Arthur Sagoskin

I had one office visit with Dr. S and one telephone visit. Each time, it ended with me in tears. It was mostly because of his lack of compassion...if you need that from your fertility doctor, you will not get that from him. My husband was ok with his bluntness and lack of bedside manner, but it just elevated my already sensitive feelings. He made me feel worse than what I was already feeling due to my problems with infertility. He is also quick to jump to IVF which was also a problem for me. He never gave me a diagnosis which also troubled me since he was so quick to “prescribe” IVF. I can’t say it was anything I liked about him because I only had 2 visits with him. And those 2 visits were not pleasant. Nurses and other doctors completed my IUIs and I’m only allowed to communicate with him through his nurse. The nurses are not much better and blow off my questions I asked about non-invasive treatment options.

Don’t look for compassion...he is very blunt. So if you need that compassion, you will not get it from him.

It was just like I was another number at this clinic and with this doctor. My individual case was not taken into consideration or seriously. My voice and concerns were not heard. When I asked questions or voiced my concerns, I was ignored.

Dr. S ordered the “regular” initial treatments for us. Without having a diagnosis for our infertility. He suggested 3 rounds of IUI with Clomid. After the 1 failed IUI with Clomid, when I went for the 2nd IUI, I had developed cysts (detectable via ultrasound). He then advised I skip that cycle and try another IUI cycle the following month. Since I don’t have any fertility diagnosis, I didn’t want to keep taking Clomid since my body was not reacting positively to it, so I asked him if I could do an non-medicated IUI. He complied and I did a 2 and 3rd cycle of non-medicated IUIs. Both failed and the of course the next treatment option recommended is IVF. Instead of trying to figure out what our issue is or at least taking the time to rule out issues, IVF is suggested. I just think it would be wise to attempt to find our issue so the IVF has a chance of being successful. I realize someone couples have unexplained fertility, but that means due diligence was given to find a diagnosis. I’m so confused how they would continue treatment on me not ever attempting to see if they can find my issue.

The first nurse I had was very good (Helanie). However, she left the location and after she was left, the nurse I got was random. Once Helanie left, the nursing experience went down. The replacement did not take time to know my situation or where I was in the process.

The clinic for the most part is ok. It’s clean, they have convenient appointment availability, and you are in an out. I would say it feels kind of like an assembly line with ladies lining up back to back. It’s not a warm feeling and the vibe feeling more like a commercial business than a doctors office.

My insurance paid 50% and I would have to pay the other 50% at the end of each visit.

Overall, I like him. If someone were to go to Shady Grove, I'd recommend him. My problems are more with how the clinic is run as a whole (which as a founding doctor of the clinic, I guess means that I disagree with Dr. Sagoskin's approach in that regard.)

Write down all your questions beforehand. Do not leave until you've had them all answered. He is willing to answer, but you have to ask.

We first starting meeting with Dr. Sagoskin a few years ago but my husband really didn't like his bedside manner. I kind of didn't care, but he did somewhat treat us like a number in our first consultation with him. Plus, Shady Grove is quite expensive so we tried a different doctor/clinic for our first round, which proved unsuccessful. We decided to come back to Shady Grove and meet again with Dr. Sagoskin. It was like he was a different person. He was warm, he answered all our questions, we didn't feel rushed. He was great, and has been great when it comes to the side of making us feel "human" since we started seeing him again in 2018.

Egg retrieval treatment protocol included birth control for almost three weeks. Then we did 900 IU Gonal-F plus 150 ml of Menopur everyday for 12 days as I have a slightly higher FSH and a middle of the road AMH. The Menopur was increased to 225 in the last three or four days because my follicles needed a little extra boost to get to the desired size (they were kinda stuck around 18mm-20mm). Cetrotide was given at day 5 or 6 for the rest of the stimulation cycle to keep me from ovulating. HCG was used for the trigger, and I took an (crazy) antibiotic the day before my retrieval. (That thing was terrible and gave me the worst stomach cramps and diarrhea.) Egg retrieval resulted in 8 eggs, of which only 6 were mature. 5 eggs were fertilized, but only 2 made it to day 5. I began using Endomentrin progesterone inserts 3 times per day, the day after the retrieval through the transfer and up until the pregnancy test. I also took Estrace (Estradiol) daily. One embryo was transferred, and the other was frozen. The fresh transfer resulted in a negative pregnancy test 13 days later. The frozen embryo transfer treatment protocol: I began with birth control for two weeks, after which I began taking Estrace (Estradiol) three times per day. On day 16, after they checked my uterine lining which was 12mm, I began using 1mL of progesterone oil once every three days. I also started Endometrin inserts twice daily. On day six of injecting and inserting progesterone, I had one frozen embryo transferred that used assisted hatching. That was yesterday so I will have to update in 13 days as to the results.

