Brian Kaplan

As the second RE I have worked with, I appreciate Dr. Kaplan's expertise and communication skills. He makes me feel as if he genuinely cares about me and my treatment plan. He will listen to my questions, ideas, and opinions, and really take the time to consider all options. He has given me advice as a medical professional, but has let me make my own decisions regarding how many embryos to transfer, etc. He is kind and considerate, and understands that this is a frustrating and overwhelming processes.

He does keep a specific schedule for retrievals and transfers, so if you don't like the idea of your cycle being controlled to fit into a group schedule, he may not be the doctor for you. Do be sure to book consultations in advance as his schedule does fill up quickly! I've gotten in the habit of always booking a consultation for a week after any big news - ie. retrieval results, PGS results, beta pregnancy tests after transfer. That way I'm already on the schedule in case I need to see him! If you ask his scheduler, she will have him call you to discuss anything one-off as needed as well!

Dr. Brian Kaplan is very kind and has great communication skills. He has the ability to "read the room" and understand what type of mood I am in and respond appropriately. He has listened to my family building goals, and makes me feel as though he understands and appreciates our situation.

I did my first egg retrieval with Dr. Kaplan - we planned for a freeze all cycle to do PGS testing, which my husband and I were already planning on even before he recommended it. I was on the pill for only a few days after my last IUI failure, then stopped the pill to start stimming. We used Menopur 75 IU and Gonal F Redi-ject 300 G, then added in Ganirelix Acetate 250 once my follicles really got going. We did lower the amount of the Gonal F during the cycle as I had 28+ follicles responding. We ended up with 14 eggs retrieved, 9 were mature, 9 fertilized with ICSI, and 4 made it to day 4/6 freeze. Of those 4, 3 came back PGS normal which is great for being age 32! I was slightly disappointed in the number of eggs retrieved and the number of mature eggs, based on the fact we were measuring upwards of 28 follicles. Dr. Kaplan said if we did do another retrieval cycle in the future, he would likely adjust my medication and start me out slower, instead of starting at the "standard" and then pulling back. The first cycle always seems to be a bit of a trial to see how you respond and what the results are.

The one downside of Dr. Kaplan's staff is that it is a large group, and I never got to know one individual nurse well. They like everything to be communicated through the patient portal, and usually respond quickly. However, there were definitely a few times I was in panic mode and trying to call and talk to someone and couldn't get ANYONE on the phone. No one ever responds to any of my voicemails either, they just do not call you back.

There are sometimes long wait times for scheduled appointments, but I believe that is because they never turn anyway away for their requested time. The front desk staff is great, as well as the staff who checks you out after an appointment. My financial coordinator, Victoria, under Dr. Kaplan was wonderful, though I think she is now working under a different practitioner.

We had insurance coverage, so our costs were minimal. I did receive an estimate for an FET out of pocket for $3,500. The cost of ICSI was $500, assisted hatching was $500. PGS was partly through FCI and partly through a partner, but totaled around $4,000.

Dr. Kaplan follows the guidelines that for a patient under 35, especially with PGS tested embryos, his recommendation is a single embryo transfer. However, he did still give me the option to transfer multiple if I wanted to. After our first PGS normal FET resulted in a chemical pregnancy, I was keen to transfer our two remaining embryos to up our chances. Ultimately, my husband and I chose to only transfer one on our second transfer (just this week!) but Dr. Kaplan was willing to let me decide what was ultimately best for us.

Dr. Kaplan was warm and compassionate. He got "down to business" discussing our goals and his recommendations but I know he is highly recommended and in demand (based on recommendations from my gyno, friends, and the number of people in his waiting room) so our consultations were more brief than drawn out, but I never felt like he was rushing us.

Follow his recommendations. He's really good at what he does :) He recommended IVF to us at the start but insurance required that we complete 6 (yes 6!) IUIs first. And then I was too nervous to do our first a medication-assisted IUI so our first was unmedicated. Needless to say, the IUI resulted in a BFN, as did the following 6 (we did a 7th after having a polyp removed, per recommended from my gyno). We finally completed our first retrieval (18>11>5), got pregnant from our 3rd transfer and now have an amazing 15 month old little lady. We just completed a new retrieval this weekend (9>4>?) since we used all of our embryos last time around.

Dr. Kaplan was always warm and kind. Some of his nurses were unfriendly and treated me like a number, particularly those at the River North location. However, his nurses at the Highland Park location (where he does all of his retrievals and transfers) are FANTASTIC! So kind, so patient.

Retrieval: -OCP for about a week to align my cycle with his schedule -Simulation with Gonal-F 450 IU (about 3 or 4mL of fluid) every evening and Menopur 150 IU (1mL of fluid) every evening in the abdomen for a total of 12 days -Ovulation prevention with Ganirelix 250 (about 2 mL of fluid) every morning for a total of 8 days -Trigger shot with Pregnyl 1mL/10,000 usp at exactly 36 hours prior to scheduled retrieval -Infection prevention with a Z-pak, began at dinner the night before retrieval and continued for the following 4 days I don't recall all the medications for the transfer, BUT, my nurse told me yesterday that Kaplan has updated his protocol to only one form of progesterone (IM injection in oil only; not the most pleasant but you get used to it!), which is generic, and oral estrogen instead of the SUPER expensive estrogen patches, which are only available as a brand. This is SUCH great news since we have used all of our insurance coverage :(

Ilyne is just the best. SOOO kind, patient, compassionate, and warm.

Fertility Centers of Illinois is great. The River North location is overwhelming and a bit of a "cattle call" but they do the best they can to take care of everyone. The locations in the suburbs couldn't be better however! So personal and caring.

I haven't received my bill for the retrieval yet. I'm not sure if my deductible has been met yet so I'm unsure what I will be responsible for. Up to this point, it's been about $275 for each monitoring appointment, which I've paid for with my FSA account.

Kaplan is patient and explains that his recommendations are based on the evidence to support successful live births and the health of the mother. That said, he was supportive of our decision to transfer only one embryo the first time, and 2 each of the second and third transfers.

Dr. Kaplan truly is an amazing doctor and human. He isn't in this business for the money he is in it to make babies for people. He is totally committed to helping his patients make the best decisions to get the best outcome. He connects with people, my husband really loves him as well. He makes you feel at ease and that you are the only patient he has. He diagnosed me with diminished ovarian reserve, so approaching our second round of injections I had a better idea on egg count. During my prep for retrieval and IV he held my hand and told me he would take the outmost care of me. He put me at ease when I was worried that I wouldn't get any eggs, that is the type of doctor he is, the best beside manner I have ever received from any doctor regardless of discipline. The eggs didn't fertilize so he let us know of what the next protocol would look like, we talked about options and egg donors. He is very open no questions or suggestions of treatment are off the table. If anyone is going to get my husband and I a baby it will be Dr. Kaplan, he is the best at what he does! I have and will continue to recommend him to anyone experiencing fertility issues.

Be open to his suggestions and treatment plan he has been doing this for nearly 30 years, come in with questions as he is ready to answer whatever you throw at him and be as flexible as possible, not with the your end game of becoming a parent but with the steps along with way. It can get rocky and flexibility is key to keep your sanity.

Dr. Kaplan is so genuine and has fantastic bedside manner. In a time of turmoil he made me feel like I was his only patient. However you only see the Dr. during consults and during egg retrieval and embryo transfer otherwise you work with nurses and his staff.

