Beth Malizia

I described her very well in the segment about being treated like a human. She has been wonderful over our journey. We have been with her for over five years and are sticking by her to get our miracle baby. We have not always seen her for our IUIs. She has been right by our side every step of the way for our IVF cycle. She even contacted us personally to give us updates. She has done all my other procedures and explained everything thouroughly. We love her!

Dr. Malizia has a calming bedside manor. She is forth coming and doesn’t sugar coat information. She knows her facts. She is a good listener and spends time with her patients. The wait time might be long at times but she is not going to rush her patients. She is only available certain days of the week for appointments, therefore scheduling can be a challenge. So far appointments have not been a problem for me. She is always available if you have questions. She gets back to you in a timely manor. My husband and I have been pleased with her. We have stuck by her over 5 years. Still working on our miracle baby.

My husband and I have been with Dr. Malizia a little over 5 years. She has been wonderful. She spends time with us making sure all our questions and concerns are addressed. She has personally contacted us on numerous occasions to give us news/results. She has a great bedside manner and truly understands what we are experiencing through our fertility journey. She wants the best for us. We just went through our first IVF cycle. We had 10 eggs fertilize out of 14 eggs retrieved. Dr. Malizia kept us updated on days 5 and 6 of the growth. She stated, “I waited until the last minute to call you because I was hoping they would grow more.” She checked them multiple times on day 6 to make sure of their growth. We had 1 embryo make it out of the 10 fertilized. Cell biopsies have been sent to Igenomix to be tested for genetics. We are in the wait time. Dr. Malizia stated, “I will call you as soon as the fax comes through.” This shows she really cares. We have been extremely happy with Dr. Malizia and the whole AFS team. We feel like we are apart of their family since we have been going there over 5 years. We are still working towards a miracle baby. It makes me nervous only having 1 embryo. This has been a process. I feel like it is one chance and it’s not 100% guaranteed. My husband and I are older and we would love to be parents and have our own biological child. Unfortunately, our insurance does not cover fertility treatment. This was a huge jump to do IVF. It stresses me out financially. We do not need the financial stress. We have been extremely patient through the infertility journey. I don’t know what we will do if this 1 embryo does not work. We would like to have multiple children one day. The financial stress is not needed for those who are having trouble conceiving. We need as little stress as possible to make our bodies healthy and stress free.

Dr. Malizia prescribed medication with our first treatment. We used clomid. Everything looked good on paper. Unfortunately, it did not work. Then we tried a second IUI with clomid. It was unsuccessful. We used the letrazole protocol and trigger HCG with our third IUI. It was unsuccessful. Again, everything looked good. No explanation of why the IUIs were not working. She explained the increased chances of IVF at the time. We were not financially able to take on the cost of IVF. She stated we could do another letrazole protocol IUI. We waited a while to do it. It was unsuccessful as well. We met for a consultation. Dr. Malizia talked to us about Invocell and IVF. She stated we could do another IUI if we wanted. My husband and I chose to do IVF due to the higher risk of possible conception. It has not been easy financially. We now have one chance with one embryo. We have exhausted all funds. I am not sure what we will do if this does not work.

Kendall is our IVF coordinator. She is great. She handled orders for our medications. She had a calendar all set up for our injections. We communicated well via email. She was prompt and answered every question thouroughly. She went over the process of giving medications if we needed instruction. Our Doctor has had two nurses during our 5 years at the clinic. Both of them have been great. They relay our messages to the doctor in a timely fashion and get back to us quick. We have been happy with all the other staff. It’s a smaller clinic. They make you feel like part of the family.

I feel the clinic runs a tight ship. They are on top of it. Everyone is welcoming and genuine. Most staff members have been through infertility. They know the shoes we are walking in. I love that the clinic is small. You don’t feel like a number in a cattle car. They used to only offer IVF certain times a year. They are more flexible now and are offering it more. I love AFS.

My insurance paid for some of the visits and lab cost. Everything else is out of pocket. My insurance does not cover fertility treatments. Our IUIs were 324.00 out of pocket. The IVF with ICSI was over 10K. This is out of pocket. We decided to do genetic testing so an additional cost of 2,210.00 will be needed for the frozen transfer. Plus, we will have to pay the fee for Igenomix. I think it will be 1,500.00. My husband and I are still trying to come up with the money for the transfer of our one embryo if genetics deems it viable. Still waiting on results. I don’t understand how some insurance plans will pay and some will not. This is not elective for us. We cannot help we are in this situation. We are not made of money and we don’t want to put ourselves in debt. It’s so financially draining and causes stress we do not need.

