University of Pennsylvania Penn Fertility Care

What I appreciate most about UPenn is that they are a teaching hospital. One of the first things that Dr. Shah said to us is that she will never push us to the most invasive - and often most expensive - treatment plan. Because they are a teaching and research hospital, there is benefit in moving through each prescribed option and trying things multiple times. It has resulted in a longer amount of time that we've been in treatment, which may not be for everyone depending on how long they've already been trying. But it's kept our treatments within the window of what is mostly covered by my insurance which meets our financial needs at this time.

Dr. Shah and the team at UPenn Radnor knows me by name and always refers to me in that way during appointments. Additionally, they know that we drive over an hour each way to our appointments and make every effort to give me the first appointment slot so that my work day isn't interrupted significantly. They are reassuring and answer even some of the simplest of questions.

Susan is the NP who is the primary on my case. She's just fantastic - even though we're in our sixth round of Clomid treatment, she has walked me through the steps every time and hasn't assumed I know what to do because I've done it before. She returns my phone calls within the same day and even at appointments where I'm in and out of the office before she comes in, she still calls me in the same day to check in and make sure I'm feeling ok with where things are.

When we started seeing Dr. Shah we had come from another fertility clinic who told us that IVF was the only option we should consider. Instead of just moving us along to that process, Dr. Shah ordered new rounds of bloodwork and some additional tests to round our our history that the other clinic hadn't done. Once we had those results, we were presented with two options - continue trying Clomid or move onto IVF. Given our current financial situation, it was a blessing to hear that Clomid was still a viable option for us. Since that first consultation I've seen Dr. Shah twice more. Each appointment she takes the time to explain to me in very simple ways what is going on in my body and how that impacts my fertility. She's patient and willing to explain things multiple times to make sure I feel comfortable with our plan. She's the best person we could have guiding us through this process at this time.

It took us over a month between when we initially called for an appointment and when we were able to schedule one, so I'd consider calling early. I also don't see her at every appointment, but have been able to (and encouraged by the nurses) schedule other appointments with her if I need to.

I have been taking the highest dosage allowed of Clomid coupled with an Ovidrel shot to trigger ovulation and timed intercourse. That combination works best for me - other options have not worked. Because I have PCOS and annovulation, she has not recommended that we move onto Clomid and IUI. IUI isn't going to increase our chances all that much more and because it isn't covered by my insurance, she doesn't think it's something we necessarily need to consider. This treatment combination has produced one strong follicle in 4 of the 5 cycles we've completed. We had no reaction in the last cycle which caused us to take a break for the summer. We just resumed last week and are in the middle of a sixth Clomid cycle now.

This clinic has many strengths, in my opinion. It is relatively easy to get an appointment within a reasonable timeframe for consults, and they are flexible with scheduling for labs and ultrasounds. They have a very knowledgeable financial counselor who works with insurances to get coverage when possible. They do all of their labs in-house, and results are reported relatively quickly. They have their own embryology labs directly connected to the OR's where they do retrievals, which is great. They require IVF education sessions before beginning a cycle, which is really helpful for getting questions answered about the process in general and what to expect. At the Market Street location, there is street parking, but there is also a garage and they will validate your parking so it's only $5, which is great for Philadelphia! I have not been to the other 2 locations. The only weakness that I can report is that your primary doctor may not be the one doing all the procedures. They do have fellows there who are training, but they are well-supervised by the attending physicians.

Dr. Sondheimer and his nurse would personally call me back when I called with questions. He was so incredibly kind, especially after my first miscarriage, which was before I was in treatment with him. When I had to leave the practice due to insurance changes and a move out of the area, he called to tell me that he would always be there to support me in what I needed, and that he would love to keep in touch about life, good news, and my professional career (I'm a physician). I never felt rushed with him, and he made sure I felt cared for at a very vulnerable time in my life.

Madeline was the best! She fully explained everything and called me daily with updates to my medications and treatment plans. The rest of the nurses with whom I interacted in the office were also great. They were all very friendly and helpful.

Dr. Sondheimer is very kind and compassionate. He takes the time to fully understand your story and your goals. I felt like I was very prepared for all of my procedures (HSG, IUI, egg retrieval), and knew I was in good hands. After my first miscarriage, he called multiple times to see how I was doing, both physically and mentally. I never felt like he was rushing me out of his office, and he treated me like family.

Ask every question you have! Write them down and take your list with you. He will take all the time he needs to answer them.

I did a stimulation protocol as follows: 1. Lupron for 10 days 2. Start Gonal-F 3. Add Menopur 4. hCG trigger shot I had monitoring appointments daily during stimulation. I have PCOS, so there was a slight concern of OHSS. My doctor retrieved 23 eggs, 19 of which fertilized. 8 of those matured, 5 were frozen on Day 5, and 3 were frozen on Day 6. I don't recall the exact grading, but my doctor assured me that they only ever froze embryos they thought would be successful as FET's.

I was very fortunate to have insurance that covered fertility treatments entirely. I paid copays for my appointments. The embryo storage fee I believe was $550 for the initial freeze + 3 months, and then $225 billed quarterly after that.

I did not have an embryo transfer yet, but my doctor usually recommends single embryo transfer, because transferring 2 doesn't significantly increase your chance of pregnancy, and also to avoid the risk that comes with carrying multiples.

They are busy in the mornings with routine monitoring appointments, but they always get patients through in a fairly quick time, while also taking the time necessary with each patient so you don’t feel you are being rushed. I’ve never had a problem scheduling an appointment when I needed one. All of the staff are very friendly and courteous.

I was always called by my doctor or my nurse with results, instructions, etc. They always made me feel like they were taking a personal interest in my case.

I would receive update phone calls from my nurse Dawn whenever Dr Butts was unable to call me herself. She was conscious of the hours I worked and always called at a reasonable time. She knew I wanted all the details and results of any tests or labs done. She was able to answer any questions I had and was knowledgeable about my case throughout the process.