First protocol included estrogen and progesterone priming for one month, after that finished I stated injections. 300 IU Gonal F, 150 IU menopur, day 5 of injections I added ganirelix for another 4 days. I wasn’t responding well and naturally ovulated so cycle was cancelled. Cycle two, 300 IU Gonal F and 300 IU menopur 7 days, I was slow going again, he added in ganirelix for one day for day 8. Day 9 I took a trigger shot to mature the follicles for retrieval. I only had two eggs and neither made it through fertilization. Cycle 3 I haven’t started but we do testosterone priming to help produce more follicles for one month and will go back to the lower dosage of menopur at 150 IU and 300 IU Gonal F and potentially ganirelix again.

The nurses have a lot of patients, they aren’t super personable. They provide you numbers and next plan that doctor wants to go forward with. They are very quick to respond to emails.

High ranking doctors, however you are more of a number when not directly dealing with the doctor. If you want hand holding from all the nurses you would believe this is a weakness. If you can be in charge of your own care and ask questions and want results, this clinic would get high rankings. If you need hand holding this clinic lacks in that category.

$9050- IVf cycle monitoring, retrieval, fertilization with ICSI, one fresh transfer. Drugs were not included and that was about 10k.

Dr. Kaplan informed us max he will transfer is 2 and it’s case by case basis of 1 vs 2.

Dr Kaplan has been an amazing Doctor to me. Although he has so many patients, when I am meeting with him he makes me feel like I am his only patient. He is compassionate, kind and understanding. He always made me feel safe and reassured during procedures. I knew that he was going to do everything he could to give us a baby, and he was always positive and reassuring even when we faced set backs

Don't be put off by the size of FCI...yes it is a big clinic and the reception feels like a train station when you go in for bloodwork and ultrasounds, but the volume of patients gives the Doctors the best data to work with. You need to understand that you will be dealing with the nurses most of the time, but Dr Kaplan is always there for you and will always make time for you. He would phone me personally when news wasn't good, and gave me his direct email address when I was abroad so that I could keep him updated on my pregnancy

I absolutely love Dr Kaplan - he treated me like a father would treat a daughter, with such care and compassion. He was incredibly kind, always patient and would answer all our questions. While he is an extremely busy Doctor with a lot of patients, I could always book a consult with him if we wanted to speak to him directly.

I have high antral follicle count, so Dr Kaplan was careful with dosages - I was on Menopur and Gonal-F (150/day). For both egg retrievals I was at high risk for Hyperstimulation because I had so many eggs, so Dr Kaplan recommended not doing a fresh transfer both times to reduce risk. Also my progesterone levels were too high and so he was very cautious. He triggered me with Lupron the second time instead of HCG because of my high risk for hyperstim. The first retrieval I got 26 eggs, 21 fertilized, 6 made it to day 5. We did PGS and 2 of the 6 were normal. because i was only 34 at the time Dr Kaplan recommended transferring 1, which ended up as a blighted ovum. Second transfer was a chemical pregnancy. Given we had done PGS Dr Kaplan didnt know why both embryos had failed to develop, so as a precaution he sent me for extensive bloodwork checking for autoimmune issues, as well as a hysteroscopy to check my uterus. both were normal so we proceedeed with another retrieval. This time I got 20 eggs, 14 fertilized but only one survived to day 6 and was frozen. We did the transfer a month later, and I am happy to say I am pregnant with Twins!! The only embryo we had split and we're having 2 babies!

The nursing staff is great. You do work with a number of different nurses because there are the day-to-day nurses at FCI River North and then the IVF Nurses at Highland park, but all were compassionate and extremely responsive with answering questions via the portal

FCI is organized and well run. Wait times for bloodwork and ultrasound can be long because there are so many patients, so that can be frustrating. Their Michigan avenue embryo transfer facility is amazing - feels like a spa and is a very calming environment, much nicer than Highland Park

Monitoring was offered from early morning to 1pm so you could book a time slot that fitted your schedule. Depending on the day and time, you could breeze in and out in 15 min or be waiting over an hour if there were a lot of other patients there

We had insurance coverage, but we paid for our last frozen embryo transfer so I know that is $2300 excluding monitoring which is another $1200

Strengths: Overall experience in the field - I know a lot of women who he has gotten pregnant. Flexible - Dr. Kaplan wants you to feel comfortable with your care, so he has always been open to my suggestions and ideas. I know some doctors who don't value patients opinions and brush them off. Weakness Availability - Its hard to seem him in person. He has a log of patients, so at times it can feel like you are just lost in the shuffle. Also you need to be really prepared for meetings when you do have them as it doesn't seem like he has taken the time to truly evaluate recent happenings.

Advocate for yourself, and trust your instinct, but also value his opinion. If he feels strongly about something he will typically tell you and its likely a good suggestion as he has been doing this for so long!

Dr Kaplan has always been able to connect with my relatively quickly when things have not gone as planned. While he is sympathetic he is usually pretty quick in the conversation and wants to just jump ahead to plan next steps. Conversations are short and sweet.

Egg retrieval was about 13 days of menepour, follistism, and ganarelix. I was on birth control for about 2 weeks prior to starting stim medication Frozen cycles: estrogen patches, lupron, PIO, doxycycline, & medrol (steriod). For future cycles I will be switching the protocol slightly by changing to estrogen shots, removing lupron from protocol, and adding lovenox after transfer.

Nursing staff has been very friend when I am in clinic, and they also follow up very promptly. At times I catch errors in my protocol documentation, so think they could improve upon organization. I also think they could have a little more compassion for patients when cycles fail.

Strengths: Experience & accessibility - lots of reputable doctors in the clinic which is reassuring as they are constantly talking to one another. They also have a lot of locations around the Chicagoland area. Weakness: volume of patients - doesn't always feel like individualized care.

Waiting can be a bit long with so many patients, but I was usually in and out within 45-60 mins.

Insurance covers up to 4 egg retrievals. We paid out of pocket for freezing & PGS which was about 6K. We also had to pay out of pocket for some other tests like an ERA biopsy, which was $800.

His main objective is to help patients get one healthy baby. Twin pregnancies can be risky so he prefers to do one embryo when PGS tested.

Dr Kaplan is a very kind man. He is friendly and seems knowledgeable. Unfortunately, he was running quite late for our initial consult which was frustrating for a work day. He did a good job of communicating what I had learned through my own research and seemed to help my husband understand things I wasn't able to.

Do your research ahead of time (especially if it takes you time to process or think through information) so you can have your questions ready to ask.

We had one initial sit down with Dr. Kaplan, and then proceeded to be directed towards having bloodwork, ultrasounds, etc completed. Unfortunately, when everything got started, I didn't fully understand what was happening, and I quickly began to feel like I was being pushed through a general "infertility" process. This was frustrating as we don't have insurance coverage and before I knew it we had been through a bunch of monitoring that ultimately wasn't needed until a month or two later when we were going to actually start a cycle. It felt like a waste of time, energy and finances. I wish they slowed down enough to ensure I was comfortable and clearly knew what was happening. While I know it's a big, complicated and often overwhelming process, I felt like when I asked for a "big picture" idea of the steps in the process, I was constantly told "we'll let you know what comes next." It started to feel secretive and I got frustrated. I know this is the daily work for the nurses and staff, but there were a number of times that I felt like a cattle being herded when I went for my monitoring appointments. Only on occasion did I feel one or two nurses in particular actually took the time to treat me as an individual versus a checklist item on their to do list for the day. Additionally, I only saw Dr. Kaplan two other times after our initial consult with him - during my HSG/saline ultrasound and then at my transfer and both times were less than 5 minutes each. He was kind, but I didn't necessarily feel like an individualized patient.

