Weill Cornell Medical College

Cornell has a research profile and reputation that is nearly unmatched, as far as I can tell. And I know colleagues who have found success there. But I experienced it as a large, impersonal practice, which very little investment in whether or not I personally had a successful outcome. At the beginning of this process I thought I didn't need compassionate care if the research chops were there, but over time and repeated failures my needs changed, and I completed treatment elsewhere.

Cornell is a large cattle-call practice. I was monitored by a different attending almost every time. I didn't have a consistent nurse. I felt like my treatment plans were by the numbers, rather than tailored to me specifically, and I had real problems with pain management after egg retrieval. Over two years, they never even pronounced my name correctly. It wasn't great.

I had a different nurse every time, so it's hard to say. Once I had to request a different phlebotomist because she was having so much trouble taking my blood. Honestly, my experience with them wasn't great.

I went to Dr. Davis because of his reputation as a researcher, which is impeccable. However, he has so many patients that our interactions were very brief. By my third cycle I felt like he had lost interest in my case. During my fourth cycle - a protocol that I requested - I neither saw nor spoke to him once.

Go prepared to ask a lot of questions, and do not expect hand holding. I thought I didn't need personalized attention if I was seeing someone with incredible research chops, but discovered that this is a more emotional process than I realized.

3 IUI with Clomid, no success. One IVF cycle with estrogen priming and high doses of Follistim and Menopur, canceled due to nonresponse. One IVF cycle with estrogen priming, Clomid, and low doses of Follistim and Menopur, resulting in 3 day 3 fresh embryos transferred, no success. One IVF with estrogen priming, Clomid, low doses of Follistim and Menopur, plus endometrial co-culture, which was painful and not covered by insurance, 4 day 3 fresh embryos transferred, no success. One IVF with estrogen priming and Lupron flare (my request), 2 day 3 fresh embryos transferred, no success.

It was a cattle call with a line around the corner. I regularly waited at least an hour, and once was forgotten in an examining room waiting for an ultrasound.

I had insurance coverage. My out of pocket expenses were $1000 for endometrial co-culture, several trigger shots, and misc.

Dr. Davis was a strong proponent of fresh day 3 transfers, and one time we transferred 4 of them, which made me pretty nervous. He felt that embryos had a better chance of success in a woman's body than in a petri dish. I ultimately had success with a fresh day 3 transfer with another doctor.

Weill Cornell Reproductive Medicine is a top center for infertility. As I said we traveled from PA to NY to be a patient and it was worth it in every way. I only wish we had done this from the beginning instead of wasting a year with a different RE in PA. Dr. Reichman's Tribeca office is absolutely wonderful. The office seems newer with state-of-the-art equipment and the most friendly staff. His staff are extremely helpful, especially if you need support dealing with prior-auths and insurance - they stepped in and before I knew it everything was handled.

Dr. Reichman is an extremely personable physician. He makes his patients feel like they matter. He takes time at every appointment with you, answers every question you have, and does not make you feel rushed. There were a couple times he suggested we set an appointment for a "strategy meeting" - his words - which we loved. He knows every detail about his patients. He remembers everything, even asking about how our trip to Chicago was when we had a follow-up appointment with him. His front-desk staff are the nicest and sweetest team members. They remember your name, ask how you're doing, and are always on top of everything.

My primary nurse that I communicated with was Hannah. She always showed compassion during every interaction or phone call. She answered every question and made sure you understood your directions and next steps before hanging up the phone. Even when meeting in person about something Hannah never rushed you and was very thorough in her care and explanations. She also replied very timely to emails.

Dr. Reichman is like no other. We traveled from Pennsylvania to New York and it was all worth it. From the moment we had our initial consultation with him he gave us hope and made us feel like he truly cared. I have not had an easy journey with fertility - 2 natural pregnancies both ending in miscarriages, being told by a previous RE my lining was too thin and so never even getting to a transfer attempt, retained products of conception after a D&C by my OB. But Dr. Reichman never gave up. I remember starting my IVF cycle with him in March 2018 and during a saline sonogram is when he discovered I had retained products of conception and told me he would have to go in and do surgery after I completed the IVF cycle and retrieval. I started crying in the exam room. Dr. Reichman was extremely comforting, telling me "I am in your corner," letting me know that he would take care of me during the surgery as I was worried about my lining, and that together we would get through this and meet our end goal of having a baby. He is an extremely compassionate and caring physician, but he is also a realist - he is very straightforward with what he thinks. This is a quality my husband and I appreciated; we wanted someone who would be direct and honest. Dr. Reichman is always thinking about what is best for his patients; he individualizes every plan of care to each of his patients.

Don't be afraid to ask questions. He answers every single one of them without making you feel rushed or that it's a silly question.

I was on Gonal-F, Menopur, and Cetrotide, with an HCG trigger shot before the egg retrieval. I can't remember the exact dosages but he had me on a low dose of Gonal-F. I only had 5 antral follicles. We retrieved 5 eggs, all 5 fertilized, 3 made it to PGS testing and all 3 were PGS normal! We did not expect this and were thrilled, as my last miscarriage was confirmed due to chromosome issues.

Monitoring appointments were very efficient. You have a window of time they do "morning monitoring" and you don't have to wait very long once you arrive. Once you are pregnant, the 2-3 ultrasounds you have to have are via appointment after monitoring hours.

I was lucky as my insurance covered IVF 100%; the cost of the medications were mostly covered as well. We did pay a few hundred dollars though for some genetic testing and other blood work to be done as I had two previous miscarriages.

From my experience, I believe Dr. Reichman prefers single embryo transfer.

The Tribeca location is fantastic. It is calm, comfortable, and all new. It can get a little crowded during monitory hours but never too bad and they are really organized. The nurses are all very nice. It's so much better than the UES location! The receptionists are also very nice and helpful

Dr. Reichman sees me every visit (unless it is a weekend or he is off for a holiday), which I appreciate. He always seems to consider my case and our next steps carefully. He doesn't have the warmest bedside manner, and doesn't seem to plug into the emotional toll this takes, but he does lay out the numbers and realities and stays positive.

Dr. Riechman's main nurse is fantastic. She always answers my questions and when I wanted to order fewer meds since i had to pay OOP as I hit my insurance limit, she worked with me on ordering just what was necessary. She's a pleasure every time I speak with her. Any other nurses that cover for her are also great.

I came to Dr. Reichman from another doctor only because my insurance changed and it now covers IVF and the other place I was going doesn't take my insurance. Dr. Reichman agreed with the assessment of my other doctor (age-related infertility). Although I feel I got more compassionate "bedside manner" from the first doctor, I appreciate that I see Dr. Reichman for every monitoring visit (at the Tribeca Office). He may take a day or so to email back, but he always always responds to email. His answers are short but to the point. He's gives it to you straight so you have to be able to take that, but I have no doubt he knows that he's talking about! I feel I am in good hands for sure.

