Beth McAvey

We sought out Dr. McAvey as a second opinion for our situation. We had been told at our previous clinic that IVF was our only option, which was so painful and stressful. After that failed, we brought all this info to her, and she really went through the paperwork, listened, and brought up her own concerns, such as cancer history of the family. She even agreed that IUI was an option for us. I'm currently still in treatment, but even if something wasn't progressing the way it should have Dr. McAvey immediately tried something different and it paid off. Even if this cycle doesn't result in a pregnancy, we plan on continuing to see her for future treatments.

Come prepared with your questions and concerns. Make sure, to be honest, that way she can give you the best course of treatment. And if it's a quick monitoring appointment, don't hesitate to stop her before she leaves the room to ask/express any concerns.

Because of my family history with cancer, Dr. McAvey insisted that I get my yearly mammogram (which I hadn't done in a couple of years) before starting me on any stimulating meds. We started the IUI with Letrozole. I had 3 consecutive appointments where no growth was occurring, so she switched me to Clomid in hopes to get the growth we needed to proceed with the insemination. The second check-up after the Clomid showed a handful of matured eggs. She said I was ready, so we then administered my trigger shot which was Ovudrel. Only 2 bloodwork needed the whole treatment. Still awaiting the insemination.

They have packages, so for a Letrozole or Clomid IUI cycle, I paid $700. I had to pay for the medication separately. The package price included all monitoring visits and bloodwork as well as the insemination.

We have not discussed this yet, as I am not planning IVF.

Dr. McAvey is a fast talker. She is warm and friendly. If you come in with a list of questions (you can prepare in advance and email her), she will respond to almost all of them. She listens to your ideas about protocol changes and will work with you to try to find the best results.

Do some research - as people what questions you should ask her. Have all of your questions listed in advance. Do not be afraid to speak up for yourself (by asking questions and advocating for what you want).

We did 4 cycles with Clomid (some where cancelled due to cysts). Due to my response to Clomid (and my concerns about elevated risks for breast/ovarian cancers), we changed to Letrozole for IUI. We did 3 cycles of IUI. Since research does not show additional benefit after 3 cycles of IUI, we discussed moving on to IVF. We did 2 cycles, first using an antagonist-protocol, the second using an estrogen-priming antagonist protocol (which adjusts for my high estrogen levels early in the cycle). Both had a high number of oocytes retrieved, but poor egg maturation/embryo blastulation rates. After 2 retrievals, we did 2 transfers. Neither resulted in a pregnancy, so we did additional testing and I sought additional opinions to make sure we were not overlooking anything. The testing revealed my husband had a balanced translocation. To potentially improve my embryo quality for the 3rd retrieval we changed to back to an antagonist protocol using an additional Letrozole flair during treatment. However, that cycle was the least successful - 2 embryos after 1 week but PGS testing showed they were both abnormal. Dr. McAvey then had a frank conversation about what to consider going forward and encouraged me to seek other opinions.

First come, first serve. The LI office was usually quiet. There was a wait only a couple of times.

Insurance covered most. Copays for medications ranged from $20-$190

RMA's standard is to do single ET, but we requested to do 2 embryos during one of our transfer cycles. They reluctantly complied with our request. Regardless, the result was negative anyway.

Dr. McAvey has been great to work with. The only thing I wish was that she was the one doing the retrievals and available during all of my monitoring appointments instead of sometimes the nurse doing the ultrasounds instead.

Not to expect to see her at every appointment.

I think they were the antagonist protocol. 1st retrieval was priming with birth control, and then 300iu Gonal F in the AM and 2 vials of menopur at night with a dose of micro dose lupron in the AM and PM. Menopur was adjusted during the cycle. Plus a trigger shot. 2nd retrieval was priming with estrogen patch and cetrotide, then was 200iu Gonal F in the AM and 2 vials of Menopur in the PM with cetrotide and two different trigger shots. 2nd retrieval was better, but embryo tested abnormal.

IUI was about $1500 with monitoring (no insurance coverage) and IVF I believe was $23-28K with no insurance coverage.

