Yale University

I covered most of this in the "number vs human" questions. Dr. Seli is extremely knowledgeable, but he does not always explain things in a way I understand clearly so I rely on the nurses to take the time to clarify. He is also dismissive of the emotional/physical costs of fertility treatment - I do not expect him to hold my hand, or even to listen to emotional concerns, but any concern I have brought up about struggles with the process has usually felt like he just brushes it off. He is also dismissive of any supportive or holistic modalities to improve fertility - he told me acupuncture would have no benefit unless "I was just feeling really stressed out" maybe it would help me relax - again always this response that made me feel an implication I was weaker than other women or struggling more than I should! I finally consulted a nutritionist and acupuncturist on my own, without telling my doctor, and that was the cycle when I finally conceived!

I did 4 cycles of IUI - the first was canceled due to hyperstimulation with Clomid. I used Letrozole all of the other cycles, and used Ovidrel for the trigger shot. All were negative. I did one IVF cycle during which, due to elevated progesterone levels, we could not do a fresh transfer after so froze all embryos. I used Follistim, Menopur, Cetrotide, Crinone, and hcg for the trigger shot. I used birth control to time my cycle. During my frozen cycles, I have used progesterone in oil injections, Crinone vaginal progesterone inserts, and Estrace pills. Typically a few weeks of estrogen supplementation prior to starting injections and vaginal progesterone supplementation for 6 nights prior to the transfer, then continuing all meds until the pregnancy test. My first FET was negative, the second was chemical pregnancy, and I am now 6 weeks pregnant after completing my third transfer. All were single embryo transfers.

Morning monitoring is done between 7 am and 8 am on weekdays, and 7:15 to 8:15 on weekends. Some days there are only a few of us, on others there are over 20. It's on a first come, first served basis, so many are waiting by 6:30 am so they can get in and out and to work on time. I always found the actual process quick and efficient once they started and I was typically out within 10-15 min of signing in. I have heard others in line complain about delays but after 7 different cycles here, I always found it incredibly efficient!

Not sure, as I was lucky to have insurance cover most of my costs. I had a high deductible plan when I started and I hit our $6000 deductible just from the testing procedures they required! I changed jobs/insurance and since then have paid nothing out of pocket but I have used up all my benefits now so if we have to continue, we'll find out how much everything will really cost....

Dr. Seli supported my decision to transfer single embryos each time. I was on the fence after two failed cycles, but he told me the chances of conceiving with multiple embryos is only marginally higher, but for those who do conceive, the chance of have multiples (which I REALLY do not want) was at least 30%. I initially opted to transfer two embryos for my final cycle, but after considering the risks of a multiple pregnancy, I changed my mind and went back to SET. Dr. Seli allowed me to make the choice of what I felt most comfortable doing.

Dr Seifer is clearly an expert in his field. He was very thorough in explaining all of the details and has a great way of using analogies to make complex topics more understandable. There were times when it seemed like some simple questions I asked gave him pause, as if he didn’t empathize with how I didn’t quite get a concept he explained. He was able to adjust quickly and break things down very well. He also has a great balance of factual when needed and also adjusting to show more compassion at some tougher times in the process

Keep asking questions until you get it. Sometimes his explanations are very scientific and need to be broken down

We did two egg retrievals with ICSI, had PGS/PGD testing done to check for a single gene mutation both partners were carriers for. We froze embryos after the first retrieval, did a 2nd retrieval and sent all day 5 embryos for testing. We had 4 embryos for transfer. First frozen transfer resulted in a pregnancy to full term

Monitoring was done during a window and it felt like a mad rush to get there early for the front of the long line otherwise you would be late for work! You would get a number when checked in then go wait in another waiting area. No one spoke to eachother and it all felt very somber not an uplifting place for patients going through some tough processes

$4,500 frozen transfer cycle. Appx 17,500 retrieval and free. $600 year to maintain frozen embryos. $2400 sono-histogram. Plus genetic testing costs, don’t remember what those were

