Southern California Reproductive Center

Strength - supposedly one of the best clinics in LA. I have yet to get pregnant, so I can't attest to that just yet. Weaknesses - they take on WAY too many clients and I do feel like it's about money and seeing as many people as they can. People put up with this though because of their supposed high success rates. If you become a patient here, keep notes of every call, meeting, bloodwork appointment. There will be many conversations that are detailed, technical, and since SCRC is so busy, they also will forget some things you need to do. I have had to initiate appointments before, initiate bloodwork, and it would be nice to not have to think about those things myself. Ultimately this is your fertility journey so regardless of how attentive a doctor or clinic is, you should be the one in the drivers seat keeping track of everything. Create a spreadsheet!

The SCRC Clinic is always PACKED and the time you have scheduled with the doctors is timed down to the second. While you are with her, she is really nice, but you can tell that she has other patients to see. Phones will be ringing and she'll answer "on my way" or something similar during our appointment, so I don't really feel like I have time to even think about possible questions.

The nursing staff is great! I feel like because they know Dr. Alexander and other doctors at this clinic are so busy, a lot of the questions/feedback/discussions fall on the nurses. They were always very pleasant and sweet and I never felt rushed by them. The only complaint I have and this is about SCRC in general, nurses included, is they give you very little direction of what the next steps are. For example if you come in for an ultrasound and bloodwork, they will do the ultrasound and then say thanks have a good day, without telling you to do bloodwork next. I always have to go to the front desk to ask. Same if you go to do bloodwork first, I will then have to go to the desk to ask if there's anything else I need to do. The communication between each department is severely lacking.

Carolyn Alexander really does care about her patients, about that I have no doubt. I do think though that since the clinic overall is overloaded, it reduces her ability to spend quality time with patients. Communication with her is short, to the point, and over within a matter of minutes.

Expect her to be blunt, but kind. Don't expect to get a lot of her time and expect to need to call and follow up over and over. She is supposedly one of the best in the LA area, but it's very hard to get time with her so for some, that's not ideal. She did call me one time on a Sunday which was very nice of her, so she will contact you outside of business hours, but the call with be to the point and not a second wasted before she's saying bye.

I did two medicated IUI's back to back. I was put on letrozole with a trigger shot to induce ovulation, then progesterone suppositories during my luteal phase. I'm happy with the treatment used in the IUI, my only point of upset is my progesterone was never tested, neither before the IUI's nor during or after, and months later we found out my body wasn't responding to that progesterone dose. Had they tested my progesterone we could've found that out way earlier. I did not get pregnant with either IUI.

The IUI's were roughly $800 and ultrasounds were $250. Bloodwork was in the few hundreds as well and each ultrasound and bloodwork were done multiple times a month each month. A consultation appointment with Dr. Alexander was $200 just to say "yes" we are doing IVF even though we were already decided and told the clinic we were decided. We have spent roughly $3,000 for two IUI's and no pregnancies.

We had our consultation for IVF this week so this is the only experience and insight I have on her approach. She shared that after retrieving the eggs, after doing genetic testing, after seeing how many make it to the 5-day stage etc. then we would need to decide if we want to implant one or two embryos. There were no further comments, but it did seem like it was an option she would openly discuss when that time comes.

The strengths of the clinic are the administrators, Sam and Aileen. They are both great and super helpful, kind, and caring. They also are a one stop shop, with storage, ultrasounds, and procedures (IUI at least) all done in house. Weaknesses are definitely COMMUNICATION (never got appointment confirmations unless I asked, if they can't answer the phone you get the LA office answering service, people don't call you back).

I didn't see Dr. Rychlik for the majority of the appointments, and when I did it was basically him googling things to show us on the computer.

My initial nurse was absolutely awful to me. There was no communication, prescription orders were not made in time for my first IUI cycle, she called in sick for 2 out of 2 of the appointments during my first cycle, and she never called / emailed / talked to me in person to apologize. When I finally did get ahold of her, she was cold, rude, and refused to acknowledge how I was treated. It was awful, stressful, and gave me a really terrible first impression of a process that is already difficult.

Aside from the M.D. on his business card, it wasn't very clear to me how good / not good he is at his job. I barely saw him, which is fine if I didn't need to see him, but I felt like if I had questions about next steps they had to go through the clinic which can always mean things get lost in translation.

Be ready to do your own research.

I'm honestly not sure if he properly read my charts and tests. At first he thought my tests would be "lower" but when he got the results and read them to me on the phone he said everything was "good", but I didn't really know what that meant. There wasn't really a strategy, at least not one that was explained to me or my wife.

approximately $1,200 per IUI cycle

N/A

SCRC is a wonderful clinic, a literal one stop shop. They have their own surgery center, cryo lab, embryologists, phlebotomists, etc. They typically run on time (as long as you are on time), my typical wait time was no more than 15 minutes. Everything is bright and clean, exactly what you would envision a BH fertility clinic to be! Parking is ample and all around, however I do not recommend using the lot connected to the building unless you want to spend even more money on top of your expensive fertility treatments! Make sure you don't wear any fragrances or colognes as us ladies are sensitive to smells when on medications, but more importantly fragrance can damage embryos.

I definitely feel as though I am treated much more like a human rather than a number. The front desk staff, nurses, ultrasound technicians, phlebotomists and lab techs do a great job at establishing relationships with you. They always call you by name, typically recall conversations you have had previously, and are genuinely excited for you when you reach a new milestone.

Sometimes the nurses were wonderful, they were knowledgable and compassionate, and sometimes it was the exact opposite, it all depended on who was responding to you that day! Same thing with response time, sometimes it was immediate and sometimes it was much longer. The nurses I correspond with I rarely if ever interact with in the office so it is difficult to establish a relationship.

Dr Alexander is a wonderful doctor and person, she is very compassionate and caring, I just wish she was more aggressive. I am on the older side for fertility treatment and I went in ready to go full force ahead, however she has more of the wait and see approach. She is very knowledgable and positive, and has a wonderful bedside manner.

Go in with a list of questions, be ready to ask why/why not, and push for what you want. You are your best advocate when it comes to your treatment plan, fight for what is right for you.

IUI 1: Letrozole, trigger shot & Progesterone suppositories, switched from Clomid as my family has a history of breast cancer. Negative pregnancy test. IUI 2: Letrozole, Gonal F, trigger shot, & Progesterone suppositories - Added Gonal F to make more follicles. Negative pregnancy test. HSG IUI 3: Gonal F, Dexamethasone, trigger shot, Progesterone suppositories, 2 Sperm donor vials 24 hours apart. - Added dexamethasone for inflammation, and a second vial of sperm (one at 12 hours post trigger, second at 36 hours post trigger). Negative pregnancy test. IUI 4: Gonal F, trigger shot, Progesterone suppositories, 2 Sperm donor vials 24 hours apart. First time having symptoms but they went away after 3 days, negative pregnancy test. Implantation Blood Panel IVF Egg Retrieval: Birth control pills, Lupron, Ganarelex, Cetrotide, Gonal F, Follistim, Omnitrope, Dexamethasone, Menopur, Trigger shot. I also added Co-Q10 & DHEA to my vitamins. 29 follicles retrieved, 11 made it to day 5, 6 were cleared via genetic testing. FET 1: Lupron, Birth control pill, baby aspirin, Estrace, Progesterone in Oil, Endometrin.

