Shady Grove Fertility

While I am sure she is a great Dr, she was very clear about the expectations and my doing donor eggs. I have a good egg reserve for my age and wanted to try with my own eggs and not be pushed into donor when I had other options. So I felt that my care was not as aggressive as could have been because they just didn’t think it would work. After the 3 failed IUI I reached out about a change to my regimen because clearly what I was on was not working. They said no it would stay the same and I was responding well. Well after 2 more failed attempts Dr. chasen now wants to talk about changing the regimen which I felt was a little late. I aged out of IVF at that particular clinic but never got a change to do a successful retrieval so I moved on to a clinic that didn’t have a age cut off of 45 for your own eggs. I didn’t even bother with the last IUI….more money wasted with no measurable change to the regimen

Demand more, do your research and ask tons of questions. Don’t assume because they are the Dr they know more. You have to advocate for yourself and what you would like done

For the IVF…I was on BC pills initially, then Lupron, added in 150 menopour and 275 gonal f. They started high because of my age and I reacted better than they thought so they had to lower the gonal f to 150 so I would not go into ohss. I went into retrieval with them seeing at least 16 follicles mature and ready. I woke up saying they were unable to retrieve any because they could not access my ovaries vaginally and abdominally they saw a blood vessel in front of the ovary and decided to not proceed. It was devastating They then told me that they would not move on with IVF for that reason….no trying to figure out how we can go around that because I clearly responded well. They then moved to IUI which was 100mg clomid for 5 days and on day 3 150 gonal f and day 5 150 gonal f. When I went in each time they saw 2-3 follicles that were mature and ready for insemenation. The sperm was great according to them, but Nothing took.

It was convenient as early as 7am and in and out in 30 mins and still able to get to work in a timely fashion

My insurance is pretty good and covered a good amount. The meds were the most expensive part. Without meds IVF was around 4,000. With meds $13,000. IUI meds were about $350 and out of pocket was 1,000

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Dr. Devine is very knowledgeable and gave advice in probabilities/estimates of success which I found to be very helpful when I needed to make a decision about how I wanted to proceed. She proactively consulted with another dr who had more experience with a more novel treatment plan for my adenomyosis. I appreciated her thorough approach to managing my care.

Get your emotional support from your partner, friend, or therapist, don't expect to get it from Dr. Devine. She is very knowledgeable but isn't very warm or empathetic.

I don't remember the specifics. I had 2 IVF cycles which yielded a total of 3 PGT tested normal embryos.

My insurance covered 80% of my fertility treatment costs.

Our first visit, we really liked Dr Mottla. He has a warm manner and was reassuring. He was pretty realistic about success rates, which I appreciated, though I did have to press him for specific numbers. We had issues as time went on, particularly with communication and with my partner being included in the process. I am a Primary Care Doctor, so I may have been seeking more explanation of treatment plans than other people, but I was disappointed with the lack of explanation when plans would change after an IUI cycle didn't work; for example why we were switching medications. There was also a big misunderstanding where my partner and I thought we were only doing one cycle of IUI and then moving onto IVF, but after our first cycle of IUI didn't work, Dr. Mottla just created a treatment plan for a second cycle of IUI with new medications and his nurse told us as if this was the plan all along, so we didn't feel like our unique situation or past conversations were being taken into account, ie, we felt like a number. It is also fairly difficult to get timely appointments with a provider to discuss our questions and treatment plans; it definitely has not been offered or recommended and we have had to advocate for ourselves to schedule and schedule pretty far in advance, which can be stressful during the very uncertain journey of infertility treatment.Once I voiced my concerns about wanting more explanation for treatment decisions, Dr Mottla and our nurse did try to share more of the clinical thought process with me, which I appreciate greatly. I would like to see the default approach be to ask patients what level of information and explanation they appreciate. The staff at the Annapolis location also provides more explanation than the Columbia office. At the Annapolis office, the nurse meets with me after each labs/US visit to go over the plan and see if I have questions, which I LOVE, but the Columbia office doesn't do that, and I have to go to both offices due to where I work, so there have been miscommunication and misunderstandings esp when I go to the Columbia office. Finally, my partner has felt very removed from the process which has been hard on both of us. For reasons still somewhat unclear to me, Dr. Mottla called me initially to discuss my partner's semen analysis results instead of my partner, and wasn't planning on calling my partner until I asked him to; this felt very inappropriate to us and like an effort wasn't being made to include him. They say that they treat us "like a team", but all that really means is that everything falls on the woman, which leaves me feeling stressed and alone and him feeling excluded and ignored. Citing COVID protocols, my partner was excluded from my IUI ultrasound. We had been excited for him to be more involved and he is scientifically-minded, so I thought it would be cool for him to see the dominant follicle and be more involved in the process, as well as to be there to support me. Unfortunately, we didn't realize he couldn't come in until we were at the appt, so he spent the appt stewing in the car for 45 mins and I felt more alone than ever. I take COVID very seriously, but it is April 2022, he is fully vaccinated including booster, and I know firsthand that most offices and hospitals are lifting their restrictions, so it was all around upsetting and seemed to have little medical reasoning.