Given my age, his recommendation was for a single embryo transfer. When I asked about the risk of carrying twins at 39 (age of retrieval) versus being pregnant potentially again at 42+ he advised that since embryos were frozen at age of 39, the risk of carrying at 42+ was less than multiples at 39

I feel so lucky to have been assigned to Dr. Kallen's calendar for my initial consult. She has always treated me with dignity and deep compassion, and I trust her completely. Although I have not gotten the results I hoped for (yet), she has listened to all my concerns and carefully and thoroughly explained all her recommendations. She never makes me feel like she is ordering me to do anything - she gives me all the options, tells me what she feels is best and why, and lets me make my own decisions. My fertility journey could not be in better hands.

Don't be afraid to ask all your questions and express all your concerns - Dr. Kallen will never make you feel silly or small, and always takes the time to talk through everything with you.

I did four IUI cycles, two unmedicated and two medicated. The IUIs were all self-pay, and Dr. Kallen was very conscious of helping me cut extra monitoring to help save money. I then moved to IVF, which were both covered cycles. After my first failed transfer (that left me with no frozen embryos), Dr. Kallen adjusted my stims and recommended ICSI, both of which improved my results in my second cycle. Although my second cycle just failed, I do have frozen embryos that I will be able to move forward with.

The IUI procedures I did were all self-pay. I don't remember exact costs, but they were around $2500 for all the necessary monitoring and procedures. Both of my IVF cycles were 100% covered by insurance, so I don't know what the out of pocket costs for those would be.

Dr. Kallen was very thorough in talking about the risks and benefits of eSET and multiple embryo transfer, and helped me make the decision that was best for my family and desires. She never pressured me, just gave me all the available information and answered all my questions so that I could make the best decision for myself.

Dr. Kodaman is unreachable. You cannot call her. You cannot message her. At my initial consult I was told that Dr. Kodaman would be performing my procedures but that fellows would perform monitoring. I had 2 IUIs (a 3rd that was canceled), and 2 IVF egg retrievals and subsequent embryo transfers and she wasn’t at a single one. At our initial consult she was positive and Very informative and I was very hopeful. Beyond that visit, she had been a completely different person - she shuffles you out of her office, doesn’t return her own emails (a nurse does), and doesn’t have a direct number to reach her at.

Be aggressive in scheduling appointments - schedule appointments even when you don’t know if you’ll need them because otherwise you’re out right back into the waiting list (3 months long) with everyone else - new and returning patients. Also, if you can, switch doctors.

For each of our IUI cycles we stimmed with Letrozole and then trigger shot of Ovidrel when ready. IUI number one I produced 3-4 large follicles and we were told (by a fellow- not Dr. K) that we were in jeopardy of having to cancel our cycle because of too many. In the end we agreed to do selective- fetus reduction if we were to get pregnant with anything more than twins. First IUI was unsuccessful. We were required to wait a month and then started a second IUI cycle with the same exact process. This cycle seemed to be better timed and again was unsuccessful. Our third cycle was canceled because of poor follicle development. I never had any reach 18mm. It’s important to note that Dr. Kodaman did not perform any of my IUIs. One was performed by a fellow & one performed by an APRN. After the third failed IUI cycle, we switched to IVF. Our IVF cycles (2) were both identical in the strategies used. We stimmed with Menopur and Follistim with Ganirelix as an antagonist. My first egg retrieval produced 11 eggs and 3 embryos. We transferred one and only one made it to freeze on day 6. My transfer for our first was HORRENDOUS. Dr. Kodaman didn’t order a mock transfer be done during retrieval. She also wasn’t at the transfer. My transfer was performed by Dr. Carson. I had an anxiety attack after 15 minutes of her poking my cervix and not being able to get the catheter through. I said “I think I’m going to pass out” and she rolled her eyes and was so inconvenienced. Our transfer failed. Our 2nd round was similar - we produced 15 eggs and 4 embryos. Dr. Kodaman did order Lorazepam for our send transfer to help with anxiety and it was smoother. It was performed by Dr. Kallen, who was awesome. Dr. Kodaman will prescribe Endomentrin for progesterone and not a PIO shot.