When I had insurance (I was laid off in the middle of my retrieval cycle), all of my appointments were covered with my $30 copay, plus $70 lab fee for each IUI, plus $1,000 per sperm vial. My total cost for the 4 IUIs under Dr Alexander was $8700. IVF retrieval cycle: $15,400 + $6000 for medication= $21,400 FET 1: $3780 + $1500 for medication= $5280 ERA: $2785 Grand total: $38,165

No opinion.

While they seem to use cutting edge technology, state of the art equipment and have a lovely office space I feel that they were almost always overbooked and the personal I knew personally was the ultra sound tech.

Even thought the nurses and Dr. Ghadir were up to date with my information and progress when we spoke it felt they were reading chart. The office was always very busy and things felt rushed - there would have been no time to actually cultivate a relationship.

There were two nurses that I worked with via email, but I don't feel like I really ever saw them. The person I connected most with was the ultra sound technician -- she was great!

Dr. Ghadir was very kind and easy to talk to when we were meeting - although he often seemed rushed and sometimes pushy. At first he seemed cautious and then once we had success with freezing healthy embryos he became very positive. His positive attitude is what made us feel confident to move forward but then we did not have success we felt tricked.

I would advise people to be weary of his positive attitude, to take it with a grain of salt.

Dr. Ghadir suggested I see a rheumatologist as that is what he thought was the cause of my miscarriages. If were to try again, even without Dr. Ghadir I would continue to see my rheumatolgist -- he put me on several meds including a blood thinner shot.

This is was the best of the experience. The early AM (6:30) appts saved me. If I was the first client to arrive I could be out in 15 min and not be late to work!

Towards the end of treatment Dr Ghadir started to take my insurance -- most was not covered but it did make a small difference. We spent approx. $40,000.

I asked for multiple transfer and it did not come back positive test, moving forward Dr. Ghadir said he would only do single.

It's a well organized office that has a streamlined process that seems to work. It can get really busy there because there are many doctors. In terms of getting an appointment with the doctor I can usually get one same week and it's really easy, even my first consultation ever!

She calls sometimes with results after scans but she is also very busy so can't always spend a lot of time talking or answering questions. When she does speak to me about tough news she does actually spend time talking to me and she seems to really care even though you know she has to deliver bad news to people quite often in this field.

There are 2 nurses on Dr. Alexander's staff and they were very very nice and always got right back to me via email or call whenever I had questions. When I had the MCs they were extremely nice compassionate and kind and knew exactly what to say to me to make me feel as comforted as I could without being too abrasive or anything. They got 2 new nurses since I started treatment again after my break and they are just as sweet.

Dr. Alexander is a very kind and insightful doctor who I have been seeing for much longer than either of us thought (not her fault). I have done 2 IUIs that ended in mc and 2 that have failed and I'm currently on my 5th. I ended up taking a 6 month break after my 2nd mc due to waiting for blood test results that needed time in between for accurate diagnosis. Luckily Dr. Alexander allowed me to do these tests after only 2 MCs (instead 3 which is typical RPL). Thank God she let me because turns out I have MTHFR Gene mutation and a blood clotting disorder which means I need to do blood thinning injections once I'm pregnant. I wouldn't have known any of this if Dr. Alexander didn't take the time to speak with me and let me know my options prior to potentially going through another miscarriage! Sometimes you need to ask her as many questions as you can or she won't really give you the information right up front so I've learned to ask exactly what I want to know from her and then she'll tell me. Also at the clinic there are many other doctors and she is the only one I ever see walking though the halls and she always stops by her patients just to ask how they are doing and how they are feeling. Overall I'm glad I have her as my doctor going into my second year of fertility treatment.

Always ask her your specific questions if you are confused or didnt get all the info you wanted. Sometimes she can be very vague but once you ask she'll answer & clarify.

She had me do 5 days of letrozole and none of my follicles grew. So she had me wait a couple days and then start gonal f injections. I quickly had a big follicle after only 3 days so then I did trigger shot and IUI a day later. It got me pregnant (ended in mc) so the next cycle she had me mimic it and I got pregnant again (mc) then I took a break. The last 2 IUIs I did we're the same exact protocol but they didn't work. This one I wanted to do higher dose of gonal f but she's worried I'll produce too many mature follicles. So we'll see what this one's outcome is. When you go in for scans there is a tech who does it and then she or the nurses will call you after with instructions of what to do next. They also email so it's a pretty easy streamlined process.

I have fertility insurance through my husband's work so they bill insurance but cost out of pocket seems to be pretty general.

The clinic is busy, there are two sign in sheets - one for appointments and one for blood work. Most of the time I wasn’t sure if I needed to do blood work or not and I’d just sign in on the regular sheet, then 45 minutes later after waiting, I was told to sign in on the blood test sheet... I’m not sure how I would know if no one told me I’d be doing a blood test. Since it was my firstborn RE experience I may have been a newbie, but I also feel like every new patient should be talked through the process. The billing process was easy and they were nice to deal with, although we were paying out of pocket, so not sure about insurance being involved.

The office is jam packed, waiting room is crazy filled with people and half the time you aren’t even sure if you’re being called for blood or what. Even the nurses might ask what you’re waiting for.

The nursing staff was good, but seemed overwhelmed sometimes. It almost felt like they were the doctors while they did the ultrasound and then when they called with the prescriptions advising you on dosage, etc. They were sweet and answered most questions, but were a bit short with their answers.

Dr. Alexander was super thorough and easy to talk to, when we were able to see her. My husband initially went in just for a semen analysis (referred by my OBGYN) and we were able to do a consultation once his results were in.. he had a 1% morph. She went through some basic questions with us and she explained our options (IUI, IVF, etc). We didn’t make a decision and she called me a couple weeks later to check in, I was midway through my cycle like day 12 and she said we should try an IUI, she prescribed me injections and they were delivered to my house... Never did any testing before or an ultrasound... Strange now in hindsight, but I had no clue standard procedure. I’m sure she just wanted to give my follicles an extra oomph. I went in after the injections for an ultrasound, but never saw Dr. Alexander for those, only a nurse and Dr. Alexander would call me after with her take on my follies + a plan. Eventually we did the trigger and scheduled an IUI 36 hours after. The IUI process was with her and she was great through it, although only saw her for the insemination. She prescribed progesterone and sent me on my way. I started my period and came in for an ultrasound with a nurse and the nurse mentioned it looked like I might have cysts. Dr. Alexander called me after and said she thought they were follicles that were big and I was going to ovulate any day... it was CD3 and I wasn’t on any medication, I normally ovulate on CD16... I got a weird feeling and decided not to continue with her and the office, it felt like my care wasn’t being considered and they were using a one size fits all procedure. Dr. Alexander was a cheerleader through the process and genuinely wants you to get pregnant, but it seems like she sees too many patients and can’t give them individualized care.

