shared risk program ($22,500) through Shady Grove which included 6 stimulated cycles and unlimited transfers until 1 live birth. We also added the PGS testing for 5,000 for a total of $27,500. We became pregnant on the first try, after 1 retrieval and 1 transfer, so we overpaid! BUT, we probably wouldn’t have changed our decision. Hindsight is 20/20, but I think we would have gone with the shared risk plan ultimately for peace of mind and not knowing if we would have failed transfers or not. To help compare the other plans available...1 cycle at SGF is $10,500. With PGS it’s 14,000. The “multi cycle” plan allows for 2 stimulated cycles with unlimited frozen embryo transfers for $18,500 or $23,500 with PGS.

Shady Grove Fertility in general has a strong stance on only transferring 1 embryo in most circumstances. Personally, we were totally on board with this.

Staff at the front desk wasn't extremely friendly. It didn't bother me too much, but it did bother my husband. I forgot my insurance card, but I had the app with all the important numbers. The clinic is not really digitalized, so couldn't just insert my patient numb, they had to make a paper copy of my card. In 2019 seemed weird. Financial person didn't contact us, but waited for us to contact him. I would have like to have somebody to talk to us right away. But it's all ok

There weren't extra tests done, just standard.

Nursing staff was nice and always understanding, also when I was crying really hard, due to my hormone imbalance.

As unexplained infertility patients, it was really a bummer that we didn't find any answers or did any extra tests to have a more accurate diagnosis. Although I really appreciated that we went into the IUI cycle in full immersion, trying everything from the beginning. I wish there was more interaction with him, also if it was just via email

expect no special treatment

we did day 3 to 7 of letrozole since I already tried clomid with my OBG with no success. It follow with Gonal f on day 7 and 9 and then we went in for blood work at day 11, when they realized I had too many mature follicles. The dr who saw the result (no Swelstad), called me and explain that there was a high risk of multiple pregnancy, so it was protocol to stop the cycle. If we decided to go ahead and have timed intercourse (IUI was out of the pics at this point), we should have consider the possibility of selective reduction in the future. We agree that that wasn't a problem and went ahead. We are now in the 2 weeks wait

we didn't pay for the first appointment, only for the meds (around $300 +/-), second ultrasound and blood work ($150 +/-)

Shady Grove is massive and I worried I'd be just a number with them. It's not the case. The entire staff is compassionate, helpful and caring. I also believe their size allows them to be cutting edge and have vast experience and expertise. Nothing seems to surprise them - probably because they see it all. I also love that they have a Wellness Center onsite with acupuncture! I participate in the Shared Risk program which gives me peace of mind. It's a wonderful option and is not something I've seen available at many other places. An exception to my high praise is the billing department. To be clear, I don't mean the financial counselors - April Jackson was wonderful. The billing department is unresponsive and challenging to work with. I had a really bad experience with them working with my insurance that caused me a lot of added heartache I didn't need. I mentioned this to my nurse, Shawn, and financial counselor, April, and they helped me escalate it to a senior person on the team to help get resolution.

Dr. O'Brien is the second doctor I've worked with. With the first, I felt like a number. I was worried that might be the case at Shady Grove as well given the size of the clinic. It couldn't be more untrue! I'm out of state (I live in NC) and feel more connected to Dr. O'Brien than I ever did the doctor I worked with close to home. She's incredibly generous with her time and perspective. After my first transfer failed, she called me and we spoke for 20 mins. After the second failed and another retrieval was needed, she did the same. She was patient and answered my many (many) questions. I've had a lot of complications and challenges - a canceled cycle, DOR, slow response to meds, I can't follow the normal FET protocol (allergic to PIO), my lining doesn't thicken as it should. She is innovative and unflappable. She always has a solve to help us get past the hurdle. I truly believe she wants me to be pregnant almost as badly as I do. Her belief in me and in our cause helps keep me going when I struggle to believe it myself. She's straight forward, honest, caring and persistent. With her on my side, I have hope that this will work. (And now I'm crying!)

All of the nurses at Shady Grove are fantastic. Shawn has been amazing. I live out of state and she's patient and helpful with ensuring my orders are sent to clinics when I need to monitor and letting me know if results aren't in yet, etc. She's very attentive and answers all of my (many) questions promptly. She delivers bad news with compassion and shows genuine excitement with good news. For instance, when she called to tell me my two embryos were PGS normal, I think she was as happy as I was! You can't fake that. I'm grateful to her - she helps keep me sane in this mess of a process.

I gush about Dr. O'Brien every chance I get - and I don't have a baby yet! She's a wonderful doctor. She's generous with her time and knowledge, she's innovative and persistent. She's also very honest and open with sharing her thought process. She advocates for her patients. On many occasions, I've been in for monitoring and end up getting a surprise visit. When my first retrieval attempt canceled, she came in and told me herself - and helped me feel ok about it. The next time around, I saw her in the hall and she pulled up my results to review them with me in real-time. She's taken time out of her day to call me to discuss next steps (answering all of my questions for 20+ minutes!) and never makes me feel like I'm not important. She's even emailed me with updates or to let me know she'd call at a certain time. I feel so lucky to have found her!

Don't be afraid to ask questions - she'll answer thoughtfully and thoroughly! She is very transparent so that does mean she shares a lot of information and detail. The first time I spoke with her (phone consult) it was a little overwhelming but now that I know her and her style, I greatly appreciate that.

Retrieval attempt 1 - microflare. I took microdose Lupron for several days and then added in Gonal-F and Menopur. With only three follicles leading, she decided to cancel because she felt my ovaries could do better. Retrieval 1 - estrogen priming. This started with estrogen patches for several days. I added other meds later (forget the details!) and then Gonal-F and Menopur. The doses were pretty high, especially of Menopur. Towards the end I was taking 5 vials! Also added in Cetrotide to help extend the cycle and allow more follicles to grow. I ultimately had 6 retrieved, 4 mature. Retrieval 2- microflare - after the first cancellation on this protocol, she lowered the microdose lupron dose to ensure my follicles didn't grow too fast. This also allowed for lower doses of Gonal-F and Menopur. We were hoping for 8 eggs but only got 4. Lucky for me, 3 fertilized and became AA embryos. One has been transfered (fresh) and resulted in chemical pregnancy. The other two were PGS tested and are normal.

The majority of my first IVF cycle (actual procedure) was covered by my insurance. Dr. O'Brien did a lot to help ensure I was able to maximize that. Now I am doing Shared Risk which is EXPENSIVE - but it's worth it for the peace of mind. If you qualify, it's a great option if there's a likelihood that you'll have to do multiple retrievals and transfers.

Shady Grove is a large practice and it is a business. They do their best to provide the best care but by nature because it is such a enormous practice you are constantly dealing with different people for all parts of the process. It would be easy to feel like a number but I actually don't. I think it does force you to realize you and your partner are in charge, and you must consistently speak up for yourself at every step. They appear to follow science to the enth degree and for that I respect them.

Dr. Widra has many patients and isn't focused on day to day care. That being said, it's clear he knows who we are and the circumstances of our case. When we have worked with him directly he has not rushed us and been patient to answer all questions. Lastly, he has weighed all of our factors carefully as well as our financial planning, and helped us make decisions accordingly.