We have Yale Health Insurance so our coverage was 100%. All we paid for was cryopreservation- $1,500. The cost if we didn’t have insurance was $36,000

We asked for her to transfer multiple embryos for our second transfer and she denied our request - blaming it on insurance, which is not true.

Dr Collins takes the time needed with his patients. He has a gentle bedside manner. He always explains everything in easy to understand language. He’s professional, but can make you laugh. He is willing to tailor the treatment to the specific person. He’s willing to try things that are new if they will benefit the outcome.

Make that consult! He’s awesome!

In my past 2 fresh cycles, we found that I have poor embryo quality. Dr Collins had found a study that suggests taking DHEA can improve embryo outcomes. We tested my levels and they were deficient, so I have been on a DHEA supplement for 4 months now. Once Covid restrictions are lifted we will proceed with stims and retrieval.

Thankfully my insurance has covered a lot of my cycles. Out of pocket costs included the copays, copays for prescriptions, and deductible. Other out of pocket costs are ICSI, embryo cryopreservation and embryo storage.

This will depend on embryo quality. In total, we have transferred 5 embryos through the past 3 cycles and still do not have a baby.

He spoke to you on a level for you to understand, not just medical terms which can be very confusing when you are so stressed to begin with. I felt that he made sure I fully understood and agreed with the plans of treatment before moving forward and was very open to answer any questions that my husband and I presented him with.

It is hard to see him all of the time, but in my past experience that is the way it usually is with the visits in between getting to your retrieval and transfer.

I am not 100% sure on the details of the treatment strategies... so here is the best I can do. I was able to produce my own eggs and a descent # of them. My husband also had a pretty good sperm count/motility and mobility. We had done 3 IUI's when trying to conceive with our first child (who was conceived through fresh IVF transfer) when we told him all three of those failed and we were successful with IVF he said that we would not waste time in doing the IUI's that we would go right to doing IVF since that worked for us best and that is what we did. I had my retrieval and then my transfer that resulted in a pregnancy with a little girl which I miscarried at about 10 weeks. We went on to do a transfer with 2 of the 4 embryos that I had left and that did not result in a pregnancy. We are now determining if we are going to move forward with a 3rd transfer of the last 2 remaining frozen embryos.

There was a long wait sometimes but it moved fast and the nursing staff did an excellent job of getting everyone in in a reasonable time. If it was super busy they would have 3 people jump in to do blood draws.

My insurance covered most of the first transfer (egg retrieval/transfer) I had to pay I believe around $2k oop. But that was all they covered, for lifetime! My second transfer cost $4,700 OOP to the clinic.

I only did multiple embryo transfer (2) max.

My experience with Dr Kallen as a patient allowed me to feel comfortable with all aspects of my care. From our initial consultation I was educated and enlighted to an aspect of fertility of which I had alot of questions and concerns. During every appointment the goals of my care were reevaluated and modified as needed. Though at times I experienced unwanted occurrences, Dr Kallen's professional expertise and support allowed a better understanding of all realstic expectaions. Her ability to modify my care and expereince as needed fostered my ability to ultimately deliver a healthy baby girl.

Dr Kallen is extremely knowledgable in her field. She ensures that you are armed with all of the necessary information and maintains full disclosure and honesty during each interaction. Her dedication to her chosen career path resonates in every patient care experience. I would most definitely recommend Dr Kallen. I would encourage a prospective patient to always have an open mind while still understanding that Dr Kallen will explore all options that are available, as well as safe for the health of you and your successful pregnancy.

My 1st treatment protocol which included the use of clomid assisted in increased ovulation which was successful. This led to my 1st and 2nd IUI which unfortunately did not lead to a positive pregnancy. This was followed by my initial IVF which included the use of daily progesterone, menopur, ganarelix and gonal-F injections as well as inserts which aided in stimulating my follicles and maintaining mature egg production and led to a successful pregnancy that unfortunately resulted in a miscarriage due to chromosomal issues. However, my second course of IVF which included the same medications at increased dosages as well as the addition of a progesterone oil resulted in a postive pregnancy test and ultimately the birth of my daughter.