She is genuinely sweet and means every word she says to you, she’s extremely hopeful... But make sure to ask a lot of questions and be your own advocate through the process if something doesn’t feel right.

We did Gonal-F injections 75IU CD12-14, an HCG shot on CD15 and an IUI on CD17. Started progesterone suppositories CD19 at night til period started on CD28

I can’t remember fully, but I know the ultrasound and office visits were more expensive than my current RE... I want to say it was $190 per visit for a standard ultrasound and the IUI was around $500.

A strength would be that it is in Ventura. That is the only strength I can think of. The office unusually warm in the waiting room, which made the visit all the more nerve wracking to start. I had a horrible experience with the doctor, and an acquaintance from when I was young had a similar experience with the clinic.

Dr. Rychlik treated me like a number. He told me on the first consultation that I would need IVF, and that he didn't want to try any other treatment. He did not order an HSG test for me, because he said he didn't even care. Dr. Rychlik was going to order, but had not even seen the results of my husband's semen analysis. The reason for this is that he said that my egg reserve was low. He told me this just on the basis of an ultrasound, no additional testing. It seemed all about the money.

When I first set up my appointment, the nurses were friendly. At the appointment, they were very neutral, and had very little interaction. When I asked for my medical files, because I wanted to see someone else, they were hard to deal with. I was told I couldn't have my medical records until I saw the doctor again, the eventually changed their story when I said that I had a right to my own medical records. I was never able to get them, but my new doctor was able to do so.

Dr. Rychlik made me feel like I was not intelligent, and that I was going to be emotional. After telling me on the first visit that I would need IVF, he said to me "you probably stopped listening already" and then he indicated the he would start directing the conversation to my husband. I was not crying and was paying complete attention. My husband is actually the type to have his mind start spinning, and stop paying attention. Dr. Rychlik was googling images to show me, he had nothing prepared as a presentation. He said multiple time, "that's not the picture I want. There's a graph I really like." He was not prepared. Dr. Rychlik gave me a treatment plan, IVF, after just one visit, without an HSG test, and without a semen analysis. After now seeing a different doctor and talking with a family friend who is an OBGYN, I know this is a crazy plan after just one visit.

Please do not see him.

We did not get to begin a cycle, because I was unsatisfied with his diagnosis after only an ultrasound. I did not trust him and I believe he just wanted my money.

I provided my insurance information before the appointment because they told me that they needed do talk to my insurance before the appointment. Then when I went then still didn't know if my insurance would cover the ultrasound. The Dr. called the nurse in to get me to approve the cost of the ultrasound in case my insurance wouldn't cover it. I did not end up paying because my insurance did cover it. I only went to that one appointment, so I had no other costs.

N/A

The weaknesses would be the communication. I feel like the financial person could do a better job reviewing costs. I also think the staff can do a better job communicating what will happen next. I thin kthey might assume that everyone knows the drill. This is still very foreign to me.

Because he actually knew what was going on, my chart, whetehr he looked at it right before he saw me or not I dont know. But Ive been to a doctor that had no clue what was going on or that i was even a patient.

She was very helpful. She was my point of contact for most things. Very responsive and knowledgable.

He was always very nice. Funny. Explained things when I needed. Kept me up to date on what was going on. I don't like to stress so a doctor with a sense of humor can definitely lighten the mood. I am also not the type of patient to ask a ton of questions as I put my trust in the doctor and know that this is their specialty and not mine. This is my second fertility clinic and I'm under the impression that none of them hold your hand through anything really because they have way too many patients. With that said If I needed something or had a question I would just email my nurse.

Be ready to laugh.

I dont know that their was necessarily a strategy. I am under the impression that this protocol is for everyone and not just me. So Iwouldnt say I feel special or anything. 225 of Menopur, 225 of gonal f. Take prenatal, COQ10 and DHEA.

So far Ive spent almost 18k but medications are very expensive

We havent discussed

Clinic is clean, modern, sophisticated. The hours are good and open early enough so that I could get my blood drawn before heading to work. In the early part of process, I think they could improve on how they reach out to a new prospective client as I felt like I had to initially chase the answers/information.

Dr. Chang made me and my partner feel welcomed from the beginning. She was thorough and delicate in explaining our treatment plan, reading of lab results and clear with next steps. She made us feel very calm and confident even with such overwhelming and technical information.

Nurses have thus far been able to answer questions that I have either via email or phone. At times, I might have to call back to get a more timely answer, but overall they have been responsive. When communicating, they appear warm, friendly and helpful. One suggestion would be for them to introduce themselves so that I could get to know their names as I know I'll be working with them more closely over the next few months.

Dr. Chang has been thorough in explaining information to us. She appears like she cares and wants to optimize our chances of getting pregnant. She communicates in a clear manner, often speaking slowly and calmly, which is appreciated given the technicalities of IVF.

I have not completed a full cycle yet, but Dr. Chang is currently preparing for IVF and has suggested a number of supplements to optimize our health. We've gone through many pre-tests and ultrasounds that have helped her give her a baseline of our health. I appreciate her having us take our time to improve our chances instead of rushing into the procedure.

Genetic screening, consultation office visits, ultrasounds, cycle day 2 labs, supplements

It's like a factory. The waiting room is bustling sometimes beyond what's tolerable. There are t.v.s to watch in the waiting room. It's almost impossible to get anyone to answer the phone or call you back. The financial department is not helpful and was absent the entire time (there were mistakes.) . The lab techs are very nice and on it.

Dr. Alexander was compassionate and caring to a fault. This was just what we needed in the beginning but as things went wrong this actually made the process more difficult because she had strong feelings which were sometimes hard to deal with. The nurses were compassionate when I saw them and always knew my name and had a positive and caring attitude no matter what was happening.

The nurses were great in person. All of them were warm and knowledgable. They were sometimes hard to get a hold of and I would have to follow up on medications because occasionally something slipped between the cracks.

