Verified
This patient has provided documentation of treatment at this clinic.
2019 - 2021, Successful
5
6
Review of
Dr. Widra is very experienced, but I did not feel that my treatment protocol was particularly individualized and he did not have any interest in trying to uncover what could be causing infertility/miscarriage. As a result, I had several concerns with my treatment protocols that he did not address and our outcomes were different from what he had led us to expect. He also very rarely communicated directly with us and almost all interactions were handled by his nurses. I also felt that because we were likely to have a positive outcome eventually, my case was not prioritized and my treatment timeline was longer than necessary.
I got the sense that the nursing staff [at Shady Grove Fertility] were extremely busy and did not have a lot of time to go over protocols, results, updates, etc. While I felt that they did their best to be responsive, sometimes the information they were conveying was unclear and it was like playing phone tag with the doctor. A few were compassionate but with others it felt like they were trying to get you off the phone as quickly as possible...
How was your experience with Eric Widra at Shady Grove Fertility?
I believe Dr. Widra is very experienced, but I did not feel that my treatment protocol was particularly individualized and he did not have any interest in trying to uncover what could be causing infertility/miscarriage. As a result, I had several concerns with my treatment protocols that he did not address and our outcomes were different from what he had led us to expect. He also very rarely communicated directly with us and almost all interactions were handled by his nurses. I also felt that because we were likely to have a positive outcome eventually, my case was not prioritized and my treatment timeline was longer than necessary.
What's one piece of advice would you give a prospective patient of Eric Widra at Shady Grove Fertility?
Ask as many questions as possible, and if something he says does not feel right, don't be afraid to raise it. I felt that he was not comfortable with having his treatment protocols questioned, but he was willing to explain his reasoning or make changes if you were persistent.
During treatment, were you treated like a number or a human with Eric Widra at Shady Grove Fertility?
Dr. Widra is not very personable and does not get to know his patients. Throughout 2 years of seeing him we only had a few visits and he always repeated the same standard talking points. When I had my second miscarriage he called me but was clearly unfamiliar with my case notes and didn't realize it was my second. However, he was fairly responsive and answered our direct questions.
Describe the protocols Eric Widra used in your cycles at Shady Grove Fertility and their degree of success.
We did two medicated cycles with letrozole and timed intercourse that were unsuccessful. At the time, Dr. Widra thought I could have PCOS and it was unclear whether IUI would make a difference. Later, our diagnosis was "unexplained" and we did an IUI with letrozole that led to a pregnancy and miscarriage due to a chromosomal abnormality. This was my second miscarriage and at that point we asked to go to IVF with genetic testing. Dr. Widra agreed this would likely be the most efficient treatment. For my first cycle I was on fairly low doses of gonal-F and Menopur because he still thought I could have PCOS, but I ended up getting a fairly low number of eggs. We did a freeze-all cycle with PGT-A testing. After the retrieval we were encouraged to do a FET immediately, even though we had been very clear that we wanted to bank embryos for future pregnancies and we did not have enough embryos to achieve that. We ended up doing a second egg retrieval with higher levels of gonal-F and Menopur, which led to more eggs being retrieved but fewer making it to the blastocyst stage. The successful embryos were frozen and underwent PGT-A testing, and then we proceeded with a medicated FET that was successful.
Describe your experience with the nursing staff at Shady Grove Fertility.
I got the sense that the nursing staff were extremely busy and did not have a lot of time to go over protocols, results, updates, etc. While I felt that they did their best to be responsive, sometimes the information they were conveying was unclear and it was like playing phone tag with the doctor. A few were compassionate but with others it felt like they were trying to get you off the phone as quickly as possible.
Describe your experience with Shady Grove Fertility.
I chose this clinic because it had the best outcomes in the area by far. The lab seemed very well-run and overall, my treatments were organized. The physicians and the nursing teams were underwhelming and the only reason I stayed with this clinic was because of the outcome metrics.
Describe the costs associated with your care under Eric Widra at Shady Grove Fertility.
My health insurance (Cigna, employer sponsored plan) covered all infertility treatment up to $25K after the deductible was met. Without insurance, the cost of each round of treatment without medications would have been between $15-18K. The clinic also offers shared risk and special rates for multiple rounds of IVF, including a refund if you do not have success.
Describe Eric Widra's approach to eSET (elective single embryo transfer) vs. multiple embryo transfer at Shady Grove Fertility.
Dr. Widra had a strong preference for eSET, and we agreed. He said that particularly since we were doing an FET with tested embryos that eSET was the best option.
What specific things went wrong at Shady Grove Fertility?
- Canceled a cycle due to clinic error
Describe the specific things that went wrong at Shady Grove Fertility.
We were very clear that we wanted to bank a certain number of embryos for future pregnancies. Our doctor felt that we could easily achieve this number with one egg retrieval, but that was not the case. Unfortunately, even though we told the doctor and the nursing team several times that we wanted to do another retrieval, they still proceeded as though we were going straight to transfer and pressured us into doing an FET right away. We were also started on a treatment protocol they said could be for a retrieval, but when we refused to do an FET we were told we couldn't do a retrieval and ended up having to wait an extra two months because of the inappropriate protocol and then lab closures for holidays. Everyone was extremely defensive about this and refused to apologize for the delays or try to move up the timeline. We were also told frequently that because of our age we had "plenty of time" so the delays were not a big deal. The only offer they made during this time was to let us switch to a different doctor, but said this would further delay our timeline.
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