My experience with monitoring appointments worked very well from my perspective. I was able to coordinate my appointments around my work schedule and the experience was timely and efficient like a well oiled machine.

My total cost associated with my care under Dr Kallen was ~$3,800 not covered by insurance.

At no point in my treatment course did Dr Kallen sway me one way or the other in regards to single vs multiple embryo transfer. As a team we both looked at what my options were and individualized my plan of care to suit while incorporating my preferences and life goals.

Dr. Kallen is patient and warm. Her explanations of procedures are rather general and sometimes leave us with questions or her answers vary from appt to appt. Overall I genuinely like her very much but don't always feel that she has a direct say or oversight in the direction of our care which is worrisome.

To understand ahead of time that you will have limited face to face time with her and to be sure to write down all questions/concerns to share with her during those times.

After completing and HSG and SHG (which were not explained in nearly enough detail in my opinion as they were seriously painful and I did not expect this). We began our first IUI cycle in November (our initial appt with her was in September. We did a round of IUI with monitoring and Clomid. The clomid supposedly caused my lining to be too thin but the clinic allowed us to try to the IUI anyway. It resulted in a negative pregnancy test. The next cycle we attempted in December was canceled due to a cyst and then the clinic was going on vacation for the holidays. Our second attempt at IUI with monitoring was in January and we used Letrezole. This resulted in slightly thicker lining, but again ended in a negative pregnancy test. Our final attempt at IUI was in February again using Letrezole which again resulted in thin lining. This cycle resulted in a negative pregnancy test and we are currently in the beginning steps of IVF. For the second and third cycles, I used vaginal Estradiol daily and used Ovidrel for the trigger shots each time. I requested further assessments to evaluate if I have endometriosis or to assess the quality/thickness of my lining without these additional medications, but Dr. Kallen recommended we attempt an IVF cycle before we investigate this further.

I do not know specifics of costs. I know we reached our 4000 dollar deductible within the first 2-3 appointments.

Dr. Kallen told us she only transfers one embryo for someone my age. While I appreciate the attempt to prevent multiples, I do not feel that the reasoning behind this approach was explained enough and if our cycles result in multiple losses, I will request to transfer more than 1 embryo or access a dr. who will do so.

Again, after some serious complications in my first pregnancy, Dr. Kallen walked me through risk factors in a second pregnancy. She referred me to a doctor at Yale Maternal Fetal Medicine to further discuss my medical history and risk factors. I felt that Dr. Kallen was thoughtful in identifying to right MFM doctor for me to talk with. During this process I felt that Dr. Kallen understood that I had experienced birth trauma but wanted to have another child. She took the time to walk me through the process, which resulted in a successful pregnancy!

Don’t be afraid to ask questions! Dr. Kallen, and all of the doctors in the practice, are there to help and guide you through the process of fertility treatment. You need to be engaged in your treatment - ask lots of questions!

I did one IVF transfer cycle. Dr. Kallen had me take estrodial, monitored my lining, had me administer progesterone shots, and then transferred the embryo. Dr. Kallen transferred one embryo to avoid multiples.

Dr. Kallen transferred one embryo to avoid multiples. As someone with a prior high risk pregnancy and who was not actively looking to have twins, transferring one embryo at a time made sense.

Dr Seli is honest, real and empathetic. He takes the time to listen and accepts feedback. He will spend as much time as needed to talk to us and thoroughly answer all of our questions and concerns and tells us the truth about our ability to conceive with the various treatments.

Feel free to ask Dr Seli ALL the questions you want. Come to appointments prepared and don’t leave until you are satisfied with the answers. He will listen and answer all questions and concerns you may have.