Carrie is sweet, knowledgeable and typically available. She is our main POC and translates/communicates all information about our protocol. She has endless patience and is a treasure trove of information. She seems to always act on our behalf and has been a true reliable source of comfort and data. For monitoring, we see a revolving door of nurses and other medical staff. They are all nice, some more helpful than others, but haven't been dissatisfied with any. Just know that you really never have a singular person your dealing with on any given day, except our main nurse.

Dr. Widra is blunt and this is what you notice first and foremost about him. However he is compassionate in his own way and he is extremely knowledgeable. He is also a leader in a large practice. If you you are looking for a straight shooter with a strong research background, he is your guy.

Don't be afraid to push back and ask questions. He is flexible and understanding but because he is a bit intimidating it can be a bit hard. But I think he respects and appreciates when you are your own advocate.

First cycle (fresh) : Vivelle patch, then Cetrotide injection, then pre eval, initial Dosing: 300 IU Gonal-F and 150 IU Menopur (2 vials), monitored follicles and finished with HCG Trigger injection. Retrevial two days later (7 eggs--> 2 embryos) and then 5 day transfer of 1 fresh and froze the other. Estradiol/Estrace and endrometrin during TWW. Negative preg test. Second cycle(ERA and FET): Estradiol/Estrace 2mg tablets 3 times a day, then lining check, then Progesterone in Oil 1 ml every third day, then 2 endometrin inserts 2x a day. ERA test showed late stage receptivity so timing of oil shots was shifted by 12 hours. Transfered 1 week ago and waiting for preg test.

In total for the fresch cycle, including meds, with 50% insurance we initially paid about $6000 for the first cycle. We were later reimbursed some of it due to a higher payout of the insurance. For the ERA and FET we paid I think around $2000 including meds with insurance.

Strongly recommended against multiple transfers.

Their front desk is sometimes clueless and it at times takes several times to get through. However, their after hours line is very responsive. I would keep on top of your financial responsibility because we had to advocate a lot for ourselves to be reimbursed and make sure we were really paying what we were supposed to. Otherwise the clinic is good. They do have a rule to not bring your kids in which we LOVESD because who wants to see a persons child that you can’t seem to have yourself in a place where your paying thousands to have a kid? Just loves that they were sensitive toward that. It’s also renovated and clean. I’m not sure if it’s up and functioning yet but when we left they were building a procedural suite next door for retrieval’s, transfers, etc. which was much more convenient than going to their facility in Rockville. It was working to get accredited by insurance companies first at the time so we couldn’t use it. But still pretty neat! Also parking is terrible. They have one parking garage that services 4 office buildings. So arrive early to make sure you get a spot on time.

He would call us on his way home from work. He explained everything in detail. When we had issues with our nurse almost making a medication error and us calling to voice our concerns about her sloppiness with our care to office manger, he was the one who called us instead. He immediately switched our nurse and again made us feel at ease. He was realistic with us and very thorough. He was personable and genuinely upset along with us when we list two out our first pregnancies.

To be honest she was disorganized from the start. She was very disconnected from the process and took forever to return our calls. At first, she was attentive to emailing but in reality she would read it seems the first paragraph of my email and then fail to answer the rest—so I would find myself having to email her several times to get answers to original email. The final straw was when she got the doses wrong for one of our transfer medications and almost compromised my lining being thick enough for our third transfer. I’m a nurse so I caught it. But we switched nurses after that to Mary. And she was a breath of fresh air.

He is very good at explaining the process, the good, bad, and ugly. He makes sure you leave his office understanding everything. Several times he called us himself after hours to check in on us whether it was after our retrieval, when I got OHSS, and after each of our losses. He is hard to schedule with because he is sought after which makes booking difficult but when you are able to see him, the wait is worth it.

Schedule now. Don’t wait too long because his appointments fill up fast.

Lupron Antagonist Protocol. I produced 30 eggs. We did ICSI due to make factor. He suggested a frozen transfer due to me showing signs of OHSS, and my medical history. When the second transfer ended in another m/c, he suggested uterine septum removal before doing next transfer. This resulted in successful pregnancy. He made sure to do a extra ultrasound because initial HR was low. At this time he was realistic with us and therefore, we knew our chances. Thankfully it was successful and next an revealed higher HR.

We were lucky. Our treatment was covered partially by insurance. So our max OOP was $3500. However, their financial department is one of their worst departments. They are very wishy washy and not clear as to what you need to pay and what your paying for. We actually overpaid by a couple thousand and had to be reimbursed but I had to fight to get them to send the check and finally had to speak to financial manager. The coordinator I was assigned was terrible and I felt like I was constantly fighting to get in contact with her. When I did, I felt like she didn’t know what she was talking about and certainly wasn’t making things very clear.

He actually works with NIH to prevent cases of negligence where fertility doctors are allowing transfers of 3 embryos (for example) and having sextuplets. He is advocate for only transferring one (based off our personal history) because we already had high risk factors for pregnancy.

Shady Grove Fertility - Chesterbrook is like a well-oiled machine. The waiting times are minimal (10-15 minutes max, although it was usually closer to 5). When you first walk in the receptionist always greets you with a smile. The medical assistant/phlebotomist is extremely skilled and makes you feel at ease when getting blood drawn. When getting ultrasounds done, they are gentle and explain everything that they're doing and what you're seeing on the screen. I've always been able to get an appointment when needed, even on a last minute or emergent basis.

Dr. Kallen makes you feel like you're his only patient. He spends as much time as needed with you and has never once made us feel rushed. I have always gotten an appointment when I needed one, even last minute.

Chrissie was amazing to work with. She was caring and compassionate and knew her stuff. She communicated flawlessly with Dr. Kallen and never left any question unanswered. Whether I called or emailed, I knew I could expect a call from her almost immediately. Whenever she said she'd call, she always did. We had quite the time figuring out our insurance pharmacy coverage and she, without hesitation, sent multiple scripts to multiple pharmacies and filled out pre-authorization forms. This was definitely time consuming and she did it in a very timely manner. Thanks to her help, we managed to get our insurance to cover our medicine. She shared in the joy of our first positive pregnancy test.

Dr. Kallen is an incredibly talented, kind, compassionate doctor. He is up-to-date on the latest studies and values his patient's input. He takes the time to educate, inform and listen to all of his patients. He works seamlessly with his nursing and clinical staff, which you can tell through their communication. While he has a very calm and serious demeanor, he is incredibly caring and compassionate. When we received less than great news, he was the one who called us personally to share that news. He listened to all of our concerns and worries and thoughtfully shared his thoughts, while never once pushing us in any direction. I fully trust Dr. Kallen and know that I am in good hands.

Look no further! We came to Dr. Kallen as a second opinion and knew we'd found the right doctor upon our first consultation with him. Bring any and all questions and concerns to him and he will guide you through everything.