It's actually pretty hard to share my experience with her because I barely saw her in the 4 months with RMA. We had a none existent relationship. Every time I went in for monitoring aka "cattle call" I saw a different doctor. They were all very nice and I'm sure great doctors but the problem is with these big clinics is that you really don't have one person truly dedicated to your success. IVF is all about timing. How can a doctor that hasn't even seen my ovaries make any sort of decisions on my cycle? And even if she wasn't there for all the visits, she never once called or emailed me to see how I was feeling. No one ever told me what my embryos were graded or was wrong with the embryos after testing. It was my first time doing IVF and didn't even know to ask. I was never told any blood work results. I learned I didn't really know much about anything until I got my medical records to move over to a fertility doctor. I also felt they dropped the ball with the last cycle. Then on about 5 days into this last cycle, a dr said there were only 3 eggs that looked mature. So I emailed Dr McAvey asking if she thinks there are only going to be 3 viable eggs then maybe we should cancel the cycle. We're paying this out of pocket so not trying to throw 15k out the window. Then the next day she upped my dose drastically like a Hail Mary attempt to get some more eggs to mature. The day before retrieval my I believe my biggest one with over 23mm which is huge and one or 2 others over 20. I feel she pushed those to the limit to try to get some others to grow. We did a half dose of the trigger. Ended up with one abnormal embryo on day 5. So, I was right. 15k out the window.

FInd another doctor

They didn't really explain why they were doing what they were doing. I didn't know better and just went with the flow. Only until after I moved to a new doctor did I realize how left in the dark I was.

Cattle call for sure but in and out pretty quick

I got a discounted rate through the Glow app. It was 15k for the cycle including monitoring since we didn't do a transfer they applied that money to the new cycle making it 12k.

Never got that far

Dr Mcavey is very nice, but never had adjusted my fertility treatments. We have all this “unexplained reasons” which seems to get everyone of the hook, while this is costing us a lot of money. I wouldn’t liked my one on one with her especially after a failed IUI

Take your time when she is in the room with you. Even if you have a failed IUI, press to see her or speak to the nurse for a better course of action on the next round.

The plan was pretty basic. Come In for montioring and blood test after cycle day 1. Would go back a week or so later for an ultrasound. Then trigger, then back for IUI. She ordered to see and endocrinologist and my TSH level is normal now. Now we have done 4 IUIs , taking this month off to save money for IVF next month.

4 IUIs $2,000 Genetic testing $400 Meds $300

My experience with Dr. McAvey has been fine. Whenever we speak she is kind and hopeful. I haven't actually interacted with her very much throughout the course of my treatment. I had an initial consultation with her before I started the IUI process (3 rounds), and then one more before starting my IVF retrieval cycle. Other than that, aside from one or two emails to answer a question, I didn't have any contact with her until she called to let me know my IVF failed to produce any normal embryos. It was only then that she let me know about taking CoQ10 to improve egg quality and to pursue acupuncture (which I had pursued on my own and told RMA I was doing). If you have questions, Dr. McAvey will absolutely answer them, via email or phone. But it's really up to the patient to proactively ask (and research/figure out WHAT to ask). When we found out there would be no transfer cycle for us, Dr. McAvey was optimistic and encouraged us to try again as IVF is really just "a numbers game".

Do your own research and ask as many questions as you can at your initial consultation and all throughout the process. You have to be your own advocate.

3 cycles of IUI: five days of Clomid, Ovidrel trigger shot, IUI I cycle IVF (retrieval only, no normal embryos to transfer): Gonal F / Menopur / Cetrotide / Dual Trigger Lupron + hCG I was not given a rationale for following this protocol. I have a good ovarian reserve for my age, so based on this IVF cycle my issue appears to be egg quality.

Monitoring appointments at RMA of New York are well organized. I typically never waited longer than 15 minutes to be called and was typically always in and out within 45 minutes.

My health insurance covered my IUIs in full and one cycle of IVF (up to $10,000), however it did not cover most of the expensive IVF medications. For my IVF retrieval cycle, out of pocket I paid ~$4,500 for my medications, $2,000 for the embryo biopsy, $750 for anesthesia, and $750 for PGS testing of 4 embryos plus all office co-pays ($40 each). Billing for my IVF egg retrieval procedure hasn't gone through my insurance yet, so I don't know if I will owe anything additional.