Dr Butts wants me to have success. She listens to my questions/concerns/needs and has always agreed not to give up until I felt I was finished. When everything we had tried wasn’t working, she would consult with colleagues and come up with a new plan. She makes every effort to be the one to perform all of my procedures, and calls me personally to discuss any outcome or treatment plan.

Try to research everything you can to find out what’s going on with your body. And don’t be afraid to have opinions or suggestions and stick up for yourself if you feel something isn’t right.

I did 3 IVF cycles using a combination of lupron, menopur and follistim. I have low AMH/DOR and a thin lining. I was only able to produce 9 eggs on my best cycle, and 4 eggs on my worst. Those 3 cycles resulted in 2 total embryos that were frozen for later FETs.

Costs were minimal because I work in that health system and my insurance covered nearly everything in network. Once I hit my IVF insurance cap I had to pay $5k-$8k on remaining meds.

My doctor was willing to transfer multiple embryos if the quality wasn’t great. But in my case I only had 2 to work with so we did 2 separate single embryo transfers.

Though we were happy with our doctors, we were not happy with the clinic as a whole and have since left the clinic. We felt that we rarely saw our doctor. In over a year Penn Fertility Care, we saw our official IVF doctor maybe three or four times total, including consultations.

Dr. Masson was very thorough and honest about our prognosis. He answered all of our questions and we never left appointments feeling confused or unsure of what to expect. We never had a hard time getting a hold of him directly and he called my husband numerous times regarding procedures, appointments, etc. I wish all of our doctors communicated like he does!

Dr. Masson's biggest strength is his communication. We felt like he was genuinely invested in our care and made every effort to ensure that our other fertility specialists were aware of our needs. He was compassionate and called my husband before and after each procedure.

Don't be afraid to call his office to speak to him directly! His office staff was great about helping us get in touch with him.

Dr. Masson performed 2 TESEs for my husband and he recommended that he take Ubiquinol, Vitamin D and Ester C for a few months prior to the procedure. The first time, my husband was not aware of these recommendations but the TESE did yield viable sperm. He DID take the recommended supplements before the second TESE, which yielded sperm of approximately the same quality as the first time. So I can't say whether or not the supplements helped, but both procedures did yield useable sperm.

The charges associated with my husband's TESE were extremely unclear. We got multiple bills that we were not expecting and they do not inform you about costs associated with sperm storage.

Make sure you check in when you get to the desk. I went there one time and the receptionist didn't check me in and they called my phone asking where I was. Ask questions about what is your next step. The wait time is under 15-20 minutes. The staff is very friendly.

Dr Senapati explained the entire process in great detail. If you have a question, my nurses got back to me the same day. When I went in to see my doctor or for blood work and sonogram I was seen within 15-20 minutes. All staff is very friendly and willing to answer any questions.

My nurse Madeline was excellent. She showed me and my husband how to take the shots during our consultation. Madeline called me every evening to tell me my levels, what dose of medicine to take and how my follicles were progressing. After my eggs were retrieved she called and gave me updates.

When I first went to see Dr Senapati I didn't know what to expect. She explained all the procedures such as IUI and IVF in great detail. I believe she could come off a little more compassionate as some of the other doctors I've met in the practice.

Dr Senapati throws a lot of information at you at once. Make sure you bring your questions and you take down notes.

I began birth control for a few weeks and then went on 10ml of lupron. On the second day of my period I had a baseline ultrasound to check my ovaries and lining. I started injections (5ml lupron in the morning and 375ml Gonal F in the evening). I had bloodwork and ultrasounds to check my hormone levels and follicle development 4 days later and my dose changed to 5ml Lupron, 300 Gonal F and 150 menopur for the rest of the days. I took my HCG trigger shot on day 11 and had my egg retrieval on day 13 (36 after my trigger shot.) I sent my embryos out for PGS testing and i'm waiting on the results. I don't know the strategies behind or rational because I just did what the nurse told me to do.

From June 2017 until now $62,567 in medical expenses not including prescription drugs. I still have to do the IVF transfer after the PGS results come in.

Organized and caring!! I always felt and feel important to them. I have never felt like a number!! They are prompt and informative. The financial people are also amazing at helping navigate you through the insurance coverage you might have and fee schedules!!

My doctor and the clinic always made me feel like my feelings, questions and requests were extremely important. I never felt like I was a number in Dr. Shah’s eyes!

Always willing to listen, respectful, knowledgeable and caring!! They all go above and beyond the call of duty.

She is a wonderful, honest, thorough physician and she never got frustrated with my thousands of questions. She did everything she could to explain each step of my treatments with me. She also was extremely honest with me in regards to my fertility issues and what my realistic expectations for pregnancy were. I never felt like she would push me toward something she didn’t feel would work for me.

Come prepared with your questions and have an understanding of the process. I feel like having a handle on things and knowing what to ask shows that you are ready to make informed decisions and that you are completely invested in the process. She will explain and re-explain anything you don’t understand. She will give you realistic expectations and she will guide you toward the best options for your specific situation!

I did two iuis with her using an antagonist protocol, then we did and hsg which showed I more than likely have a blocked right tube. We tried a microdose Lupron ivf protocol which never led to a retrieval and was cancelled on cycle day 13 after no growth. I am currently in the tww after a succeful ivf cycle called the estrogen patch protocol and an antagonist protocol.

They were scheduled times with a first come first served policy. Through the years I got to know both the sweet lab technician and the wonderful ultrasound tech! They were always understanding and excited when all was going well or on the harder days too!!

I have insurance coverage to a certain capped amount, so I only paid a copay for dr visits and for donor sperm related costs. Medication coverage limits were reached so I pay all Meds out of pocket.

Because of my low amh and my age, we decided to transfer two eggs to give me the best chance of a positive pregnancy test. I completely agree.