We started doing IVF for male factor (1 % morphology) after I had two chemical pregnancies. Dr. Alexander was extremely compassionate and thorough with testing before we started a cycle. She was confident I would get pregnant as everything on my side looked amazing. Our egg retrieval went great, with 4 PGS normal embryos. Our first transfer was delayed because she found polyps and I was scheduled for a hysteroscopy to remove them. While under she found a uterine septum and removed that as well. Then I tested slightly positive for irregular uterine cells and did a course of antibiotics. We finally started our transfer cycle only to be cancelled because my lining wasn't responding to the meds properly. We started again with a different type of estrogen priming and went ahead with our first transfer which resulted in a pregnancy. Dr. Alexander was more excited than me, as I was cautiously optimistic because I knew one beta test is not the whole picture. Our second beta came back lower than they would have liked and we did a third one which was normal. After this we waited to do an ultrasound at which point things did not look good. I was told this news during the ultrasound which was very upsetting. We had to go back several times to keep watching and I eventually started to miscarry and took drugs to help it along. Transfer 2 failed, which was shocking to everyone. We met with Dr. Alexander and she suggested an ERA and seeing a hematologist, which didn't make total sense to me. I said, why don't we do one more transfer before we do all that and she suggested another hysteroscopy before a transfer and the plan was to do a third transfer before she left for the holidays. We did the hysteroscopy where she removed a small piece of tissue but everything else looked great. We then found out that we wouldn't have time to do the transfer we talked about doing so I suggested doing the ERA while we were waiting for her to get back. We started a mock cycle on their "standard protocol" which did not work at all for me on any level. It was the same hormone protocol as the first cancelled transfer... I expressed concerns about this not working and was told it would be fine. When my lining didn't respond and this cycle was cancelled, I felt like Dr. Alexander started to lose confidence. She said the ERA was no longer necessary as she "didn't want to be chasing her tail around trying to get a good lining." It was disconcerting being told we needed a test and then a week later we didn't. She suggested trying a natural cycle which I started and when she discovered fluid in my uterus (which I believe was there from the cancelled cycle before) we were brought into her office and mid-cycle suggested surrogacy in a very odd way. Asking if I knew anyone who I would want to be my surrogate and saying she wished she could be mine. My husband and I were no where near ready for that conversation and it was very strange to have it brought up in the middle of an FET cycle. The fluid was aspirated, I had a second HSG with her associate (who called me a conundrum during that procedure) and she recommended going ahead with the third transfer. That one failed and we decided to get a second opinion at that point.

Be ready to be in the driver's seat of your fertility journey whether it's following up for results, getting medications called in and doing your research. Dr. Alexander is smart but there were things that were missed along the way and I wish we were given a more realistic idea of what to expect with the entire process.

Egg retrieval was pretty typical. FET changed from estrogen pills to many patches and Viagra, lovenox, steroids and lots of natural supplements and PIO and endometrin when it was time. Final FET was natural (waiting for me to ovulate) with a little patch support and endometrin/PIO shots, lovenox and steroids.

I think a retrieval cycle was listed as a little over $20k but once you add tests and meds its more like $30k. We spent close to $7k for everything for each transfer.

She went back and forth about whether or not to transfer one or two but ultimately agreed with our decision to transfer one at a time... she felt strongly about me not carrying twins for health reasons.

The clinic is overwhelming, somewhat disorganized and you can you expect long wait times. We were really frustrated by the lack of communication between departments and sometimes had to follow-up multiple times to get an answer to even simple questions. If it wasn't for Dr. Chang and our amazing nurse, we would have likely gone to a different practice after the first round.

Incredible bedside manner, very detail oriented, extremely caring and compassionate.

the primary nurse was excellent and so were the techs. However, some of the other nurses we worked with were really negligent and had a hard time communicating policy/procedure. We felt fortunate to have the primary nurse that we did (Kimberly) because she was outstanding and really supported us throughout the process.

She genuinely cares about her patients and will do anything within her ability to help you achieve your desired outcome. She pays close attention to detail and is very articulate. She will explain things as many times a you need to hear them, and give you her undivided attention.

Invest in the consult and make sure her style/approach is right for you. Because her practice has one of the best labs in the country, we decided to move forward with her office. We were told the labs were the most important part of the process, but she is also an extremely competent and supportive doctor which you don't always find in this profession.

Since we went through 3 rounds, she did try a variety of medications and approaches. She paid really close attention to my wife's response and made adjustments if/when necessary. The first round was a high dose of meds to which my wife did not respond well to. The next round, she tried a much lower dose and we were able to create one embryo even though we did not retrieve as my eggs. The final round she tried the same process and we got 8 eggs, but unfortunately no embryos. Our situation was a bit unique though because both my wife and I have fertility issues, so our chances of making an embryo together we are finding is pretty low.

About $40K for a two cycle package without the meds. The package included everything necessary to complete the cycle (blood work, ultrasounds, surgery center fees etc..)

She recommended a single embryo transfer for us, because of the inherit risk of having twins.

Again, I did not expect to receive amazing personal care going in to SCRC, given it is a popular/busy office and I had heard other feedback that it is a somewhat business-like environment. I adored my friendly and competent phlebotomists, and the ultrasound technicians were also great! As mentioned, it is very hard to get a hold of anyone over the phone. I made all of my next appointments in person. And my favorite part was the office flexibility and efficiency. They had early morning appointments available, and I could get in and out without having to take time away from work. This was convenient and appreciated.

I admit, I did not expect to receive amazing personal care going in to SCRC. I had always been happy with my interactions with the doctors and liked the office when I visited, but I knew it was a popular/busy office and I had heard other feedback that it is a somewhat business-like environment. Dr. Danzer was kind and personable, but I had very little interaction with him. I also feel that my protocol and care was standardized, not personalized. I loved the phlebotomists and the ultrasound technicians! As for Dr. Danzer's nurses, I feel a bit conflicted. They were warm enough, but they made several errors I had to catch and it was somewhat difficult to get a hold of anyone in the office. I will say, I loved the office flexibility and efficiency. They had early morning appointments available, and I could get in and out without having to take time away from work. This was convenient and appreciated.

As I mentioned, I feel a bit conflicted about Dr. Danzer's nurses. They were warm enough, and I appreciated their timely email responses. But they made several MAJOR errors I had to catch, once with my calendar and another with calling in the correct dosage of meds to my pharmacy. I have heard many other women complain about this same issue. I'm not sure how there have not been more serious consequences for some of the mistakes. I will say, they were always present and available to speak with me at my appointment times. Initially, it was hard to get a hold of them when outside of the office. But then I built a good relationship with one of the nurses, and I think that made a difference.

As I mentioned, Dr. Danzer was kind and personable, but I had very little interaction with him. I also feel that my protocol and care was standardized, not personalized. I did have great trust in Dr. Danzer, that he knew what he was doing (his history and notariety speak for themselves) and that he would obtain the best results he could for us. I was okay with a more straight-forward approach, the results were more important to me than bedside manner. However, I would have liked a bit more personal experience and reflection on our specific case.