As this is my first IVF, I wish Dr. McAvey explained to me which treatment is choose for me and educate me a little bit more on what to expect. I did most of my learning through reading and google online. I wish I have more options available to me for me to consider if the 1st treatment failed.

Educated yourself more on the IVF topic. I was abit overwhelmed and clueless.

Lupron protocol was used for me, don't know the rationale of why using Lupron. That was exactly my previous comments that I wish Dr. McAvey explained to me more on the treatment strategies. I didn't know how many protocols are available and options before my treatment. All the blood work seemed normal as progressed. As a result of this Protocol, 2 matured size, 2 mid size and 1 small one. Dr. MaAvey did push 1 more day before the trigger shot to give more time for the small one to grow. Result: 5 retried and only 1 inseminated. And the only 1 inseminated one didn't grow after few days.

the overall experience is good. 95% of time are pretty quick and standard. wish I get less bruise from the blood drawing. There are 2 nurses's technique are bite harsh.

3 times of IUI - $2,000 1 IVF - $20,000

I didn't get to that stage of process yet, so I don't have good and valuable comments on this topic that I can provide.

Initially, Beth seemed sympathetic to my feeling of helplessness but as more treatments happened, she didn't take the time to explain to me why the treatments kept failing. I would've liked to spend more time understanding what we could do to find out if there are other underlying problems with me or my husband in order to better our odds. Maybe there's no way but at least we have explored some options but unfortunately we haven't had the chance to do so yet.

I would tell the prospective patient to ask a lot of questions upfront, esp. in case the first couple of treatments fail. I think the most time you'll get out of the doctor is upfront during the first consultation. After the first meeting, you are dealing with nurses and other doctors in the clinic who are not your primary doctor so it's harder to get the information you are looking for.

The overall strategy my doctors recommended was to start with IUIs and see if they'll work before I try any more intense treatments due to my age. However, the IUIs have not worked and I still haven't found out the underlying issues.

For the past two IUIs, I've paid more than $5K out of pocket to the clinic. That included medications, consultation and the actual procedures performed.

Not applicable as I've not tried eSET.

Dr. McAvey did a great job monitoring my first and only IVF cycle after 7 failed iuis at a different clinic. I have endometriosis but there was no clear reason for my infertility. She was extremely positive about my chances. I think I ended up being an easy patient because I ended up responding very well to the stimulation cycle. When my e2 spiked and I was in danger of hyperstimulating, she canceled my fresh transfer so that my body could recover. She did a great job of monitoring my follicle growth so I triggered at the right time for the maximum number of eggs retrieved. I ended up with 31. She also pressured me gently to only transfer one embryo, because she thought my chances were so good, and I really wanted to do two. IVF is obviously an easier experience on a patient when it's so successful, so it's only natural that I highly regard Dr. McAvey. It's hard to know if I would have gotten the same great outcome the first time with anther doctor. I still have 11 frozen embryos waiting to be our baby's sibling.

Ask a lot of questions. Be in touch via email if you want more information.

I believe I was on the antagonist protocol for ivf: I had a short 8 day stimulation cycle, and I took gonal-f, ganirelix, and menopur during that time. (Probably others I'm forgetting). Of course I started my cycle with birth control pills. When my cycle staRted and I went in for baseline, I had an ovarian cyst that delayed my start for two weeks. She prescribed me ovidrel to treat the cyst. I triggered with hcg. I had a lot of follicles to begin with and responded well (except for the e2 spike, which was fine). I had 31 eggs retrieved, 19 fertilized, 12 made it to freeze. I then went straight to a frozen embryo transfer for my next cycle. I was prescribed antibiotics, estrace pills, and I was on progesterone in oil shots through week 9 of pregnancy. My transfer went off without a hitch. I didn't do bed rest or anything afterwards.

Weekdays 7-10am monitoring hours. I always arrived by 6:45, out by 7:30 at latest. Very efficient and well run. On weekends you have to go to the big main clinic. I had a longer wait there but it was quicker than I expected considering the number of patients waiting.

I was extremely lucky to have my ivf cycle and medications be 100% covered by insurance. I think we only had a few hundred billed to us (copays and an u/s at my initial visit).

