Arthur Castelbaum

Dr. Castelbaum is a very smart man. He is not an alarmist - he only gives you the information you need, and I think that’s to keep you for over analyzing or overthinking. I do, though, prefer to have more knowledge than I may need, so this has bothered me from time to time. When in his care, you need to have the mindset that he’s a professional and you need to trust him. Sometimes this can be hard for me, but I have seen many people have great success with him, so I do trust him.

Ask for more information when you need it.

I was put on the antagonist protocol. He never explained the logic for this protocol. This yielded 14 eggs and resulted in 10 frozen embryos. We transferred 1 embryo each time. First transfer resulted in a negative test and the second resulted in a miscarriage.

The cost of an IUI cycle was approximately $1,000 and for an egg retrieval and transfer, it cost just over $10,000.

I appreciate his conservative approach because the thought of carrying multiples worries me due to the increased health risks for myself and potential babies.

He put on a great show for my initial consult but after that was a train wreck. I had nothing but un-monitored cycles. I had an adverse reaction to a fertility medication that I was prescribed and was told to go see my ob/gyn..theres nothing that they can do for me. He never wanted to increase my dosage nor did he want to do a monitored cycle out of the four cycles that I did with him. At my last visit he decided to put me on a different medication and suggested that I not do IUI and go straight to IVF but that I would need to find a new job that covers IVF. As I was leaving he loudly said now go make us look good and get pregnant. WHO SAYS THAT?!

Don't waste your time and do not fall for the caring doctor that he acts like he is during your consultation.

Nothing but un-monitored cycles. Does not want to change any dosage for medication and does not respect your wishes when you want to have a monitored cycle.

The insurance co-pays, the outside facility co-pays for blood work and imaging and the costs of the medications

Dr Castelbaum is amazing! I thought I would never have children of my own and now I have a daughter and another little one on the way! He gave me the family I was dreamed of! I HIGHLY recommend Dr Castelbaum and RMA!

If your having trouble conceiving, see Dr Castelbaum. You won’t regret it!

I did two cycles of IVF. The first cycle I used Gonal-F, Meopur & cetrotide. My ovaries did not respond well to the medications and they only retrieved 4 eggs resulting in one embryo which did not work. Dr Castelbaum expressed his concerns but said we could try a more aggressive protocol and added in micro Lupron. I responded much better with the added medication. This time they got 19 eggs and I ended with 3 embryos. We transferred one embryo, which resulted in a miscarriage, and froze the rest. The first frozen transfer worked and I had a daughter. I just had my second frozen transfer which always worked!

My insurance only covered diagnostics for IVF so most of the cost was out of pocket. I paid total around $17,000 for the 2 fresh cycles. Medications for fresh cycle were around $3-4K (with discounts). The frozen cycle was $3,000 and meds were about $500.

I felt like Dr Castelbaum has a very high opinion of himself and his clinic. He spent a lot of time talking about how his clinic did well when inspected by the FDA. This seemed like a strange thing to talk about during our consult with some difficult news. I felt like he was pressuring us to use a donor egg without asking how we felt about it. He really dumped a lot of difficult information on us at once without much compassion. He suggested we have a cry and beer at home before coming back and talking with him again. If felt very strange and like we were taking up space in his office is we weren’t totally on board with his plan after 5 minutes of discussion. He was very blunt and said “you’re a complicated case” immediately after we entered the room. He prescribed Clomid and did not offer to monitor or follow up with me. I had a very bad drug reaction and spoke with a nurse who said she spoke with the doctor and told me there was nothing they could do and I should see my general doctor. When I called a week later seeking guidance after I got my period, I spoke with a nurse who said she would talk to the doctor and get bs m to me and they never did. I’m so glad we went elsewhere!

Don’t expect a great deal of compassion. He is very blunt.

He prescribed clomid but had me start on day 6, which another doctor confirmed didn’t do anything. I had terrible side effects (tingling in limbs and panic attacks) and they did nothing to help me or advise me after I called reporting the side effects.

The HSG test costs seemed high. Other costs were for office visits.