Definitely advocate for yourself, especially with his support staff. And I would try to build as much of a relationship with Dr. Danzer as possible early on. Try to get in front of him, when you can. A couple of times, I had to request to meet with him personally, which was arranged. I think that is helpful. Also, find one friend within his team - that helped us immensely.

Dr. Danzer used a standardized protocol - birth control pills, followed by an antagonist approach of Gonal F (primary) and Menopur (secondary), with Cetrotide and trigger at time of egg retrieval. We have not moved on to the transfer cycle with him yet, so not sure of his protocol there. I felt pretty fine on the medication. The staff met with me for instruction, and offered a helpful website with videos. Because of my age, he did hit me with higher dosages. I was unsure of this, at the time, but now feel that might have been the right way to go. I ended up having to be on the meds for two extra days, for response growth. I came in for ultrasounds and blood draws every other morning. My egg retrieval went smoothly, however I did end up having slight OHSS about one week later. It cleared up the following week. We were happy with our results at first, then a bit disappointed. Retrieved 20, but less than half fertilized. We did send most off for genetic screening, but the majority were abnormal. Dr. Danzer did offer good education on our results, which I appreciated.

This was definitely not an inexpensive clinic, but I knew that going in. We were paying for the best. Both Dr. Danzer and the clinic/lab have stellar scores, no question. I was happy with the fact that the clinic did try to find us savings, where possible. I don't know that I would go so far as to say they worked with our budget, but they did try to get us some discounts.

We have not embarked on this part of the process just yet. I believe Dr. Danzer does recommend eSET, which I feel comfortable doing.

I haven't been there often yet, but i like how friendly it is and you feel very comfortable there, even in the waiting area and you don't wait a long time until you see your Dr. Its also very clean and you don't feel like you have to worry about catching anything in their bathrooms, either

I feel like a human, because Dr. Ghadir and his team are the first ones to actually listen to me and my concerns. They ask me if i have questions and if i do, they take the time to answer them. I have never received any fertility medication in eight years. I gave up when doctors simply just told me i couldn't get pregnant and Dr. Ghadir told me there is no way that anyone could predict that type of outcome without doing several tests. We have just started with Dr. Ghadir, so we haven't done any meds or anything yet, but when i met them in person, i actually, for the first time in 8 years, felt hopeful that we could have a child in the future and if it's in my cards, i will be a loyal patient to him and his team until the end.

The care coordinator takes all the time she has to make you feel comfortable. The only thing i was not happy about was the fact that i tried to get a hold of her one time and didn't get a call back until almost a week later, but when she explained that she fell behind with calling patients back, because she was unable to answer the phone as she was helping patients in person, i definitely understood. She is super nice and caring and you don't feel like just another person that cannot afford IVF. She really cares about you, your journey and your feelings. If you ever have trouble reaching her, write her an e-mail instead, she will be more available through that outlet. If you have issues at all with the communication, i found that approaching it was the best thing i could have done. Getting those awkward assumptions right out of the way. Maria, the nurse is also very nice, but i have not had as much contact with her just yet. She always responds to e-mails promptly and if she is near the phone she answers it quickly. I am actually excited to go the route with them, because i feel well taken care of.

Dr. Ghadir is a very friendly and encouraging fertility specialist that is realistic at the same time. He doesn't waste my time with treatments that may or may not work and suggests to go the route with the best possible outcome. I have not noticed any weaknesses up to this point.

Call the clinic before you schedule an appointment, ask for Ari and ask all questions you have. She may or may not have the answers, but the more answers you get before your consultation, the more time you have to understand the details the Dr. will be providing you with. Due to the location, leave a bit earlier than usual, the roads can be very congested and you may not find parking right away. You don't want to be late, but if you are, call into the office and let them know. They are very understanding. IVF is expensive, so make sure you ask about alternative possibilities that the Dr. can help you with.

Because we need authorizations before any and all services, we weren't able to do many tests, but we were able to do genetic testing and they made sure that our insurance was going to cover it before they did anything. They explained to us what cost was going to be expected and then sent a bill in the mail that we paid off very easily right away. It was $30 for drawing blood.

Clinic is great and the surgery center is next to the clinic. Everyone was helpful and friendly. I loved the ultrasound techs and lab techs. So gentle and kind. They had early hours which were really helpful since I was working full time throughout treatment and this allowed me to attend work without interruptions for monitoring appointments.

Sometimes had trouble reaching his nursing team but Dr. Danzer was always available when needed to discuss treatment plans, progress, results, next steps

The nursing staff often made mistakes to my instructions and were hard to get in touch with. Some of the nurses were great and some were not. I had to be a squeaky wheel to get their attention.

He is very knowledgeable and changes course as needed based on your response to treatment. I trusted him and felt I was getting the treatment I was expecting. I felt like he knew my case and paid attention to me beyond just the standard protocol. He also was straight forward with me regarding my options and treatment plan. He consulted other doctors in the clinic as well to get their opinions on my treatment.

Have trust in your doctor but be your own self advocate.

For retrievals I did birth control followed by menopur and follistim and added ganirelix part way through. I used an hcg trigger my first retrieval and a lupron trigger for my second retrieval. I did a transfer with birth control, Medrol, estrace, pio injections, and progesterone suppositories. I did the same for the ERA. We changed the injection time for pio for the second transfer to be exact based on the ERA.

My doctor preferred to transfer one embryo especially since they were pgd and pgs tested and we did not want to risk multiples so we selected a single embryo for each transfer.

There are 2 different offices on the floor exiting the elevator I was a bit confused. It’s an open concept. That’s about it, front office staff is nice, helpful and willing to answer basic questions and info

My husband and I are really early in the whole process of IVF. We have been trying for almost 4 years. After our primary doctors lead us down the wrong paths I decided to reach out to SCRC in Beverly Hills. First visit Dr. Akopian and her nurse Julia were so warm and explained every detail to me. Dr. Akopian and I sat for over and hour and never in that time did I feel she was rushing through the conversation. She gave me a run down of our options ( at that point ) drew illustrations for me to better understand and made me feel hopeful again.Her Nurse Julia is a total sweetheart and kept up with my weekly to make sure I was getting the proper care for my husband who was seeing the wrong Urologist for 2 years (Recommended by his primary for fertility), Dr. Akopian and Julia (RN) also helped us find him a proper urologist who specializes in fertility for men( whom my husband fell in love with after the first visit). The office staff is genuine and nice as well. I been bragging about this office since I first stepped into it. 5 stars all around!