Strengths - Always on time with appointments, in and out. And they always provide fast, accurate feedback. Negatives- IVF is too expensive:( for something some of us need to have - our only hope - it’s disheartening to know I can’t afford the one thing that I need.

Dr. Shah was very kind and very honest. She recognized how hard this is and always tried to remain positive but gave us her honest opinions.

I love the staff at Penn. Going through this for as long as I have, seeing the girls (Angie, Susan, Aleah) is nice. They’re familiar. They’re professional. They make me feel safe in a very hard situation.

She was very empathetic and clearly knowledgeable. My only negative is that she was more cautious than I would have liked, after 22 cycles all negative tests- I’ve learned I would’ve like to be more aggressive a year ago.

She will do whatever you choose - so push if you feel like you’re not being aggressive enough with your treatment.

I did the first 8-10 cycles taking letrozole and times intercourse. We moved to letrozole and IUI because that did not work. Due to my PCOS, ovulation was unclear so we introduced ovidrel shots as well. I reacted fine to all of this, the 2.5 mg of letrozole day 3-7 just made me a little more emotional than usual. Then we moved to gonal-f injectables with IUI. This cycle was longer because we started on too low of a dose. At this point we are back to monitoring with oral meds and times intercourse while saving for the inevitable (IVF).

My insurance has covered everything except the gonal-f to date. IVF begins at $8,500. PGS testing is an additional $6,000 and meds between $2k and $5k.

Dr. Shah does not perform multiple embryo transfer to my knowledge.

They are very efficient. They see a LOT of patients, so you may not get as much time with any particular provider as you might want. You will meet a lot of different doctors. I like all of them, and have had a very good experience. But if you are looking for a more homey atmosphere or touchy feely experience, it's not the place for you. Also it is super convenient to my work-- this is probably the #1 important thing to me, since I have to go so often.

The practice itself can be a little overwhelming, in terms of the number of patients and providers-- so in that way sometimes I feel like a number. But Dr. Sondheimer puts a lot of personal thought into every stage of care, and is both flexible and direct with his opinions. I truly feel like he cares, even though I haven't yet become pregnant.

She always calls me when she says she will, and always answers all of my questions. I feel I am in good hands.

He is a caring man who has been in this field for a very long time. He is good at direct communication, and I feel that I am in the hands of an expert. He makes himself available as much as possible, and when he is not able to he makes sure I am in good hands with his colleagues. He sometimes seems rushed, but he is always concentrating on me.

Ask all your questions, even the very minute details. And be prepared to not see him all the time.

After a couple of failed letrozole IUIs, I tried a few rounds of clomid IUI. When that didn't work, I added injectables (Follistim). All of those were with Ovidrel trigger. After round 9, I moved to IVF using Gonal F, Menopur, Ganarelix, and Novarel trigger. My retrieval is tomorrow. I have 7 follicles right now. We discussed switching to IUI but Dr Sondheimer didn't recommend it. I am hoping for at least a few embryos. All have this has been with donor sperm, as my partner is another woman.

My insurance covered everything for IUIs except for Ovidrel ($35), and donor sperm washing ($150). For IVF most things have been covered. I think genetic testing (PGS) will be around $1850

He has a strong preference for only transferring 1 frozen embryo at a time. If I do a fresh transfer, he will put in 2.

I get the impression that this clinic may be more concerned with their statistics than with their patients. There are about a dozen doctors and in my time there, I saw every single doctor once for one procedure or another. After over a year at the clinic, I still felt like a new patient.

Dr Shah was compassionate and I really felt that she was invested in our care. She called us whenever we got bad news and to give her best wishes when we decided to switch clinics. We didn’t get the outcome we had hoped for so we were eager to get some new ideas by switching clinics, but leaving Dr Shah was bittersweet.

The NP assigned to us was the least compassionate human being I’ve ever met. She was very negative and made the whole IVF process near unbearable. Every time I asked that something be submitted to insurance, she gave me a snarky response about they would never cover it. She acted like I was an inconvenience to her daily.

Dr Shah is genuine and compassionate and although we rarely saw her, we felt like she was monitoring us closely from afar. She didn’t do any of my procedures and I think that played a part in feeling like a number and not a patient at this clinic.

Trust her and don’t be afraid to ask questions!

I was on a high-responder protocol. I was on Follistim 150 daily to start. Eventually added in Ganirelix and menopur. Eventually we attempted HGH because of a cycle that resulted in poor quality embryos, howevery retrieval was cancelled.

We paid separately for the egg retrieval ($12,000), FET ($2,500). PGD was paid directly to the lab and meds were separate. I must also say that the Financial coordinator is extremely unhelpful! We were better off googling. At my first meeting with her, I asked her what options there were for paying (do people ever take out loans, are there assistance programs, any opportunities for discounted meds, etc) and she looked at me like I had 12 heads.

We got the lecture about risks of multiples to the nth degree. I was told I would be the next octomom if we transferred two embryos!

Strengths: all staff I met with were kind and compassionate, remembered me when I had appointments even after some time off, and held friendly conversations. Also, their pricing is much more reasonable than other area clinics. Weaknesses: As a result of being such a large clinic, there were times that the level of care didn’t feel personalized, and didn’t include out of the box thinking. I think there could often be a lot of assumptions that the patient knows more than they do. Advice: arm yourself with information and questions before you go in, and continue to advocate for yourself and for more information. They are always responsive when you ask, but if you don’t ask, they won’t tell you.

She always remembered me and spoke to me kindly even if it had been a while since I saw her, and even when the news wasn’t good.

Always very nice/compassionate, but also seemed very rushed any time we spoke on the phone, which is usually when I had questions.

She is always very kind and took the time to answer all my questions, especially when I had bad results. I have since learned that I didn’t always get all the details I would have needed, and I think she was less inclined to think outside the box regarding m case (i.e. taking supplements, knowing my hormone levels and what those meant), but she was a great person and I think for more cut and dry cases, she is fabulous.