So far, we have completed three cycles of clomid, using a trigger shot with the third. Dr Seli was very clear with his expectations (or lack thereof) in that we were only doing this as it was cheap and so that the insurance company would allow us to move onto IVF. (We have an $11k lifetime maximum of fertility benefits) We then moved onto an IVF cycle, which only produced two decent sized follicles, so we turned that into an (unsuccessful) IUI. It should be noted that Dr Seli was out of the country when we had the two follicles result and Dr Mak called me and spent nearly a half hour on the phone empathizing with our situation and helping me work through the decision as to how to proceed (we literally had just two hours to decide) with the cycle. She even provided me with her mobile phone number and invited me to share it with my fiancé so that he could call her with questions/concerns. We chose to not “waste” those two follicles and turn the cycle into an IUI. Again, Dr Mak was extremely honest in that our chances of conceiving with the IUI were not that great, especially because I had done an additional three days of stims to even get those follicles large enough. We still wanted to try. When we returned to the office to discuss next steps/cost of IVF with Dr Seli (completely out-of-pocket) he was honest that at my age and with our unexplained infertility in addition to the limited success with our previous cycle in getting follicles to grow, our expectation should be to only get one healthy embryo (max). We then brought up the possibility of using known donor eggs (from someone in her early twenties, married, with two beautiful children) for the next cycle. Well, Dr Seli’s eyes lit up! We then very bluntly asked him what our chances were with my eggs vs a very healthy donor’s eggs and he honestly told us less than 10% vs greater than 60%. Well all my fiancé and I did was look at each other, look back at Dr Seli and say, okay, what do we have to do to use our donor? We have just started the donor testing and hope to get this party started in the next month or two. To be continued...

So far, we have only used our insurance benefits. To be continued...

Dr. Patrizio is friendly and easy to talk to and will be straight forward. He tells you what he thinks the best course of action is, but will let you make your own decisions. For instance, he clearly laid out why we should only transfer one embryo, but let us make the final decision. He did not perform my IUIs, but he was adamant that he would be the one to perform the egg transfer as he says that is the most important part. The one thing I did not like was that I felt like he gave us false confidence with the IUIs. Because I have unexplained infertility, he was very sure that an IUI would work and when it didn't, I was even more devastated. In the end, we achieved a live birth with only one round of IVF, which was still pretty good.

Don't expect someone meek and sympathetic - though he is friendly, he's not there to be a therapist, he's there to get you a baby.

Because we had unexplained infertility, Dr. Patrizio suggested we began with 3 IUIs because they were cheaper and I am young, so the likelihood of them working was good. Coincidentally, we also needed to do 3 IUIs for our insurance to cover IVF. After I failed to conceive following each of these, we did a fresh IVF cycle that produced my son.

There was a monitoring window every morning from 7 -8:15 or so. When you arrived, you were given a number and taken on a first come, first served basis. Sometimes I was taken right away, other times I waited over an hour. It was luck of the draw. I did arrive after the window a few times and they still monitored me, which was much appreciated.

My insurance fully covered the care, so I'm not sure.

Dr. Patrizio is all for single embryo transfer when possible, but will do what you ask. He personally looks at all the embryo grades and picks the order best for transfer.

I have nothing but positive things to say about Dr Patrizio. He was a complete blessing to me. I never felt alone or like I wasn’t being heard. He worked with my husbands military schedule to get us in as soon as possible. He’s very knowledgeable, smart, kind, warm and friendly. He is sensitive to your feelings and listens to you. I’ve been seeming doctors for years with my endometriosis and he was the first person to acknowledge that it is painful and not belittle how I described it. I will always recommend him to anyone I know needing a doctor.

Never think your route has ended. He is the hardest working doctor I have ever seen to help someone achieve their goal of being a parent. He will work with you every step of the way and give you options to succeed.