Julia is such the sweetest nurse I have come across. She was so warm, friendly and on top of everything. She was the first one I came in contact, she could tell I was nervous ( I was alone) she walked me through a bit, made sure I was comfortable. By the time Dr. Akopian came in she and I were joking about something none related which helped me to relax

She is genuinely warm and compassionate. She explains everything in great detail. She personally called me to give me my results after each test I have had up to date ( US readings, Blood test, Genetics, etc) I never had to chase her down or wait long for my results, Dr. Akopian was on top of it.

Don’t be afraid to ask questions. She has answers and is more then willing to educate.

N/A

I personally paid out of pocket. Insurance covers some portions. A financial advisor is present to assist in the payment options

This clinic was highly recommend to me by a friend. The fact that I had a positive experience to go by influenced my decision to go there. The only drawback was that the clinic was not in network with our health insurance provider. Their prices were much higher than quoted elsewhere, but the level of care was excellent.

I first saw Dr. Wendy Chang when I was in a delicate state... I’d tested positively, then negatively but didn’t have the usual miscarriage symptoms. I just wanted to know what had happened and why. She took a lot of time and care to go over my previous (abroad) medical history and helped me to understand the possible causes for my pregnancy losses. She went ahead and did an ultrasound and confirmed that I was no longer pregnant, making sure I was ok and could cope with the diagnosis. We discussed immune protocols and the way forward. She gave me hope but also backed up her medical advice with hard facts about my condition. She is such a caring individual, and willing to go the distance to help out. I can’t recommend her enough.

Kind and attentive

Dr. Chang’s strengths can be summed up as compassion, communication, and expertise. She won my trust and I am so grateful she was able to add another piece to the fertility puzzle by performing my ERA and helping me understand the clinical facts behind the immune protocol best suited for me. The only drawback is that she is in Southern California and I’ve moved to Northern California, so I can no longer continue treatments with her.

Take the time to read “Is my body baby friendly” before seeing Dr. Chang. She is extremely knowledgeable and open minded regarding reproductive Immunology.

I had several ultrasounds to examine my uterine health. Dr. Chang also evaluated my hormonal health including my thyroid which no other RE had ever bothered to look at. She did my ERA and the results showed that my uterus is pre-receptive by 1 day. This means that all my previous embryo transfers were done outside my receptivity window. Because we need donor sperm due to MF, and it was determined that we would also need a donor egg, Dr. Chang recommended that I seek out IVF with a donated embryo. Her clinic doesn’t provide this service but she went the extra mile to recommend resources.

The costs were from consultations, lab and diagnostic methods, plus an on office surgical procedure. I was billed immediately after each visit and was able to pay by credit card.

In my case, I have a long history of implantation failure. Dr. Chang explained the risks and statistics behind both choices to me in a clear way, and advised me according to my diagnosis.

The clinic has one of the best labs in the country, and Dr. Barat who overseees the lab is brilliant and very likeable. Knowing the quality of the lab is what influenced our decision to move forward with SCRC. However, the office is very unorganized and very crowded. We found ourselves very frustrated by chaos that we often experienced when waiting to see the doctor, getting instructions or receiving test results. There was a lot of miscommunication and inconsistency in the detail we received which often made us question the quality of care we were getting. We stuck it out because we really loved Dr. Chang but for a clinic that costs as much as they charge, they really need to work on they improving their general operations.

Dr Chang is very sensitive and compassionate, she is extremely thorough and genuinely cares about her patients.

Kimberly was amazing, so sweet and overly accommodating/helpful. She was very responsive and on top of of everything. Ashley and Jessica were terrible so after multiple complaints, we requested to work exclusively with Kimberly.

Dr Chang is a very effective communicator and really takes the time to make sure that all of your questions are answered. She’s extremely knowledgeable and does a lot of additional testing to make sure no stone is left unturned. I always felt 100% comfortable under her care. That being said, after 3 rounds of egg retrieval we only created one embryo. Obviously this was not the result we were hoping for but both my husband and I have fertility issues, so I’m not sure if the outcome can be attributed to her treatment plan. We are now in the midst of getting a second opinion and intend to go through another round with a different doctor to see if we can achieve a better outcome.

Interview multiple clinics to make sure that the approach and methodology is right for you. There are a lot of highly qualified doctors in Los Angeles, and depending on the circumstance there could be specific doctors better suited for your needs. I’m not sure if we made the right choice because we ended going with the first doctor we spoke with, since we felt very comfortable and confident in her approach during our first meeting. Flash forward 3 Years, we are now in the process of getting a second and third opinion because we did not get the outcome we were hoping for. Also, her fees are very expensive and there are many great doctors that charge significantly less.

She started out with a really high dose of injections during the first round to which I did not respond well to. I was on the meds for an extended period of time since my eggs weren’t growing, and they almost canceled my stim. They were able to retrieve 6 mature eggs but none of them fertilized. The next round she put me on a much lower dose of injections and I got 5 eggs but was on a shorter stim cycle and was able to make one embryo. The last round she used the same protocol, I got 8 eggs but none of them fertilized. I also tried to fertilize 4 of the eggs with donor sperm to see if we could improve our chances (since my husband has poor sperm quality) but that didn’t seem to work either.

We did the 2-cycle package which cost about $40k for everything excluding meds

For my age (34), she recommended a single since the odds of it taking are between 65-70%. She mentioned for older patients she would be more inclined to transfer 2.

We used two different doctors for our two cycles, and you have to adjust to the frantic, "conveyor-belt" office visits. Dr. Chang's office was very busy and runs like a superstore compared to visits to your general physician. However, they were very efficient, and nice. So not necessarily a negative, but still an adjustment.

During in office appointments with Dr Chang, we received 100% of her attention.

Dr. Chang, was very knowledgeable, and took the time to fully access our specific situation, explain the IVF process, risks, and likely results. Going through IVF requires you to process an incredible amount of information and in a short period. This coupled with the obvious emotional and financial stakes, we naturally had a lot of questions to make sure we maximized our chances of success. So we required and she happily gave us her full attention during visits. We never felt like we were being rushed in and out of the office, as opposed to our previous doctor. Dr. Chang really focused on us achieving optimal physical health before starting our cycle. Although they extracted 11 eggs, unfortunately, we did not end up with any viable embryos. Despite the huge disappointment, I felt that Dr. Chang put us in a position to achieve the best possible results, even though ultimately unsuccessful. Which is the reason for the 8 rating instead of the 10. Though, if we decide to do another cycle, it would definitely be with Dr. Chang.

You cannot ask too many questions. And Dr. Chang gave smart, thoughtful answers, which made the entire process a lot easier.

It was almost a year ago, so I do not remember many specifics except an extremely detailed assessment of our physical state before IVF, and a comprehensive analysis and modification of our diet to optimize our fertility chances.

Approximately $20,000-$25,000

SCRC Santa Barbara is small, which I like - you feel like you have a personalized medical team. Given how big SCRC is in LA, I also felt like I was with the best of the best. I'm not sure how prices compare, but there aren't many other options in Santa Barbara so I didn't pursue comparisons too deeply.