Read up about infertility before you go in and ask her all the questions you have regarding things like antral follicle count, hormone levels, etc., so you can track them and also understand where you fit. Chances are she has the info but she doesn’t always share it unless you ask.

After a few Clomid/IUI cycles where many were canceled because my right ovary was working but my right tube had been removed, we moved onto IVF. The first protocol was the high dose protocol of Gonal F and Menopur with a Lipton primer. It was canceled due to poor response. My second cycle was the Lipton flare protocol. We went to retrieval expecting 2 eggs but the one follicle was empty and the other fell apart overnight. I have never been pregnant. Since then, I had my endometriosis removed and have read about low stimulation protocols working better in patients with DOR. I spoke to her about that and she didn’t agree and said donor eggs would be my best bet. She may be right, but I’m not ready to give up on myself yet, so I am switching clinics.

IUI was covered by insurance, so I’m not sure if that. One complete IVF cycle - $8,000 plus approx $4K in meds

N/A - I never had an embryo to transfer

Penn Fertility Care is a huge, efficient practice. Almost everyone I encountered was very warm and kind, but it did mean that almost every visit involved a different practitioner who wasn't familiar with me and my history. My doctor was always available to me by phone, and I knew she was always making the key decisions about my care, but I seldom saw her in person. The biggest downside is that occasionally someone would communicate inaccurate or inconsistent information to me, so I really had to be on top of my own care and advocate for myself, which could get tiring. Overall, I was comfortable with Penn Fertility Care because I trusted that they had the best resources and expertise available, but someone who would be bothered by the level of personal attention might want to consider a smaller practice.

Erin is great at explaining things and demonstrating medication protocols in a way I could understand. Overall, the nursing staff at Penn Fertility Care made me feel very comfortable and taken care of.

Doctor Senapati is very good at clearly and patiently explaining things, and takes a very matter-of-fact approach. I always felt very comfortable asking questions, and she never made me feel rushed when we were discussing my care. I always felt like I had a good grasp of the steps we were taking and the reasons behind them. The only reservation I had about her was that my husband and I chose to take a less conventional approach to IVF for religious reasons. We elected to inseminate only a small number of eggs to reduce the chances of excess embryos. We didn't feel like Dr. Senapati always fully understood how important this priority was to us, and we knew she didn't agree with our approach. In the end, we took a path we were comfortable with, but not before we experienced some (respectful) pushback. In summary: If you've got personal ethical concerns about fertility treatments/IVF, consider another doctor who might better understand where you're coming from. If what you want is an expert walking you through your care step by step, she's a great choice.

Don't hesitate to ask questions at any point! She's going to explain a TON of information to you, which can quickly get overwhelming and make decisions difficult. So ask about anything that's unclear, and request to go over something again if you didn't fully grasp it the first time. She'll never make you feel dumb for asking more questions.

Dr. Senapati understood that I wanted to avoid IVF if at all possible, so we exhausted every approach to IUI first. Unfortunately, my extremely sensitive ovaries made this difficult. After I overreacted to even the lowest dose of Clomid, we switched to Letrozole cycles. After I underreacted to even the highest dose of Letrozole, we switched to a hybrid Letrozole+Gonal F cycle. When that didn't work, we used exclusively Gonal F because the dosage can be calibrated so precisely. In the end, we did 14 hormone cycles, with 7 cancelled cycles and 7 IUIs. At that point she recommended we discontinue IUI, so we switched to IVF and I got pregnant after my first embryo transfer.

Dr. Senapati's preferences for single embryo transfer aligned with my own, so we didn't have to discuss it much. From what we did discuss, I felt confident that it was the best choice for my health and for my pregnancy goals. I also felt that the choice was my own and I could have gone a different way if I'd wanted to.

It can feel a bit like a factory, just with the number of providers and patients. But I liked all the providers very much, and trusted their communication with me and with each other. I also have a lot of trust in the Penn medical system. If you need a lot of personal attention from your primary physician this probably isn't a good place for you-- but if you can handle having many providers, with your primary driving the decisions, it's great.

Great communicator, always on top of things, very compassionate.

I saw Dr. Butts for general gynecology, because I knew that once I started trying to conceive I would have difficulty based on my irregular periods. Dr Butts diagnosed me with PCOS and then continued to treat me. When I started trying to get pregnant, I had a few (3?) IUIs with her and then she went on sabbatical. At that time I switched to a different provider. I found Dr Butts to be very knowledgeable, very up to date with research, and very approachable. Had I not gotten comfortable with a different provider during her sabbatical, I would have stuck with her.

She can be a quick talker, so be sure to write down all your questions to be sure that you fit them all in. She'll spend as much time with you as you need.

I did a few IUIs with her-- either 2 or 3. I used letrozole alone for the first one, but my ovulation was hard to predict. On the second (and third?) I used letrozole and Ovidrel. Unfortunately none resulted in a pregnancy.

It was just about all covered by insurance, besides a $150 sperm washing fee.

n/a- I did not do IVF with her

The clinic has weekend hours which are great. I wish there was more flexibility with monitoring appointments. Having them in the morning only at a certain time is inconvenient if you don't have a traditional 9-5. I have also experienced incredible wait times for appointments. For instance, I was told to show up with a FULL bladder for an IUI and ended up waiting an hour for the procedure. Also, we had a lot of trouble with the financial department in getting set up for IVF. No one would call us back and when they did we got different answers. To this day, we do not know what it will cost us up front or in total.

The office has set times for monitoring appointments and a protocol that is rather inflexible. Except for specific consultations, you see whoever is free that day. I also felt that most appointments were rushed.

The nurses always got back to me when I called with a question. I felt they were more compassionate and understanding than the doctors.