He can be blunt with the reality of things, but he does care about you getting success and knows his stuff. If you want someone with a super compassionate bedside manner he may not be the one for you, but he certainly takes his work seriously and is always positive yet realistic. If you are paying out of pocket, he also understands the great cost of IVF and takes that into account when recommending next steps, which I really appreciate.

2 stimulation cycles. Both times mostly 150 menapure, 300 gonal f, then leuprolide added in. Egg retrieval and fertilization with ICSI using fresh sample. Waited the 5 days to see which embryos survived and did genetic testing on those that did. Cycle 1 - 10 eggs retrieved, 8 mature, 6 fertilized, 4 embryos genetically tested, 1 recommended for transfer. Cycle 2 - 7 eggs retrieved, 6 mature, 3 fertilized, 2 genetically tested - awaiting results. Still have not yet done an embryo transfer.

In the Tribeca office it is a very pleasant experience even when crowded -- and it's never that bad. I don't think I have waited longer than 30 min to be seen and sometimes i get seen within 10 min.

My insurance paid for up to 40K of my expenses. After I hit my limit, I have to pay OOP. Approx 10K for egg retrieval (all monitoring included), 1K for ICSI fertilization, 4K for PGD/PGS testing. 1K hospital fee. Not sure what frozen embryo transfer will cost. Meds were covered by insurance but i think it cost 10K

Let me start by saying that I hated pretty much everything about the way this clinic is run. it is impersonal. It is a factory but not a well oiled machine. All REs love to talk about how their labs are teh best. Literally every single RE will tell you they have the best lab. And while there are some labs that may be better than others in some ways, for the most part i think it's negligible once you get past a certain threshold of care. So I think Cornell hides behind "we have the best lab" argument to avoid actually providing quality continuity of care. The waiting room holds 100 people. You check in with a swipe card. It is incredibely impersonal. They do not run on time. When you get called in you will see random blood draw person- i swear I never saw teh same person twice. Then you will be assigned a room and random young dr will do your scan. I seriously had to ask a few of tehm if they were med students or not becuase tehy looked so young, and again, I never saw teh same person twice. This is a problem becuase everyone measures follicles differently and you are relying on their measurements being given to your dr to decide on what next steps are needed. So if you are deciding when to trigger and someone measures either generously or conservatively it can actually have a major impact on your outcome. I hated that I literally never saw Dr. Davis and they drs doing the scans were so clearly like- whatever- about their job. It is a factory. I also really, really have a major issue with how they handle retrievals. First of all, EVERYONE is required to come to a 6am class and sort of group blood work the day before your retrieval even if you have already done multiple retrievals. They come out with a clipboard and the order that your name goes on teh clipboard is the order that you are seen. So you sit around a conference table with all the women who are being retrieved the next day. Too bad about HIPPA and expectations of privacy- there are NONE. You could end up sitting there with your boss, or your sister in law, or your hairdresser. I actually can;t believe it's legal. Then they call yuo back one at a time to do blood and sign forms. I then refused to stay for the class ofw hat to expect becuase this was going to be by 4th or 5th retrieval which I told them. The nurses were not nice about it all and threatened to cancel my cycle if I messed up anything. I was like- you are handing me a piece of paper with the extensive instructions of what to do. i can read and I will follow them . And then I left. Then the next day I showed up at 6am again- for a 10am retrieval- which is just obnoxious. Then again, you are called by name and given scribs to change into they put the IV in your arm. And then you are put in a waiting room with all the same women AND their partners, parents etc... in scrubs... with an IV sticking in your arm. And you wait. Again. And then they call you by name in groups of 3 and take you to a tiny waiting room. There one at a time the anethesiologist pulls you into the hallway (i swear) to have a private converastion about any anethesia you may have. I had 2 very lovely girls I was sitting with and we kinda chatted a bit but honestly, what if you don't really want to be in scrubs with strangers having a convo right before your retrieval? Then they take you one at a time and you see whoever is on call for retrievals that day- you may or may not have ever met them. Then you go to recovery. They wake you up with mandatory pain pills and send you on your merry way. They do tell you how many eggs were retrieved and thats it. Having had a a fair amount of clinic experiences by the time I got there I had a lot of comparisons to other clinics and this model is by a loooong shot, my least favorite. I ended up moving my 10 frozen 2PNs to another clinic because I refused to ever cycle with them again.

Dr. Davis is a very nice person. He was very patient and available on the phone and reassuring. I absolutely hated the clinic and that was the reason I only did 1 cycle there. But I liked him as a Dr and respected his approach.

I remember Dr. Davis's manager a lot more than his nursing staff. His office manager was excellent. The way that Cornell organizes their clinic make me so aggravated that I honestly don't think I had a main nurse. You literally never see teh same person twice- nurse or even phlebotomist. They were all.... fine. It really is truly a factory so the nurses respond to the culture that they are a part of and have no power to change.

Dr. Davis was the 4th fertility doc on my long list. i came to him because i was told he would do day 2 or 3 freezing and fresh transfers if desired and appropriate. This was the first time that those options had been offered to me and given the fact that i cannot get an embryo to day 5 in a dish this was comforting. We had one initial converastion to make a plan. It was extended and I never felt rushed. I asked him about the reason that nothign ever made it to day 5 in the dish and he said probably egg quality but not necessarily. He is not didactic in his approach to treatment and has been doing this long enough to remember the days before automatically pushing to day 5 blasts and pgs was the norm. We ultimately decided on a freeze all cycle with the plan to do another cycle immediately following which I ended up not doing because I hated the clinic so much. I told him I thought I had been way overmedicated in my previous cycle and he listened and dosed lower as a result. We ended up having a very solid outcome of that cycle with 10 to freeze. Ultimately the one pgs normal was in that group but it ended up not taking in transfer.

Be aware that you will probably never see him in person again after your initial consult. He was available by phone as was consistent in returning phone calls and I never felt rushed in our conversations.

It was lose dose- i think it was 25 clomid on cycle days 3-7 and then 125 follistim. He likes double ganirelix on theses low dose cycles, but I thouht it may have been over-suppressive so i actually just did one and a half ganirelix instead of 2X a day.

100% a cattle call. See above. I walked in one saturday and there were literally 75- 100 people waiting to be seen. It is the worst model for monitoring.

I paid OOP for this whole cycle. I think it was around 20k?

NA

The downtown office is smaller. Very clean and organized. You will usually always see your Dr when you go. The staff is friendly and knows your name. They always get your meds in on time. They only issue I found is it takes forever to get your records. So if you need them quickly you will have to stay on them.