The entire staff, especially the nurses, came to know me very well. If I was nervous, scared, etc. Dr. Rychlik knew to tell me jokes and make me laugh when asked. He broke down everything that was going on, from the positive pregnancy test to the ultimate miscarriage. After the DNC and leading up to it, he would call me personally to check in. I'm not back for my second FET and he / the team, is being even more candid and honest and open - as this isn't our first go-round!

Ashely was/is exceptional. In fact, the entire nursing staff and coordinators are amazing. Everyone was responsive, open, honest. They took the time to answer any and all questions, never making me feel like I was annoying or stressed. Every visit was like hanging out with girlfriends who only had my best interests and my family's in mind. I cannot say enough wonderful things about them.

Dr. Rychlik was very open and honest throughout our first cycle / transfer and ultimate miscarriage. As this was our first time with IVF, he did explain a lot of what was happening. There were periods were maybe things were painted a little too positive and expectations were set too high. Which in the moment I appreciated. We are now on our second cycle with Dr. Rychlik and more realistic about what could happen. He's onboard with our needs and requests to get it all straight. So I feel like we have a true partner here.

He makes times for all patients - even being the one to take my blood tests occasionally. So be sure to ask ANY and ALL questions you want. He will answer.

We went with a very straightforward protocol - IVF/ICIS with genetic testing. As it was more male factor, we didn't go too aggressive for the retrieval and I responded really well to all the drugs - never feeling too poor. We ended up with 2 genetically tested embryos and transferred 1 Day 5. It resulted in a positive! Unfortunately, the baby stopped growing between 5 and 6 weeks. Even though it was genetically tested, apparently this can happen (I do wish I was more prepared). However, after some months off now, we are going back for our next FET.

Monitoring appointments were a breeze. I felt like I was the only patient, I never had a wait. I saw the same nurse and Ultrasound tech every time & sometimes even Dr. R himself! I actually really enjoyed these appointments. It was always happy and even if I was stressed or nervous, we still laughed and they helped calm me down. I booked them right before work and never had a delay. I'm happy to be back for this next transfer!

IVF with ICSI and Genetic Testing, including Dr Fees & Facility Fees was around 15k. Medication another 5k. FET was around 3k.

Both Doctor and Nurses seemed to think single was the way to go - so if something did happen we could review and adjust the plan of action for the next one. Subjectively, friends who have done IVF my age and with similar circumstances also advocated for single transfer.

Very busy- strength and weakness bc you can get in and or quickly but it also has the feeling of a fertility mill.

Dr. Alexander is extremely caring. She has made me feel like she genuinely cares about how Im doing and how things are going without coddling or intruding. I have never had another doctor like her.

They respond promptly and never disregard a concern or question.

I came to SCRC not knowing what to expect. I have theee children and I assumed having a fourth was a no brainer. 9 months later still nothing. My regular OB recommended Dr. Alexander and my rheumatologist recommended another. I'm so glad I got to meet Dr. Alexander. The first visit was to go over my health status and what tests needed to be done to eval my fertility status. She also used a power point to explain all options available and also to help me figure out what course of treatment should happen next. After my consult I had a chemical pregnancy that did not want to clear my body and she checked on me weekly. She offered encouragement and also let me know that she was ready to jump in as soon as I was ready and my cycle had returned. She always finishes her phone calls or emails with "Best wishes" or "be well" and I think she might actually mean it. :) I have not conceived with her yet but I feel she will support me for as long as I continue to see her.

Come ready with questions and information about your fertility to save time.

Metformin- I have had surgery for dermoids multiple times so I think she put me in a pcos category. This drug helps with egg quality. Estrace- my lining and periods have been light either due to age or bc I have had a d and c and also retained placenta removal in the past. Coq10- help with egg quality Letrazole- I have Some cycles without ovulation Hcg injection- trigger ovulation Dexamethasone- bc i have autoimmune issues Aspirin- to build lining Folgard- not sure but I think bc a lot of people have some clotting or antibody gene or mosaic of the gene Prometrium- support potential pregnancy Prenatal vitamin

Co pay of $30 each visit. $250 for a consult but they waved it bc I she had to cance last minute.

This clinic is probably one of the highest rated clinics in our region. They have a state of the art laboratory and I know they have skilled staff and high standard of quality. There are many clinics locally that are far less expensive but I don't know if they are as good in regards to their laboratory

We were always greeted warmly and never rushed. I felt like we were listened to and treated with empathy.

The nurses were really sweet and helpful but not always easy to get a hold of. I found that their preferred method of communication was email and sometimes that wasn't the best for me.

Dr Rychlik always remained positive and optimistic about the outcome. I wish maybe I would've known going into it that one IVF cycle wouldn't work or that maybe donor eggs should've been discussed. Obviously there's no way of knowing until you go through it but I wasn't fully prepared for the disappointment of having no viable embryos.

Ask all of the questions whether they're good or bad. Find out if the money you are spending is being put to good use and if maybe there are better options for you besides IVF.

Are used injectables every night for two weeks. Every other day I went in for ultrasound and blood work. I took Menopur, Gonal-F followed by Ganirrelix and Ovidrel.

My appointments were very easy and I was never waiting on people or in a Cattlecall situation. I was in and out in less than 10 minutes every time.

19k not including meds but including PGD and another 5-6k for FET not including meds.

SCRC is a busy but efficient clinic. I appreciate that they open as early as they do (6:30AM) so I can go in for my lab work and ultrasounds before work. The staff are friendly and I have always found the wait times reasonable. Unfortunately the cost is significant, especially if you're health insurance doesn't cover infertility, which mine doesn't. I'm sure there are some who would balk at the cost but from what I can tell infertility treatments are expensive no matter where you go and I'd happily pay more to know I'm getting the best care possible.

Dr. Chang has always treated both me and my husband with great respect and sympathy for what we're going through. During each step of our treatments with her she has taken the time to inform us of the process and made us feel comfortable with the next steps.

Both of Dr. Chang's nurses who have overseen my care, Jess and Kimberley, have been kind, organized, and always available to answer my questions during the course of my treatment.

Dr. Chang is a kind, compassionate, and extremely knowledgeable doctor who has made the IVF process feel less intimidating. She is not one to sugar coat the truth or make promises she can't keep but always maintains a positive outlook and shows great concern for you as an individual. She has taken care to ensure that both me and my husband are informed about each step of the IVF process and made herself accessible for questions and follow-up discussions. After our first FET failed Dr. Chang immediately put a plan in place to determine the reason for the failure before attempting a second transfer. She was even able to include me in a clinical trial for an ERA (Endometrial Receptivity Analysis) so that my costs for the test would be reduced. Though I'm not pregnant yet I have complete trust that Dr. Chang will do everything in her power to help me achieve a positive outcome. I truly can't recommend her enough.