Dr Kaplan had a team of 4 nurses that oversaw and did the coordinating for his patients. The nurses were in the office at different times and on different days so it was difficult to know who to contact with questions as the "in office" contact seemed to change. Personally, I did not care for Jill at all & I (honestly) dreaded the days I called and she was the primary in the office. I got to a point that I stopped trying to follow up if she was who I was directed to. I felt she was "fake" & I never quite got answers to the questions I was asking. However, I LOVED Betsy and Erica. Both were fantastic at taking the time to hear what I was asking and helping me understand or directing me to where I was able to get further assistance (for example, giving me a specific list of meds so I was able to determine costs from various pharmacies as we didn't have insurance to cover anything fertility related [my husband's company is "self-insured" so they are able to avoid the Illinois state-mandated fertility coverage]). I hardly communicated with Tammy. One other thing I will say is it was hard to get answers from Dr Kaplan's team quickly, I believe for the mere fact that they have such a high patient load.

FCI River North is hit or miss in terms of efficiency. On days they are in a groove, you can get in and out of your monitoring appointments in less than an hour. However, there were multiple days that they were behind and appointments took 90+ minutes. Since I was not working at the time, it often wasn't an issue for me, but I remember seeing a handful of frustrated patients who were coming in before or during work and the backlog was more than a nuisance. While the clinic can be efficient in seeing numerous patients in a fairly quick amount of time, it often felt as though I was part of a herd being herded from one waiting room to another. One of the most positive aspects for me was that the ultrasound techs and lab techs were extremely kind, personable and caring which helped to make me feel like a person again once I was having my bloodwork or ultrasound completed. They often answered any questions I had to the best of their knowledge and were fantastic at being as discreet as possible to help give you some level of privacy during a process that doesn't allow much. I would also recommend that you diligently watch your bills/charges. Make sure you aren't being charged more than you should be for procedures you did not have or for procedures you previously paid for.

We bough a package "deal" for 2 rounds of IVF since our insurance didn't cover anything fertility related. We paid approximately $19,000 for this "deal," however, we quickly learned that this only covered the monitoring appointments from the baseline date of the cycle (nothing prior to), the actual retrieval and embryo transfer. We still had to pay for all medications (for our first cycle medication cost was approximately $6000 just for the stimulation portion for retrieval and then an additional $800 or so for the meds associated with the transfer), all cryopreservation fees ($500 for semen plus $1200 for the embryos), and all lab work and other tests deemed necessary (HSG, etc) prior to the cycle. We have currently spent close to $30,000 and still have another $10-15,000 to pay to complete our 2nd round (for which we are currently saving back up).

He was incredibly informative, empathetic, and I really enjoyed being his patient. He did a great job of giving us some comfort during difficult times without creating false hope or expectations. He was always available for phone calls, or appointments when we needed them. I really couldn't have expected more from a doctor in this situation and I recommend him! Just make sure that you take time to connect with him and be prepared. I always had a list of my questions and made the most of the time we had with him.

He has a very busy practice, and sometimes you will feel like a number. If you have questions, ask to speak to him, or make an appointment with him to go over your future plans. Make sure to check in after each step of the process to ensure your happiness and success.

During routine monitoring appointments, I definitely felt like a number. There were also times when it felt like the nurses were on autopilot, just giving me the "script" for the phases of my diagnosis. As things moved along (first failed IUI), Dr. Kaplan became more personally involved and we began to build a very close relationship with him.

I had high AMH, so we made sure to stim very gently. Two of my IUI's were with 50mg of Clomid, the other was with a very low dose of follistim. My egg retrieval triggered with lupron/hcg since I had a very high follicle count at the time of trigger, and we went to a freeze all cycle since I had pretty severe OHSS.

They generally got back to me with results on the same day, but definitely felt like they were following a script and hadn't reviewed my results with the doctor besides saying "Dr. Kaplan says X". There were a few times that they were completely confused or unaware of my situation, and one nurse was particularly rude. The IVF consult with a nurse coordinator was awful, I left that appointment feeling worse than I had at any point, it didn't provide a ton of information and left me questioning a lot of decisions. It was also scheduled far too late into my cycle, and didn't leave me adequate time to get all of my meds.

It's a huge clinic, so they can really get you in and out very quickly for monitoring appointments. I've very rarely had a long wait there and things generally move really quickly. However, you do get treated like a number.

Completely covered by insurance

He initially recommended eSet, but after a miscarriage gave us the option to transfer two embryos but clearly explained the risks.

My husband and I were so happy with the treatment we received from Dr. Kaplan. He takes the time, lots of it, to meet with you and explain everything. He is warm and genuine. After my first retrieval, we were left with only 1 embryo to freeze. Dr. Kaplan called me personally to discuss the changes we would make in the next cycle, and I appreciated the fact that he took time out of his day to call and follow up personally with me.

Trust in him and his team!

Dr. Kaplan and his team take the time to sit down with you and discuss the treatment. They are supportive and have wonderful bedside manners. They responded in an appropriate time to my phone calls and emails. A few times, I even requested some medications because I was about to run out and they got them for me, without hesitation.

For both of my stimulations, we utilized an antagonist-dexamethasone protocol. I was on Menopur (75iu), Follistim (225 iu for my first stimulation, and 150 iu for the second), .5mg of dexamethasone, and Ganirelix added later in the stimulation. We changed the Follistim to hopefully produce more eggs that would fertilize normally. Additionally, Dr. Kaplan recommended a special brand of nutritional bars during my second stimulation.

Jill was always quick to respond to emails and messages. Eileen was a little harder to get a hold of. Rosa and Alyssa were two of my favorite ultrasound techs- They knew me by name and always had the best bedside manner.

The clinic is organized and the staff (with the exception of 1 at the check-out counter) were friendly.

The wait time could be a little long on some days, especially if you had a later appointment, however I preferred the early morning appointments and I was typically in and out within 20 minutes.

Each visit required a $50 copay, $722 was the largest bill I received. $1200 for cryopreservation of embryos (paid this twice, as we had 2 retrievals) $400 for cryopreservation of sperm, 1 time.

Because of my age, Dr. Kaplan felt confident that an eSET would be the best route, and he was right- I'm currently 26 weeks pregnant!

Dr. Kaplan has an excellent bed-side manner and has always spent time with me to address any questions or concerns I have had. He has never made me feel rushed or that my concerns were not valid. He adjusted my protocol and transfer date based on my responses to the medications. He gave me assurances when I felt nervous and made me feel at ease during retrieval and transfer procedures.

He is very busy and it can be difficult to get on his schedule, so do so early. But he is understanding and willing to listen and answer questions.

Dr. Kaplan always treated me like a human, and a special one and never made me feel rushed to leave and seemed to sincerely care about my outcome and well-being. The clinic is really large and at blood and ultrasound appointments I felt like a number at times because there are SO many people there each day.

Based on our history (1 baby conceived with femera) and diagnoses he recommended we go straight to IVF after trying 5 cycles of femera with my OB. We used the Luteal Lupron protocol for stimulation/retrieval. I was monitored closely because I had a lot of follicles due to having PCOS. I had 43 eggs retrieved, 10 of which made it to 5 day freeze. We did PGS testing and 4 of the 10 were genetically normal. We transferred 1 frozen during our first transfer and it ended in a chemical pregnancy. We transferred another frozen 2 months later and I am currently 6 weeks along with that one.

Dr. Kaplan's nurses were good, but not great. Erica was always very helpful, quick to respond to questions and compassionate. Jill at times seemed frustrated with questions and didn't always sound sincere when showing compassion when delivering bad news.

The clinic is very large and is therefore organized and timely. At times this can make you feel like a number because there are so many people getting bloodwork and ultrasounds. Billing has been confusing at times and was slow to respond to inquiries on 2 occasions. It is easy to get an appointment for monitoring but can be difficult to get on the Dr's schedule. Overall I would recommend because I think they get results and treat the patients fairly.