When i initially saw Dr Reichman in 2016 after 2 losses he was nothing short of amazing. He was kind, empathetic and really took the time to discuss treatment, calm anxiety and let you know he was there to support you. When I saw him again in 2018/2019 everything changed. He was blunt, short, easily annoyed and combative. I really felt like I was dealing with a completely different Doctor. He was no longer willing to try different things or think outside the box. It was very his way or the highway. I did not feel the comfort and support I once felt with him at all.

I only ever spoke to Hannah and Christine. Both were good and responsive. However they will never really answer questions for you and will tell you to email Dr Reichman.

I first went to him back in 2016. He was empathetic, concerned and took the time to walk you through everything and also made sure that you were handling everything ok mentally. He was the kind of dr that would call you from vacation or on his way home to check in and explain things. I will add that we did get pregnant during that time at his practice, however it likely would've happened regardless. When we returned to him in 2018/2019 for baby 2 it was a very different experience. He was overly blunt, cold and got extremely upset whenever he was questioned or I advocated for myself. He just seemed like he was too busy too care anymore. Emails would go unanswered for days and you never received phone calls when requested. It was like I was dealing with a completely different dr.

If you tend to ask questions and advocate for yourself do not work with him.

We only got as far as letrozole and timed intercourse with him. He also missed my ovulation twice.

25k+ for IVF before medication, IUI 1.4k and trigger shots $100 if not covered by insurance.

He will never implant more than one embryo at a time. Or at leas that is what he said. He is extremely conservative.

Strengths: After going to another clinic first, I was extremely impressed with the organization of this clinic. Everyone is vey nice, they are efficient. Hours are great. Never have to wait long. Weaknesses: They have so many patients, which sometimes makes me feel like a number.

He was very down to earth in our initial consultation. Asked my husband and I personal questions, which I liked, as it made me think he wanted to get to know us and cared. Always speaks to me like his equal, rather than a patient.

She is extremely responsive. ALways answers my questions in a timely matter. She is organized.

He is thoughtful and thorough, Always explains everything so I understand. If I need clarification for something, he explains it. He is realistic. I am currently still under his care and only starting round #2 of IVF, but he always comes up with a plan with me, rather than for me, and explains his rationale.

He is not warm and fuzzy, but he is thoughtful and reasonable. If you are looking for hand holding, he is not for you. But his knowledge and his confidence are very impressive.

For my first round, I used Gonal F 300 and night, then added Menopur 75IU and Cetrotide (can't remember specifics). I only had four follicles from. 5 eggs were retrieved. Only on embryo made. Sent for genetic testing. Embryo was not recommended for transfer (can't remember reasoning). For my second round (just started tonight), I am using Micro Lupron twice daily and adding Menopur 150IU and Gonal F 300 in the evening.

It was convenient. Hours start at 6:45 and end at 8:30 so it did not interrupt my work schedule. The earlier the arrival, the less I had to wait. There were often many people there (especially on the weekend, where we had to go to the main central location), which again makes me feel like a number.

I'm lucky that my insurance covers 15K in fertility medication (per lifetime) and 3 rounds (per lifetime). For the first round, we reached out 15K in medication! We still had to pay out of pocket almost 3K for medications on top of that. We learned that pharmacies charge insurance companies insane amount of $$ for meds. If you are paying out of pocket for medications, there is a significant discount. For the second round (new med protocol and paying out of pocket, we have spent about $3100 so far, significantly less than previous. I do not know the cost of specific services. Genetic testing is not covered under insurance and is about $4100 out of pocket. Even if not embryos are recommend for transfer.

busy office and you have to come in early, sometimes a wait but never more than 30 minutes. And usually they take you within 5 mins of your arrival. ALso sometimes you have to wait in the room for the doctor to come in for 10 mins but not more. usually very fast. eveyrone who works there is really nice and friendly.

Dr. Reichman is always extremely responsive to emails (answers usually right away) and questions I had while at the office for ultrasound appointments and bloodwork. However usually when I am there for ultrasounds the visit lasts less than 5 minutes and he doesn't ask if I have any questions and doesn't always explain what he's seeing in the ultrasound. However, when we first started seeing him, we had an hour meeting with him to discuss the plan and we just had another hour meeting with him to discuss potential IVF, in which he took the time to explain everything to us and answer any questions. He definitely treats me like a human and not just a number.

They were great, really responsive and nice and friendly.

Dr. Reichman is a great doctor and he clearly cares a lot about his patients and is very responsive. Also extremely bright and has a nice bedside manner. However, he overlooked something that could have saved my husband and I months of trying to conceive. Since I was diagnosed with PCOS on my first visit to him, he assumed that the problem was me and therefore did not recommend that my husband get tested as well. After 6 months of Letrozole (which worked very well for me and got me to ovulate on the first try) and not getting pregnant, we finally pushed for a semen analysis (although he didnt recommend it yet) and found out that my husband had a low sperm count, at which point Dr. Reichman recommended IUI. After 3 IUI's and still not pregnant, WE asked Dr. Reichman if he thought it would be a good idea to see a reproductive urologist and he said it couldn't hurt and gave us a recommendation. We ended up seeing the urologist who told my husband that he had a double varicocele on both testicles and he had surgery to remove them. Now it has been 3 months post surgery and still not pregnant but at our last IUI a week ago, his sperm count had trippled. Howeevr, no we are finding out that there may be another problem with his capscore (ability of sperm to fertilize the egg) and the only way to deal with that is through IVF, however we want to wait at least until 6-7 months post-op to start IVF. In my opinion, Dr. Reichman is a great doctor, but he should have told us from the start to get my husband tested, because you never know if its just one persons fault or both until you get tested. If I had a freind going to see Dr. Reichman, I would recommend that she push to have her husband get tested on the first visit to avoid any further complexities and to make the process go faster.

get your husband tested on the first visit even if he doesnt recommend it

fFirst I just did letrozole and since i have PCOS I reacted really well to it and began ovulating on the first try. Did this for a couple months. Dr. Reichman says normal couples TTC have a 1/5 chance of getting pregnant every time so he thought we should do that for 5-6 months. 7th month we did IUI after finding out that my husband had low sperm count, although he probably wouldve waited to do another cycle or 2 without IUI if we hadnt done semen analysis of my husband. Then we did IUI for 6 cycles. last 2 IUI's I was on clomid instead of letrozole so I would ovulate more than one egg and have a better chance of conceiving

normal co-pay for ultrasounds, price depends on your insurance. my insurance didnt cover IUI, so we paid $750 out of pocket every time. Also HSG was around $250 that we paid out of pocket, but depends on your insurance and fertility benefits.