My impression of Dr. Kalra is that she is incredibly smart and incredibly busy. I only saw her during consultations. All my other procedures and monitoring appointments were done by someone else (Dr, technician or resident). I did not get a "warm and fuzzy" vibe but, in the end, that was not the most important thing to me. I think the protocol she chose was best for me and when it did not work, she adjusted it.

Come prepared with all your questions because she is impossible to reach outside of specific office visits.

Mostly covered by insurance. Trigger shot was $30. Clomid/Femara $10. Bloodwork $50. HSG $180. IVF ???? likely in the neighborhood of $7-10k

I was told that, due to my age, only one embryo is recommended. I was not given an option for multiples.

This is a large practice which can be a negative and a positive. There are multiple offices so for routine visits - labs/US you can switch it up if one works better. There are multiple doctors who review and work together to make decisions on your care during an IVF cycle. They are open 7 days a week and associated with top Philadelphia hospitals. However, there is an element to the practice that can make it feel less personal, and make it harder to get routine consults scheduled.

At times at our consults Dr Edwards had to refresh himself on our info and history during the appt, so you definitely want to be well versed on your history and lab results when you go in. After my last miscarriage he called me personally to see how I was doing which was greatly appreciated.

Erin is very attentive and informative. Returns calls in a timely manner. The only negative I have is that I have noticed a correlation in that when lab results are not ideal (e.g. an inappropriately rising, or falling beta) the call with the results comes later in the day than a call with good news lab results does.

My initial experience with his clinic was after two subsequent miscarriages, but I had only been TTC for less than 6 months so I don't feel that my IF was taken seriously at first. After my third m/c confirmed d/t chromosomal issues my care and the attention paid to my case was greatly improved. Dr Edwards took the time to explain all of our options to us. One of my medicated cycles my CD3 labs came back with an extremely elevated FSH, and Dr Edwards called me personally to discuss the results with me.

Educate yourself as much as possible and bring notes and your previous labs results to your consults.

Clomid 100mg x3 w TI resulted in 2-3 mature follicles w BFP then miscarriage for 2/3 cycles. Currently starting IVF w a Lupron overlap/follistim protocol.

IVF cycle $8,500. PGS biopsy $2,000. IVF meds administered via hospital pharmacy at a discounted rate for OOP patients.

In the case of PGS testing Dr Edwards recommended a single transfer

long wait, but everyone was nice enough. they did not have a dr doing the ultrasound, but an ultrasound technician. my next clinic ahd a dr doing it. i have nothign else to say but it wont let me click next until i hit 200 characters

Dr Butts made me wait over an hour each time I met her. When I would see her in the clinic when I was there for bloods or ultrasounds, she would walk right by and had no idea who I was- not even a smile or tilt of the head in acknowledgment. In appointments, she clearly did not recall any details about me.

nice enough but dr butts threw her under the bus. forgot to order my meds when i was supposed to start

From the beginning, Dr. Butts was rude and treated me more as if I was an annoyance than a patient. On my first appointment, she had me wait over 1 1/2. When I finally met with her, she didn't even apologize or acknowledge the wait. She treated me as if I was dumb, yet was visibly annoyed when I asked her to explain anything. She also was unwilling to give her opinion on anything and when I asked her what she thought about PGS, all she would ask was "how do you feel about it?" This is not a therapy session- i wanted her actual opinion. I figured bad bedside manner would be ok if there were results. There were not. I have PCOS- having eggs is not my issue. Dr. Butts cancelled my egg retrieval after 14 days of injections. I believe I was not monitored closely enough and was given a "cookie cutter" cocktail of meds and not one geared towards my body. To give you an idea, my next doctor retrieved 17 mature. I found out that my cycle was being cancelled after 14 days from her nurse. Dr. Butts did not call or reach out. After I called Dr. Butts several times, she finally called me back after hours so that when I missed her call and tried to call back, I had no way of reaching her. When we finally did call, she showed no compassion, did not explain anything, was arrogant and was frankly annoyed that I wanted to speak to her to understand why she cancelled my cycle. When I called Penn and said that Dr. Butts was my dr and i wanted at least a partial refund, they were not surprised to get my call. I can only guess that they were used to it.

find a new Dr. immediately.

She does not monitor you closely enough. I was on menopur, ganirelix, and I forgot the name of the third one- starts with an F and is the pen shot. After I started ganirelix she waited over 48 hours to run my bloods. I have since learned that ganirelix commonly can have an adverse impact on people's estrogen and they need to be monitored closely when started to see if other drugs should be increased to offset the effects. That did not happen with Dr Butts

pricey but not terrible

didnt get that far

You will receive excellent care here. It's a busy place, busier than the first clinic I went to, but there's a reason for that! Affordable great care. So you may have to wait a bit at each visit. Fortunately my work was understanding if I was late, but I know this could be an issue for some people.

Penn Medicine is a very busy place - far busier than the fertility clinic I went to previously. Yet, despite that, everyone I dealt with treated me so well that I never felt like a number. They were kind and compassionate, and they always listened to me. I honestly received excellent care there.

Beth was excellent. She always returned my calls and answered all my dumb questions. She made sure I was clear with everything. And everyone else who assisted was fantastic as well.

I loved Dr. Kalra the first time my husband and I met her. She was kind and honest. She never sugarcoated anything, but she wasn't all doom and gloom either. I had liked my previous RE (and the main reason I switched was because IVF wasn't covered by my insurance, and Penn was far more affordable), and he was very nice. BUT he had given me false hope. He seemed certain that the IUIs would work. He even called my OB/GYN to tell him to expect to see me pregnant within the next couple of months (which did not happen). Dr. Kalra never did that. She told us our chances right up front. As I stated before, Penn was a busy place, so you would often see other doctors for procedures (all of them were excellent). Dr. Kalra did my second embryo transfer (but not my first), and that was the transfer that resulted in my beautiful baby girl.