Initially I was no pleased with the nursing/care coordinators in Dr. Sagoskin's staff. They seemed annoyed by questions or overwhelmed by patient load. At one point I was foisted off of one care coordinator who abruptly left the office for another one in the Shady Grove family, and I had no one helping me, which was super frustrating because I was starting my first fresh cycle with Shady Grove in two weeks. Finally, I got frustrated and worried about some medication issues I was having and went straight to the clinic without and appointment, requesting to see Tina (as she had been my sort-of contact without actually having been assigned my case.) She took care of me, she was kind and patient. She got me some samples when I ran out of medication and she listened to me when I told her how scared I was about all the costs running up. I had spent so much money and didn't know what to do. She helped. Then she gave me her direct number and told me that she was officially adding me as her patient, that way there would be no more confusion. Tina has been amazing.

You do not see the doctor enough. For as much as these procedures cost, you'd think you'd see your doctor at least once during your monitoring. But you don't. You see other doctors who someones come in to help you understand your monitoring. The billing department is literally impossible to deal with. It doesn't matter if you contract says specifically what they will and won't cover based on your fee, if they have another list (a list you haven't been provided) that says your fee doesn't cover a particular service - even if that service seems completely logical to the IVF process (not something special), you will be charged extra. That said, their shared risk program is pretty amazing if you think you have a chance of not getting pregnant on your first try. Keep in mind, though, that the shared risk program does not cover the injection class (even though it is not stated in the contract that it is not covered, and since it is held at the clinic by clinic staff, should logically be covered by the shared risk program). Also, meeting with your doctor after a failed IVF cycle under the shared risk program to discuss next steps (also seems like a necessary visit that should logically be included in the cost) is also NOT covered in the shared risk program. So basically, you pay your $20,000+ and still have to pay extra to see your doctor throughout your failed attempts. That's super annoying. A strength, though, is that they do have very good medication specialists to figure out your medication coverage through insurance. My first fresh cycle with Shady Grove was with a different health insurance, so it wasn't covered. However, my insurance changed and they have been appealing my insurance denials, and winning! So, if I need to go through another fresh cycle, I will probably have much smaller payments for medication. Fingers crossed. Their care coordinators are great and incredibly responsive.

The costs for diagnosis were pretty expensive, especially since some weren't covered by insurance. Many were, but most weren't. And if you lapse by three years, you have to redo everything. Semen analysis is $150/time. My husband has had to do this four times. The female diagnosis (mock embryo and HSG were...$800(?) with Shady Grove). The medication costs for egg retrieval were nearly $6000. The Shared Risk Program was $19,500.

He has told me flat out that he will not transfer more than one embryo for me. I do not know his stance on multiple embryo transfer in general, but he said that I was too thin to chance having multiples. (I'm not that thin. I'm 5'7" and weigh 140lbs.) This is one of the few issues I've had personally with Dr. Sagoskin as this wasn't even allowed a discussion.

He is very friendly and patient with my wife and I when we asked a lot of questions. He was able to make time for a last minute appointment when my cycle started and we realized my first IUI didn't work. He has always been on time for our appointments and never once rushed us.

Come in with a list of questions.

We decided to do all the pretesting to make sure I had a good follicle count and my tubes were clear. We did an medicated IUI first and if it didn't take we would be doing medicated. That is what we are currently doing.

Kate and Tina are very friendly. When we are in person they are very warm and kind. They both answered all the questions we had. My cycle and questions always ended up happening when Tina was out of the office. It was hard to get in touch with her a few times. She also didn't place the order for my medication on time and I almost didn't receive it on time. I called the Pharmacy and it was noted that I was not in the system. I called and emailed Tina on Thursday but she was out of the office until Tuesday. She called me Tuesday afternoon and said that she talked to the Pharmacy and they would rush it to me. In the end it all worked out, however, she is just hard to reach sometimes.

We have enjoyed Shady Grove Rockville. The offices are beautiful. The desk staff are always so friendly and kind. The nurses who take blood have also been very gentle and kind. The Dr who did both of my IUIs was amazing and so friendly.

We paied $1800 for the medicated IUI and around $300 for nonmedicated. My insurance didnt cover any of it.

NA

Strengths: experienced; knowledgable; offered suggestions for further testing (I wish he would have suggested a few tests must sooner); followed up after negative results and a lose; advocated for me during a miscommunication between my nurse/him/embryology. Weaknesses: disingenuous at times; not proactive at the right times (I offered up tests/procedures I would like to do, etc. and he would say "good idea" -- but shouldn't he have suggested them?); mildly responsive messages.

Advocate for yourself and be aware of all the tests available to you and push for them, even if they are "experimental" or "unproven".

Very personal attention when I first started seeing Dr. Sagoskin. Loved him and his no nonsense manner. 2+ years later and no success, I feel like I'm being treated more like a number and an inconvenience at times.