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The Tribeca office is great - nice staff, efficiently run, and very comfortable environment. I was always seen on time. The UES, where you will have to go for IUIs and on the weekends when Tribeca is closed, is less so - there's a higher volume of patients and so there's longer wait times, more anxiety in the waiting room, etc. Also know that if you're doing IUI that Dr. Reichman most likely won't be doing the procedure unless he happens to be on call - it wasn't a big deal to me and I had the same doctor do the procedure both times who was lovely.

Even though he was likely seeing dozens of patients a morning for very short periods of time, I could tell that Dr. Reichman always prepared himself to see me, knowing the details of my treatment and even remembering personal details about my job, husband etc. The front desk staff at WC are extremely friendly, and very quickly remembered my name which I was always impressed by.

Hannah was who I mostly spoke to during my treatment. The office ALWAYS called with results and instructions on time, and she is just genuinely a warm person. I didn't have all that many needs for frequent communication but I have nothing but positive things to say about my experience.

I loved my experience with Dr. Reichman. He's very direct and to the point, which can come off as blunt but I appreciated because he was always very honest and helped manage my expectations. He only tells you what you absolutely need to know, and monitoring appointments are very quick, so if you're like me and prefer to be over informed, know that you should come to your appointments prepared with questions to ask. Dr. Reichman really knows his stuff - I always had full confidence in his plans - and appreciated how he would always explain his plan of attack, including recommending that I schedule a "strategy session" to discuss next steps if I was not pregnant after 3 rounds of Clomid. He always answered questions via email very quickly and encouraged me to email him directly at any time.

Ask a lot of questions and try to prepare for your appointments in advance because he sees a lot of patients. Go in for monitoring appointments on the earlier side (before 8am) if you want to get seen without any wait. Put your faith in him and do as he says and stay off of Google!

After he diagnosed me with mild PCOS, he recommended Clomid as a starting point as it appeared I only needed help ovulating more regularly based on bloodwork. He didn't push me to get other tests done right away (other than genetic screening) as he could sense I was hesitant, but after my husband decided to get a SA and it came back with a lower than average count, he recommended IUI to improve our chances of success. After the first round of Clomid didn't result in pregnancy, he recommended an HSG to make sure we weren't facing any additional obstacles, and he also recommended back to back IUIs for the 2nd round of Clomid. I got pregnant on that 2nd round, but if I hadn't we would have had an appointment to discuss our next steps and I believe he would have recommended moving on from Clomid after the 3rd round.

I have Cigna and all of my procedures and appointments were 100% covered, except for genetic testing (that was around $350 - they have a deal worked out not to exceed that if your insurance doesn't cover), so I mostly just had a specialist co-pay each visit of $40. Since there are a lot of monitoring appointments, all in I'd say I was spending $200-250 a month on co-pays or so.

NA

Upon initial consultation I met with the patient coordinator, Amanda, who explained all the steps I would need to take in order to begin the process. She was very patient and informative and guided me throughout. As a new patient the process can be quite daunting but she always took the time to explain everything to me thoroughly. Make sure to coordinate any insurance issues with the billing department, as that is a time consuming process.

Dr. Reichman took the time to ask me exactly what I wanted out of the process and tailored a plan specifically for me, and treated me with precise care each visit

The nursing staff was always available to answer questions, speak through concerns, and show kindness through the whole process. They returned calls in a very timely fashion and explained anything I didn't understand. They were professional and skilled in performing any tests required.

Dr. Reichman is a skilled, highly educated and kind doctor. I always felt that he was attentive to my needs and gave me straightforward answers. When we got a few embryos after the first retrieval he advised me to do a second one before doing a transfer, as I had told him at our initial consult that I wanted as many kids as possible,and if we waited it would be more difficult in the future, based on my age. I appreciated that he took me at my word and advised me according to what I wanted out of this whole process. He is completely informed on the latest technologies available and always treated me with complete kindness. I have recommended him to many people already.

Trust him and do what he says!

Estrogen patch for a week before period 150 menopur + 300 FSH first few days, then added Cetrotide, HCG trigger shot

Monitoring hours are in the early morning and I would make sure to arrive pretty close to when they opened. A typical wait for me was 10-15 minutes tops, they work quite efficiently there.

~$11,000 for the retrieval ~$10,000 for the PGS testing ~$3,000 for medications (insurance covered some) ~$4,000 for the transfer

I initially asked Dr. Reichman for a multiple embryo transfer, I thought it would be fun to have twins, he explained the risks involved and as we were doing PGS testing on the embryos the chances of success of one implanting were higher

The facilities are great. The waiting area has nice light and comfortable seating. The clinic is quite big and feels very different from seeing Dr. Melnick at her office, which is a few blocks away and quite small (but, also new and very nice!). Even though there are comfortable couches, due to it’s size - it feels like a hospital. I have had to wait quite a while a few days. My first trigger shot, I somehow ended up waiting for like 2 hours (there was a class - it is a teaching facility). After that, my husband always gave me the trigger shot. All of the staff are very nice.

Dr. Melnick and her team are very warm and very efficient. Most of my appointments have been in the morning before work (as it seems with most of her patients). She teaches and has surgeries during the regular hours I would have possibly been able to go in. My experience was always one of an efficient morning with caring people getting things done (reminded me of a family environment getting ready to go school / work in the morning).

Holly the nurse who helps with prescriptions and such is super helpful - responds well to emails and is very informative. The other staff - Connie (manager?), Lindsay (nurse who assists Dr. Melnick and takes bloods), and Jersey (front desk) are all very nice and work really well as a team.

Dr. Melnick is very smart, sensitive, and efficient. Early on (maybe our first meeting), she told us that she likes to take the stress off of her patients and that they will be monitoring all of my hormones, etc.. I think she made this statement after I had asked about or shown my ovulation testing (urine strips vs. temperature). My husband and I have relief with this statement for sure, but we also want to know and wrap our heads around things. My first bloodwork was uploaded onto MyChart (Weill Cornell uses this system), which was great because we could go in and see - but all of the following results were never uploaded. I think Dr. Melnick’s philosophy is that unless we ask for details about things or have specific questions, she will continue with the next course without giving a lot of details or explanation. (Maybe this is standard practice because nothing was alarming in any of my test results) This has worked out well for us as it has taken the stress away at times. It has also made us gather a list of questions to ask before a visit. Dr. Melnick was recommended to me by a friend and I see why. For me (and I’m sure others), she’s been a great balance of warmth and cool / calm / efficiency.

Morning appointments have always been really easy to get in and out for me and come with specific questions to ask as your meeting with her will be quick.

I have had 7 rounds of Clomid and 4 IUI’s. My body responded well the first month to Clomid (I believe it was 50mg), but the second month only 1 or 2 follicles so the third cycle the prescription was increased to two tablets. This worked well for the last 5 cycles. Everything she prescribed made a lot of sense. Our insurance does not cover IVF - and, if it did we probably would have tried IVF after 2 IUI’s. She told us that the percentage of IUI working goes down each time, but she worked with us with what made sense financially. Because our insurance deductible was paid, we continued with IUI’s and Clomid through the rest of the calendar year. Now we are gearing up for IVF in this new year.