Advocate for yourself early and often. If you want to see him/discuss your treatment plan, schedule an appointment with plenty of advance notice. If you want to know the actual chances of success, ask for specific numbers; fertility care in general tends to default to toxic positivity which was counterproductive and upsetting for my partner and me.

IUI x3, first clomid, then letrazole for last two cycles due to thin uterine lining (6mm) at day 8-9. Also used vaginal estrogen for first two cycles and menopur for last cycle. HCG trigger shot and vaginal progesterone used for all three cycles.

No insurance coverage, paid $1440 for each IUI cycle and extra for meds

Unknown

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

He was straight forward and direct. I felt like i could ask questions that i had and would get an answer. He is personable. I liked that we were able to access him as needed, and could get on his calendar for check ins. He's not overly verbose. I would have liked to be more informed around why he's making the decisions he is making as it pertained to protocol decisions.

Ask direct questions. Communicate your overall family planning needs

Antagonist with Birth Control Pill priming x2 Antagonist with Estrogen Patch/Cetrotide priming x1 rational is unclear that wasn't discussed with me. We switched to Estrogen Patch to to belief that BCP might have been suppressing me

$25.6K USD - 2 cycle freeze all embryo banking w/ PGT-A testing $29K Shared Risk program, subsequent refund received due to lack of results

none

He was a caring and compassionate doctor. We saw him as he is the international doctor that sees pt’s for egg donor consults and he took the time to explain the program to us. And he did follow up when our results for donor egg retrieval were much less than expected.

Ask more questions!

He only consulted prior to our donors egg retrieval. I was then transferred back to the care of my home clinic.

$60,000 Canadian

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His strength was he seemed very knowledgeable about the process. His weakness what that he should have told me before even explaining anything that i didn’t qualify. It’s like he wanted the copay money or something. They could have called and canceled me before getting my hopes up they had all my information and chose not to.

Find a doctor that is more sensitive to women going through infertility if you are in any way fragile. I was broken after my experience honestly.

We never even got this far sadly.

I wasn’t charged for anything other than the copay and the cost of the visit. The cost of the appointment was covered by my insurance so I don’t remember the cost and the copay was 40$

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Dr. Yazigi retired he was not heavily invested in my treatment. He was kind and friendly. He over prescribed tests that were already performed elsewhere. I had to go back to my obgyn for a second opinion of his diagnosis.

Do your research, you are your own best advocate.

$15k for one in vitro cycle. 25k for two in vitro cycles. $3000 for embryo testing.

Our initial consult with Dr. Sagoskin was the only time we saw him. He gave us a diagnosis of unexplained infertility and recommended an IUI treatment cycle for three months. I was hesitant and wanted to try timed intercourse with the fertility drugs first, which he agreed to. We ended up switching to his original IUI plan during the next cycle. We were told the consultation would take 30 minutes, but we probably were with him for 10 minutes.

My insurance (Kaiser) was able to adjust the below prices and covered 50% of my treatments, except the OB ultrasounds. SGF applied a self-pay discount for these. I got my fertility drugs from a combination of the Kaiser pharmacy and RARX pharmacy for about $100 each cycle; the latter was recommended by SGF. IUI: $360 OB ultrasound: $230 Regular transvaginal ultrasound: $215 Blood draws: $15 Blood tests: $65-90 Initial consult: $160

We had issues with communication and did not feel supported when we had to make serious decisions. It would be difficult to get a complete overview of the facts of my case from Dr. Nair. She always seemed too busy and in a rush to answer our questions. She would often describe my result in vague terms, and we had to push her to get actual numbers - for example what my fsh/amh levels were. When she advised that we were going to be withdrawn from the shared risk program she joked, “now you guys can take the money and go buy a boat!” She meant it to be a joke, but it was quite hurtful in the moment and revealed that she didn’t seem to be really in touch with the pain that we were going through.

Try to work with a different Dr.

We were told a fresh transfer was the best way to go, and at the time we didn’t have the knowledge to question this. We tried clomid and I “over responded” once leading to a cancelled IUI cycle. We next tried IVF and when I asked why we didn’t try clocks in conjunction with this, it was brushed off. I now understand this is done by other clinics, so I’m not sure why it was disregarded. For two cycles of IVF, I was on Lupron, Gonal, and Menopur.