Dr. Malizia has stated, “she is not in business to make an octomom.” She prefers to transfer one embryo. She was willing to transfer two for us. She was ok if we wanted an instant family. My husband and I would have chosen to transfer two embryos if we had them. We are in our late 30s. We are eager to start a family. We cannot help it has taken so long and we have unexplained fertility at this time. Unfortunately, we have one to transfer pending genetic results. We will have to continue working on our family in the future.

Dr. Melizia is an amazing doctor. She is very soft spoken she always makes you feel better about having to be there and she instantly feels you with hope. She gives her honest medical opinions. She doesnt just tell you what you want to hear. I appreciate this because I do not want to waste money on a certain course of treatment if it isnt the right fit for me (even though it worked for a friend). I always feel very comfortable asking her questions about what can we do next, well what about this route and she always responds with such a caring and understanding attitude and always explained why it would be a good route or not. I know that Melizia is a very busy doctor but she always takes the time I need with her to answer all of my questions. I never feel rushed or as if she has a 1,000 different things running through her head. This goes back to everyone at AFS makes you feel like you are their only Patient!

I would tell them that Dr. Melizia is amazing. She will proceed with fertility treatments on your own pace. So if you are ready to go in full force then make sure you tell her!

AFS has always treated my husband and I as humans. They all have a way of making you feel like you are the ONLY patient they have and you are the top priority and concern. All the doctors and staff at AFS play a role in this. Even though Malizia is our primary doctor we have worked with the other doctors as well and they made us feel so good about being there. Also, the nurses walking up and down the hallways stop, call you by name, and give you a big hug! This is really a big deal for me! It makes this journey a little easier knowing you have such a great group of people caring for you! AFS is the BEST!

IUI Cycles: 1. We used clomid The first IUI we used the at home ovulation test but come to find out it gave me a false positive so we did the IUI and I had not ovulated yet. So this one was a bust. :( 2. We used clomid again. This time we did a monitored cycle with the trigger shot. I did fully ovulate right on time but it also failed. :( IVFs: 1. 1st round of IVF we were on BC pills for a few months and then we started lupron. We then started with the Follistem pen and Menopur. We continued with the lupron. We triggered and went in for retrieval. We found out they retrieved 10 eggs, only 5 were mature, and only one fertilized. We were a little upset with these numbers but our 1 embyro was a perfect as you could get! This was hopeful! We transferred a 3 day embryo because we only had 1. This cycle failed. :( 2. 2nd round of IVF Dr. Melizia swapped up my meds. She wanted to get more mature eggs. I was only on BC pills for a few weeks and then we started stimming right away with Follistem and Menopur. We later added in ganerelix so that I would not ovulate on my own. This would we had 14 eggs, 10 mature, but still only 1 fertilized. :( It was still a perfect embryo though! This round also failed so then we started trying to figure out why the embryos would not attach.

The IVF coordinator Kendall, and the entire nursing staff at AFS is amazing. They call you by name and they remember your story. One of my favorite nurses is Michelle. Every time she sees me she stops me gives me a big hug and tells me she is so glad to see that we have not given up. She was apart of both of our IVFs and she was caring and encouraging the entire time. The entire staff from my favorite receptionist (Leslie), to the Ultrasound tech, to the ladies in the lab and all the nurses are amazing. Dr. Melizia is my primary doctor but the entire office comes together and really makes you feel special.

The Clinics strengths are they make you feel important, like you are family. You can really tell they all care not just there for a pay check. My first apporintment there I was so nervous and I felt so defeated because I was actually there. I didnt want to believe it at all. When I left there I felt the complete opposite. I still hated the journey we are on but I had a sense of calming and hope. I knew that with God on my side guiding these doctors, nurses, and staff that we will one day have our miracle! We instantly knew AFS was where we were suppose to be. The only weakness that I would say the clinic has is SOMETIMES the call back time is not up to my standards. Now I am someone who likes a call after lunch if I went in that morning or if I went in that afternoon I like a call back by the next morning. I may be a little impatient when it comes to this so other may think their call back time is perfect. :) This may actually be a weakness of mine and not the Clinic's.