Since we had had diagnostic testing done at our previous clinic only a few months prior to coming to Dr. Kallen, we did not have to repeat our genetic blood screening. (I was not a carrier for any conditions the test screened for). My husband repeated his semen analysis and completed an infectious disease blood panel. I also repeated a complete blood work up. Prior to beginning our IVF cycle, I had an HSG done, a saline sonogram, and mock embryo transfer. This was our first IVF cycle, and we followed the Antagonist IVF Protocol. This entailed being on an active birth control pill for 21 days which commenced on the first day of my menstrual cycle. A few days before injections were to start, I came in for a baseline ultrasound and bloodwork. Once they verified that my levels were where they needed to be, 3 days later I started my injectible hormones. I began on 225 IU of Gonal F and 150 IU of Menopur daily. I came in 3 days later for my first monitoring appointment and my dosage of Gonal F was increased to 300 IU per day. Monitoring appointments became more frequent and my dosage of both Gonal F and Menopur increased. Once my follicles were large enough, I began Cetrotide and came in for monitoring almost daily. Then we got the go-ahead and exactly 36 hours before egg retrieval, we used an HCG injection. Egg retrieval was successful and we waited to see how many made it to Day 5 blastocyst. Since we were doing PGS testing, our blastocysts were biopsied and sent to the lab and embryos were frozen. PGS test results took about 2 weeks to come back, and in the meantime I waited for my next menstrual cycle to begin active birth control pills again to begin my frozen embryo transfer cycle. After we received our normal embryo results, I also began Estrace oral pills, three times daily. Then I began progesterone in oil injections five days before our frozen embryo transfer. Once the embryo was transferred, I continued both Estrace and PIO until 10 weeks gestation.

There are global fees for procedures. Global fees for IVF is based on maternal age and they have 3 packages - one cycle, multi-cycle, Shared Risk money-back.

Dr. Kallen prefers eSET, as there are now studies that show that transferring multiples does not increase the chances of success, rather the chances of multiples which is risky. He explained the risk of multiples and the probability of an embryo splitting. Due to our age (25 and 26) and this being our first pregnancy, he highly advised going with an eSET. We were planning on doing an eSET anyway.

Shady Grove is huge and therefore has the expected strengths and weaknesses. Strengths: multiple locations, very good hours for appointments, usually pretty efficient monitoring hours Weaknesses: takes some time before various personnel get to know you. your doctor is likely not going to do your procedures

In the early part of my treatment, when I was doing the IUIs (2), I felt more like a number. But as we moved into our IVF cycles, I had increased interactions with Dr. Widra. After my first miscarriage, I felt Dr. Widra responded with genuine compassion and personalized care. From then on, I felt he really knew me and my history.

I actually went through 2 nurses who were not good communicators, not organized, and with whom I was not happy. After my negative experience with the second, I spoke with my doctor and he had me transferred to another nurse, who was excellent. She was clearly so much better than either of the first two. I actually had a similar experience the second time around. I started out with a pretty subpar nurse, but spoke to the office manager and was transferred to a nurse who was incredible. So I think the bottom line is that there is a range of nurses at the clinic and I would recommend self-advocating if you feel unhappy with your nurse.

My husband and I found Dr. Widra to be compassionate, but also frank. He didn't sugarcoat anything, but I certainly never found him cold. When trying for my first, we went through a number of retrievals and transfers and I appreciated feeling "known" despite being at a very large clinic that has a reputation for being a factory. I am detail oriented and Dr. Widra always took the time to answer my questions, whether in person or on the phone. While much of my communication was with my nurse, if there was difficult or sensitive information to deliver, he always called me himself and I never felt rushed off the phone. We ended up doing PGS testing and when I became pregnant, Dr. Widra told me to call him if I ever had any questions. We were indeed told at one point in my pregnancy that we should consider an amnio to rule out chromosomal abnormalities. At this point it had been a few months since I saw Dr. Widra, but I called him and he returned my call within hours. We went back to Dr. Widra when we were ready to try for our second, and unfortunately we did not have success. After two cycles, he recommended we move on to donor egg. While we weren't (aren't) ready to do that, I appreciated his honesty about how he views our situation.

That he may not be the warmest upon first impression, but you should not take his frankness for a lack of compassion.

I began with fairly low doses of menopur and bravelle, 75 and 150, respectively. But that cycle did not produce many follicles. In my subsequent cycles, I was using higher doses -- around 150 menopur and 300 bravelle. I did two antagonist protocols: bcp followed by stims, with cetrotide added when the follicles got to a certain size. While these yielded a decent number of eggs, Dr. Widra thought we might be able to get more with estrogen priming, so we did that for my last cycle when trying for my first. When trying for my second, we started with estrogen priming since that had yielded the most eggs when I was trying for my first. However, that did not result in many eggs, so Dr. Widra proposed a micro-dose Lupron protocol.

I found monitoring appointments pretty easy because there were multiple locations I could go. There were often multiple women waiting, but that didn't negatively impact my experience. I knew that the earlier I went, the less time I would have to wait. Very occasionally, I would be taken to a room and then had to wait for 10-15 minutes, but usually once I was taken to a room, I was seen within a few minutes.

I was part of shared risk, both times. That meant I paid an upfront fee (~25,000) that covered up to 6 cycles and I got my money back if it didn't work.

Dr. Widra had a strong preference for eSET given that we were exclusively transferring 5 day embryos. I appreciated this approach, given that it is safer for both women and babies.

It is a little slow and hard to get someone on the phone. However they do a great job managing all aspects of the process. I personally think their business office is amazing as they do all that they can to try and help you figure out the best way to pay for everything.

He is very matter of fact so while you are very much treated like a human he is incredibly detached in the way he speaks to you. You aren’t a number, everything is tailored to you and he’s very well versed on your case but it’s going to be very clinical.

Dr Tidey’s lead nurse provides all of the compassion and love that Tidey cannot. She is amazing and makes you feel so calm, supported and taken care of. The whole staff is amazing but our nurse knew our name, knew what was going on and always knew the best way to care for us based on the visit. As for the coordination she was also amazing. She is the perfect blend between Tidey and his nursing staff. She is calm, steady, compassionate but also firm and educational. She has to go over all of the information and patiently answers all questions and does an amazing job holding your hand while also making you feel like you’ve got it and you can do it!

Dr Tidey has an awkward bedside manner. He is a little socially awkward and more comfortable talking about the process and the procedure than he is making small talk and putting you at ease. He is very throughout and puts so much care into every decision and suggestion he makes. He puts his patients safety first and is very direct about what your options are. He doesn’t sugar coat the options and is very direct when making his suggestions about your car. He does a great job balancing your right and need as a patient to make your own decisions with not allowing you to spend too much time wasting money and time doing expensive treatments that aren’t going to work. In a truly emotionally overwhelming moment his direct and balanced insight and medical treatment is exactly what I needed.

Be prepared with your questions because he’s not going to over explain things unless asked. He will explain everything but he’s not “chatty” so it will be direct and brief.

I came in with unexplained infertility and so he had us try colomid and timed intercourse. After doing that for 3 cycles he told us that it was time to move along. He said we could keep trying but didn’t want us to spend all of our money and emotional currency on a potentially dead end treatment. We did 3 IUIs and none of them worked. I was on the fence about a 4th round and Tidey told me it would be a waste but he didn’t stop me and ultimately allowed me the choice. Ultimately I agreed with him that IVF was the best option. It was so hard for me to hear but he clearly explained to me while it made the lost sense. He suggested that we do both genetic testing and ICIS given my history of miscarriage. We ended up determining that I had bad egg quality and so out of 18 eggs retrieved 3 made it and only 1 was viable. We implanted that one and gave birth 9 months later.