Dr. Castelbaum genuinely cares about the patients he works with. He was warm, friendly, and funny when appropriate. He treated me and my partner with the utmost respect and dignity. He worked extensively to help us with the situation we had, and constantly expressed empathy and compassion for our specific case. I absolutely love being a patient of his and wish all doctors had the knowledge and kindness he freely displays.

Take him over any other doctor, he is truly one of a kind.

We did a fairly aggressive antagonist protocol with Gonal-F and Menopur then Cetrotide. I responded extremely well to the protocol. At retrieval I had 25 eggs, with 23 being mature. 16 fertilized with ICSI and 8 embryos made it to day 5 for PGS biopsy and freezing. I did not respond well to the oral/vaginal estrogen, so we performed a mini-stim protocol for the FET. I did 10 days of follistim 75IU injections, with PIO starting a few days before transfer. Unfortunately the transfer resulted in a negative pregnancy test. I am hoping to generate more embryos before prepping for a new FET.

I had insurance coverage so the total cost of meds plus treatment was under $5000 total.

RMA's policy is to transfer a single embryo unless it has been shown to be absolutely necessary to try multiples.

I honestly can't think of a single weakness when it comes to Dr. Castelbaum. He is knowledgeable, compassionate, thorough, and kind. No two people are the same and he knows that and it shows in how he interacts with each of his patients. My husband and I brought embryos with us to Dr. Castelbaum from another facility. He was up front in telling us that he wanted his embryologist to review them because every clinic has their own guidelines for freezing and storing embryos and he wouldn't know what we had until they could look at them for themselves. After the first transfer with him from those embryos it resulted in a successful pregnancy where I gave birth to a healthy baby girl. Upon returning to the office two years later we did 4 additional transfers. The first 2 were with our remaining embryos we had brought with us from the other facility. From those, we had 1 early miscarriage (blighted ovum) and 1 chemical pregnancy. We then did another round of injections for egg retrieval. First transfer from this round was a chemical pregnancy. Second transfer was successful and I'm currently 10 weeks, 3 days pregnant and was discharged to my OB a week ago. It's so easy to blame doctors for a failed embryo transfer. My failed transfers were devastating to me; but I also remember how shocked and upset Dr. Castelbaum was for us. We did not do genetic testing although it was recommended to us to reduce the risk of miscarriage. Even though we chose not to, we were never judged for it. I almost gave up after the third failed transfer. Emotionally, I didn't know if I could keep going. Mentally, I knew I wasn't ready to give up. I'll never forget what Dr. Castelbaum said to me on my last appointment: "I know you were ready to jump ship and I understand why. But I'm so glad you didn't. It takes a lot of courage to do what you did. I'm glad I got to be a part of this and am so happy for you." These words will stick with me the rest of my life and I still tear up thinking about it. I could never thank him enough for all he's done for me and my husband.

Please realize Doctors are human. They can't give guaranteed results and they aren't perfect. Dr. Castelbaum loves what he does and it shows. If you want someone that will give you the brutal truth, yet deliver it in a compassionate way and someone who will truly fight for you Dr. Castelbaum is the guy to see.

I had insurance coverage for almost all of my treatments.

Dr. Castelbaum is a strong believer in only transferring one embryo. I was hesitant to agree but after he gave us the facts, I understood why and I knew he had my best interest in mind.

Dr. Castelbaum was very positive and kept my spirits up during the low points of fertility treatments. He seemed confident that he would help get me pregnant and he did. There were some roadblocks that we had to get through but he always found the solution. He misdiagnosed me with unexplained infertility at first. During IVF, hydrosalpinx was found on my one fallopian tube. He quickly set up surgery to remove the tube and assured me that my chances of IVF success would be the same after my unilateral salpingectomy. Even though the diagnostic test missed the hydrosalpinx, I still felt confident with his care. It took longer than anticipated but the end result was a pregnancy. I'm currently 31 weeks and am forever grateful for his care.

Ask a lot of questions! He doesn't mind answering them

With my insurance, IUIs we're covered. I paid a $40 copay each visit. And I paid for the medicine out of pocket. I don't recall the medicine prices. For IVF, we paid all out of pocket. We did the RMA assure plan which costs in total with meds about $30,000

He suggested one embryo transfer at a time because of my age.