We have insurance coverage for IVF, so our costs were not high, aside from PGS.

Dr. Kaplan suggested we only transfer 1 embryo because we already have 1 child and I am only 33 years old.

I have a long history with Dr. Kaplan, after being cancelled at another clinic due to poor response from stimulation drugs and having miscarried from my first IVF at an additional clinic. Dr Kaplan does not mind taking risks and is not concerned about his statistics. He was willing to cycle us even though my response was low. We have done many cycles with him and can attest to his compassion and expertise. During our 6th cycle, we finally became pregnant with twins, but lost them after being born premature. We were devastated and he and his team handled us with kid gloves until we became pregnant again during our 7th cycle. During this time, one transfer was cancelled due to lining concerns. Dr Kaplan wanted to make sure conditions were optimal. He is not afraid to give his honest expert opinion, which we relied on to make difficult decisions. We have had two additional unsuccessful FET's since our daughter was born and are still hopeful one of our remaining embryos will lead to a healthy pregnancy. We are limited to eSET, so it may take a few times. Our last FET was done from out of state and the coordination between his staff and our out of town monitoring clinic was excellent.

Understand that sometimes it takes a few cycles, but Dr Kaplan is aggressive and willing to take risks with patients that have had a poor response to stimulation drugs. He is honest and compassionate.

They are a successful clinic and treat a lot of patients. They call several patients to blood and ultrasound at the same time, which can make you feel like a number; however, the care you receive is individualized and the nurses are empathic.

He tried a range of protocols and had several transfers using my own eggs prior to suggesting donor eggs.

Dr Kaplan has several nurses that work for him. I was not assigned a main nurse, but I would copy all of his nurses on emails and I would get a response typically within an hour or so. Whenever I called to speak to them, I was always able to reach one of them for answers to my questions. I was monitoring from out of town and there were a few times they had to repeatedly follow up with the monitoring clinic- they were on top of getting the information that they needed.

It can be overwhelming as a new patient because it's such a large practice. I would advise staying on top of your meds, checking and double checking information, and ask as many questions as you need to in order to feel comfortable. There is a lot to juggle when doing IVF- don't be afraid to get things clarified.

We have spent tens of thousands of dollars here. A lot of it was covered by insurance when we were living in the state; however none is covered by insurance now that we moved.

Recommendations for how many embryos should be transferred are up to the discretion of the couple and Dr. Kaplan. We are now limited to eSET due to prior loss of twins at 24 weeks.

He was a really nice guy. During our initial consultation, we had full confidence in him and he said "you'll get pregnant, no problem". It was a lot harder and has taken much longer than what he led us to believe. When it came to communication, he didn't explain anything and in fact didn't spend much time with us at all. I only saw him during retrieval days in passing, we met him in person once for our consultation and twice for a meeting that my husband and I set up with him. All conversations were extremely short. I know he's busy and you have to move quick in a clinic as busy as theirs, but it led to a lot of frustration for my husband and I.

You will feel like you're at a factory. Bug the office and ask as many questions a you can. If you don't ask, they won't tell you. You have to continuously check on them to make sure everything is on track, because they will not reach out to you. Never stop asking them questions until you understand.

The office feels like a factory. There are always a good number of people in the waiting room when I'm there. Service is quick because it has to be in order to see the many people waiting in line. Nothing was never explained and if it was, I had to ask and it was never in detail. I was like a science experiment, they just 'did' and never explained the 'why'. A number of times my medication order was incorrect, whether that is FCI's fault or the pharmacy, I don't know. But every time I had medications delivered to me, it was never correct. One time I missed a whole cycle because I wasn't clearly communicated to me when I would start medication so that set me back a few months. All of our communication with the office was very, very quick and not thorough. He's a really nice guy and the nurse was very nice, but I just felt like they didn't spend time with me and it didn't matter if I got pregnant or not, it's so busy there, losing one patient won't hurt their business.

Ilynne was the nicest nurse there and she was very good. The only thing that we didn't like was that the nurses were difficult to reach at the office. They didn't call back right away and it was hard to get a hold of someone when you needed a quick response (if I had general questions and was seeking answers from anyone from the nursing team). Luckily, we had Ilynne's cell number and she was always available and it didn't matter what time of the day I called, she always answered. They also came up with a portal where you can email messages, and that made communication better.

The staff is very nice and the office visits are very quick (sometimes there is a wait, but the actual tests, ultrasounds, consultations, etc are all fast). Ask as many questions as you can to make sure you understand your cycle every step of the way. You'll need patience.

Monitoring appointments were easy to schedule and they were very fast. Many times though, the parking garage ran out of spots, so I had to park very far on snowy days and arrived very late for my appointments as a result.

Some of the most expensive out of pocket costs were medication and hysteroscopy that he ordered through my gynecologist. My insurance covered a lot of the other expenses.

It was our decision, ultimately, but our nurse suggested doing one at a time because I was a smaller woman and with a multiple transfer there are higher risks involved as far as losing a baby.

I've heard some people say he's not the most personable, but I thoroughly disagree. I felt like I connected with him and had complete trust at our very first consultation. He said very candid but understanding and explains things quite well to manage my expectations through this process. He's worked with a lot of celebrities, but he treats me like I'm just as important as every one of his patients and gives me whatever attention I need. He guides me to informed decisions instead of trying to tell me what to do, but if I ask his opinion he will give it. My husband likes him too!

You won't go wrong with him! He won't rush the process and it may take longer than you think but everything he does is to get the best outcomes possible! Just be prepared for extremely long waiting room times

Dr Kaplan is an excellent doctor who has taken the time to answer all our questions and has full discussions with me to make sure I am informed and confident before each procedure. Unfortunately, the clinic feels a little like a factory where there are multiple waiting rooms and you have to sit in line when you get there, again to get an ultrasound, then another for blood work. The techs don't really know me and I wind up waiting a total of nearly an hour at each appointment. This is frustrating, but dr Kaplan has an excellent reputation and I think he has done a great job for me so far, so it's worth staying with him, despite the long wait times and anonymity in his lab/clinic. Also his nurse is available for me any time I need her and has been so patient with the million questions I've had at every step

We did a full month of tests and monitoring, then an egg retrieval and planned from the beginning of that to take a month after the retrieval before the transfer and freeze the embryos. He says he does this for most patients as he's seen better success rates and for me in particular because I had some high levels that put me at risk for ovarian hyperstimulation syndrome. We talked with him and decided to have my embryos genetically tested- he said that increases your chances of implanting 1 embryo to about the same as if you transfer 2 untested, and we could screen out any chromosomal abnormalities. We are now in the middle of a frozen embryo transfer which will happen later this month.

Ilynne is always available by phone, explains things very well, very prompt in giving me results, and very patient!

Nice facility, no free parking though- have to park in a paid garage, then walk outside to get to the office. Very long wait times and you have to wait for each thing you're having done that day. Friendly techs mostly, friendly staff at checkout

They set up a very specific time, but a dozen other people are scheduled for the same time and it's a packed waiting room with long wait times every day

They charge for everything but you know what they will be ahead of time. There are costs for the retrieval plus anesthesiologist, medications, then you pay for the freezing, we chose to do the genetic testing which was an additional charge, then you have to pay to have the embryo thawed, then the transfer itself. Insurance didn't cover anything other than the 1st month of labs and ultrasounds, so for us the cost has been about $15,000-$20,000 when it's all said and done

If you have the embryos tested first, it increases your success rate and mostly eliminates chrimosomal abnormalities he said transferring 2 tested embryos would give me a high chance of multiples and I asked him what he would do if this was his family. He said he would only transfer 1, so that is what we are doing

Brian was recommended to me from a friend. He was always optimistic about getting me pregnant. One thing I always keep in my head about Brian is that he said, “One way or another, you are going to become a mother. It may not be the way you dreamed it would be, but it will happen.” This stayed in my head when times got tough and I’d get discouraged. When finally deciding to go through a donor, I felt that I should have listened to his advice sooner. He never pushed us to look into donor eggs, but kindly waited for us to determine that time on our own. We exhausted every other option to have our own children and when we were ready, he guided us to the right people.