IVF meds- $5000 IVF treatment- $30,000 IUI- $900

He doesn’t suggest multiple transfers the first time around. He has concerns about the health of the mother. Said he would honor our decision but wasn’t excited about multiple embryo transfer.

Shady Grove Fertility knows what it is doing. I am sure they churn out patient after patient every day. To some people this may make you feel like you’re just a number to them but for me it was a comfort because it meant they knew what they were doing. I never had anything but a kind interaction with everyone who worked there and the nurses there are above average. I had trouble getting blood drawn and they were so patient and kind to me every time I was there (which was sometimes almost every day for weeks at a time).

Dr. Chang was very matter of fact about treatment and odds but was a kind person which is exactly what I was looking for. I wanted information that was not sugarcoated.

When we met our nurse, Dew, I have to say that we were underwhelmed. She was very matter of fact without, it seemed, much emotion or compassion. However, I am so glad we gave her a chance because she ended up being a great advocate for us. She was hyper organized, quick to respond to my phone calls or emails and always had a kind word to say for both our negative and positive pregnancy tests. She helped us find cheaper prescriptions and had any resource we could ask for. Dew really made this journey easy for us and I hope she is able to do the same for many more people hoping to conceive.

Dr. Chang was a great doctor to have for pcos and male factor infertility. He gave us both things to work on for about six months before retesting my husbands semen to see if we could improve our odds without further treatment. When that wasn’t the case, we moved forward with IUI and ultimately IVF when it became clear that we needed to do ICSI. He was very matter of fact about odds, treatment and protocol. He adjusted as necessary during cycles and had a kind bedside manner before and after our egg retrieval. We had a successful pregnancy on our first frozen transfer and we plan to transfer our remaining embryo this year. If that does not work we will not hesitate to use Dr. Chang for another round of ivf to have our second baby.

Ask a lot of questions at your consultations and appointments. He will answer everything thoughtfully.

Clomid for one IUI cycle (adding extra days of Clomid for further follicle development) with ovidrel trigger (negative pregnancy test) , Letrozole for one IUI with ovidrel trigger (negative pregnancy test- male factor), IVF cycle with menopur, final-f, endometrin and a lupron trigger. 20 eggs retrieved, 16 mature, 9 fertilized, 2 made it to blast. 1 fresh embryo transfer resulting in live birth, 1 embryo frozen.

We are very lucky to have good insurance so our coverage was excellent. We mostly paid copays and for some of our medications. Many of the tests were not considered “fertility” and fell under regular insurance coverage so they didn’t eat into our fertility coverage.

He strongly suggested single embryo transfer due to risk to mother and child with a multiple pregnancy, no added odds of getting pregnant if you transfer multiple and also due to our non-advances ages.

They have a brand new facility, which is always nice. I wish they offered more adjunctive treatments like acupuncture her in their Richmond office. Appointments usually start within 15 minutes, so wait times are generally short.

From the initial consultation we had with shady grove, we were already set up for failure because the statistics were so against us, given that I have DOR and my husband has male factor infertility, and Dr. Johnston stated no amount of drugs could stimulate my ovaries. But we were so ready to finally take that leap of faith with IVF, only to then be told we should strongly consider donor eggs, and that I did not qualify for the shared risk program because my labs are unfavorable (I previously qualified with my first doctor, who has since merged with Dr. Johnston's group, Shady Grove Fertility). All I wanted was a chance, but clearly I was gonna throw off their success rate. I felt like the relationship with her was just not off to a good start. After months of labs and testing, she agreed to help us, but at that point I decided to take a more holistic approach. Yet still, she was always reminding me that the damage is already done and that my biological clock has stopped ticking. I never felt hopeful about proceeding with IVF at their clinic and made a decision to move on elsewhere.

front desk and clinical staff were always courteous and had a tendency to follow up frequently, keeping me updated with my lab results and next steps.

At first glance, Dr. Johnston is very intelligent and knows her stuff. However, when a doctor tells you any alternative treatments you're doing is not going to help, or it's as if a cancer patient is choosing herbs over chemotherapy when you take charge of your own fertility, they're belittling you as a patient and a person, as if to say it is poor judgement on my part. I think if she had chosen to be more empathetic and compassionate with her words, we might have continued our work together.

If you do not feel supported in your journey and you're given limited options, do yourself a favor and find a new doctor.

In the end, because we were disqualified from the shared risk program, our saved funds could only cover two cycles at Dr. Johnston's clinic. We decided to move forward with a different clinic for treatment.

12,000 per IVF cycle, not including meds, PGS, ICSI, cryo-preservation, OR multi-cycle discount for 18,500 (2 cycles) were what I qualified for, unless I agreed to donor egg IVF and I would have qualified for their shared risk program.

Shady Grove Fertility - Frederick as a clinic is welcoming and clean. The staff is friendly and professional. It is a little bit of an inconvenience that the Frederick office is only able to do bloodwork and/or ultrasound and I have to travel for any other type of procedure. Initially, when we started this process over a year ago, they were rearranging their staff and we went through 3 nurses before we landed with Janine. That was a bit confusing because it felt like we didn't know who we should be talking to, and when we did talk to someone, they weren't always sure what our protocol was. I think, now that they have figured out the staffing changes, that both nurses we have dealt with are doing their best to make us feel like patients and not just numbers. Overall, our experience has been a positive one.

Lauren is extremely considerate. She is empathetic and encouraging. She is very knowledgeable and checks in with us to make sure we understand everything before proceeding. During procedures, she is vocal about what is happening so we have a better understanding of how things are going in real-time. She has a comforting nature and I feel like she has supported us in every decision we have made along the way.

We've had 3 nurses over the course of our treatment at Shady Grove. Allison Catalani was our initial point of contact and she was organized and helpful. She was only our nurse for a few weeks (staffing changes). Throughout the IUI process, our nurse was Jody DeRaimo. Jody was friendly and knowledgeable, however, I did feel that she could be unorganized at times. She would ask me what medications I was taking and what kind of cycle I was doing or say she was going to send something to the pharmacy that day, but it didn't get sent. It felt like she had too much on her plate. In comparison, our IVF nurse, Toni Benjamin is "on the ball." She is very organized, and she has been able to answer all of my questions without having to ask or confirm with someone else. She reminded us to get our sperm shipped to the clinic, and then followed up with the Rockville office to make sure it got there. She sent medications to 3 pharmacies so we could get the lowest cost. She has been very nice to work with thus far.