Dr. Castelbaum is great. I can not think of a negative even when I probably should be contacting the nurse, if I contact Dr. he always answer my question without hesitation. I have had no disappointments and I have always been treated with respect. Dr. Castelbaum makes me feel very comfortable in not so comfortable situations.

Ask questions if you do not understand. Dr. Castelbaum has patience and will go over anything you need so do not be scared to ask if you don’t know.

I am in the beginning stage. We haven’t gotten to my protocol as of yet.

I am uncertain. I started off with insurance but I am now self pay and am waiting to get exact self pay amount.

Dr. Castelbaum will only transfer one embryo if you are under a certain age (35).

As stated before, RMA is fine if you have an easily fixable problem. Otherwise, RMA, and especially Castlebaum are content to just go through the motions and then immediately move to IVF when the typical treatments don't work. Our least personal experience was with Castlebaum.

Expect blunt information and insensitive jokes if you are sensitive . Do your research beforehand and have questions prepared. Question the statistics of treatments.

Castlebaum basically told us to request what we wanted if we weren't going to do IVF. He did not think outside the box or offer alternate options. We tried 3 IUIs with progesterone as this had worked (though resulted in miscarriage) with our 4th IUI. On the final IUI ,I asked if there was anything else and he said we could perhaps try Follistim (no real explanation why). We also added Ovidrel, and he told us it was up to us which day we used it rather than monitoring and figuring out the most optimal time. All 3 IUIs resulted in negative tests.

Copays for office visits were $20.

No comment

Dr. Castelbaum is a very experienced, knowledgeable, caring, and personable doctor. He is straightforward about his decisions and doesn't shy away from giving bad news when he needs to. He takes the time to answer questions during appointments and will schedule consults as needed. He is very responsive by email, as are the nurses who work at RMA.

Don't shy away from asking questions, even if you are bumping up against the limits of knowledge in the field of Reproductive Endocrinology. If he doesn't know the answer, he will tell you. He is a great doctor with a great deal of experience, but there are a lot of unknowns in this field, and being a well-educated patient is so important.

My first protocol was a typical antagonist protocol. It went worse than expected, given my age and other lab test results, but still yielded mature eggs that fertilized with ICSI. We decided to have another egg retrieval in order to bank more embryos prior to doing a transfer. Dr. Castelbaum recommended a micro flare protocol, which unfortunately yielded no mature eggs. We are trying again with another antagonist protocol.

My wife and I originally went for me to get inseminated and after many heartbreaks we turned to Dr. Castlebaum for my wife's insemination. After two iui procedures she became pregnant with our son. After the nurse called with the results he followed up with my wife to express his excitement. After Tatum was born we sent Dr. Castlebaum a birth announcement he again called us to express his delight and tell us how adorable our son is. To him it is not a job he genuinely wants you to have a baby and just wants to help you along your journey. We had been to another place where all I can describe it as is being cattle herded we were literally just a number and a paycheck and with no fertility coverage that's not what you want. Dr. Castlebaum makes you feel like part of his family and when you're struggling to have a baby that is so important.

Ask him anything he loves questions and he loves to hatch the plan with you. He doesn't tell you what "his plan" is for you instead it's your collaboration.

Iui twice with me using letrezol and hcg trigger shot one was positive pregnancy that ended in mc the other did not work. With my wife he did two iui no med assist and the first did not work the second did!

I believe the iui was 1,000 plus the cost of meds but I'm not 100% sure I took a new job and it did have coverage for iui so with my wife there were specialist copay so 40.00 each visit. The sperm cost 890 per vial and we have purchased a total of 9 and if costs between 250-400 to ship.

Dr. Castelbaum is an incredibly intelligent, capable and appreciative doctor. I want to start with that when I came back to visit with both my boys he was so genuinely touched, held each kid and truly appreciates the miracles he brings into the world. He is very straight forward with his information and also doesn't make assumption or judgments. I came from another clinic with unsuccessful IVF cycles and was referred to egg donation. I switched clinics for a 2nd opinion and Dr. Castelbaum was shocked that my previous doctor hadn't don't any type of testing on me to determine why my cycles weren't producing many eggs and why the ones retrieved were abnormal. He immediately ran some testing and did ultimately agree that egg donation was my best bet at having children while being able to experience pregnancy. He's very fact based and delivers matter-of-factly so you have to be okay with that but he also has a warm bedside manner. I loved him and would refer anyone to him. .