Listen to the advice of your doctor. He or she has worked with many patients and knows what is best for you. Kaplan has nothing but good intentions to help you create a family.

I always felt that Kaplan was available for me to contact him, by email or phone. He actually listened to me and showed concern in our situation. He gave hugs and helped wipe away many tears!

With six rounds of IVF, it’s hard to remember specifics from each one. However, I do remember that with Dr. Kaplan, no two cycles were the same. Each time I went through a cycle, he’d try a different amount of meds or an alternative medicine to see how my body would react. Once he saw progress, he’d keep that in mind when or if a cycle failed. We always met in person to talk about the protocol and what to expect in the cycle moving forward. If something did work, or offered poor results, he’d alter the plan. I remember my cycles all taking a long time to produce eggs and he would alter the meds to get the eggs growing so that our cycle wouldn’t be canceled.

All of the nurses I had encountered at FCI were sincere and helpful. I will never forget being low on a med during a holiday weekend and needing to get more meds to continue my cycle. I was so upset because I knew I wouldn’t be able to get a prescription filled on a Sunday. The office was 45 minutes away from my home. The nurse brought home extra meds from the office, gave me her home address and allowed for me to use the office “extras”. She went above and beyond to make sure I had enough meds to last me through the weekend! It was so sweet and really helped ease my anxiety and mind!

All of the locations from the office to the hospital where the transfers occurred are very private and welcoming. The office staff was always very friendly, and knew me by my first name. I absolutely loved the ultrasound technician, Roberta! She shared so many helpful hints with me, made me laugh, cried with me and kept me calm. I think at times, she was the closest person to knowing what’s going on inside my body and she always shared everything she saw. When cycling, she’d give me photos to take home of my growing embryos. She’d write down the measurements and how many there were. I am so very thankful to have met her and had her to work with while going through such a difficult process. After getting a BTP, she was the first to tell me that I had TWINS! After years of going through this process with Roberta as our tech, she too cried happy tears with us as we saw the two heartbeats on the screen! I still keep in touch with her today too and send her updates on the girls as they reach various milestones.

Four cycles were covered by insurance, but the last two cycles were paid out of our pocket. Each cycle we had to pay for cost approximately $3,000 out of our pockets until we applied for a medical loan. We had most of our meds covered, but every so often there was an expensive med that insurance wouldn’t cover. My husband and I had to seek support through family members and a medical loan to cover the costs that insurance wouldn’t approve. We used a donor egg agency that guaranteed a live birth, but had a cost of $45,000. After all that we had been trough, we felt we needed to go through the guaranteed route. To us, the guarantee gave us reassurance. Otherwise we’d have paid $15,000 for one round of IVF with donor eggs that wasn’t guaranteed to work. If those eggs didn’t work, we’d try again and need to spend an additional $15,000. All of this doesn’t include the cost of acupuncture, massages, nutritionist, and yoga classes that were suggested to help increase fertility rates or egg quality. I feel that if it was suggested, or would increase our chances of getting pregnant, we tried it.

I was definitely educated on the results of transferring more than one embryo, however with the quality of embryos that we were transferring, he knew the likelihood of creating multiples was slim. My husband and I had tried for so long that we welcomed multiples, if or when they were to occur. Due to my egg quality, this was never a problem.

Dr Kaplan did show compassion during appointments which was important to us. He was always very understanding of the emotional impact of IVF as well as the financial. I did very much respect his knowledge and opinions. However, I sometimes felt like our course of treatment was not specifically tailored to us. The biggest issue was the inability to communicate with him directly. Perhaps I could have been more of an advocate for myself in this area, but I did wish I could have gotten more background information as the procedures went on. Without that, I was left wondering why certain decisions were being made and it was not a good feeling. I do think the biggest issue is the number of patients he has which likely does not allow as much time for each patient, or to allow much direct communicate. At a smaller clinic I think the experience with Dr Kaplan would have been much better in that regard.

Be prepared with every question you have when going to your consultations with him. It may be the only opportunity you have to ask him. Everything else will have to filter through his nurses.

After every failed transfer, there was no discussion as to what could have happened. It was more just always heading toward the next transfer without having time to regroup. When I had questions, I had to go through the nurses which sometimes left me feeling unsure if the information back was coming from the doctor or if it was just a standard response.

My first IVF was the standard birth control followed by low doses of Follistim. It resulted in 3 eggs, 2 embryos. I was oversupressd by the Bcp. Second IVF was estrogen priming with high dosage of Follistim and menopur. Much better response at 11 eggs and 6 embryos. This resulted in a healthy live birth. 3rd IVF (3 years later) was the same as the previous but resulted in 6 eggs, 2 blastocysts. The hope was that by replicating the successful cycle we would again be successful. Negative pregnancy test.

Jill was always very nice and expressed compassion during any negative pregnancy tests. My only issue was getting replies by email that were too short or not answering every questions. I always got the impression that emails were getting rushed through wish made me nervous about the care I was receiving and the potential for mistakes. Otherwise I found all the nurses to be kind and always answered my emails.

FCI can run like a well-oiled machine most of the time. Their early morning monitoring is perfect for squeezing them in before work, for the most part. However, because they batch their patients, there comes a point where they have so many patients coming in at the same time that the wait can be long and excruciating. The office staff is always pleasant and the atmosphere is comforting. It is overall a good clinic but you will feel like a number.

IVF - $11,000 Frozen transfers - $3500

We only did multiple embryo transfers but only 2 at a time. I asked his opinion to transfer 3 once but he suggested only transferring 2, and we went along with that.

I know from seeing him on tv and in the media that Dr. Kaplan is extremely successful so was worried I wouldn't have much face to face contact with him. but I was wrong. I met with Dr. Kaplan before I began this process, the day of my retrieval and after the retrieval. Going with a doctor I have 100% trust in is the only way I could have made this decision and I couldn't feel better about it.

Trust the process- it may seem intimidating but it's not at all. I was scared about doing the shots and if I was doing it right but really they're worth the little. Knowing Dr. Kaplan is monitoring your results the entire time, day by day should make you feel 100% confident about this process.

Dr. Kaplan took the time to sit down with me before I began this process to explain all of the details on what I could expect. He never sugar coated anything- but talked to me like a real human being. He helped to personalize what could have been a very intimidating process. His bedside manner is truly second to none.

I froze my eggs twice with Dr. Kaplan. After the first round i had 7 eggs to freeze. For the second round, Dr. Kaplan made some adjustments and the results showed as I had 18 eggs! It's obvious why all of Chicago trusts Dr. Kaplan with their fertility treatments- whether you're trying to get pregnant or wanting to preserve your fertility.

My first round I was very intimidating by the process and relied heavily on the nurses to communicate often and answer my questions. Even by the second round I constantly had questions that I needed answered. They did a great job even though I'm sure they answer the same questions over and over again to all of their egg freezing patients. Forming a relationship with the nursing staff is extremely important as they'll be the ones delivering results during every monitoring appointment. I was glad to have a good relationship with mine.