Lauren is supportive, empathetic and professional. We've had three treatment consultations with her. In each meeting, she clearly stated where we were in the treatment process, what the next steps or options were, and any risks associated with procedures. She would check in with us to make sure we understood everything and was able to do this without us feeling patronized. We asked many questions and Lauren always made sure we had as much information as we could before making any decisions. We felt/feel that she gave us her honest opinions and she supported us in each decision we have made thus far. Whether that be opting in or out of genetic testing, choosing to continue IUI after our miscarriage and switching to IVF, Dr. Roth has been supportive of each decision. She has also been quick to respond to any messages or emails we have left with questions. She never makes you feel ashamed or stupid for asking questions, even if they are as silly as "is it okay to dye my hair?" During procedures (we have done multiple IUI's and one fresh embryo transfer with her and will be doing a frozen transfer at the end of October), Lauren talks through the procedure as it's happening. This was especially helpful and comforting for my wife and me. I know my wife would have been asking a million questions if she had not been walking us through it. After our miscarriage, Dr. Roth was sympathetic and gentle about asking when we wanted to proceed to the next step. We have never felt rushed or pushed in a certain direction. She allowed us to make our own decisions about our treatment plan and it does make us feel like we are a team.

Don't be afraid to ask all your questions and voice your concerns. She will listen.

We started this journey without medications. The first two cycles of IUI were natural. At the time we started the process I was 29 and had no health issues that would indicate the need to use anything else. We also used at home Ovulation Predictor Kits (OPK) to track my LH level and predict my ovulation window. We used the Ovidrel trigger shot starting in cycle 2. On the third cycle, we started doing monitoring through Shady Grove, meaning bloodwork and ultrasound to track ovulation and introduced 50mg of Clomid to the cycle. After this cycle was not successful, Dr. Roth suggested we do an HSG test to make sure there were no blockages in my fallopian tubes and that my uterus was normal. After getting normal results back from that test, we started our 4th IUI cycle. This cycle resulted in a chemical pregnancy. 5th IUI we also introduced an FSH injectable (Follistim AQ, can't remember the dosage). On the 6th IUI cycle, we continued with Clomid and Follistim, increasing the dosage slightly on the Follistim. We were successful in this attempt and found out we were pregnant on New Year's Eve. I made it 14 weeks and had a miscarriage in March of 2019. We used April as a recovery month and did a saline ultrasound in May to confirm that all the tissue was removed and my uterus was clear to try another IUI. We continued with the protocol that we used in the 6th cycle except I used Letrozole 2.5mg instead of Clomid because of a national shortage. This protocol was successful for us so Dr. Roth felt that we didn't change it. After this cycle was negative, we discussed our options with Dr. Roth and ultimately decided to try IVF. I began the cycle taking birth control to suppress natural ovulation. We also used Menopur (75 IU), Follistim AQ (200IU), and Ganirelix (250MCG). We used Lupron (1mL) for the trigger before egg retrieval. After the Fresh Embryo Transfer, I began taking Estradiol (2mg tab) twice daily, and Endometrin (100mg tab) 3 times a day. This transfer was not successful. I have just started taking birth control again for the frozen embryo transfer and will begin Estrace/Estradiol 2mg tab 3x a day soon.

We were lucky in that our insurance covered 6 IUI cycles. However, we had a $50 copay for any visit to the clinic regardless of the type of appointment, and the IUI's were only covered after we met our deductible. Medications were partially covered as well. The HSG test was not covered, and that was $350 up front. The billing for this was a bit confusing because Shady Grove's system was a few months behind, so even though we paid up-front for the HSG exam, they applied that money to other charges on our account. In the course of the IUI treatment, we spent $16,000 (not including sperm). As we moved to IVF treatment, nothing is covered by our insurance. We opted for Shady Grove's Shared Risk Program, which is $19,500.00 plus the cost of medications (so far $2,331.00).

When we asked about the number of embryos, Dr. Roth explained to us that because of my age (30) if we did multiple embryos we would only be increasing our chance of twin rather than increasing the chance of pregnancy. She felt that the odds were good to transfers only one since the rate of pregnancy for someone my age is around 50%.

The clinic is waaaaaay too big, and people are treated like a number. Read your contract VERY carefully and make sure you understand exactly what is and is not covered. If they ask you to do an additional test or appointment, make sure you check to see if it is included, otherwise you will be stuck with an extra bill. The financial department is also a complete mess. They couldn't have cared less about my questions and they were unresponsive, and sullen on the phone. They didn't do a good job of figuring out my insurance coverage, and I had to make a number of additional calls to my insurer to make sure everything was correct. They also advised me to not bother to check the prices of medications with other pharmacies, since they had a deal with a specific pharmacy. After I had already bought the drugs, I talked to other SGF women who had found drugs from lots of different pharmacies for cheaper. My nurse also did a terrible job of helping me to order the exact right amount of medications for my last cycle, which means I have unusable drugs in my fridge now. They let you donate them back to the clinic, but you can't return them, which is ridiculous. I felt really manipulated and take advantage of by the end of my care at SGF. The care I received from monitoring nurses and retrieval staff was excellent, however.

Shady Grove as a whole is too large and the way they are set up means less personalized care. Communication should have been better, and errors on the part of the nursing staff would have been less likely with a smaller practice. The financial department has no idea what they are doing and I spend several thousand more than I needed to due to their lack of attention and individual care. SGF is a for-profit business and it shows.

Overall my nurses were good. I was however disappointed when my primary nurse was promoted to another location and I was abruptly switched to a new nurse with no transition period or explanation beyond, "you're transitioning to a new nurse today." There were some issues with communication, and one very serious error where Rachel had a trainee nurse call me, and she gave me the wrong instructions for medication changes that night. Luckily I had to contact Rachel for something else that day and I was able to catch the error, but if I hadn't, I likely would have lost that entire cycle. I was shocked at how dismissive and non-apologetic Rachel was about the error.

Dr. Osborne's bedside manner isn't great, but it's not the worst I've ever seen. Fertility clinics seem to be extremely nervous about getting a patient's hopes up, which means they are so neutral that they veer into actually withholding information, and being obtuse. I found Dr. Osborne to be this way. For example, I couldn't get a straight answer from her about nutrition/supplements to before/during egg freezing. Overall I sometimes felt like I was talking to a customer service or sales rep instead of a doctor - she just was unable to be personable.

Come prepared with all your questions, and don't be afraid to press further if you don't get a full answer to a question, or one that you understand.

Age: 38, AFC: 18, AMH: 1.58. Doctor expected ~13 eggs per cycle, of which ~9 would be mature. First cycle was way less successful than expected, so they used the same protocol but increased the dosage significantly. Then 3rd cycle they used a different protocol. First 2 cycles: birth control, then antagonist protocol (Gonal-F, Menopur, Cetrotide, Leuprolide trigger). 3rd cycle, no birth control, estrogen priming instead, then same antagonist protocol, except HCG instead of Leuprolide trigger. 1st cycle: 5 eggs retrieved, 3 mature 2nd cycle: 12 eggs retrieved, 8 mature 3rd cycle: 14 eggs retrieved, 9 mature

$12,500 for an egg freezing cycle: 20 mature eggs or 4 cycles, whichever came first. For 3 cycle, I paid the pharmacy ~$15K. SGF also tried to bill me for blood tests and a consultation with the doctor in between cycles. I was nickel and dimed.

My clinic has very good hours to accommodate my work schedule. They have excellent administrative staff included those at the front desk. I never had difficulty making the appointment I needed. They were very efficient at getting patients in and out for morning monitoring. I did feel that they had a large number of patients to manage but we knew that when we chose to use them for our fertility needs.

