LGBTQ
Verified
This patient has provided documentation of treatment at this clinic.
2020 - 2022, Unsuccessful
7
8
The absolute best thing I can say about Dr. Brauer is that her bedside manner during procedures was UNMATCHED. I mean, talk about someone helping you to feel more calm, at ease, comfortable, and prepared! She 100% loves the surgical aspect of her work, it shows tremendously, and your safety during these procedures is of the utmost concern to her...She will, however, always take the time to answer your questions, but do note that if your questions challenge her methods or the protocols, expect to be met with some tension, dare I say attitude about it...
The majority of the nurses and staff [at Shady Grove Fertility New York] are cheerful, understand fertility treatment and the various people that would seek treatment. They will remember you by name, and have this inate ability (nearly all of them) to remember details too...Monitoring at SGF Manhattan was made easy. The hours generally go until 10AM, but on occassion, when necessary and if it could be accomodated, you could be seen until 11AM (though not preferable)...
How was your experience with Anate Aelion Brauer at Shady Grove Fertility New York?
The absolute best thing I can say about Dr. Brauer is that her bedside manner during procedures was UNMATCHED. I mean, talk about someone helping you to feel more calm, at ease, comfortable, and prepared! She 100% loves the surgical aspect of her work, it shows tremendously, and your safety during these procedures is of the utmost concern to her. She takes that role very seriously, but to go a step further and ensure your comfort as well, says a lot about the kind of medical professional that she is. I will 100% miss having her perform any future transfers or retrievals. That must be said.
Dr. Brauer is intelligent, aspirant, tenacious, and stays up-to-date on information regarding reproductive medicine and is an active member of ASRM and ACOG. Like most physicians, she makes sure that you know these things about her. She is not shy about her credentials (as well she should not be). Albeit being confined sometimes to protocol, she will listen and work with you towards a treatment you feel you are a co-conspirator to, but to a point. While we felt a part of our treatment decisions, it was not without difficulty and push back, sometimes resulting in very tense follow-ups.
Dr. Brauer will give you her time, yes. That is another wonderful quality. Sometimes she will give it eagerly, and other times may feel more obligatory. She will, however, always take the time to answer your questions, but do note that if your questions challenge her methods or the protocols, expect to be met with some tension, dare I say attitude about it. If you are coming from a place of researched information, email it to her, provide that clinical study you're referencing, otherwise, it will sound anecdotal and it won't be taken seriously.
There was one occassion that Dr. Brauer returned our after hours call to help us with our concerns regarding a trigger shot for our second retrieval. Since the first had failed due to mistimed trigger, we were nervous and did not agree at all with the dosage we were given. She called, spoke to us directly at 9PM in the evening, changed the dosage and we had a successful retrieval. Despite the critical things I've had to say based on our experience....she is THAT doctor - the one that will show up for you if she likes you and/or has something to prove! Stay within her good graces, and she's phenomenal.
Our experience with Dr. Bruaer turned sore when we opted not to PGS test our embryos and endured two miscarriages, one of which was an abnormal embryo (Trisomy 22) and the second of which we are still awaiting results on. The foundation on which we were building our medical professional and patient relationship began to see some cracks as our transfers kept resulting in positive pregnancy, followed by miscarriage. It felt obvious to us that these stats were not good for the clinics overall numbers and any zest to fight with us for the family we so desired began to look more like exasperation. Additionally, since we do not pay out of pocket and are covered fully by insurance, we always felt like we were not their ideal patients, and treatment was varied based on this.
What's one piece of advice would you give a prospective patient of Anate Aelion Brauer at Shady Grove Fertility New York?
I would advise to stay within her good graces, because that is when she is the best doctor anyone could ask for both professionally and emotionally.
During treatment, were you treated like a number or a human with Anate Aelion Brauer at Shady Grove Fertility New York?
The experience of number vs. human at SGF Manhattan was a bit of an up and down rollercoaster for me. Initially, after the consult and on my first few visits, I absolutely felt like a number. I still can't exactly tell you why, but I waited for nearly an hour the first time, and over an hour the second time, for bloodwork and ultrasound monitoring as I watched several women who came in after me, leave before I was even called. When it happened the second time, I burst into tears (please note I was recovering from an 18 week preterm labor/loss) and I asked to speak to someone about it, because it was not making any sense to me why these other women were being seen before I was. The girl I spoke with was apathetic at best, spoke to me and looked at me like I was a number. Plain awful experience, where she tried to feign sympathy, but in this very cold tone and attitude. It ended up being so far from what treatment from the staff at SGF was like! I still can not tell you why this was the case those first few visits, but it never happened again after that, and I saw that girl very little because whatever her role was, she was never front facing. She was usually in the back offices.