If you are concerned about a recommendation or how treatment is going, don't hesitate to call Dr. Kalra to discuss it with her. Someone else may deliver the news, but you are always welcome to talk it over with her to make sure you're making the right decision or doing what's best for you.

We purchased a package deal, only $6,750 for one egg retrieval and 2 transfers, whether fresh or frozen. We were able to take out a loan from Arc Fertility. We bought the medications at the pharmacy onsite and saved a ton of money. We probably spent close to 2 grand, but that's a bargain.

On the first cycle, she recommended transferring one embryo. It was an easy decision to make; it was our first cycle, we had seven frozen embryos (all good quality), and we were in our early thirties. When our first cycle didn't work, she recommended we transfer two embryos on the next cycle. My husband and I were very torn about it; we were concerned about the risks with twins (for the babies, myself, and the financial strain). When she knew I was having a hard time with this recommendation, she spoke at length with me on the phone. She assured me that there was nothing wrong with my embryos (which was my concern), but they recommended two simply because the first round didn't work. There was no other reason why; they just wanted to up my chances. She told me she was cautiously optimistic and didn't feel that we needed to change anything else just yet, so if we were more comfortable with transferring one, that's what we should do (and what we ended up doing with success).

Penn Fertility Care is one of the leading fertility clinics in the country and the doctors in the practice are some of the brightest minds in the field. It is not a small practice, however, and so you have to be willing to be a bit flexible and potentially see other doctors than your primary, and be willing to wait sometimes for appointments. At the end of the day, I wanted top care from the smartest doctors, and I felt Penn Fertility delivered me that.

While Penn Fertility is a larger clinic, Dr. Kalra always took her time during my appointments and made sure my husband and I were comfortable with each step during the process.

The entire nursing staff was so wonderful through the whole process. Erin always called me on time and when she said she would, and took time to answer any questions I had.

I could not have asked for a better experience with Dr. Kalra. She was knowledgeable, direct, and I always left appointments feeling like there was a plan or next step. I truly believed she cared about me as a person and was looking out for my best interest. She was trustworthy, compassionate, and just overall a wonderful person to be around during a process that is otherwise very emotionally draining.

Ask questions. She was always willing to take extra time with me if I had more questions or wanted to talk anything through.

Given my issue was ovulation and PCOS, Dr. Kalra put me on a high-responder protocol which worked well. While she warned me about OHSS and said up front they might have to do a "freeze all" given the amount of follicles I had, because of the protocol, we received 26 eggs and I was able to do a fresh transfer. leading up to the retrieval I was in the office every day and she did my final ultra-sounds herself (instead of the ultra sound tech) and gave me rational for why she wanted to wait one more day and then ultimately when I was ready for my trigger. I feel as though her care leading up to my transfer was why I was able to recover quickly and was able to have the transfer 5 days later (which ended up as a BFP :))

I have good insurance so IVF was covered at 80% for me. I was also able to get them to cover a large portion of the medications needed for stimulation so I believe it was around $1200 total.

The clinic at Radnor is well organized and run. The prices for self-pay patients seem to be more reasonable for everything (treatment and meds) than anywhere else I've researched or read about. It is less busy than the office at 3701 Market and for some things you would still need to go to their University City location, but for monitoring, etc, I was at Radnor. However, you will rarely see a physician during your actual treatment. All monitoring is coordinated through the nursing staff. You'll have an ultrasound technician do your scans and a tech to do your blood draws. You sometimes can see a nurse or the nurse pratictioner after your monitoring appt, but your nurse will call in the afternoon with an update to your plan. The entire team including the faculty and the fellows will meet and discuss cases. After a treatment fails, they will discuss recommendations for the next round (I don't know if this is for all cases or just more difficult ones, but it happened for mine without any prompting or request and I got the impression that this is just what they do).

Dr. Shah is warm, straightforward, and whip-smart. She goes over things in as little or as much detail as you are comfortable with.

While I liked the other staff in the clinic, I didn't like either of the main nurses at Penn Radnor, Julie or Beth. Julie was my coordinator and she just doesn't have a lot of patience and was frequently confusing. When I was trying to confirm one set of her instructions early on, she made a snarky remark that she had done this many times. I replied back that I hadn't and wanted to make sure that I understood. She sounds condescending on the phone and ordered medications that I didn't need without warning me that I didn't need to pick them up right away (that they were only "in case of"). I would see Beth sometimes during monitoring and I felt as though she was withholding information (probably bad news). She was not my primary contact, however, so my experience with her was minimal.

I felt comfortable with Dr. Shah immediately and felt like I was in great hands. Most of my reluctance of recommending her would only come from how Penn Medicine is run and my experience with the nurses. Dr. Shah had a worksheet made up to help guide her conversations with her patients regarding all of the possible causes of infertility and the tests to identify them. It was incredibly thorough and helpful. I have nothing but great things to say about her.

Be aware that Penn Medicine acts a bit like a team and even if Dr. Shah is your primary RE and guiding your care, you will see any of the doctors at a given procedure and no doctor at all during your monitoring.

Dr. Shah debated between an antagonist protocol (which she selected) and another type of protocol (not sure what that would have been) based on my DOR diagnosis and relatively young (in infertility world) age. The logic for going with the specific protocol was never relayed to me. Did a natural start, 450 gonal f for days 1-5, then ganarelix was added, and I went to gonal f 300 + menopure 150. I had a dominant follicle by day 7 which they warned me might get me cancelled and by day 9 they cancelled the cycle and converted me to IUI that didn't work.

Prices changed July 2016 and I do not know current rates. 6750 covered one retrieval and 2 transfers (1 fresh, 1 frozen or 2 frozen) and ALL embryology, anesthesia, monitoring, bloodwork, mock transfer, etc. Everything. Cancelation before retrieval netted a refund of all but 1500. There were other graduated refunds possible (ie only one transfer, but no embryos to transfer reduced cost to 5000). 1 retrieval and 1 transfer (fresh or frozen) was 5000, but the only refund possible was if your cycle was cancelled before retrieval (cost reduced to $1500). This also included absolutely everything (monitoring, embryology, icsi, bloodwork, education seminar, med training).