It was great to work with aParent- the nurses and staff couldn't have been nicer and more organized. I always felt like I was in good hands especially with the lab right there. The only thing that felt strange was going through this process (waiting in waiting rooms, etc). with IVF patients near me. It seems like a strange mix as they were trying to get pregnant and I was trying to preserve my fertility.

Lucky to say insurance covered a lot of my egg freezing costs, so the lower amount that I spent on this process was worth every penny (and then some!). Think about how much money we spend on vacations, etc and then think about this as an insurance policy. It's the most important money you can spend.

He is extremely personable and patient. He really listens to what you want, and doesn't just force his medical opinions on you. He doesn't seem concerned with his stats and is willing to take risks, if you as a patient want to try some out-of-the-box ideas. The only critique I have is that he is very busy and has many patients so he doesn't always explain every detail of the process, however he will answer any questions and if you forget to ask while there or think of your question later, the nursing staff will respond quickly.

Be very honest with him about how you feel and what you want. He will treat you like a human, not a statistic and although he will be blunt, he will give you hope when you may have lost all of it. He's a great balance of realistic and optimistic! Also, bring a list of questions to be sure you go over everything you're wondering about!

He understood we wanted to try with our own eggs before moving onto donor and not only did he support that, he encouraged us. We did 3 IVF cycles and he always took my ideas (from my own research) seriously and was open minded to trying anything. Finally, he told me, "I am determined to make you pregnant" which made me feel like he had a vested interest in our success.

First IVF cycle was pretty standard since we didn't know how I would respond. We suppressed with BCP, and started with Menopur and Follistim. He upped the dosage of my follistim pretty high (I don't remember exact dosages anymore) because I turned out to be a slow responder. That cycle ended with 2 eggs, and one fertilized and was transferred. It was a 3 day fresh transfer and 6 cells at the time with minimal fragmentation. Unfortunately, the embryo did not stick and we ended up with a negative. Second cycle we decided (upon my request and his approval) to try estrogen priming. I only got 4 days into stimming when we learned I had one very large leading follicle and not much else. He had a safety concern for that one follicle getting too big so we cancelled that cycle and I was put on BCP to help shrink it back down. My 3rd cycle we were going to do a long Lupron protocol. I started priming with Lupron 2 weeks prior and ended up getting very sick from it. The doctor felt at that point the Lupron could still have benefited me even if it stopped, so we cut that off early and just moved onto stims (menopur and follistim). This time he kept my follistim at an average dosage but upped the menopur to 5 vials a day. He had me stim for 18 days to get the follicles mature. Although it was longer than most, I was monitored very carefully. We got 3 eggs at retrieval. One fertilized and we did another 3 day fresh transfer. This time our embryo was 10 cells with minimal fragmentation. I am now 26 weeks pregnant from that embryo with a healthy, strong baby girl!

Mostly fantastic. I talked with 3 different nurses regularly. Only once did I speak with one who was a bit rude and didn't answer my questions, but she was filling in for someone else that day.

Some people don't like how busy they are, but I think they do a fantastic job at squeezing every patient in, even when it seems impossible. The wait time can get bad at times (not always) but I see them doing that to make sure everyone who needs to be seen on a given day is able to

We had insurance coverage so I had very little out of pocket and whatever was out of pocket was explained thoroughly by the financial coordinator before cycles began. I don't remember my specific costs.

Dr. Kaplan has a reputation for being the best for a reason. He is energized and comes into every meeting with a game plan. He is totally open to patient questions and ideas, and can thoughtfully explain why something is a good option or not. He is considerate of the fact that the infertility treatment is not the only thing going on in one's life, and willing to work around timing conflicts. He always keeps in mind and informs the patient about financial implications of decisions so that you can weigh that piece as well. There was never a one-size-fits-all approach: when things didn't work, he changed them. When we experienced failure after failure, he never let us give up hope. I truly believe that we would not have our amazing daughter without him, simply because I could not have kept going with the treatment without his support and encouragement.

This would be my advice no matter who the doctor was - do your own research. Go into meetings with the doctors with ideas, so that you never feel like a stone was left unturned.

Everyone knew us by name, including the wonderful Erika who brought us back, the phlebotomist Jamie who we had every time, and even the people at the front desk/check out. Our nurses celebrated our successes and truly sympathized with our setbacks. Dr. Kaplan clearly sets the tone in this way - after 3 failed cycles and a miscarriage, he was so happy for us when we finally got to bring home our baby. Despite their volume, I felt like I was truly important and they were all rooting for us.

I never had trouble with stimming, so I don't recall much about those protocols. I was a good responder and had lots of eggs, my issue seemed to be with implantation. The cycle that finally worked included 2 months of Depot Lupron, and a hysteroscopy. Then when I went back to try for baby #2, Dr. Kaplan strongly advised that we skip all of that and just do a really straightforward FET (Lupron, patches, PIO every 3rd day and progesterone suppositories, along with a few other things like Medrol/baby aspirin). I wanted to recreate the cycle that worked with my daughter so we didn't waste time/embryos. He argued that after carrying a full term pregnancy and nursing for 10 months, my body was a completely different environment. He was right, I got pregnant on the first try without all the additional/invasive/expensive extras.

I am forever grateful to our nurse Tammy. I had a million questions and overthought everything throughout our very long fertility journey. Tammy was available by email and was always quick to respond. We dealt with a variety of other nurses, notably Jamie and Jill, and every one of them was well versed on our case, compassionate and patient with my many questions and squeamish nature.

There are a lot of people moving through the clinic, but it is well organized and the waits are not usually very long. The space is very well-appointed and doesn't feel sterile/hospital like. It's very comfortable to wait there and the entire staff is friendly. It's not a scary place to go.

We were covered at about 90%. There was a copay to see Dr. Kaplan (I think $60). But we didn't see him that often. I would say a significant part of our out of pocket expenses were parking ($6 every monitoring appointment adds up!). We also paid out of pocket for PGS testing.

I was only 27 when I first went to Dr. Kaplan, so he always encouraged us to do one embryo at a time. We did 2 out of 6 transfers with 2 embryos instead of one, so it wasn't like he wouldn't let us. I don't think he has a set policy that applies to everyone. It felt like he considered a lot of factors in our case - my age, our good insurance coverage, and the fact that our embryos were high quality (and pgs tested after the first round).

He is incredibly caring, will try with you until you give up, will not pressure you, but will inform you of your options. The bad thing is that he has too many patients, and therefore no time to really tailor treatment to someone that is not responding well to drug stimulation, he just couldn't keep track of who you were or what your situation was.

Be your own advocate, he is a kind doctor, but way too busy and might not give you the attention and tailoring your case might need.

Doctor Kaplan when I was able to talk to him in person was very compassionate and never made me feel like he was going to stop working with me after we had several failed and/or cancelled cycles, which other doctors would do immediately, as you would mess up their "stats". Having said that, he has too many patients, and he is just not very in tune with your specific case, so if you have a tricky situation like mine, he is a great guy, but did not tweaked my treatment as he should in my opinion

Dr Kaplan's nurse communication was short, abrupt and gave very little in the form of information. It felt like pulling teeth. She was Incredibly unhelpful and truly jaded. She seemed like she was really tired of the same questions and had no patience with the patients. It is a pity, as we all are so lost and scared when we are walking the assisted fertility route.

The clinic was well run, the receptionist were fast and efficient, the ultrasound techs were very nice and fast. It just seems so busy and like your case is not getting much attention. Then, when doing the retrieval, the whole process was great, fast and efficient, same with IUI.

Under Illinois law, I was lucky to be mostly completely covered by insurance. The deductibles plus some test that were not covered were the only expense, but not significant if you compare it with out pocket expense other people experience.