IUIs: approximately $10,000 IVF cycles: approximately $40,00

Dr Moon was great for the initial consult and we came to her from a recommendation. We never saw her again. She was thorough and explained things fine, but she felt more like a salesperson given that she never performed any medical operations.

Don't bother with Shady Grove - they are terrible. The doctors don't really matter in the end, you only deal with the clinical and administrative staff.

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$19k for egg retrieval $8k for drugs $1,500 for required social work $1,000 for genetic counseling $3,000 for miscellaneous fees

She allowed multiple embryo transfer but advised us against it.

She was nice, but we only interacted with her twice during seven months of treatment, once at the consult, and once in a video appointment after our first few rounds of treatment failed. She was very optimistic, which when everything failed made us feel like the optimism was unrealistic.

Insist on a frank and realistic explanation of your chances of success.

We did seven Clomid cycles, adding Gonal F after the first few failed, but it did not help the number of follicles. In six of the cycles we did IUIs, all failed.

My insurance covered half of most costs. It added up to thousands of dollars out of pocket. Our treatment failed, but we’re still getting bills for $100 here and $130 there, and those will continue for months as they work through it with our insurance. The bills are depressing reminders of the failed treatment.

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 +/-)

Dr. Bromer quickly and easily established a rapport with my husband and I! He has a happy and genuine personality that keeps the mood positive during a very emotional time. We have been thankful for his straight forward and thorough professional oppinions. He tends to encourage couple's to slow down for optimal outcome rather than rushing to treatments that haven't been fully thought through. We love Dr. Bromer!

Take his word and trust him because he truly wants to see you and your spouse become parents it just may take time to come up with the best plan for you and your family!

We were referred to Dr. Shin (urologist) to further asses male factor complications. We worked thoroughly with Dr. Shin for almost 8 months . Dr. Bromer continued to keep up on our file and check in. We are about to begin IVF after egg retrieval and a male microdissection due to azoospermia, with donor sperm as a backup to insure IVF is completed. Dr. Bromer and Dr. Shin have worked phenomenally together and with us!

$1900 for shared risk program, $8,500 microdissection, $1200 varicocele repair, $120 clomid, $3,000 genetic testing for me and my spouse, $1000 for donor sperm, this doesn't include thousands for copays for consultations, follow-ups and blood work.

Dr. Katz seemed compassionate but also seemed over focused on the donor egg option. We felt he treated us only because we wanted to be treated and that he did so with a very pessimistic viewpoint. He didn't seem to want to spend time understanding our unique situation and adapting the treatment protocol accordingly. He seemed to rush from our first treatment into the second and the second option was just larger doses of the hormones rather than trying a different approach. Needless-to-say, we had to cancel the second cycle because my body didn't respond to the hormones.

Do a lot of research ahead of time so you can be your own advocate. Know that his clinic does not adapt or try a lot of new protocols so if the ones they use don't work for you, you most likely will need to go somewhere else.

My protocol started with birthcontrol (Nuvaring) for about 20 days, then we went on lupron for 10 days, followed by menapur (350) and follistim (250). After testing, he increased the follistim. The rationale was to stop the body, and then to try and ramp up egg production so that we could retrieve as many as possible. I only retrieved 5 eggs, 3 fertilized, and none made it beyond day 3.

Thankfully, we did have insurance coverage. However, even with it we paid $35 per visit, had a $200 initiation fee, and had to put down $1,200 before starting IVF. After one and a half cycles, we owed the clinic an additional $1,000. We had put down $3,500 to do genetic testing (which we never did). When we asked for it to be refunded, they said they had to wait until all of our bills were processed with our insurance company before they would release it. We still have not received it - making the total (with insurance) around $5,700 (so far - I do not know if we will receive more bills).

He would only transfer one embryo at a time. He said multiples was too much of a risk.

Dr. Timmerick didn't seem to care about us as patients and was always very rushed. Her responses were passive at every meeting, which was only two or three times during my 3 attempts at Timed Intercourse.

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.

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.

I had one office visit with Dr. S and one telephone visit. Each time, it ended with me in tears. It was mostly because of his lack of compassion...if you need that from your fertility doctor, you will not get that from him. My husband was ok with his bluntness and lack of bedside manner, but it just elevated my already sensitive feelings. He made me feel worse than what I was already feeling due to my problems with infertility. He is also quick to jump to IVF which was also a problem for me. He never gave me a diagnosis which also troubled me since he was so quick to “prescribe” IVF. I can’t say it was anything I liked about him because I only had 2 visits with him. And those 2 visits were not pleasant. Nurses and other doctors completed my IUIs and I’m only allowed to communicate with him through his nurse. The nurses are not much better and blow off my questions I asked about non-invasive treatment options.