Once my treatment began, the front desk staff (it's a different crew now post covid) were amazing. Jennifer at the front desk in particular is supremely efficient, kind, pleasant, fast, on top of things, and always knows what shes talking about, or will be upfront and tell you that she needs to find out for you, but always returns your calls to do just that. I would walk in, and they knew me by name, and greeted me more often than not. Granted, part of this was that I was a patient for more than one year, but to be honest, they knew my name and recognized me pretty early on too. The phlebotomists are also efficient, and get you in and out as fast as possible while chatting with you and being pleasant. With the exception of the incidents mentioned above, I never waited more than 20 minutes to be seen. They accomodated later monitoring hours if needed. I could call the morning of, to schedule an appointment if I had been unable to reach them on a Friday evening and it was for Monday, or sometimes even show up and be seen for monitoring without an appointment. Little things like this made a huge difference. Even with these accomodations or last minute appointments, they still made me feel seen, moved me through quickly, yet I never felt "rushed." I think the team works really well together and allows for this, because it still amazes me to think about it in comparison to other clinics.
However, what I must say is that after you've been there for some time, and your treatment isn't working or your transfers are failing (or in my particular case, resulting in miscarriage from untested embryos), it is then, you may begin to feel like a number again. This is what it felt like for me. After our third transfer, resulting in a second miscarriage, the words "you've stayed too long at the fair" kept wrining in my ears to the tune of Streisand.
Describe the protocols Anate Aelion Brauer used in your cycles at Shady Grove Fertility New York and their degree of success.
I came to SGF in October of 2020 after preterm labor at 18 weeks resulting in loss. After several months of monitoring my beta, a Saline Sonogram was finally done by another doctor within the practice to determine why my HCG would not drop below 5. A very small, microscopic protrustion was seen, possibly leftover fetal tissue, which Dr. Bruaer suspected may be the cause, but would not be an interruption for IVF treatment, and so treatment finally began in the new year of 2021 with a new deductible :)
I was told my numbers were great, my retrieval would be textbook. I had an AMH of 3.48 and a cohort of 13 or so follicles (6-7 on either side). We began with one week of Alyacen birth control to stabilize my ovaries, followed by a moderate IVF stim cycle using Gonal F and Menopur (exact dosage: 150 Gonal F, 150 menopur). On day 5 of the stim cycle we introduced Cetrotide once a day in the daytime. Monitoring showed that I was responding perfectly to the stimulations, the follicles were growing synchronously and everything was moving along in "textbook" fashion. By day 10 of stims, I noticed watery discharge. I brought this to the attention of my nurses and Dr. Brauer on day 12 of stims when I had a huge gush of watery discharge which was very unusual for me along with dizziness and stomach troubles. No one seemed concerned. They advised these symptoms were normal. The discharge continued until retrieval day. We stimulated for 12 days. Then, I was given a trigger shot of Ovidrel (standard unit dosage) 36 hours before my scheduled retrieval. I went in for monitoring 12 hours after the trigger shot. I had very bad stomach pains by then. I notified the nurse. Again, no one seemed concerned, and so I assumed these were typical symptoms. By the morning of the retrieval I was in excruciating pain. I could barely sit. I could hardly walk. My ovaries were in severe pain, but also the top of my stomach. It did not feel normal, but I had nothing to compare it to. Dr. Brauer was not available for my retrieval, as she was away. My retrieval was performed by Dr. Singer. I have nothing good to say about Dr. Singer what-so-ever. The retrieval was a failure. Despite having 30+ follicles measuring synchronously, at least 20 of which were measuring 14mm or more prior to trigger, Dr. Singer was unprepared for my retrieval, coupled with ovulating too early. It was as if he had not even looked at my charts at all based on his replies to my spouse post retrieval. He was only able to retrieve 2 follicles. The nurse that was in the room with him said it appeared as though I had already ovulated. We know in hindsight, this is exactly what happened. Both follicles were mature, and fertilized, therefore we knew we could rule out empty follicle syndrome, but neither made it past the cavitation state into blasts.
Fast foward to retrieval #2. No longer willing to work with Dr. Singer at all, who told us that if Dr. Brauer thought we would have better results than the 2 follicles obtained, she was mistaken, Dr. Brauer promised to perfom my retrieval and stood by her word.
The protocol was longer, Alyacen birth control for 16 days, followed by 14 days of stims, introducing cetrotide again on day 5, but halfway through, Menopur was dropped to 75 ml vs. 150, and cetrotide doubled on day 9. We agreed to administer a mixed trigger shot of .8ml Lupron and 1500 HCG intramuscularly. Retrieval took place 36 hours after. I felt 100x better than the first time. I knew for sure then that something had gone wrong that first time and it was related to the trigger shot. The second retrieval was successful, 17 follicles collected, 15 mature, 12 fertilized, and 8 frozen (not tested). Dr. Brauer did say it was the second most difficult retrieval of her career due to my anatomy and the left ovary being wedged between two fibroids that measure about the size of the ovary when it's dormant.