Front desk staff can be a little temperamental and can make you feel likes bother. Overall all of the staff at the clinic, however, are fantastic. Parking is a pain and can be expensive.

He spent a vast amount of time counseling me and my husband, praising our strength and courage, and supporting us throughout the entire process.

Rie is fantastic. She always ensured I was comfortable and understood everything. She returns phone calls promptly and spends as much time needed to explain things and a set questions. She personally calls to check in and even to follow up after her weekend off if you had anything done during that time. She came down to check on me after my retrieval as well, even though she wasn't in the OR and was in the office that day.

Dr. Sondhiemer is a superb physician at this clinic. He is caring and extremely knowledgable and very methodical in his investigative process when trying to root cause infertility. I've been under his care for 14 yrs as a routine gyn patient due to my PCOS. He was on sabbatical when we ended up doing our retrieval and transfer but he routinely checked in with his RN to see how things were going because he wanted to make sure all was going well. He truly cares about his patients and goes above and beyond as a physician.

He can be very straightforward, but not in a blunt manner.

My protocol was the hyperstimulation protocol due to my PCOS. I was very carefully monitored and was lucky to have no adverse side effects and a very successful round of stimulation and retrieval.

Approx $6800 for 1 fresh and 1 frozen cycle, retrieval, all monitoring. Meds not included. They cost about another $2000 given my particular insurance coverage (or lack there of)

The only weakness is that because it's a large teaching hospital, you someone different for your monitoring appointments. My annuals and consults were always with Dr Sondheimer.

Even though I see someone different all the time through the fertility process, I know Dr Sondheimer is leading my team an available whenever I need him to be. He is straight forward and honest; I also find him to be warm and understanding. He lets me know that I'm the one in control and I ultimately make the decisions. The nurses are wonderful!!! I am (trying to be) a single mom by choice and not only is Dr Sondheimer supportive, the staff is also pulling for me every step of the way.

Ree is like having the sweetest Mom or Grandmom by your side. I can't say enough nice things about her. She is the mellow calming force to the whole process. The rest of the nurses have been super supportive and caring through the whole process. They know me and even if they aren't part of my care that day they always ask how I'm doing and wish me luck.

Sometimes he can seem rushed, but I find that asking questions gets me a long way. He's very willing to explain everything. I'm on the road to motherhood on my own and he couldn't be more supportive. He's very caring and made sure that I had a good supportive network before I started the process. I went through egg freezing a few years ago and he was great through that also.

Ask questions!!!

I don't remember all the medications for the egg retrieval. I know I started on bcp, was on follistim, menapur and I believe Gonal-F. For the IUIs, I do an ultrasound and baseline bloodwork on Day 3 of my cycle, 50 mg of Clomid days 4-8, another ultrasound on Day 12 to check the follicles. The first IUI I did the trigger shot (Ovidrel) the night of CD 12 and had the IUI morning of CD 14. The second time, they did bloodwork on CD 12 to check for an LH surge which I was starting so I triggered as soon as they got the blood results back, 3pm CD 12 and had the IUI the morning of CD 13. I take an at-home pregnancy test two weeks later and call the office with the results. Due to my low AMH and single ovary, if this cycle doesn't work I'll likely move to IVF.

I don't recall the costs for egg retrieval. IUI is covered by my insurance.

Like I said previously, the clinic may leave you feeling like you don't have a personal relationship with your doctor. However when I did have appointments with Dr. Kalra I always left feeling confident in our plan and next step. She communicated great and listened and was concerned with how you were dealing with everything mentally as well. They were prompt with the early morning monitoring appointments. The staff was friendly.

Dr Kalra is compassionate but also honest. She tells you the truth about the odds of success. She listens to all of your questions and lets you voice your concerns.

You are assigned a nurse at the clinic. My nurse was fantastic. She always called when she said we would. She spoke slowly and made sure that I always understood the directions and doses during stims. Roohi always called me back promptly whenever I had a question.

I had a good experience overall at Penn Fertility. Dr Kalra was a great doctor. However, if you're looking to build a close relationship with your doctor this may not be the best place for you. I didn't get to do any of our IUI's or IVF transfers with her. I basically saw her at our consult appointments and when we were discussing our plans. If you got to this practice you will end up with whatever doctor is available at the location that day. It can sometimes feel a bit impersonal.

Dr Kalra used all of our day 3 testing results to decide which protocol to use. She said my AMH was within normal range so she used what they called a high responder protocol. It worked and we had a smooth and successful retrieval with embryos to freeze. Our first transfer was unsuccessful but our frozen embryo transfer gave us a BFP.

IUIs were 1000 each not including trigger shot and clomic IVF was 6775 for retrieval and 2 transfers (I ended up doing 1 fresh and 1 frozen) My meds for stims were 1800 Meds for FET 350 Overall they are extremely affordable in comparison to many other clinics

Wait times for appointments can vary anywhere from 5 to 45 minutes. The staff have always been very apologetic if the wait time was on the longer side. Front desk staff have always been polite and pleasant.

Dr Dokras always asked how we felt about our options or next steps that we just discussed and if we were comfortable with them before ending the appointments.

Dr Dokras seems very knowledgeable, but she is conservative (self-admitted) in her approach - both with medications/dosages and with risk factors (testing required for any existing health issues prior to IVF treatments and number of embryos transferred).

Ask as many questions as you need and do you own research, but trust your doctor while in the middle of treatment - they do have a plan even if you don't understand all aspects of it!

I was on a hyper response IVF protocol due to having PCOS (my understanding of it is that lower doses of injectible meds are used to avoid overstimulating the ovaries). My stimulation phase took several days longer than expected, which meant having to order additional meds, but the eggs produced were very good quality even though the total number was not as high as might be expected with a regular IVF cycle. We ended up with 6 high quality 5 day embryos from that cycle.