He took time to talk to us, explain everything in as much detail as we needed and called whenever there were important results or decisions to discuss.

My primary nurse was kind and compassionate but seemed to forget a lot of my unique needs. I learned to constantly remind her what was going on and also learned that I would need to advocate for myself.

He is a compassionate, patient, soft spoken and hardworking doctor. He gave me hope all along the way even when I was experience loss or complications. He gave me options but respected my decisions based on the information he provided.

Listen, ask questions, advocate for yourself but trust his experience and recommendations.

He reassessed after each miscarriage which led to slightly different protocols, PGStesting and using an implantation protocol (lovenox, baby aspirin, prednisolone).

Approximately $25,000. We were part of a shared risk program so paid an upfront fee. We paid for PGS testing of our embryos and also paid for medications which were not part of the shared risk program. Some medications were covered by insurance.

I wouldn't be at the clinic if it wasn't for their doctors. The clinic is updated, and the now has an IVF facility. The front desk is typically a mess and sometimes doesn't answer the phones. Most of the non-nurse, non-doctor staff, not all but most, treat you like a number. My financial advisor is nearly impossible to reach. You have to be proactive and stand up for yourself in an office that sees so many patients.

Dr. Saffan is invested in his patients. He often goes out of his way to make sure they are looked after. He has called me several times late in the evening and on weekends to check in. I've learned to be proactive when it comes to care at SGF though because it is easy to feel like a number there. I set up face-to-face meetings with Dr. Saffan when needed.

Danielle Kelly was great. She was a great communicator, and she had been through infertility herself so she could relate. Mary Hartman is okay at communicating but has failed to show compassion on numerous occasions. At one point, she told me that I had children (I do not). Another time when I asked about my 2 embryos, she told me "They've been thrown away".

Dr. Saffan shows he cares his patients. On several occasions he called late in the evenings or on weekends to check in on me. He explains the procedures, risks, and makes recommendations based on specific situations. On all but one occasion, I've felt positive about the direction I was headed after speaking with or meeting with him. I've been seeing him for almost 2 years, and I've learned that he is an eternal optimist. I struggle with his seemingly endless optimism sometimes.

Be prepared for data-driven analysis. He will make his decisions based on the data. Also, if he seems overly optimistic, question why.

For my first IUI, I was put on Follistim. This resulted in pregnancy and miscarriage. Dr. Saffan then recommended IVF. We jumped right into that after waiting a month. I was put on birth control for less than 3 weeks. I was put on typical medications. The cycle was converted to IUI due to only 1 follicle. After a negative test, I went right back into round 2 (no birth control). This had the same result. I took time off then went back to a Clomid cycle to see how I would respond. Same result on a side with no tube so we did TI. I took time off then started another IUI cycle with Follistim. My response was better than any other so it was converted to IVF. 6 eggs were collected. 1 day 6 embryo that didn't take. I took more time off then went for another IUI, this time with Menopure. It was unsuccessful.

Each monitoring appointment is about $200-$300 but was covered by my insurance. IUI was covered with insurance. One cycle of IVF is about $11,000 not including medication.

They were always understanding and flexible. With traffic in the morning sometimes i would call if I would be late and they were always very understanding. Their receptionists knew you by name quickly. They offered very early appts which were helpful with our work schedules.

The office called to check in on us often, lend an ear or medical advice when needed, emailed to congratulate us on our pregnancy. Never at any point did I feel like a number in that office.

Annika called after any procedure we had, to go over the information with us again and see if we had any questions. We struggled the first month when I had too many eggs with whether we should try timed intercourse and take our chances, and she was extremely professional and honest with her advice. Suggesting we think of life down the road, do we have room for triplets in the car? In our house? Can we feed them? She put things into perspective and was the voice of reason I needed at the time. I was grateful for her honesty. I appreciate a blunt approach when it comes to my medical care. She was also compassionate when I needed her to be when we could t do IUI.

She was very thorough in her explanation at the initial visit, and optimistic and supportive in our decision to go with IUI. Everyone who would call to discuss things was well informed of our chart/history/plan. She did our final US before graduating from the practice and explained everything well, answered any questions we had, encouraged us to send pictures of my growing belly and baby as the pregnancy progresses.

She had reviewed my chart from my previous doctor, and felt my body responded well to clomid so we did cycles of clomid and ovidrel with IUI. My initial month, I over produced and had 11 follicles so she canceled for too high a risk of multiples. The second month she lowered my dose to where i had 4, and we had a successful first IUI treatment.

Our IUI was 100% covered by our insurance

This clinic is run very smoothly and timely. The clinic is very clean and accommodating for my family. (I have a 3 year old son who had to be snuck in a few times). The staff is friendly. They have weekend hours at different locations that isn’t too far away from where we live. I just don’t appreciate how I was treated as a number by the doctor.

Being diagnosed unexplained and then forced to follow their “protocol” for Medicated timed intercourse. First, they found my tests showed clotting disorder and told me taking baby aspirin wasn’t part of their protocol. Before my IUI, My primary doctor found that my thyroid was WAY off (hypothyroid) and Dr Khan , knowing this, still followed through with the IUI that I paid for out of pocket. *I* then had to ask him after I learned that it failed, if my thyroid could have caused the IUI to fail, he said I was correct my thyroid wasn’t optimal for fertility and to go and seek an Endocrinologist. That was the last contact I had with this clinic. Very disappointing and frustrating. I felt they just took my money without any thought as to what could actually be going on with ME, the patient.

Everyone responds to emails very quickly. Everyone is very kind and welcoming. I never had any issue with communication or treatment from nurses. Phone calls aren’t the best, they prefer email.

I am all around disappointed. Honestly, from the start I was a little put off by feeling like a number. It’s the closest clinic to my house, so, I stayed when I shouldn’t have. Dr, Khan did take the time to hear me out most of the time when we had a meeting. But, he was quick to wave off newer studies I’ve found. I let him because he’s the doctor, not me. My test came back with high FSH and possible clotting disorder. Otherwise “unexplained infertility”. I asked if I should take baby aspirin, “it’s not part of our protocol” I pushed back “will it hurt if I take baby aspirin. Since it could help prevent another miscarriage?” “no it won’t hurt anything”. Alrighty fighting for clarity and treatment as an individual and it was only the beginning. One medicated timed intercourse failed. Then I set up for an IUI, our insurance doesn’t cover it, in Northern VA fertility treatment is very pricey. I then went to my primary doctor who ran regular tests and found my thyroid was off (hypothyroid). A few days before IUI I told my clinic about my thyroid levels they “‘made note of it”. Went ahead with the IUI. It failed. I then discovered that my levels were way off for fertility and could be a reason for infertility and early miscarriage. When I brought this up to doctor Khan he said “yes. Your thyroid is not optimal for fertility. If you’d like, go and see an Endocrinologist”. That was the last contact I had with this clinic. I won’t be returning. They took my money and instead of holding off on the IUI that was perhaps destined for failure from the start and waited for my thyroid levels to regulate, they did the IUI. And I had to figure out for myself that my thyroid being off needed to be taken seriously. So frustrating and disheartening. You must be your own advocate. Ask questions. Do your own research!