I now am out-of-pocket that I’m starting the process for IVF and I just paid $600 for my sounding. The IUI procedures along with all the bloodwork and ultrasounds were paid by insurance and I saw some very bizarre negotiations between the clinic and the insurance so I don’t have straight numbers for them. All of my medications needed pre-authorization and I would pay out of pocket mainly due to timing for Clomid, which is quite inexpensive.

I haven’t really gotten to a conversation with her about this yet. She said that it’s most efficient for the clinic to fertilize all of the eggs that are extracted and freeze extras - but we didn’t talk about how many would be transferred.

Weill Cornell has a large volume of patients, and it's not cheap. But hopefully you get top notch treatment and that will make it all worthwhile. For daily monitoring, come as early as you can (ideally before 7 AM) to get in & out more quickly. Also, it seems in 2019 they have enhanced their financial collection efforts - I had not even invoiced yet for coinsurance from my 1st cycle and they were asking me to pay the balance prior to starting my 2nd cycle.

Based upon the process thus far, we are happy we chose Dr. Kang. She has a nice demeanor, and is very easy to talk to but also professional & clinical. I've been fortunate to see her for all my monitoring ultrasounds at CRM except one (which was with an RE fellow). Given the volume of patients they have at the clinic, she is good with remembering our specifics and has been helpful in keeping our spirits up during what can be an emotional, difficult process.

Thus far in my treatment at CRM, I have not felt like I had one particular assigned nurse or clinical coordinator. Would be really helpful for them to establish a single point of contact up front for clinical questions/issues, and in particular if you could communicate with them more directly via email, secure message etc. Sometimes you are not in a workspace conducive to being on the phone talking about your treatment, and at those times having an alternate method by which to communicate with their staff would be invaluable.

Dr. Kang has been great thus far - I appreciated that she did not immediately push us to IVF and instead took a more pragmatic approach of trying IUI. She did my first IUI, and then the 2nd cycle I asked to do a double IUI, both of which were performed by nurse practitioners. One thing I will say is I feel like the timing of the IUIs may not have been ideal. First cycle was only 22 hours post trigger (which seemed early), and 2nd cycle had IUIs at 26 & 51 hours (2nd seemed really late). I would prefer they teach you how to administer the trigger shot at home on your own so you can get the timing closer to 36 hours (my IUIs were all in the morning about 9:30-11). We're still awaiting results of 2nd cycle, but if it didn't work I'm going to push for that.

The clinic is busy and they talk fast. Be prepared with questions for each visit with her, or you can call & talk to her assistant (Diana) or the nursing staff. Especially when it's your first cycle I feel like you need to do this or you may wish later on you'd done things differently (it's expensive you want to maximize your odds of success each round).

First cycle, I went in for baseline bloodwork & ultrasound on Day 2, then took 100 mg Clomid/day for Days 2-6, monitoring bloodwork & ultrasound Days 12, 13 & 15, and trigger shot on Day 15 with IUI next morning (22 hours after trigger; 2.25 hours post collection). Had 3 mature follicles (16, 20, & 21) on day of trigger. Did not work and Dr. Kang said afterward that clomid had resulted in thinning of the uterine lining (endometrial stripe was 6.8 when triggered), so we would try letrozole/femara next round. Second cycle did baseline bloodwork & ultrasound on Day 4, with 5 mg letrozole/day for Days 4-8, monitoring bloodwork & ultrasound Days 11 & 15, and trigger shot on Day 15 with double IUI next 2 mornings (26 hours after trigger, 1.5 hours post collection, & 51 hours after trigger, 2 hours post collection). Had only 2 mature follicles (21 & 14) on letrozole but better uterine lining (9.4), but given my age if this cycle doesn't work she recommended going back to clomid to increase our odds with more follicles.

Our insurance has a $30K lifetime max for infertility treatment so I've been tracking costs of everything really carefully. Would recommend putting it in a spreadsheet right away because there will be A LOT of insurance claims and it can get very confusing. Here's how it breaks down thus far (total for both husband & myself): o Diagnosis (physician consult, bloodwork/ultrasound, semen analysis & HSG test) = Billed charges ~$5,700; after discounts our insurance paid ~ $3,200; our cost sharing (deductible & coinsurance) ~ $900. o Genetic Testing (through Mt. Sinai Genomics/Sema4) = Billed charges ~$20,500; after discounts our insurance paid ~ $1,400; our cost sharing ~ $500 ** I think the billing staff at CRM said if the genetic testing was not covered by insurance it would only cost a few hundred dollars each, so was completely shocked by the enormous amount billed to our insurance. Wish they would have told us about that in advance (and fortunately our insurance confirmed genetic testing would not go toward our $30K lifetime maximum).** o IUI cycle #1 (medical) = Billed charges ~$4,600; after discounts our insurance paid ~ $3,300; our cost sharing ~ $300; o IUI cycle #1 (Rx-clomid & ovidrel) = after discounts our insurance paid ~ $70; our cost sharing ~ $130 o IUI cycle #2 (medical-estimate) = Billed charges ~$4,700; after discounts our insurance paid ~ $3,500; our cost sharing ~ $400; o IUI cycle #2 (Rx-letrozole & ovidrel) = after discounts our insurance paid ~ $50; our cost sharing ~ $120

N/A - have not discussed since we are only doing IUI so far.

I believe they have the latest technology. And they dealt with big numbers of cases that I feel they know what they are doing. They are dealing with big numbers of people but quite organized. Blood works and ultrasound to monitor follicles during the cycle is very early in the morning from 6:30-8:30.

Dr. Davis is very accessible. He always returns the call. He speaks very fast. But he always try to give me answers to my questions. He is very realistic but in a warm way.

Nurses are very kind, warm, and have positive energy. It’s hard to go through cycle. But at least they seem to understand our pain and try to put efforts to minimize the pain. I really feel thankful to them.

Dr. Davis speaks very fast but he is very informative. I feel he knows what he is dealing, so I can confidently follow his instructions. When I had questions about culturing or not, he explained who needs it and why. So I can make right decisions. I also asked if I should do fresh transfer or not. To each of my question, he gives me his opinion to navigate my decision. In order to reach him, leave a message to his assistant, and he calls me back. During the cycle, almost every cycle, I see him at least once while I go for the morning ultrasound check ups. So I didn’t feel I was abandoned. But since he doesn’t take insurance, we only had one time actually we sat with him in his office for an hour at the beginning for consultation. But my insurance covered it as out of network. So that helped us.

I would write down all the questions I want to ask and give him a call. He will try to explain and navigate.