Though going through IVF, or any fertility treatment in general, is a difficult and emotional experience, Dr. Chang is someone in whom you can place your trust and who will never make you question the level of care you receive.

When we first began seeing Dr. Chang, she was very throrough with her testing to determine the reasons for our infertility. I was found to have narrow Fallopian tubes and a low egg reserve, which means that natural pregnancy is possible, just very unlikely. She suggested the less aggressive route of IUI to begin with and adjusted the protocol for each round. For the first round of IUI I took Clomid and when that didn't work she had me switch to injectsble Gonal-F for the second round. The second round was unsuccessful as well so she increased the dose of Gonal-F for the third round. Though all theee rounds of IUI were unsuccessful I appreciated her adjustment of the protocol each time so we weren't simply repeating the same approach and expecting different results. After the third round of IUI failed, Dr. Chang sat us down and explained our options. Though we could continue with IUI, the expected success rate after three failed cycles in a row was lower and might be a sign that we need to try a more aggressive approach with IVF. At no point did we feel pressured into doing IVF but we understood that Dr. Chang was trying to provide us with realistic expectations and next steps that could possibly be more successful. My husband and I elected to try IVF rather than a fourth round of IUI and prior to beginning Dr. Chang had an in-depth discussion with us about what to expect. About two weeks later Dr. Chang had me start the protocol for egg retrieval. When it came time for the retrieval I had about 9 follicles but upon waking up from the procedure Dr. Chang informed me that 4 were mature enough to be retrieved. Though we initially wanted to have half of the eggs fertilized naturally and the other half fertilized with ICSI, Dr. Chang recommended fertilizing all eggs with ICSI since we had so few and she didn't want to risk the possibility of any eggs not being fertilized. I was thankful for this recommendation because all eggs were successfully fertilized. The week following the retrieval is nerve wracking as you wait for news about embryo development but Dr. Chang called me almost every day to update me about the status of our embryos. After genetic testing, we ended up only having two top-quality embryos of the initial four but Dr. Chang had told us ahead of time to expect that. Following my retrieval, which was in September, I was given about a month of recovery time prior to starting the FET protocol. I began with active birth control pills, followed by daily Lupron injections for about 10 days, after which I began the PIO injections along with oral Estrace and suppository Endometrin. My uterine lining developed nicely and was about 9mm prior to the FET. My hormone levels also looked good so we went ahead with the transfer after 5 days of PIO and all went well. Unfortunately the transfer was unsuccessful, which I could tell puzzled Dr. Chang given how good everything looked prior to the FET. Because we only had 1 embryo left she wanted to determine the reason for the failure before proceeding with another transfer. I was scheduled for a hysteroscopy to see if there were any polyps, scar tissue, or anything else in my uterus that could have prevented successful implantation. Fortunately that came back clear. Dr. Chang also recommended an ERA (Endometrial Receptivity Analsysis) to determine if 5 days of PIO was enough or if I potentially needed more (as 20-30% of women do) and was able to include me in a clinical trial that SCRC was participating in so as to reduce my costs. The ERA came back normal so Dr. Chang also recommended that I see a Rheumatologist to rule out possible auto-immune disorders that could affect implantation. So far, all test results have come back normal and I'm starting to accept the fact that the failed FET may have just been a fluke given that there's never a 100% success rate but I'm so appreciative that Dr. Chang has been so through and relentless in her search for answers. I'm confident that by the time we begin the protocol for our next FET Dr. Chang will have done everything in her power to prevent another failure.

Though I can't remember the exact costs of each procedure, here is what I do recall: Each IUI cycle cost about $1500-$2000. My stim medications were about $5000 and then the retrieval plus embryology and genetic testing cost about $17,000 (this number changes significantly depending on the 'add-one' you choose). The FET protocol was about $5,000. All in all, for three rounds of IUI and 1 round of IVF we spent close to $30,000.

Because we only had two embryos from our first retrieval cycle Dr. Chang suggested only transferring 1 for the first FET since the increase in the success rate by transferring 2 was minimal and we risked losing both on the first try. I'm so thankful we only transferred 1 since the FET failed and it would have been devastating to lose both embryos.

The Santa Barbara clinic's significant weakness is that they were perpetually short-staffed. The staff seemed to take no delight or pride in staying organized. I would often have to make several calls to get a question answered. I kept receiving bills for services that had already been paid for as part of the IVF procedures. When I questioned these bills I was told curtly there was no record that I had paid. I happened to make copies of the check and the receipt that they had given me, so of course they were forced to dig a little deeper and find that they had just left a check in a pile somewhere. Even after that was resolved I still received invoices that stated I would be sent to collections if I did not pay. IVF is challenging enough, but having to sort this out in addition and also sort it out with the EMBRYOLOGIST who is also the office manager is especially challenging. The ONE embryologist (at the time of my IVF procedure) was also the office manager and in charge of all the billing receipts. Now that I know how important the lab is, all I can say is this lack of organization does not inspire confidence in the lab. It was challenging for me to ask the person who would be handling my embryos to also go over my file and make corrections on the billing. I know the Beverly Hills lab has a great reputation, but I really think that they are just trying to grow the enterprise in Ventura and Santa Barbara, and they really needed to have physicians that were there at Ventura and Santa Barbara full time. They also need to have embryologists whose sole job is to be an embryologist-and not an office manager.

During the first meeting with Dr. Ghadir at the Ventura office, he was attentive and seemed thorough. However, as my fertility treatments progressed, I was only to see Dr. Ghadir a few more times in person. All the monitoring is done by an ultrasound technician. All of the procedures were done in the Beverly Hills location from a different doctor. When the procedures did not work, his schedule is so limited in Ventura and he is almost never in Santa Barbara, that I would only be able to have brief conversations with him over the phone in which he seemed occupied, and even annoyed that I had questions.

I would imagine that Dr. Ghadir is probably a rock star at the Beverly Hills location. However if you are a patient of his in Ventura County, be aware that (during the time that I was a patient there) he is only in the office in Ventura one day every other week. All of the ultrasounds are done by an ultrasound technician, and often, the patient needs to drive all the way to Santa Barbara for a simple ultrasound. When I would call Dr. Ghadir with a question or concern, he would seem a bit annoyed. I never really go a sense that he had a plan. I have learned so much since I had IVF at SCRC, and I do think Dr. Ghadir could have been a lot more thorough and followed up much better when the IVF did not work.

I would say do not go if you are considering the Ventura County location. Be aware that SCRC is an extremely busy clinic, and you have to really advocate for yourself in order to get your questions answered.

The costs of IVF were about $5000 than a neighboring clinic.