I was 38 when I started treatment. Protocol 1: BCPs, Antagonist protocol, lower doses of Gonal F and Menopur, slow & long stim, Ganarelix, Lupron/HGC dual trigger. 20+ follicles, only 2 retrieved, both mature, both fertilized naturally, and 3-day transfer of visually great embryos, BFN. Protocol 2: BCPs, Antagonist, higher doses of Gonal F and Menopur, slow & Ling stim,, Ganarelix, HCG trigger, (I demanded aftee the suggestion of two other REs) double-lumen needle during retrieval, 25 eggs retrieved, at least half mature, all fertilized naturally, 6 high grade blastocysts, eSET, positive beta (but low), doubled two times, then deceased and miscarried at 6 weeks (they say chemical since no heartbeat was seen, I consider a miscarriage). Frozen five 5-day blastocysts. Protocol 3: BCPs, Antagonist, highest doses (yet) of Gonal F, Menopur, Ganarelix, slow stim, HCG trigger, double-lumen retrieval, 25 eggs retrieved, 13 mature, 13 fertilized with ICSI, freeze all with PGS testing, 2 6-day hatching blastocysts biopsied and frozen. Thawed 5 frozen blasts from Protocol 2, lost one in thaw, biopsied 4 for PGS testing and refroze. PGS tested 6 blasts, 2 (1 from protocol 2 and one from protocol 3) tested as PGS normal. FET #1: BCPs, Non-injectable E2 and P4 administered vaginally. eSET PGS normal 6-day blast from Protocol 3, BFN. Before next FET elected to do Endometrial Receptivity Array (ERA) biopsy/testing with BCPs then Injectable E2 and P4 + 5 days. Biopsy returned "non-receptive". Retest ERA with BCP then injectable E2 and P4 + 7 days. Biopsy returned "receptive". Waiting to do transfer of remaining PGS normal 5-day blast from Protocol 2. Will do BCPs, then back to back Endometrial "scratches" (one tests for endometriosis, one may aid with implantation) and then transfer. Waiting for CD1 to start new FET protocol with Injectable E2 and P4 + 7.

Very detailed and thorough. Extremely responsive with email and voicemail. Knowledgeable. Respected. We had a miscommunication that damaged our relationship, but we were able to put that aside. I trust her and would strongly recommend her to others patients.

Strengths: friendly staff, quick response times, great monitoring appointment times, usually minimal wait. Financial Counselors responsive. Weaknesses: Sometimes it feels like a factory, nurses and doctors lack empathy and need to think before they speak. Sensitivity training/refresher would be great for everyone. Recently added many more doctors and nurses and feels less personal, chaotic at times. What a new patient should know: Be realistic and take off the rose colored glasses. Prepare for failure. IVF is not always the answer, sometimes it doesn't work even after multiple attempts with seemingly great outcomes. Advocate for yourself, do your research, question everything, demand respect. Ask for detailed description of an egg retrieval, from talking to anesthesiologist in triage, to walking into operating room and what and who to expect to see. Take all of your pain meds after retrieval, even if you don't think you need them (you will). PGS test and only transfer normals (don't set yourself up for failure and heartbreak if you don't have to).

I have some insurance coverage so meds for 2 of 3 cycles was fully covers and paid for one cycle of meds out-of-pocket. Specialist company's for each visit including monitoring. Insurance covered all procedures except for PGS testing (covered biopsy) and RhoGam shot after miscarriage (due to blood type).

He is knowledgeable, and experienced. I trusted him and his recommendations. He also listened to my concerns. He was conservative with my treatment and made sure I was comfortable with decisions, especially as we moved further along in the process.

If you only want warm and fuzzy, he's probably not the right doctor for you, but he's so knowledgeable and can get you pregnant!

Sometimes felt like a number and sometimes felt like a human. Excellent doctor but not overly warm and fuzzy.

IUI with clomid and bravelle. IVF with standard meds (I can't remember the meds) FET with estrogen and progesterone injections.

I had several nurses over the years , there seemed to be frequent turnover or changes. Lindsay was the one I worked with the most. She was very nice and great in person but her emails were often unclear or she didn't adequately answer my questions. More so with IVF.

Good reputation. Many locations. Open every day. Helpful financial counselors. Feel like a number at times tho due to volume of patients. Waiting room always very full.

Everything was out of pocket for me but they offered financial assistance

I did PGS testing so transfered only 1 embryo.

He was scientific and explained things in a way that respected my level of education (not 'dumbing down' the process). It was helpful attending the Rockville location so that he could personally oversee the majority of my treatment. Once I felt that he pushed a treatment (ICSY) that was more in the interest of his success rate than my personal wishes. But ultimately I respect and trust his expertise and ability to devise an individualized plan.

Don't hesitate to ask for updates and lots of information directly from the doctor.

My nurses Emily and Lindsay were fantastic, personal, detailed and thorough. I felt Dr. Sagoskin provided a reasoned strategy and was open to adjustments along the way as necessary.

We spoke daily and she knew my history intimately. She was compassionate when a cycle was canceled and enthusiastic when we had success. She was willing to answer questions in a timely manner, even occasionally beyond office hours.

At times I felt as the Dr did so often, he didn't really realize how painful the whole process was for us. However, he was friendly and explained things well.

Ask questions if you don't understand something

I think especially the nurses did a great Job. Though they changed nurses on me during my treatment, I am actually glad they did cause my new nurse was awesome

Donna was always so fun. Yes we all knew the reason why where there, but she would not make it the focus of our meetings, if you understand what I mean. She would ask questions, engage us in conversations that had nothing to do with IVF or the needles I had to prick myself with. I sometimes just needed that.