I started low stimulation strategy with starting with estrogen patch, cromid, 175 follistim, 75 menopure. And then I got 5 eggs retrieved 2 fertilized. Next cycle, he wanted to push a bit, and same except 225 follistim. And we got 7 eggs and 2 fertilized. He thinks that’s good result even only 2 fertilized. The 3rd cycle, we kept the same as 2nd cycle. We got 5 eggs but no fertilized. I try to figure out his analysis for that now.

It is well oiled machine. Quite organized.

I think it was about $580 or so. And I got out of network insurance Coverage for it.

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This clinic strengths are that they are really advanced on a technological, medical, research basis. The lab is really amazing and always try to improve, find new treatments. If you are dealing with a severe trouble to conceive, don't hesitate one second to go to them because they will surely find a way to get out. Weaknesses are the costs of course... You have to pay for success. Some people find also that it's like a factory because there is so much women and patient who are dealing with that and sometimes you will maybe have the feeling to be treated like a number. But I will definitely tell you something, most of fertility clinics are like that. This doesn't bother me or my husband, but I can understand that some women prefer more intimacy.

Dr Elias is a very good listener who is willing to do everything he can to achieve our goals together. Our situation is very complicated with very low chances to conceive, but he never made us feel that it was impossible. He's ready to explore every treatment, every solution for us to get pregnant. I will never change for another doctor because he's really aware of our situation and always tries to do the best for us.

At first I was communicating with Lisa Artusa, she was really sweet, caring and always there when I had questions. It's been two years or so now that a new nurse came (Jane Mary Taraf) and she is also amazing. Always there, responsive, so sweet. I have some trouble for my bloodworks because I have some really little veins. I almost faint everytime and she's here to take care of me, she stays until everything is over and she has so much compassion. Thanks God she's here! I feel like I can tell her everything.

As I said before, he's willing to try everything for us to get pregnant. I am deeply convinced that he thinks of our situation outside our appointments with him, because he always come back with new solutions or treatment. I have a really good feeling with him and give him all of my trust. I am truly convinced that if I get pregnant one day, it will be with his help.

Don't hesitate to ask him everything you wish for. He will find a way if he can. I believe he's truly a good person beside his doctor qualifications.

I don't have any trouble to conceive, but my husband has. On the first IVF round, we didn't find any sperm to try a embryo transfer. Later, he got in touch with my husband's doctor and find some new way to create sperm. So we got one embryo to transfer. Didn't get pregnant. During next years, we had the chance to have some more embryo to transfer, I did two transfer of two embryo (day 3 each) . Didn't get pregnant either. Now I think he wants to change something, I will have to see with him next time.

Sometimes it's really crowded and you have to wait a little but it's really not that long. Doctors are very professional during ultrasound and nurses very caring for bloodworks.

I really can't tell because he's part of general costs that we pay for IVF.

I'm young (28) and when I started IVF with him I was 25, he insists of not putting a lot of embryo at the same time; he prefer to put one, or maximum two.

This clinic has been on the forefront of research and development for reproductive medicine. It's a very large clinic that has been partitioned into small practices around the city. Monitoring can take place at multiple locations. When I call I don't get to speak with someone right away but they are very consistent with calling back within a couple of hours.

Dr Melnick listened to my story, asked questions and showed genuine interest in helping my husband and I conceive. I felt heard and I felt known. She engaged by asking questions and reviewing my medical history with the two of us.

All nursing staff has been very professional, compassionate and knowledgeable. I always felt like I could ask questions. I have been very impressed with my continuum of care when I see new nurses on a regular basis.

What I appreciate about Dr Melnick is that she normalizes this experience, which to a patient is beyond normal. Her knowledge of fertility/infertility is reflected in the confidence she shows when she tells me what treatment path we’re going to take. Whenever we talk or email I feel like I’m communicating with my much smarter more confident friend. It’s refreshing.

Take notes because she takes fast!

We started doing IUI with clomid and progesterone suppositories and went that route six times until we decided to start with IVF. I am currently undergoing my first cycle and have started with 150 IU of Menopur and 225IU of GonalF.

IVF medications- Approximately $6,000 IVF cycle- Approximately $15,000

I have not had a transfer yet, but in my case Dr Melnick said she would only consider transferring two embryos at day three and that she would not consider transferring more than one at day 5.

Dr. Melnick's office is great, in a convenient location and runs on time. Unfortunately the procedures take place at the Center for Reproductive Medicine, which is huge and does feel like a factory. Dr. Melnick did not actually perform any of my IUIs, and the location of the hospital is not convenient. This was not properly explained to me at my initial visit, and I didn't know Dr. Melnick would not be doing the actual procedure.

She has a kind and friendly manner and tailored the treatment protocol to my specific situation, and advised against more aggressive treatments that she didn't feel were necessary yet.

I only interacted with Dr. Melnick's primary nurse over the phone. All of our interactions were perfectly pleasant, but it can take some time to get them on the phone (you usually have to leave a message and get a call back by end of day). Sometimes I got a call back from her AFTER the receptionist had left, so if she told me I needed to make an appointment for the following day, I was unable to.

She is young and relatable, so it feels like you are speaking with a friend and makes the whole process feel a little more personal and less clinical. She was kind and compassionate, though sometimes it did feel as if the appointments were a bit too quick and slightly rushed.

Make sure to ask for the follow-up steps for this cycle, as well as what you should do if the cycle is unsuccessful. If the cycle is unsuccessful, you will have to be proactive in making your next appointment on the right day and ordering any medicines to ensure that you have them on the day that you need them. There really isn't a lot of follow-up in between cycles, maybe because they have some veteran patients, so after my first cycle, I was a bit disoriented as far as next steps.

Because my labs were good, my age is "young" for the clinic, and I had given birth less than two years prior, she wanted to be very conservative and initially recommended IUIs without medication because she didn't want me to end up with twins. Neither was successful, so I then tried a third IUI with Clomid, which was also unsuccessful.

It was about $1,200 per IUI. My insurance should have covered my doctor visits and ultrasounds, but they took it out of my deductible.

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I found the clinic well run. I liked that waiting area is not too small. This is not directly about the clinic, but we drove to the clinic so it was hard at times to find a parking space. We used different parking facilities nearby.

Even though the Upper East Side facility of Weill Cornell as many described as well run facility, care providers, nurses, and doctors took reasonable time to answer questions I had. When I had communicated with nurses from Dr.Davis's office over the phone, they were prompt and courteous.

I spoke with two different nurses from the office of Dr.Davis. Both of them knew my case and clarified my misunderstanding. It required me to study all documents they sent to us about the IVF cycle.