1st cycle -- approximately $47,000 2nd cycle -- approximately $3,500

Dr. Castelbaum has a wonderful personality that matched my wife and I so well. He is clearly knowledgeable and was honest with us about his recommendations. He was willing to hear our concerns and seemed to genuinely care about us during the process.

He has been very affirming of LGBTQ+ identified patients and has a great sense of humor.

We did 4 rounds of IUI with clomid and an ovidrel trigger for each attempt. I was not diagnosed with any infertility - but since we are a same-sex couple, we went to RMA. Insurance does not cover any of our treatments, so the next recommendation is IVF.

We had to pay for everything except for diagnostic tests.

He made my husband & I feel comfortable right from the beginning. Unfortunately our insurance didn’t cover fertility and he was amazing every step of the way to help us and keep it as reasonable as possible.

You will not be disappointed.

We fell in the category of unknown fertility issues. We originally started with Clomid for a few months but still no success. We then tried IUI, the 1st time was a success unfortunately ended with a miscarriage at 9 weeks. We tried another IUI and we’ve been successful this far. We are going on 12 weeks and hoping for an amazing outcome.

I honestly don’t remember each cost as my insurance did not cover fertility treatment

Dr castelbaum is extremely empathetic and caring. He explained thoroughly his concerns with my pcos and extreme follicle growths and the chance of many multiples. He gave me choices and his input which I appreciated

Believe in him. As scary as it is, he wants the best for you and to do everybody he can for you he successful

He played with dosage of medication and switched from oral to injectables. He monitored my follicles frequently by ultrasound. Ordered hsg to check for Fallopian tube blockage

Billing was very helpful. They explained the costs with you prior to procedures and go over insurance policy. They are willing to set up payment plans

Great doctor! Very compassionate and caring! Worked hard to achieve a pregnancy and was willing to try anything. Great bedside manner. Took the time to find out different treatment plans and ultimately wanted to help us achieve a pregnancy by any means.

Stay positive. Ask questions.

Struggled with a thin lining. Dr. Castelbaum attempted numerous protocols to try and thicken uterine lining with different forms of estrogen. Tried Neupogen washes in uterus, vaginal viagara, acupuncture.

Extremely costly. Did Donor Egg with a known donor and three frozen embryo transfers.

First cycle he transferred two embryos. Second and third cycle, only one embryo. Moving forward I think one embryo is the new normal to prevent premature birth of multiples.

Very good bedside manner and patience. Did not personalize my treatment or change protocol after multiple losses. Was willing to discuss other treatment options but would not prescribe himself. Referred to different doctors and forced to jump through hoops.

Do not use if you have a history of miscarriages

It was covered under insurance

Only willing to do single embryo transfer

Dr castlebaum is a great doctor. It’s too early in my treatment to really know what’s going on. I think he’s done a good job so far. I’m a little disappointed with how my last appointment went, only because there was information I’ve given him from the beginning and it felt like he never addressed it before

Make sure you give all information

I had and hsg test done which was painful and I was in a lot of pain for a few days. Otherwise all tests were bearable. Medication was fine so far

He explains everything the first visit, gives you options, and if things don’t work he reevaluates. Very kind and was just as happy that we were pregnant as we were! His office was awesome and the nurses were great. I loved everyone there. When I had to see other doctors or the nurse practitioner for procedures, they had the same bedside manner and were great

Ask questions and be open minded.

We had done clomid and timed intercourse. Letrozole and timed intercourse. Clomid, ovidril, and iui twice.

I completely trust him and know that he is doing everything he possibly can to help me. He is extremely intelligent and experienced. I appreciate his bedside manner and also his sense of humor. Plus he is very gentle and patient

Relax and trust him

We tried clomid twice, once with iui, and then switched to femara for two cycles, once with iui

Reasonable

I think he’s very conservative

He had great bedside manor. He explained everything very well and answered all of questions well. He called with lab results and recommendations. He was very personable. He talked to us like a human and not just another case. He was great!