The process began after discovering I had contracted chlamydia after a rape. He told me he was so sorry and comforted me. He wanted to see if it had done any damage to my tubes. We had attempted a tubal cannulation but it wasn’t able to work. We went forward to go for an ivf process. We had to do this out of pocket and he did have some military packages available for us to choose from. We told him the dates my husband would be gone and he worked with us to schedule a proper date for ivf so my husband would be there for the birth. Unfortunately at the end of my ivf he discovered my left tube was swollen and needed to be removed. He talked to me about doing survey and then a frozen embryo transfer. He gave me a step by step details of what was going to be done so we moved forward. He retrieved my eggs and happily there was 9 embryos. Then he preformed my surgery later to remove my left tube and to look at the right one. He also cleaned up some endometriosis. After healing I went back in and he discussed how the fet cycle would work and we made a plan. I started estrace then progesterone in oil and went on August 14th 2018 for my transfer. He made that such a happy experience I felt no discomfort or pain. My husband and I were so thrilled to watch as the embryo was shot into me. On a August 24th we went back for blood work to check for a pregnancy. There was no baby. My nurse team and dr Patrizio expressed how sorry they were and that none of them were giving up on me. We found out later that my thyroid levels had been elevated and I was put on a medication to help even it out. It was then discovered I had antithyroid antibodies as well. As of right now we are waiting for my period to start to start another fet cycle. My husband will be gone during this time but my doctor made sure all the papers were signed so I was able to do the transfer. This cycle he is also going to be putting in two embryos for a better chance at a pregnancy. He expressed over and over again how sorry he was this all was happening to me and the strain it must be causing our family to be taking out loans to pay for everything and that he was determined to help me before we got relocated with the military.

IVF treatment was $9k-$10k, the meds for ivf were a little over $3k. And each fet cycle was $3,700. The meds for fet were covered and only needed copays of $10 for the estrace and $11 for progesterone in oil.

He always left the number of embryos up to my husband and I and have his advice as well. He explained every aspect and side it could go. We always felt very lucky to be so informed and to be able to choose how many embryos we wanted.

I felt confident in my care with Dr. Mak, she took me over as a patient when my Dr, Ryan Martin left the practice. She was always clear and compassionate. After my third failed IUI, I wanted to do another one and she recommended we go forward with an IVF cycle, and I'm glad that she did as I am now 6 and a half months pregnant. My only complaint really, is that when I was prescribed Misoprostal for a miscarriage, she did not adequately explain the level of pain I was in store for. I really should have been provided a stronger pain medication.

Be sure to ask a lot of questions, she will spend the time to answer them, but may not always offer up all the details at first. Also, it's good to know that Dr. Mak and Yale Fertility in general, tend to lean on the conservative side so she had recommended we only transfer one embryo with our first cycle. Ultimately my husband and I decided to transfer 2 embryos to better our chances and Dr. Mak was understanding of our decision.

I did 3 IUI cycles, each time with Letrizole by mouth taken on days 3–7 of my period, followed by an Ovidrel trigger injection the night before IUI. After the first cycle failed, by Letrizole dose was increased. The second IUI cycle resulted in a miscarriage (growth stopped around 5.5 weeks, and misoprostal was taken to pass the embryo around week 11). After the 3rd failed IUI, plans were made to do an IVF cycle. I started with taking Norethindrone, and Metformin to prevent hyperstimulation (this was a suggestion from my MD husband who had done some research). I then did a combination of low dose Gonal-F, Menopur and Follistim. My follicle growth was monitored every other day along with bloodwork. Once ready, I did an intramuscular HCG trigger shot. I was also taking doxycycln at some point during the injection period. I then did a retrieval procedure (performed by a different Dr.) and had my transfer 5 days later, tranferring 2 embryos. The transfer was in May of this year (2017) and I am currently 6.5 months pregnant with a singleton. It should also be noted that I sought weekly accupuncture treatment for the 6 months prior to my IVF treatment. I also had acupuncture before my retrieval, before and after my transfer.

It was a bit of a cattle call, but I understood why it needed to be that way, it seemed to be the most efficient way to handle the volume and frequency of the monitoring.

Our insurance covered up to $8,000 lifetime toward fertility treatments. We roughly paid around $12,000 out of pocket after 3 IUIs, testing, and 1 IVF cycle.

Yale tends to recommend only transferring 1 embryo on your first transfer attempt, more conservative than what I've heard about other practices.

Dr. Patrizio is very warm and welcoming with a great bed side manner and great sense of humor. I feel like he could have been more involved with my care but then again, I know he is busy and has lots of patients. I was however very happy with the staff at yale and was ok with them tending to my care.