First round of IVF - $9,000 + Medicines 2nd round of IVF - $7,600ish + Medicines IUIs - $350ish a piece + Medicines Surgery - $3,000 Monitoring Visits - $30.00

Dr. Malizia is very intelligent and speaks to us about studies, research, and statistics. This helps me because I need things to be tangible and blunt. She does this all so lovingly. She asks about our lives and the goings-on. She asks about adoption and my teaching career and truly listens as you talk. She is apologetic when she knows I'm upset about miscarriages and she comforts me by knowing my history and letting me feel normal to fall apart in her office. She is always ready with a plan, she exhausts all options and possibilities. I have referred friends to her who now have babies or are currently pregnant.

Be ready to hear the truth, the facts, and be ready to have a plan in place before you leave. She will test you for everything.

Dr. Malizia knows our story, she knows about our faith, she wrote me a letter, she asks about our home life and the people in it. She cares.

We completed a full testing cycle with blood work and sperm count. We checked chromosomes, did a endometriosis check, and an HSG to check my uterus and Fallopian tubes. We tried femera for a month, but didn't get pregnant. We upped the dosage for two cycles and still didn't get pregnant. We did IUI with the latter cycle. We tried one more month along with a trigger shot and IUI, but still no pregnancy. I took a break because my body was exhausted.

Trista is incredible. She is loving and caring. She immediately calls back and answers all of my crazy questions.

They are busy. It is hard sometimes to get appointments that fit around a teaching schedule. They also don't have an office in Shelby County so you have to drive to Jefferson County even if it's just for bloodwork.

I cannot remember. Our insurances paid for most costs.

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We only just started going but she gave us a clear process to follow such as what would come first then try IUI. Her office has been very good to return our cals for scheduling and lab results. We feel very relieved and supported.

Know you will have labs the first appointment. Tell her all your history but you will probably start a lot of trhe testing all over again.

The nurse always returns my calls, even after hours. Dr. Melizia met with me And mt husband for a while.

Again, we just started but I did bloodwork at the first appointment. I got my results back and only one of my levels is slightly off. I have done an HSG and should start IUI and medication on my next cycle.

Haley has been great about returning my calls and answering questions. She is fast about sending in lab orders.

We got a refferal appointment quickly. They say you can go as fast or slow as you need or want in treatment. We have only been to thw actual office once. Another did my HSG and she has wonderful bedside manner.

$150 copay for HSG, about $500 for IUI

I loved everything about Dr. Malizia. She was understanding, compassionate, and she didn't make me feel like just another number. She is very knowledgeable and she explained what our game plan for treatment would be.

To definitely go with her! I'm so grateful I chose her as my doctor!

She listened thoroughly and explained everything. We were able to get started right away and she truly showed compassion.

I am still in treatment but so far we have done 1 IUI with 100mg of Clomid and HCG Trigger shot and monitoring visits with ultrasound and bloodwork.

They are all so wonderful. I use Hailey most of the time and she is so good about explains everything, and if I need to speak with her she is always great about calling me back right away!

I love this clinic! They cater to you, and don't make you fell rushed while you are there, and they don't make you feel like just another number. They are great with returning calls and each one of the staff if great about knowing you personally.

She is very friendly but does not necessarily explain the whole reasoning of the treatment courses. Like your numbers are not ideal but does not go into further explanation of why or if that is the cause of infertility

Ask questions

She was very personable

they are all wonderful people! As the people you deal with mostly, they are loving and compassionate about your situation.

Its location is horrible to get in and out of, parking is kind of bad as well, other than that the staff is friendly and caring and feel like family. Scheduling was never an issue they always put the patient first.

I really was not sure what to expect when I was referred to her, but I am so glad that she became my doctor. She was always compassionate and caring. I really wish there were more doctors out there like her.

Don’t feel afraid to ask questions so that you feel comfortable with everything that’s going on.

She always spoke to me personally and compassionately. She didn’t always remember every detail but she took time to look in my chart and refresh her memory when she needed to. It was obvious she wants to make sure everyone gets the right care.

Everyone was always welcoming and friendly. They always called me by name and made it feel easy to be there.

They’re so friendly and welcoming. It was smaller when I was there and I understand they’re getting bigger but I think just because of the kind of people who work there, it will always feel like a safe place.

Compassionate, smart, nice, prompt, makes you feel like the only patient. Good doctor. Friendly. So far my experience has been good. Just praying for the positive pregnancy test.been doing fertility for 4 years.

This is a very clean and nice clinic. Very inviting space. They get you in and out when you have routine visits. Like for bloodwork and ultrasounds. Weakness would be sometimes I didn’t know how much a procedure would cost until after it was done. But maybe that is my fault for not asking.