Dr. Kaplan was my third infertility doctor, so I was sadly an infertility "pro" by the time I got to him. He was perfect for me at that stage of treatment because he was very open to my feedback and how I wanted to direct my care. He let me try new things that were somewhat controversial, but he did hold me back from things that he thought had no chance. However, Dr. Kaplan's biggest negatives are as follows. He is extremely busy, and he doesn't always seem to read through your file carefully before he meets with you. So you have to be very on top of things, and sometimes remind him of where things stand. He also can seem a little bit rushed during conversations because he has so many patients to see. Another negative is that Dr. Kaplan likes to "batch" his cycles so that most retrievals and transfers occur around the same time of the month. This didn't personally bother me but I know this really irks some of his other patients that I've talked to.

Be proactive. Know your own case. Be your own advocate. Don't be afraid to speak up and ask to try new treatments that he might not mention to you. Dr. Kaplan is kind and flexible and caring, but he's busy. So you have to work together as a team to get to the best outcome.

Dr. Kaplan is extremely caring. He is very touchy - frequently gives hugs and kisses after a transfer - this could be a negative if you don't like that, but to me it was reassuring and he felt like a caring father or uncle. He looks you in the eye and is very open to new treatment options if you're at the end of the road.

9 days before transfer. Immediately prior to transfer doxycycline and medrol. Progesterone supplementation included PIO injections, endometrin. Lining was 5.3 with triple pattern, estradoil 749 on last lining check. Result was a positive pregnancy test. Repeated the IV of intralipids 16 days after transfer (6 days after first positive pregnancy test). Pregnancy is currently at 12 weeks. September 2015 (cycle on gestational carrier): Priming included lupron, vivelle dot patches, baby aspirin daily. Immediately prior to transfer doxycycline and medrol. Progesterone supplementation included PIO injections, endometrin. Lining was 8.8 with triple pattern, estradoil 1,101 on last lining check. Result was a positive pregnancy test. Pregnancy is currently at 7 weeks.

Jamie was a very good nurse, and I recommend her. She was organized and rolled with the punches with me. I was not always an easy patient because I had very strong opinions about my treatment plan. She always listened, and would go back and ask Dr. Kaplan before telling me no on whatever I was asking. I really appreciated that. I also worked with Donna as my IVF nurse in Highland Park. I have equally good things to say about her. Very high quality nurse, very on top of things. Only complaint is that she didn't always call back with instructions until I reached out to her late in the day. On the gestational carrier side of things, we worked with Jen at River North, and with Carrie in Highland Park. Both of these nurses were wonderful, two of the most optimistic and happy nurses I've worked with throughout the entire journey.

I started with a different doctor at FCI that was not a good fit at all. Having had that experience made Dr. Kaplan seem like a God-send. He's very honest and upfront, but not in a curt way. He does care about his patients, but having said that, he doesn't really get to know you. I'd be surprised if he knew where I lived or what I did for a living. He does have an easy way about him - a good sense of humor, and he's competitive, which I like. I think you want your doctor to be competitive - to have a stake in the outcome. We've had some trials over the last year, and the nurses were always the ones to make the call. I totally understand that he can't personally call everyone, but it would have been nice to receive a follow-up call a day or two later when he has some time. Just a feeling that we're all still in this together would have been nice.

Be your own best advocate and learn the process. This is not just advice for Dr. Kaplan. This is advice for anyone going to FCI. They have so many patients, and things slip through the cracks. There has been more than one occasion where I've realized not all my meds were ordered or that I was told conflicting information about diet or exercise. You need to do some research and talk with others who have been through it and critically evaluate what they are telling you to do and then ask questions and double check things. It sounds intimidating, but it doesn't need to be. I think you want to be your own best advocate in this process anyway. And, ultimately, they are choosing the protocols and have had good success, so that's a plus for going to FCI in spite of some of the drawbacks.

Plain and simple, FCI is a factory. You know that going in, and it makes things much easier. They, however, also get results, so you "put up" with a little because of that. The nurses in Highland Park are incredibly awesome. Knowledgeable, caring, all of it. They treat you like a human. The nurses in River North are prompt to respond to questions but aren't exactly "warm and fuzzy." You have very limited contact with Dr. Kaplan, so you feel sometimes as though he's the wizard behind the curtain. It would be nice to have a bit more contact with him.

My first two cycles resulted in 4 and 3 eggs respectively, which they were honestly pleased with given my age and diagnosis (low ovarian reserve). The 3rd cycle he did what is called a Schoyer method - it was a week of priming before stimulating. He then stimulated me with Clomid, Follistim and Menopur. The Clomid was just 5 days. He either had me on Lupron or Ganirelix as well. I was a slow responder, so they kept me on the stim meds for about 20 days. It was nerve-wracking to keep having the retrieval postponed, but in the end, they retrieved 10 eggs from me - a huge success. 2 made it to 5 day blasts.

The 2nd retrieval was tough physically and emotionally for a few different reasons. I received a call 2 days later just to check in. We immediately froze eggs, so there was no update they needed to give on the conditions of the embryos. It was just a call to let me know they were thinking of me.

Insurance covers most of it but sperm, embryo and egg freezing. We also had a $50 copay every time we stepped foot in the center. Ultimately though, we're very lucky.

While Dr. Kaplan may not be the most warm and fuzzy doctor, he is compassionate and brilliant and talented at his craft. I feel lucky to have been able to be under his treatment. He is straightforward and I would say not to anticipate seeing him outside of the initial consult and the procedures. However, I trust his judgment implicitly and while I typically like a doctor who is more warm and fuzzy and accessible, I also knew he was the best around so I went with him and we had success!

Be prepared to not interact with him beyond initial consult and follow ups and procedures. Make a good connection with a nurse and be proactive about your care due to the large number of patients at fci and under his care.

I owe being treated like a human at fci to Dr. kaplans nurse Tami Bono. She was there for my every need and without her I am not sure I could give the same response.

For my first ivf cycle, I was put on birth control followed by injectible doses of menapur, follistim and ganerelix for about 12 days. My husband had been on clomid for male factor infertility. I had a 5 day transfer of two lower graded embryos followed by crinone and estrogen patches. The cycle did not result in pregnancy. The second ivf round took place 2 months later with the exact same protocol. Unfortunately, my estrogen levels were very high after retrieval and therefore a frozen transfer would be planned for a later date. Dr. Kaplan was not confident that a pregnancy would take with the high estrogen. I then started two months later with birth control, followed by Lupron and then pio injections with the transfer of two embryos. I became pregnant with one embryo and had 10 more weeks of pio and estrogen patches. We had a boy in November 2015.

So, I made a connection with nurse Tammy. She was essentially my guide through the entire process. However, I don't think it is a typical situation. We connected on a personal level and she went above and beyond for me and my husband. However, I don't believe I could give fci a high rating for communication and organization outside of Tami. If she hadn't been there for me, I do believe my entire experience there would not have been as it was.

Strengths: Great doctors, Dr. Kaplan's lab and embryologists. Weaknesses: Poor communication, long wait times for blood work and ultrasounds, not personal

Dr. Kaplan was amazing. He was confident in me using our own eggs and ICSI with my husband. We were very defeated after our first IVF cycle failed with another MD and after leaving Dr. Kaplan's office we were ready to try again and very glad we did. Without him I would not have my 13 month old Norah!

Dr. Kaplan is very knowledgeable in his field. He has practiced dealing with infertility for many years and gives it to you straight. He doesn't beat around the bush and lets you know everything. Very awesome MD. If we had the extra income I would be doing another round of IVF with him!