Be aware that you won't see him at every visit. There are times where you have to let him know what you want because he is very laid back in his approach.

I remember for my 2nd round of ivf - I told him that I wanted to keep it similar to my first round because my body reacted well to the meds and I did get pregnant, although I did miscarry. He was ok with that and was open to my feedback. We followed the same protocol with injectables but my body took longer to react the 2nd time. I think that was a good thing because it gave my body the time to grow and nurture my eggs!

IVF is covered under my insurance, thankfully. I just paid for the office visits or fees not covered by insurance such as freezing of the embryos.

no comment

Dr. Patricio cared about getting me pregnant. He moved a little slower than I would have hoped, but maybe that’s just the nature of the industry. He called me personally with results, joked when needed, and was serious when needed. I felt loved and embraced by him and his team.

To come prepared with as much of an education about fertility treatments as possible. He respects intelligence and will give you more information if he feels it will benefit you.

I did IVF with PGD, using Gonal-F, Follistim, and other I can’t remember. We had one failed cycle where one embryo was transferred, and one successful live birth after a transfer of two embryos.

21k for retrieval, pgd testing, and transfer. 700 a year for frozen embryos.

Dr. Patrizio was supportive of our choice. He gave us all the information and let us choose.

I found him to be very rigid in his protocols. Anything I suggested he would say I didn't need it or it wouldn't work for me. Yet we had setbacks and cancelled cycles and he wasn't willing to try different things.

I think he's a good doctor to start treatment with, for many that don't have such a difficult case as mine he has great success.

My protocol was a very basic one using stim drugs for retreival. For my frozen transfers only estrogen was used in preparation, even when it didn't seem to be working, nothing was added to help. He didn't believe anything else would help or make a difference.

The monitoring was first come first served in a time frame in the morning. There was often quite a long line and a long wait to be seen. Also, you almost never saw a doctor in the morning so it was hard to get any questions answered.

I was under insurance when I saw Dr Patrizio so I am unaware of what the costs were.

He did not example the reasoning for using one versus two. He simply asked if we were good doing 2 and did that.

He was easy to talk to. He has an easy going personality that instantly made me feel comfortable. We had a 2 unsuccessful rounds prior to conceiving our son- Dr. Martin always had a follow up plan for when we were ready to try again as well as words of encouragement.

It's difficult to offer advice having gone through this process. Every single situation is different, every reason for seeking fertility treatment is different and everyone seeking fertility has a different personality and emotional threshold. I could say relax and trust him! But relaxing is easier said than done.

The blood work appointments in the morning were the 1 thing I did not like. It was first come first served and you were a number then. The wait was never too long but having to wait with women going through this process is not pleasant. There was a lot of nervous chit chat that could turn competitive. I would wear headphones and tune it out.

Dr. Pal is organized and knows her numbers. She will be upfront and honest about the likelihood of things working or not. She gives her opinions in a professional way but also makes you feel like you as a patient are being heard and values your thoughts. She guided me through my first ectopic pregnancy - an awful experience and is the only doctor thus far to succeed. I owe everything to this woman - I am a mother to the best little 4 year old boy. She was so elated with us when it worked. I just felt like her heart was in the right place all along.

Go in for the consult - give her a chance. She is an amazing physician - she is brilliant but down to earth. She has an excellent bedside manner and truly cares about her patients.

Antagonist- mini stim Menopur 150 iu Ganerelix 75 iu Trigger (prenyl? I can’t remember what brand name now) Vaginal suppositories of Progesterone 3x per day I did 8 nights of stims, added in 2 nights of stims plus ganerlix and then 1 night where I triggered. Retrieval was 36.5 hours after trigger. It was the quickest and easiest cycle and gave me my best result.

Just be prepared and go early. Some days were worse than others - everyone waits to go in on the weekend but then it can get really busy. Not unusual in my experience with three different clinics but something to be aware of.

In 2013, I believe one round of IVF was roughly 11k. My insurance covered this and some of my meds. Our out of pocket cost was roughly $1,200 and it was the best money we’ve ever spent.