I found Dr.Davis competent and respectful of a patient. When he had a hysterosalpingogram (HSG) done on me, he explained every step to me even though I might have not understood every steop. During the IFV cycle, I did not see him until a couple days before an egg retrial surgery. Because he talked fast, it was at times hard for me to understand everything especially it was about unfamiliar medical subjects. He, however, answered my questions patiently so that I could understand well. He was very sympathetic when finding out that our IVF treatment was unsuccessful. And he provided us with options to improve the chance of success next time.

I wished I could have became more familiar with basics of the IVF treatment and anatomy on a female reproductive system so that I could have used the limited time more effectively.

I went to a usual IFV cycle with regular monitoring. I used Follistim, Menopour, and Ganorelic until the egg retrieval. I used Novarel for egg triggering and afterword Progestorne. Dr. Davis monitored our case though we did not speak to him everyday. Egg retrieval was successful but we did not have mature embryos except 2 embryos used in the embryo transfer procedure. The IVF treatment was unsuccessful but Dr.Davis offered additional procedures to increase the chance of success next time.

The clinic has a good system for monitoring appointments where patients checked in for the appointments in the morning 7 days a week. I had to get used to in the beginning but soon it became a routine.

We had to pay a fixed fee for the IVF treatment in the beginning.

Our doctor suggested multiple embryo transfer to increase a chance of pregnancy thought he talked to us about a chance of getting twins and its risks.

I was not a fan of the clinic for IUI purposes. I can’t comment on IVF but IUI was poorly run. The wait is very long between arrival and the procedure and they mislead you on how long the wait will be. A nurse, not your Dr, performs the IUI. The third time I had the IUI done, the nurse couldn’t find my cervix and ended up injuring me. I literally kicked her out of my body and the room and requested someone else. The IUI process itself was so stressful that I cannot help but wonder if that was part of the reason we were not successful,

Dr Periera always resounded to my emails right away and always had very polite bedside manner.

The nursing staff was abrupt but informative if you pressed them. Sometimes I felt like an intrusion.

Dr. Periera was always very kind and sincere. He answered all of my questions thoroughly and promptly and made the experience easier to handle. Although I ultimately did not conceive, I do not believe it had anything to do with Dr Periera or his protocol. With the exception of one thing. When I switched clinics, my new Dr told me I had a thyroid imbalance and put me on synthyroid. I felt better within 3 days - more energy; better mood and better quality sleep. I’m disappointed Dr Periera did not catch this.

If you are seeing Dr Periera for IUI, he will not be performing the procedure itself. While Dr Periera is great, Cornell on the other hand was not the best.

The first two cycles of IUI were natural cycles. Dr Periera recommended that because we only had male favor infertility secondary to chemotherapy and already had a daughter conceived nautwlly from prior to chemo. However, my husbands samples always fell below the amount/motility parameters and I believe that is why I did not get pregnant. The third round of IUI we tried clomid and a trigger shot which did produce 2 follicles. But again, my husband’s sample fell below.

It was covered by insurance.

N/A

Cornell is a large clinic and a well-oiled machine. They know their stuff. Monitoring generally moves very quickly, as they have a large nursing staff. A doctor almost always does all your ultrasounds, but may not always be your primary doc. Egg retrievals and transfers are done by the doc on-call that day. I found all the docs to be very good. The clinic is associated with New York Presbyterian, which I found to be an absolutely wonderful hospital.

Dr. Elias has great bedside manner and always took the time to answer my questions and explain things in a way I could understand. He always seems as though he genuinely cares.

Lisa, Dr. Elias’s main IVF nurse, is ok. I generally felt pretty rushed when talking on the phone with her and occasionally she gave incorrect information. I really like Jane, one of the other nurses. The nursing staff in general is great at this clinic.

I feel Dr. Elias is very knowledgeable and I trusted him completely with my care. He always takes as much time with you as you need to ask questions. He actually seems to care. I feel he was careful to tailor my protocols just for me, and adjusted them for next time when it wasn’t working. He took the time to call me personally after my first egg retrieval, and again after my D&C to see how I was doing. I really appreciated that personal touch. I also liked that he did most of my monitoring ultrasounds, rather than an ultrasound tech.

Be proactive and ask questions. He has no problem explaining things in a way you can understand.

We did 4 rounds of IVF, first 3 with the estrogen priming antagonist protocol (Menopur, Follistim, Ganirelix). For the fourth cycle, we added clomid for the first 5 days. I responded best on the first cycle (3 eggs), poor response the next 2 (one egg each), and a little better on the fourth (2 eggs). We did get pregnant from our very first cycle (transferred 2 day 3s, one stuck), but ended in miscarriage at 8 weeks from trisomy 15. Second cycle was a chemical, third I had a positive hpt but negative beta (likely another chemical), fourth cycle a BFN. A few weeks after our 4th cycle, we managed to get pregnant on our own and I’m currently 8 weeks along. I feel as though maybe the fertility treatments may have helped.

Monitoring in Westchester is pretty quick, as it’s a small satellite office. Monitoring in NYC also is generally pretty quick, as they have a large nursing staff. There are a lot more patients in the main NYC office, but the waiting area is comfortable. Monitoring is very early (6:30-8:30 in the city and 7:30-9 in Westchester).

We were lucky to have infertility coverage through insurance, so we only paid copays.

Weill Cornell is an well-functioning machine. It is extremely efficient - I was amazed by the smoothness in which monitoring hours operated and followup calls with instructions were all timely and professional. Everyone was pleasant and nice. My only critique is that it felt a tad impersonal, you know you’re one of many...no Nurse is going to remember your name or face specifically. So something to keep in mind if that’s important to you. I never felt that care or attention was lacking though.

Dr. Melnick was personable, direct, and professional. Understood my reasons for pursuing egg freezing but did not do a hard sell - if anything she was adamant about me deciding to do so because I wanted rather than because of the scare tactics in stats, graphs, etc for fertility viability in women after 35. I’d also done an initial consultation with her in 2016, followed up in 2018 when I was actually ready. I appreciated being allowed the space and time to come to the decision on my own with professional advice if needed.

My nurse took the time and energy to field my million and one questions. She was wonderful and timely as possible. Additionally, the nurses who handled monitoring hours were all friendly and efficient.

Dr. Melnick was personable, professional, and direct. I sought out her practice for an initial consultation in 2016 as I was considering egg freezing. She heard my reasoning, but insisted I pursue only because I wanted to versus succumbing to the scare tactics of stats, graphs etc on the fertility viability of women after 35. I followed up when I was ready to move forward in 2018.

Be open about your fears, concerns, questions, etc...