Do your own research. Be your own advocate. Ask all of the questions. Be persistent. Also, don’t be afraid to go somewhere for a second opinion.

From my understanding for timed intercourse and IUI - its all the same. I did not do any IVF rounds or egg retrieval’s. For T.I and IUI - take clomid or letrozole starting day 3 of your cycle. Then around day 12 you go into the office for blood work and ultrasound to count follicles to see if you’re ready to take the trigger shot (ovadril). Trigger shot and two days later go in for the IUI. Then follow up with progesterone suppositories until negative blood test. Continue them if positive. My lining was thin during my T.I. and I had to take estrogen suppositories until negative pregnancy test.

My insurance covered the medication for timed intercourse. That price was under 70$ for the clomid, ovadril, and progesterone. My IUI was not covered my insurance, $1,800 for IUI then $175 for medications.

We didn’t do this.

It was easy to get an appointment, and the locations are convenient. All of the staff were competent and kind. I did have to call to remind the insurance/billing specialist about my authorizations, after not hearing from them before a procedure.

I always felt like she really cared about me as an individual. She asked about my work, never rushed when I had lots of questions, was candid yet compassionate in all of her communication. And even though my transfer was scheduled while she was on vacation, she called me to check in that morning!

My nurse the first time was very good. She sometimes didn’t get back to me as quickly as I would have liked, but overall was compassionate and answered my questions and served as a very helpful resource. The other nurses and staff who I interacted with during monitoring appointments, etc. were all wonderful.

I always felt like she cared about the smallest details, and that she had my best interests at heart. She was fully present during our visits. She never rushed or seemed annoyed when I had a lot of questions. She treated me like an educated, informed adult (which is more than I can say for my prior doctor).

Have your list of questions ready, and she will answer all of them!

We did a pretty standard (antagonist?) IVF protocol for a fresh transfer. It was the first cycle we had tried, after 3 failed IUIs at another clinic that declined to let us try a fresh transfer. I did not take BCP because I’ve had bad reactions in the past, and Dr. Nair was supportive of me declining that component. I responded well to the protocol.

It definitely felt a little bit like a cattle call, but a well run one. I went in the morning before work and it was always packed but moved along fairly quickly.

I had really good insurance coverage for the cycle, including meds. I had already met my out of pocket max, thanks to IUIs done earlier in the year, so my IVF cycle cost very little. I paid an office visit copay when I saw the doctor. The most expensive part was the cost for a nurse to help me at home with my injections the first few days (I was nervous!!). And also the embryo storage, which insurance did not cover.

I was happy to do eSET, and Dr. Nair was fully supportive given my age and history.

The only thing that is hard about our clinic is the drive. It is a two hour drive to get to the clinic with cryopreservation, but we do not mind because we really like the clinic and staff. The benefits/strengths include the cleanliness of all of their facilities, their friendly staff (from the front desk, to the lab technicians, to the nurses and physicians) and the way they make you feel welcome and less like a number.

Dr. McKeeby was the second RE that we saw. His team (Urologist Dr. Tanikarut) has been phenomenal. We were really let down by our first RE and had lost most hope to being parents. Dr. McKeeby is in the midst of making a plan for our future IVF cycles. He is honest and realistic and for that I am thankful. I am a nurse, and I know a lot more than the average patient. He doesn't make me feel like my questions and concerns are a bother, he takes the time to answer them completely.

We are still new in the process at this clinic, but from our past experience they have been great. Our previous facility never knew us (even if we were there the day prior, they would forget why we were there (male factor), did not call to follow up post egg retrieval). We aren't just a number to them. They take the time to talk to us and explain each question or concern that we have.

We saw Dr. McKeeby after our first failed cycle at another clinic. We were heartbroken, financially struggling and still, we clung to hope. He sat with us for over an hour during our first initial consult. He went thru every page (400 pages) of our medical records from our previous facility. When we tried to transfer our eggs from the other facility to Shady Groves lab, he called me personally to tell me the bad news. The old RE did not freeze our eggs appropriately and they would not be viable for thaw. He gave us devastating news, but he was calm and precise about his reasons. I respect him due to his honesty and compassion.

Ask a ton of questions, because he will absolutely take the time to answer them. When you leave all of your medical questions are answered completely, and you understand the treatment plans ahead.

We have not done a cycle with Dr. McKeeby yet, my husband is still on the medications to boost his count and raise his testosterone.

I do not remember specifics as we are have an appointment coming up to sit down in regards to IVF costs.

This clinic is like a factory. The plus side: they have the system down pat, so you know exactly what to expect and can learn how to work the system to your advantage. The down side: it is EXTREMELY busy ALL THE TIME. They only have 2 blood draw chairs and 3 ultrasound rooms, so you could make an appointment for monitoring at 7:30am and not be seen until 9:00 or later. They do have several other locations in the area, so you can go to any of those locations to be seen if more convenient. But they are all just as busy!

SGF in general is like a factory. The staff, including doctors are very kind, but the sheer volume of patients and wait times can be overwhelming.

The first nurse they assigned me was horribly inexperienced, but Natalie has been wonderful. She is kind, compassionate, knowledgeable and I never feel rushed or that I am bothering her. She always responds to me in a timely manner and does exactly what she says she’ll do.

Overall, she’s been really nice, but at the beginning of our first cycle, they assigned us to a very inexperienced nurse who couldn’t even answer questions on the phone without checking with a colleague. When I called Dr. Timmreck to discuss, she tried to rush me off the phone saying, “I have patients waiting for me” as if I wasn’t a patient myself! But she did reassign us to another experienced nurse. The only other thing she has done repeatedly is bring up my age. I’m 43, and it’s mentioned at EVERY SINGLE appointment I have with her. I know my age! That’s one of the reasons we are there, I don’t need constant reminders!! But overall, since that one phone call, everything has been great. Just don’t expect any unscheduled discussions with her!

Just don’t expect to feel like you’re her only patients. She is very kind and understanding and was supportive after our miscarriage, but Dr. Timmreck does not make it a secret that she’s extremely busy.

First cycle: I don’t remember the dosages, but we did BCP for 2.5 weeks, then Gonal-f and Menopur injections for 14 days, at some point, they added in cetrotide injections, but I don’t remember exactly when. I did a Lupron trigger shot, then egg retrieval and 5 day transfer Second cycle: we had the Gonal-f and Menopur injections with the added cetrotide again, I don’t remember the dosages, but I do remember that this time it went on for 16 days. Lupron trigger and then egg retrieval. No eggs fertilized in this cycle, so no transfer occurred :( Third cycle in progress: we are on day 7 of Gonal-f and Menopur injections. They increased the Gonal dosage so we hopefully can trigger earlier this time.

They have a multi-cycle discount of $18,500 for 2 cycles. This not include the medications which can be another $5,000-7,000 per cycle.

They did tell me that they would only transfer 2 embryos at a time. We only had 2 that were mature enough to transfer anyway, so it was fine.

SGF is huge so it is ideal to have questions prepped in advance before making a phone call or laying a visit. Some appointments move very quickly. I would say that if you need to slow them down, advocate for yourself and slow the conversation down. It’s your money, your baby and your experience!