Our very first FET was a natural cycle since I ovulate regularly on my own. Alyacen birth control to manipulate timing due to a death in the family followed by monitoring natural ovulation cycle. PIO shots for 6 days, followed by transfer and continuation of PIO shots. Tested positive with HPT as early as day of. Beta confirmed positive pregnancy 9DP5DT w/ Beta at 288. At 8 week ultrasound, fetus measured behind, by 10 weeks, no cardiac activity and a D&C was performed at the clinic.
Second transfer, also natural cycle, this time with a trigger shot, PIO shots for 6 days prior - implantation failure, Beta was 1.68
Third transfer, also natural cycle, trigger shot, PIO shots for 6 days prior to transfer, Positive HPT 7dp5dt, and Beta was positive but low on 9DP5DT at 30. fetus measured behind at 8 weeks. D&C performed outside of the clinic.
How competent was Anate Aelion Brauer at LGBTQ care?
There is so much untapped potential at many of the larger clinics to find ways in which they can personalize treatment for the LGBTQIA+ community. The demand for fertility treatment is increasing. More queer people are seeking treatment rather than spending time, effort, money on at-home inseminations. The numbers would improve exponentially if that very community was not shuffled into this mix of predominantly infertile heterosexual women and given the same formula for success. Dr. Brauer, while seemingly open to same sex and queer fertility treatment, does not go out of her way with any particular nods of support or proclimations of being supportive of the queer community. There is a level of respect from her though.
Describe your experience with your nurse at Shady Grove Fertility New York. (Assigned nurse: Deborah Lurie)
The nursing staff were some of the best. Each of them had their nuances, characteristic behaviors and attributes, but overall as a team, they were some of the best, very on top of the portal with regard to response time and answering questions, and often times more compassionate and empathetic than the RE's. The staff in general at SGF screams EFFICIENT.
Describe your experience with Shady Grove Fertility New York.
This is a larger chain clinic, so they are backed by decades of experience and credentials, yet the Manhattan location is newer and so there is still a lot of potential to feel seen and heard more than those longer established clinics. The majority of the nurses and staff are cheerful, understand fertility treatment and the various people that would seek treatment. They will remember you by name, and have this inate ability (nearly all of them) to remember details too! I didn't experience this myself, but I would see that they provided meds if they had them to patients who failed to order enough or didn't have any left and relied on those patients to replenish later when they could for the next person. Just a small thing that could make a big difference to someone. They are currently in the middle of transitioning one of the RE's to the brooklyn location. So there are 3 RE's, one of which whose attention and presence is being pulled to the brooklyn location, one of which his reviews here on Fertility IQ speak for themselves and I can vouch are not untrue, and the last of which can't carry the patient load on her own! You are going to want to work mainly with Dr. Brauer and Dr. Setton, so, there are some challenges with scheduling. When it regards procedures that are so time sensitive such as retrievals, IUI's, natural cycle transfers, this is a deal breaker. You will have to repeatedly ask them to upload your lab results. It won't matter how many times you have asked before, they will do it happily and willingly, but they almost never will just upload them on their own. You can ask to perform labwork (and in some cases, I would overhear, even monitoring) outside of the office if it's more convenient for you at a labcorp or quest diagnostic. This is definitely a benefit.
Describe your experience with your monitoring appointments at Shady Grove Fertility New York.
Monitoring at SGF Manhattan was made easy. The hours generally go until 10AM, but on occassion, when necessary and if it could be accomodated, you could be seen until 11AM (though not preferable). This was a huge convenience for me and my long commute to the clinic and work hours. In addition, the monitoring hours are performed within a window, so while an appointment is advised, you could, if you had to, just show up.
Describe the costs associated with your care under Anate Aelion Brauer at Shady Grove Fertility New York.
We had a high duductible every year, and sometimes it seemed like the clinic tried to hold off on our procedures that could have taken place end of year when insurance would fully cover them for the new year. That aspect was definitely questionable, or just coincidence. However, our insurance covered the majority of the costs associated with our IVF retrievals and transfers. I do not recommend having genetics testing post D&C done with SGF who use NATERA. I would advise against it. We are still disputing charges with them and they are not efficient or helpful at all.
As far as the out of pocket costs with SGF, I did look to see what our insurance was billed vs. what was paid, and the OOP expenses are definitely competitive. They are not as pricey as some other clinics, but not on the lower end either. They are average costs for IVF. However, SGF does offer programs that could be very beneficial for those paying OOP such as shared risk.
Describe Anate Aelion Brauer's approach to eSET (elective single embryo transfer) vs. multiple embryo transfer at Shady Grove Fertility New York.
Dr. Brauer follows the recommendations set forth vby ASMR for eSET. In my particular case, due to PPROM, we never were keen on implanting more than one embryo at a time both because I was successfully implanting and wanted to give each embryo a chance on its own, but also because of the risks of a twin pregnancy with someone who already suffered PPROM at 18 weeks. However, I do believe if we sincerely wanted to and were okay with it, Dr. Brauer would have okayed multimpe embryo transfer of our untested embryos.
What specific things went wrong at Shady Grove Fertility New York?
- Failed to call with results
- Provided conflicting information