Dr. Pal encouraged us to do an ESET due to my age at the time (28). We elected to put two embryos in and got pregnant with a singleton.

Dr Seli was thorough in his process. He would review my chat every time with me, ask if there were changes at all too. He talked about his own personal things and ask about my own. He was fairly prompt and always completed what I needed done in a timely manner.

Ask questions no matter what!

We used just estrogen and progesterone for our cycle. It gradually increased each week until transfer date. Then we continued with progesterone until 12 weeks where I weaned off.

Initial donor egg cycle cost us around 29k. Frozen cycle was mostly covered and cost around 2k for meds and procedure.

We transferred two the first time and they both took. The second time we only transferred one and it took. He made sure to put in the best embryos each time and their process in doing so is well done.

He knows his field and has great knowledge. But he comes on in a harsh manner. He could definitely be a little bit more compassionate. And under standing. Considering many women have emotional issues that come with infertility

Be prepared for a little bit of blunt and straight forward doctor

I played pretty much out of pocket due to having a high deductible plan. After I hit the 3000 deductible my insurance kicked in and paid 80% things that were not covered by the plan I had payment plans worked out. Which I'm still currently paying off

He is a very intelligent doctor. He was good. He might be better than the YNH practice.

Ask a lot of questions...

Monitoring appointments at Westport were completely different than those at New Haven. Westport was fantastic, kind, prompt, organized. All staff members knew every patient that walked in the door and what they were there for. New Haven, made me feel like cattle. If I arrived first, I had to push my way to stay first in line. Generally, the staff didn't know if you were on IVF or IUI or another procedure. It was supposed to start at 7:15 on the weekends, but the ultra-sound doctors didn't show up until 7:30 or 7:45. It took a long time.

He is very kind, explains things well, likeable and obviously cares. I wish that he had communicated better about the actual egg retrieval and that another doctor would be performing the procedure. It was also a difficult call to decide whether to freeze only eggs or a combo of eggs and embryos.

Ask for clarity about who performs what procedures.

Lupron was used back then...this was a long time ago. Also, the old style of egg freezing (slow freeze) was used, which isn't used anymore typically. I'm guessing it would be a different experience at this point given that this was so long ago. I would still go to Dr. Patrizio though, although would want more information about the lab, techniques, etc.

I did most of my monitoring at a different clinic so cannot comment on this.

$10k

Dr. Patrizio is wonderful, and I trust him and his decisions. Very matter of fact and honest throughout our journey. Just send very busy, and that I'm not necessarily special... I'm one of what seems like many women in the same situation, all going through the same steps.

All for details about treatment regimens before communicating with nurses;the nurses manage all of the care in between the key consultation visits.

Clomid 50mg (days 3-7 one cycle, 4-8 other) + ovidrel trigger and IUI less than 24 hours later.

So far covered by insurance, so copays

He was positive and informative. Knowledgeable, easy to communicate with, good treatment even if I did not get all the results I wanted like a baby through this process. Through with pre-testing and also explained procedures well.

To ask questions if you are unsure if process and to share your feelings. Very honest.

We did egg ovulation stimulation, egg retrieval, ICSIS, 5 day transfer, egg freezing, blood monitoring and ultra sounds, also pregnancy test.

Parts were covered by insurance some weren’t. After 40 most insurance won’t cover treatment. We have paid quite a bit out of pocket.

For my age only 2 embryos were transferred to increase chance of pregnancy.

He is always kind and answers all my questions (no matter how crazy) and will always let me be my own advocate and take into account any thoughts or ideas I might have. Unfortunately neither of my IVF rounds worked and I only get 2 rounds with my insurance so we have to wait until I have new insurance to do another round.

Ask lots of questions and write down the answers! I often forgot to ask certain things and forgot the responses to many others

There was definitely a long line but I would say the longest time I ever needed to wait was probably 35 minutes.

Most covered by insurance, I have a $5000 deductible

The Dr. wanted me to chose to do one or 2 embryos. I chose one but I know wish I had been pushed to do 2 depending on odds