Ask all the questions because he will answer every single one and explain them well.

I was told we would only do single embryo transfer due to my age I am at his risk for complications in multiples.

I thought we had a great experience together, if i ever needed to discuss things he was always available. He always went over the procedures and what was at risk. He was also kind and caring. When i became pregnant he was so happy as was I! He told me to come back and visit before and after I have the baby.

If you want the truth go see him

I only had to pay for meds and co-pays

I have been a patient of Dr. Castelbaum for over 6 years. My experiences with him have always been positive throughout those 6 years even if we received bad news. I was never discouraged because he always has a Plan B! He is patient and kind and willing to chat with me even if he has an office full of patients. I have terrible eggs and he helped me conceive my 5 year old son and I am now pregnant again because of him. When my daughter passed away from an umbilical cord accident very late in my pregnancy, he met with me ASAP just to talk to me. I needed his advice and he made time and was there for me even though I wasn't a patient at the time. He really is a wonderful doctor and we all consider him a part of our family.

I have recommended Dr. Castelbaum to many people. I'm not sure exactly what piece of advice I would give but when I do recommend him, I always say the same thing... "He's the best! Don't waste your time anywhere else."

I honestly cannot remember all of the treatment strategies but I do know the one that works for me. The "Atomic Bomb." Dr. Castelbaum has to give me the maximum dose of medications (Menopur, Follistim) in order for me to produce even the smallest amount of eggs for an egg retrieval. While neither of us were very confident that we would get many eggs, in the end, we had two frozen genetically tested "normal" embryos. If it wasn't for Dr. Castelbaum paying very close attention to me during my treatment, he wouldn't have known to up the doses of the medications so I could produce more eggs and I most likely would have come up empty handed. I think a lot of doctors would have just cancelled the cycle.

Dr. Castelbaum explained how dangerous multiple embryos can be for not only the mother but for the babies too. I had no idea of the dangers of transferring multiple "normal" embryos. I'm so happy that I chose a doctor that is more concerned with the mother and the child's health than about stats.

Dr. Castelbaum was confident, reassuring and diligent in my treatment plan. His optimism was contagious. I came to his office afraid and frustrated. I left feeling hopeful and inspired. When I saw Dr. Castelbaum at the hospital for my HSG, I instantly felt relieved.

Don’t worry you’re in good hands. Dr. Castelbaum’s optimism and confidence are contagious. It’s hard not to believe in him and the plan you agree on.

At first I was frustrated with communication, then we all realized they'd just switched over to a new email system. Dr. Castelbaum will answer emails the same day, often within a couple of hours, and once I could reach out that way I became very comfortable with care at RMA. Our situation was a really difficult and emotional one, but Dr. Castelbaum was really wonderful about being compassionate and giving us all the information and time we needed to make a decision we were comfortable with but that also gave us the best chance of having a child. Using an egg donor was a huge step, but once I was used to the idea, I was really glad we decided to do so. We got pregnant on our first cycle, currently 12 weeks.

Never be afraid to ask questions of Dr. C or of the nurses. They are happy to answer and you will feel more comfortable. They are all there to guide you through this process, and understanding what is going on and why helps a lot. There were many times when Dr. C supplied answers to questions I didn't even know to ask or before I could ask them.

We were given about a 20% chance of success with our own eggs after testing, vs 60% with a donor. As we were paying out of pocket, we knew we couldn't afford to try over and over, and we had to decide which was more important to us: the genetic relationship but with a much reduced chance of success, or having a much better chance of having a child with a donor egg. In retrospect, given the stress inherent in IVF with the hormone shots and whatnot, I'm really glad we went with a donor to limit all of that. Out of our 6 eggs, 3 became viable embryos, which is fantastic. We've only done one single embryo transfer cycle, and are now 12 weeks along.

I don't want to talk about exact numbers, but I will say that we consulted with another practice and RMA Philadelphia's pricing was much more reasonable. All pricing was done as packages. Since we were new to the process, we had a lot of questions, and the financing department understood the medical side of what was provided and were able to answer all of our questions.

Dr. Castelbaum strongly preferred SET given our circumstances.