We were lucky to have IVF coverage through our insurance and only had to pay 10% deductible and co-pays. The financial counselors at the clinic were very helpful in confirming our insurance coverage and explaining to us what our remaining cost would be for each procedure before starting that treatment.

Strengths- many great doctors that collaborate on cases. Cutting edge research. Ease of appointments. I was always made comfortable, informed and I felt that I was in great hands. You will see a Fellow most likely for ultrasounds (many other practices have techs and don't tell you what is going on while it is happening) Weaknesses- this turned out to be a strength for me personally in hindsight but you see many different fellows/doctors for ultrasounds, IUIs anything but consulting appointments. Your main doctor will be the primary decision maker but you won't see them for every appointment. I wish I knew that upfront and it bothered my during my first cycle but when I came back for the second cycle- I was aware and embraced it and asked many different doctors questions.

Dr. Sondheimer and his nurse, Rie were incredible throughout my journey. He personally called me back with answers to questions.

Rie was incredible. She listened to my 100s of questions, was always calm and assuring and kept me so prepared. She was an angel!

He was honest and I felt kept me prepared for a setback or a success. I felt like I always had a plan "B" after each visit so I never really had "false hopes". I also liked that he consulted with other top doctors regarding my care at Penn. He told me their opinions as well and what the plan would be moving forward. I felt like they genuinely cared whether I got pregnant and would try anything to get me there!

Ask a lot of questions and request to see him at major appointments. If you aren't comfortable seeing other doctors or fellows, this might not be the practice for you.

I was a DOR patient based off of egg counts and my AMH level so they treated me very aggressively in my first cycle. I forget the name of the protocol but I think it was "mini Lupron". I got canceled after my first ultrasound after having a lead egg (I can't remember the terminology!) so they converted it to an IUI. After that, Dr. Sondheimer treated me with a typical cycle instead of one more used for DOR patients. I used high dosages of Follistim though. I had 6 eggs at my baseline and had 7 mature. They retrieved all and 4 made it to Day 5 embryos. We transferred 2 the first round and I had a singleton (now 4). We transferred two frozen 2 years later and my twins are now 2.

The appointments were in the AM (I would go before work) so they could also draw blood (if necessary) and it would leave time for the doctors to review results and adjust your meds if necessary. It was a well oiled machine that ran very smoothly.

I was fortunate to have been covered by my insurance.

The practice encouraged me to transfer 2 each time. I was hesitant during my frozen transfer but I listened and had a multiple pregnancy. Looking back, I wouldn't change it but it was a shock to the system when I found out both took.

Everyone at the clinic is very friendly, helpful, supportive. The only negative was sometimes long wait times for monitoring appointments. It really is a team environment there and everyone seems invested in the patient care and excellent outcomes

Dr Gracia (please note it is Gracia, not Garcia) is one of the most fantastic doctors (and people) I've ever met. She's unfailingly positive and so invested in her patients' outcomes. I had a poor prognosis per my ob/gyn and all my test results and she remained encouraging and optimistic every step of the way. She listened to my concerns and answered all of my questions. She came to the office on a weekend (on a day she was not scheduled to be in the office) to personally perform my egg retrieval and transfer. I really didn't expect my cycle to work at all but it not only worked, it worked on the first try and I have twins!! She is the best!

Roohi was very calm and caring. She was very organized about all the steps in the process. She had my medications ordered and the prior authorizations completed in advance. She was very supportive throughout the process

Please see previous answer. Dr Gracia personally performed my retrieval and transfer and was my biggest cheerleader even when I was feeling very pessimistic about my chances of success. Dr. Gracia is optimistic, friendly, caring, approachable, funny, smart, motivated and so smart. I always felt like my cycle and my success were very important to her.

Take notes, she talks fast!

I did a luteal lupron downregulation IVF cycle with Follistim and Menopur. I did not use birth control pills. I used intramuscular progesterone support following egg retrieval.

everything was covered by insurance

I think that Penn is VERY expensive. When I met with their financial rep, she said that IUIs typically bill out at $5,000. Also, they billed all of my diagnostic testing as 'infertility' so my tests started billing against my insurance lifetime maximum. I felt like they were sucking my few insurance dollars dry. In terms of the clinic, it is clean and typically runs on time. It was rare that I had to wait over 15 minutes.

Dr Dokras spent very little time with me on my first visits. She made zero effort to connect with me as a person and I felt like she was a robot just asking me questions and putting them into her EMR system.

I liked my RN, Beth, and the other RNs that i spoke with. They were more willing to answer questions and explain things than Dr Dokras. They seemed to be the only ones understanding my care.

Dr Dokras obviously never remembered me. She re-introduced herself to me on several visits. I know she sees a lot of people but she could skim my chart for 5 seconds and realize I have been in her office before. Furthermore, she misdiagnosed my husband's sperm results. She opened his results in front of me and said they were normal. Two months later when I was requesting a copy of all our results, I noticed his results were not normal! These results directly impacted our treatment plan and NO ONE ever called to tell us. It is horrible that she misread the test results as I was sitting in front of her. Finally, UPenn pushes all women directly to IUI. They didn't even offer the suggestion of IUI vs. bedroom. I feel like UPenn is out to make money and they do not put the patient first.

Request a hard copy of all your results. Do not trust the verbal diagnosis.

Dr Dokras tried to push me immediately to IUI procedures. She did not even offer Clomid and regular intercourse as an option. It was only after I did research and I asked direct questions that she mentioned it was possible. Also, she did not talk about the plan if the IUI didn't work. I had no idea how long I would be doing Clomid and IUIs.

This clinic is very expensive. They think you will pay any amount for their brand name. IUIs bill out to insurance around $5k and IVF bills out around $22k