Dr. Kaplan told my husband and I straight out what we should expect with our cycle. I was told with the previous MD Dr. Todd Deustch that I would need donor eggs and Dr. Kaplan did not agree with that and gave my husband a lot of confidence when we went into our next cycle of IVF.

I had about 10-11 days of medication stimulation. I used Follistim, Menopur, Ganirelex, and 5 days of growth hormone. I can't recall the exact protocol, but I had 20 follicles, 9 were retrieved and 6 were mature. Five embryos fertilized and we went to day 5. We have a 4BB blast transferred and an early blast. We have one morula that they were going to try and keep and see if it grows by day 6 and it arrested.

I worked with Kathleen Brady whom was a Godsend. She always responded to me emails promptly or phone calls. She was very compassionate as this process is very emotional and stressful. Tammi Bono was also very helpful with obtaining extra medications for me and she was very nice.

I don't have any concerns with how the clinic was ran

Unfortunately our insurance only covered the workup and monitoring during the IVF process. We have to pay out of pocket for the medications, retrieval and transfer. It was about $15,000 for everything.

Early on, I felt that he was so confident I was going to have quick success that he didn't spend a lot of time with me and try to get to know my case. He frequently seemed in a rush and too busy to stop and explain things thoroughly. However, after a couple failed attempts he seemed more determined to help and investigate new approaches to understand my 'unexplained infertility'. He mentioned a few times that he had discussed my case to a few of his colleagues. Overall, I really like his demeanor and feel at ease with him and able to talk not only about the course of treatment but also about the emotional toll of infertility (note - a few times he seemed really busy and our meeting felt a little rushed). I still believe he is focused on finding the best approach to get us a family with the least amount of stress and cost.

I would say don't be discouraged if you don't hear directly from him frequently and you have to communicate through his nurses. If you find a helpful nurse, he will get your messages and I believe he does sit and think about his patients carefully. On a similar note, he may not be right for you (or the FCI clinic in general) if you prefer a very hands-on one-on-one type of doctor.

I Dr Kaplan definitely remembered me and treated me like an individual and not a number. A few of the nurses did too, but I did occasionally get mixed up with other patients. The clinic is very large and I think they do a good job considering how many patients go through there.

I can't say this for all of them, but the few that I communicated with most often were very friendly and approachable. They responded quickly to emails and relayed messages to Dr Kaplan when needed.

I just cannot say enough good things about Dr Kaplan. Not only is he amazing at what he does, but he is patient and kind and there is no ego despite him being one of the best. He has no problem adjusting treatment or taking the time to explain everything to his patients. I've already referred multiple people to him who love him just as much as I do!

The infertility process is long and hard, but it helps to have a doctor who cares so much. Make sure you are open and honest and ask questions or tell him what you are feeling, he has no problem sitting there as long as you need.

Dr Kaplan is one of the best doctors that I have ever seen. He held my hand (literally) through the treatments, explained everything thoroughly, was available himself throughout the entire process and let me cry, laugh or whatever I needed in his office.

During my first cycle, I used only one injection per day and no steroids. When I didn't produce many eggs, he adjusted to morning and evening shots and oral steroids with more progesterone and blood thinners. It produced more ( and higher quality eggs) and the blood thinners allowed multiple eggs to attach.

The nurses were always available for calls and emails, patiently explained the medications to me, sometimes multiple times, empathized with me when something went wrong and called multiple times to check how I was feeling. They also had no problems asking Dr Kaplan, if they felt that he may know something more.

Everything at FCI was easy. The phlebotomist were amazing and done quickly - the best blood draws I've ever had. The ultrasound techs were quick, efficient, and understanding, while still being excellent at their jobs. Scheduling was a breeze, as was checkout. Even the billing department was easy to work with. Plus, every single person hugged and congratulated me when I finally had a viable pregnancy.

FCI was so great about working with my insurance company that most of my costs were only from medicines that the insurance wouldn't cover. Everything else was covered. Estimate $2500 per cycle out of pocket.

I fully trusted Dr. Kaplan's opinion and course of action. I turned out to be a hard case, so I appreciated that he was always up front and honest with me. I also appreciated that he made an effort to meet with me when I needed him to--early mornings, squeezing me in his busy schedule, etc.

Don't be afraid to ask questions. Don't expect things to go the way you think they will--there will be bumps in the road! Trust your doctors.

I think the clinic is so busy, and I saw Dr. Kaplan at two different clinics, so I wasn't always sure that he recognized me. But, of course, when it counted--in meetings, procedures, appointments, etc., he did know who I was.

It's been awhile, so I don't recall many specifics. We did three rounds of IVF with ICSI and 3 rounds of frozen donor egg transfers. We skipped IUI because of male factor issues and my poor egg quality. In the last round or two of donor eggs, I took a blood thinner injectible due to an antibody issue. I stayed on progesterone inserts far beyond what most women do (I think). I had miscarriage with one IVF round and with one donor egg round. The last donor egg round produced my son. We never had embryos or eggs leftover to freeze.

Tammy was my favorite thing about FCI, hands down. She was always there for me. I had so many roadblocks and issues, and she was so compassionate. She even just emailed me sometimes just to check in to see how I was feeling--not for anything other than that. She always got back to me quickly, helped me find donated meds if necessary, and I just always felt that she was a great support along this journey. When I got transferred to a different nurse b/c I switched to a donor egg protocol, I really missed Tammy, and I still even contacted her for help during these times b/c I knew I could count on her.

Weakness: Too busy. Sometimes the right hand didn't know what the left was doing. Front desk staff was sometimes rude. Strengths: Reputable doctors and nurses, easy to schedule appointments, accommodating, multiple locations

I paid for everything out of pocket. In total, we paid more than $100,000. That includes, meds, procedures (in clinic and hospital), tests, donor egg acquisition, etc. My insurance didn't cover much of anything.

Dr. Kaplan and his nurses always made me feel like I mattered. They were sympathetic to my personal situation and allowed me to take an active role in determining the best steps for my treatment. He never pressured me to go beyond my comfort zone and even encouraged me to seek a different provider when he sensed I needed a change and fresh start after many failed attempts. He was very sensitive and gentle during all procedures and even made me laugh during the tense moments. He has a very kind and gentle demeanor with his patients, even affectionate at times. When I found out I miscarried my first pregnancy at 8 weeks, he leaned across the exam room table to comfort me and hold my hand through the tears and didn't seem fazed to wrinkle his fancy suit or get it dirty by doing so. After I got pregnant through a different clinic out of state, he and his nurses still agreed to manage my care locally throughout the first few weeks of my pregnancy until I was transferred to my OBGYN. Even though I did not get pregnant under his care, I have the utmost respect and care for Dr. Brian Kaplan and his team. They felt like my second family for several years.

FCI is a very large clinic that sees many patients every month. In order to stand out from that crowd, make sure you speak up when you have questions or concerns. Make yourself known to the doctor, nurses and staff. I also chose to maintain positive interactions with them, even when I felt sad, frustrated or disappointed with the results of my treatment. The old saying you catch more flies with honey than vinegar is very accurate in this case. Stay positive, polite and respectful of them and their efforts and time and they will return it to you as their patient. However, I think that is key advice for any clinic!

I felt very much like Dr. Kaplan and his team knew me as an individual, even though he sees a large number of patients every month. I always felt like he listened intently to my questions and concerns and answered them in a manner I could easily understand. He was always very hopeful for my success and encouraged me through every setback. His nurses were kind and sensitive and very committed to my treatment. When I had questions, his nurses were prompt in their response time.

Tammy was very prompt in returning phone calls. She never forgot to call me back, even if it meant stay at the office until very late at night. She was very clear with her instructions and never made me feel dumb for asking too many questions.