150 Follistim, 150 Menopur for 3 days 125 Follistim, 150 Menopur, Cetrotide for 4 days 50 Follistim, 150 Menopur, Cetrotide for 2 days. Trigger Shot, 80 units of Lupron, 1500 of Novarel

Egg Retrieval Cycle ~8K Medications ~ 1.7 K ( was able to reduce by using unused, remaining meds from friends) Hospital admitting fee ~ 1 K Anesthesia $750 Total cost ~11.5k

One of the difficulties of this clinic is that there are multiple locations. While this can be convenient for monitoring (I've gone to three locations to accommodate my schedule) it does mean information can fall through the cracks between offices. The biggest pain point in using this clinic is they are totally clueless on making the consent process go smoothly. On each of our three retrievals they have always requested some new consent at the 11th hour that causes tremendous stress for my husband and me. It makes no sense that I can be at one of their offices every single day and without fail they have some urgent need for a form less than 24 hours before retrieval. To try to make the third time the charm, my husband accompanied me to their UES location so we could meet personally with the consent person and ensure every form was signed and appropriately witnessed. We even told her if there were forms we might need that she wasn't sure about we'd be happy to submit those for safekeeping. Even still, we were made aware of more forms that needed to be signed and witnessed four days later and another form a day after that. They know this is a problem and don't care enough to fix it.

Dr. Reichman is exceptionally personable, brutally honest (in a good way!!) and has a great sense of humor. He knew exactly how to communicate to my husband and me throughout the process.

Dr. Reichman takes personal ownership of his cases and wants to be with you every step of the way. He (jokingly) got offended when I went to the UES location because he likes to be sure he's available to his patients throughout the process.

Always go to the Tribeca office for monitoring. You'll get Dr. Reichman as opposed to the revolving door of doctors at the UES location.

All three times we used an antagonist strategy: first cycle: 300 IU Gonal-F / 150 IU Menopur / Cetrotide. 15 eggs --> 12 mature --> 12 fertilized by ICSI --> 6 day 5 blastocysts (preceded by 27 day menstrual cycle) second cycle: 300 IU Gonal-F / 150 IU Menopur / Cetrotide. 12 eggs --> 9 mature --> 5 fertilized by ICSI --> 2 day 5 blastocysts (preceded by 21 day menstrual cycle) third cycle (in progress): 375 IU Gonal-F / 75 IU Menopur / Cetrotide (preceded by 25 day menstrual cycle) I (not Dr. Reichman) attribute the difference in yield between the first and second cycles to the extremely shortened menstrual cycle. My second cycle was done immediately after my first cycle; there were two months between my second and third.

Monitoring is easy breezy at this location. It is not available on weekends, however.

The clinics strengths is that they are organized considering the amount of patients. The weaknesses are that it can feel impersonal at times and if you are feeling sensitive about it which many people do feel about this process; this may not be the best place for you.

It is a large clinic and on days for monitoring you feel like a number. On days when I see Dr. Goldschlag I feel more like a human.

When we first started with the clinic the main nurse we were dealing with as part of Dr. Goldschlag’s team was not the nicest and easily frustrated. I don’t believe she is currently at the clinic and since that time the nurses have been friendly and willing to answer questions and work with us.

Dr. Goldschlag is personable when you he sees you in person and is very patient. He is good about answering questions and taking his time with you. I have trusted him with our treatment and he has been compassionate about our set backs.

Understand that it is a big clinic and that you won’t see Dr. Goldschlag unless you personally ask for him.

After we were evaluated and I had done a hysteroscopy to remove a small polyp; Dr. Goldschlag advises we could start with IUI or IVF. We decided to do a medicated IUI which all resulted in negative results. We then moved forward with our first IVF in April 2018. We were excited when it resulted in a pregnancy but then it resulted in a miscarriage at 8 weeks. Dr. Goldschlag gave me the option of miscarrying naturally and we proceeded with a second IVF cycle in September 2018 that resulted in a negative pregnancy test.

The wait time wasn’t exaggerated but it is a different doctor each time.

My co-pay and extraneous costs not covered by insurance.

Dr. Goldschlag recommended to transfer one embryo if it made it to Day 5 and two embryos if we made it to Day 3 and given my age at the time.

Crowded on UES location, and they don’t allow outside lab monitoring, so no traveling if you can’t get back every other day. The tribeca location was easy and civilized and little wait but of course Dr Davis isn’t there, so i never saw him.

Dr. Davis spoke to me honestly and explained in detail the statistical chances of success and the reasons for the protocol he’s chosen.

I didn’t forge any relationship wit the nursing staff, they vary as did the quality of their communication.

Dr. Davis is up to date on all of the research and is a preeminent expert in the field. I only saw him in person once because I live uptown and decided to do all my monitoring in Tribeca, but when I had questions it was very easy to schedule a call and he always took the time to speak with me and answer any of my questions.

Have faith, and even though the clinic itself is very crowded and impersonal, know that an experts eyes are monitoring you daily and in charge of tour cycle and outcome.

300 Gonal F, 150 menopur, Cetrotide. We did PGS testing given my age. Estrogen priming the second round. First round, 8 eggs retrieved, 4 fertilized with icsi, 3 made it to day 5 (blastocyst), all anaploid. Second round 10 retriever, 8 mature, 3 fertilized with icsi, 2 made it to day 5 (blastocyst), one mosaic and one anaploid.

Cattle call on UES, but very efficiently run if you weren’t at the start of your cycle. Tribeca civilized and well run, never waited there more than 20 minutes.

20-25k per cycle.

Strength: it's a well-oiled machine. They have their protocols and follow them to a T. They also tell you in advance what problems they have with insurance so you can get everything pre-authorized before you start. Weaknesses: it can get busy at times so either be prepared to come early or to wait.

He talked to me like a person. He answered all questions I had as he would a colleague, asked about my weekend plans and was flexible when it came to me getting testing done. And he made jokes. Most importantly, my husband liked him and he usually hates doctors.

They called every day and always returned voice mails.

As a doctor myself, I've always treated patients the way I want to be treated and I feel threat Dr. Schattman does the same. He explained everything when doing ultrasounds and answered all questions I had, including when I could start my next round after my current pregnancy. My only complaint is that when it looked like one of my babies wasn't doing as well as the other, he said it could go either way when in his notes, he wrote "likely resolution." I think I would have preferred having been toldhe wasn't going to make it because I spent 2 weeks hoping he'd catch up with his sister, which he never did and was pretty gutted when I learned I'd miscarried.

Don't be afraid to ask questions.

Menopur/gonal F and cetrotide with an hcg and leuprolide dual trigger. The egg transfer was frozen (due to possible polyp recurrence) and the FET cycle was natural. Then only progesterone suppositories for 6 weeks.

It was pretty well oiled, I think.

Only had to pay for copay and embryo freezing but my insurance does have an 18k cap so the next cycle will be out of pocket

He preferred only one or two embryos at a time. Cornell itself gives a sheet on how many embryos to transfer based on age and if you're doing fresh or frozen.