If anything, I should've made more attempts to communicate with her as she would've made herself available. For example, I had a side effect to one of the meds I was on but because I read about it as expected in the paperwork, I didn't say anything. But when I brought it up at my next appointment, Dr. McAvey said I should've told them. I didn't know that I could/should. That was frustrating but, again, I know if I had reached out I would've gotten a response. For example, once when I did have a question, as she was running out of the office, she told me she'd call me on her cell from her car. She was really straightforward, smart and kind. There were a few times when I wish she had been more familiar with my file but I recognize that all of these doctors see sooooo many patients, I feel like it's actually our patient responsibility to do a lot of reminding with each and every appointment. I asked the director of a prominent cryopreservation lab about her and she had nothing but good things to say about her as well.

RMA has pretty much gotten IUI cycles down to a science: bloodwork, meds, ultrasounds, insemination, two-week call. Because I was at the beginning of my journey, this process was about making sure my uterus was in good shape (it was not so we had to work on that) and then getting me in and out for IUI cycles with the appropriate drugs. Pretty basic.

My insurance was awful. They said they'd cover testing but ended up not doing so. As a result, I had to pay out of pocket for virtually everything.

We have been seeing Dr. McAvey for a long period of time, since the first consultation until i got pregnant for the second time. I’m 40 years old so i knew it could take some time. She has always been incredible. She is very approachable and compassionate. She explains everything in detail and is very knowledgeable and professional. We were always very happy she was our doctor and we recommended her to everyone we knew was looking for a fertility doctor.

Monitoring hours are 7-8.30am so it was perfect to be able to go before going to work

Dr. McAvey was warm and compassionate. It put us at ease, but she didn't seem particularly resourceful when we were faced with the results of the initial workup. It turned out we had a combination of DOR and male factor infertility, and she immediately suggested donor eggs, which we weren't ready for. We wanted to try with my own eggs at least once before going down that route. We decided to consult elsewhere for a second opinion, as we weren't sure if Dr. McAvey had the expertise for us. The treatment plan she suggested was either donor eggs or cookie-cutter IVF that didn't seem tailored at all.

Her first suggestion was using donor eggs due to my low ovarian reserve/high FSH. While I understood that donor eggs would give us much higher potential for success, we were disappointed by the lack of real treatment strategies for using my own eggs first.

Dr. McAvey was very warm, optimistic, thorough and personal. Dr McAvey was very warm, optimistic, thorough, and personal. I appreciated her bedside manner and her level of involvement in my care. I would definitely recommend.

Be communicative with Dr.McAvey regarding your care. She helped me when the clinic failed me. I appreciated her involvement.

Traditional IVF with ICSI

I believe it was $12,500 for an IVF package including one FET if the fresh transfer failed. Plus $2500 for ICSI and around $5000 for meds.

She recommended SET based on my age, diagnosis, and past success.

Dr. McAvey is very knowledgeable and pretty direct. She can be pretty rushed so you'll have to either ask her to slow down a bit or repeat herself. She makes sure to cover all bases to give you the best opportunity.

Write down all the questions you want to ask and either email them to her and her team or ask at your visit. Do your research!

It was an effiecent well-oiled machine. The office opened promptly at 7:30 and you aren't there for more than 40 minutes. I would suggest getting there as early as possible.

My insurance covered most of the procedures. However, with copays, medication, and genetic testing I would estimate we paid approx $5,500 out of pocket.

The practice doesn't encourage multiple embryo transfers and while it states "e"SET it isn't elective in this case it's forced.

Dr. MacAvey is kind, honest and to the point. She's optimistic and extremely helpful. I highly recommend her and the entire RMA staff.

Don't be afraid to be open with her (hopes, fears). She will give you her full attention and will be totally honest.

I have PCOS. I'm on cycle 5 of letrozole to stimulate egg growth. Mid-month I'm scanned for progress (which has been great each month) and then given the Ovidrel injection to induce ovulation. The meds are mild and my body is responding well/properly. Like I said, I'm not pregnant yet but am hopeful I will be very soon. Even healthy couples can take up to a year naturally. The Dr. Has assured me that it will happen soon, and I believe her!

Insurance covered almost everything.