Dr. Divine definitely has a direct communication style but I have never felt like a number. During my appointments with her, she was always patient enough to answer my questions, and I tend to have a great deal of questions. :) She also provides advice that seems to come from a place of care and concern. I felt more “connected” with her after the first meeting. That also might have been because I was overwhelmed about the process.

I started with Sheila and ended up with Kelsey when Sheila left SGF. Both were very knowledgeable about the process and allowed for extra discussions about it. I’ve asked them both at different times to walk me through a notional timeline. They literally walked through each step very slowly and deliberately. I felt like I was not alone when we talk through the process. They were also very reassuring. I have appreciated working with them both

Dr. Divine, from the beginning, has been honest and candid about my fertility options. Given that I am over 40, she shared the scary statistics without making them feel daunting. Instead, she highlighted all possible options including ones I had never considered (e.g., using donor eggs if mine are not viable). Although she has a direct communication style (think: straight, no chaser), I found her candor to be refreshing. You definitely know where you stand, both with her, and your fertility options. After every appointment, I was clear on what to do next. She has been thorough, rigorous and quick minded I implicitly trust that she will do everything possible to ensure that I have the best possible options during this journey. Given that I struggle financially and, like many, juggle other life stresses, it is a relief to have a doctor and medical team who don’t add unnecessary stress due to lack of bedside manner, incompetence, etc. Overall, I am pleased with Dr. Divine and I look forward to having her continue to guide me through this process!

Ask as many questions as you would like. She is patient and thorough! She’s extremely knowledgeable! She will also guide you to nurses for questions they can address.

I am on round one of IVF with donor sperm. My protocol includes birth control pills and IVF “shots” to include the trigger shot. I have had to increase my Vitamin D. I also elected for PGA testing. Going straight to IVF instead of IUI made the most sense for my age (42)

23,500 for the two round bundle deal. 5,000 for PGS testing, 5,076 for medication. Also approx 2,000 for donor sperm. This is all out of pocket for me unfortunately. No insurance coverage outside of the initial visits

No comments on this actually. She mentioned preferring single and it makes sense to me.

Shady Grove is well organized, and full of knowledgable physicians and nurse that are sensitive and caring. They know your name and greet you as you go in for your 7am blood work. It is like a family!

Dr.Sasson treats each of his patients with a kind heart, compassion and takes the time to be encouraging and comforting through this trying process. He takes the time to explain the next steps and keeps his patients well informed the entire time. We feel lucky to have him as our doctor and feel safe and confident in his hands!

Nikki is my new nurse due to my nurse leaving. Shady Grove was very thoughtful and assigned me to Nikki because I had previous communication with her and she did help me out when my nurse wasn't in the office. Nikki is a kindhearted nurse who is very well versed and knowledge in all injections ! She gives you helpful hints and takes the extra step to make sure your are comfortable with all of the procedures and injections you are doing.

Dr. Sasson took on our case after a very bad experience at a previous clinic. He walked us through our lab results and the plan he has created. Throughout our care there have been some complications. Dr. Sasson was there on the phone calling checking in, and taking care of every detail. We feel so lucky to be in his care and know one day he will be the reason we have a child. He is truly a blessing and a very kindhearted intelligent individual who we have full confidence in!

Wait to get a consult with him!! You will walk out feeling at ease that you are in HIS excellent care!

Dr. Sasson knew right away that I was very sensitive to any injectable meds. that I was on. He was cautious and told me that my risks for hyperstim. during my egg retrieval process was likely. He educated me on the signs and when it did happen he gladly saw me on. a Saturday afternoon and checked on my the next day reassuring me that it will pass. Dr. Sasson understands and puts first the wellbeing of his patience- I am small and he will not risk the transfer of two embryos due to potential complications for the babies and me. Overall Dr. Sasson is a very thoughtful physician.

Our insurances did not cover any of the costs. We chose the shared risk program that costs 20,000 up front plus cost of all meds. This allowed us 6 retrievals and unlimited transfers. We did not qualify for financial aid and did not finance due to high interest rates through clinic program.

Overall it’s been a pretty positive experience with Shady Grove Annapolis. The front desk staff are always friendly and organized, and scheduled appointments with physicians are (mostly) on schedule. The wait times for monitoring appointments can vary anywhere from 15-45 minutes before being seen). I’ve never had a problem getting an appointment and the staff has always been accommodating when they could be. By far the worst part of the process so far has been the financial aspect as the Annapolis office doesn’t have a financial coordinator on site. You spend a lot of time playing phone tag and trying to reach the single financial coordinator assigned to patients in Annapolis, Towson, and Rockville. When you are able to get through they almost never have the answers to your questions and almost always need to get back to you.

During appointments, Dr. McKeeby takes plenty of time to explain the diagnosis and the recommended treatment plan. He never makes you feel rushed and always answers all of our questions. He has offered to meet with us beyond our “normal” follow up appointments (if we needed) and has squeezed us in multiple times to keep the process moving forward. When we see him at the office during monitoring appointments he always acknowledges us and often comes to say hi and see how everything is going.

Beth is amazing - she is organized, responsive, compassionate, knowledgeable, and she truly goes above and beyond! She has made us feel cared for and supported throughout the process. We were initially assigned to a different nurse but requested to change to a new nurse very early on in the process due to a disconnect in communication styles and expectations.

Dr. McKeeby displays a great deal of experience and knowledge. He thoroughly answers all questions and provides examples (and drawings!) to make sure we understand and feel comfortable. Early on in our treatment, Dr. McKeeby built a more personal relationship with us and tried to relate to us about things we had in common, which was helpful in building an overall positive rapport. We’ve had ups and downs so far in our treatment, and Dr. McKeeby has had to communicate difficult or disappointing news to us on multiple occasions. Although sometimes he can be very blunt/direct, he recognizes when we need him to communicate information differently and he will re-state his point. After a difficult first cycle which didn’t end the way we had hoped, he was positive/reassuring and recommended a change in protocol to try and refine the results and increase our chances of success. While it’s too early to say how things will end, we trust his opinion and are very satisfied with our interactions with Dr. McKeeby to this point.

Not so much related to Dr. McKeeby but more the process - don’t be afraid to ask questions, be your own advocate, and be clear about your wishes and concerns.

The first IVF cycle we did was a “standard” protocol - baseline bloodwork and birth control for 2-3 weeks, begin injections of stimulating hormones and attend routine monitoring appointments (bloodwork and ultrasound). Trigger shot of HcG and a scheduled egg retrieval 36 hours later. Although we achieved pretty good results with a decent number of eggs retrieved, we did not have any embryos to transfer this cycle. Dr. McKeeby explained that we’ll change up the protocol for the next cycle in the hopes that we have a more efficient stimulation synchronizing follicle growth and hopefully resulting in more (and better quality) eggs retrieved. Additionally, after the first IVF cycle Dr. McKeeby referred us to another Shady Grove physician to gather some additional information about the male component and to make sure we’re taking the best approach for our situation.

Our health insurance covered some of the diagnostic testing and appointments but doesn’t cover anything for infertility, so we are 100% self pay for procedures, medication, and all other related expenses/costs.

For our situation, Dr. McKeeby was not supportive of multiple embryo transfer (I asked!), but he did explain the reasons why and we feel comfortable with that decision.