Don’t look for compassion...he is very blunt. So if you need that compassion, you will not get it from him.

Dr. S ordered the “regular” initial treatments for us. Without having a diagnosis for our infertility. He suggested 3 rounds of IUI with Clomid. After the 1 failed IUI with Clomid, when I went for the 2nd IUI, I had developed cysts (detectable via ultrasound). He then advised I skip that cycle and try another IUI cycle the following month. Since I don’t have any fertility diagnosis, I didn’t want to keep taking Clomid since my body was not reacting positively to it, so I asked him if I could do an non-medicated IUI. He complied and I did a 2 and 3rd cycle of non-medicated IUIs. Both failed and the of course the next treatment option recommended is IVF. Instead of trying to figure out what our issue is or at least taking the time to rule out issues, IVF is suggested. I just think it would be wise to attempt to find our issue so the IVF has a chance of being successful. I realize someone couples have unexplained fertility, but that means due diligence was given to find a diagnosis. I’m so confused how they would continue treatment on me not ever attempting to see if they can find my issue.

My insurance paid 50% and I would have to pay the other 50% at the end of each visit.

Dr. Levens is soft spoken, but has a great bedside manner. He is not aggressive, so if you are looking for someone who will take a more proactive/aggressive approach, then he is not the doctor for you. He does explain things in great detail if you have any questions.

Since his methods are very much cookie cutter and slow/methodical... He is good for someone young and just starting out in the process. If you are older, I would suggest seeing a different doctor.

His approach is the typical cookie cutter approach from Shady Grove. Remember, you are just a number here.

IUI: $1,800; IUI with injectables: $2,400; IVF: $10,500; FET: $4,600

He is focused on getting one healthy baby at a time.

I didn't have a good experience with him. I felt I was just another candidate for failure due to my advanced age. I was not a good responder for the high hormone doses and I asked for a low hormone protocol that worked once but didn't result in a pregnancy, he ignored my request and kept doing the high hormone dose that didn't even result in 1 viable embryo. Very frustrating since this treatment costs a lot of money.

Go with your gut, if you don't like the protocol from start say something and if nothing is done to address it, change Drs.

She is ready for retirement, you can tell she is tired and ready for a break. She is the only doctor at the Fredericksburg location and the level of care shows that. Her nurses make up for it, but you won’t feel like a priority with her.

Do your homework. Know what you want from a treatment cycle and be prepared to push for what you want. Ultimately she only decides the course of treatment and you’ll rarely if ever see her after that.

Lowest dosage of all medications and we quickly had to shift to a higher dose over a weekend which led to a poor retrieval count.

Efficient. Check in, get a blood draw within minutes. There was usually a good 15min wait for the ultrasound but all in all you were there for maybe 30 minutes.

100% covered by insurance

From what I understand, there is no option. They only allow eset

She was fairly rude, dismissive, and seemingly uncaring. I did not find out until much later that it is a company policy that they do not treat overweight women (based solely on BMI). Not upfront with information.

Know that you are treated as a walking BMI, not a person.

I could not have treatment because I did not fall under their BMI limit.

Pending

Strengths are that she makes herself available to her patients. Weaknesses is that she doesn't review charts appropriately and has patients repeat the same tests multiple times. She also allows her personal bias to cross ethical boundaries. She essentially delayed my treatment because I refused to approve genetic testing. I am African-American they screen for sickle cell anemia at birth. She heard my husband say he has a history of it on his side of the family and took it upon herself to tell me she wouldn't select an embryo with sickle cell trait or sickle cell anemia for transfer. This is beyond medical advice and crossed into telling a client what they should and shouldn't do with their own embryos. At this point imaginary embryos that have not possibility of developing sickle cell anemia. I essentially was discarded to the side because I didn't sign a consent form for genetic testing.

Advocate for yourself.

Didn't make it this far. Dr. Li and her nurse gave me the runaround and then disappeared before the lab closed for quality assurance.

Initial workup was 2000 for the testing and repeated tests. Mostly covered by insurance. They quoted me 10000 for IVF.

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Dr levens was great. I wish we spoke more. When we did speak he was kind, helpful and full of answers to my million questions. But we only spoke before the process started. After that it’s onlu been 2 phone calls where he gave me results

Egg retrieval with genetic testing due to my many miscarriages

Thumbs up.easy In and out.

$6-$8k with insurance and genetic testing covered by participating with a study