Brian Kaplan

Dr. Kaplan explains everything very thoroughly. He also has a calming presence to him that helped me feel comfortable. I appreciated how he took my input into account. I had started my cycle before Shelter in Place went into affect. Dr. Kaplan called me and we talked - for a long time - about options (keep going or stop cycle) and he allowed me to feel empowered. Sadly my embryo did not take, and again he took his time talking and checking in. I felt very cared for and in the end felt a lot better about what happened.

Take your time and ask all the questions. You are not inconveniencing him, so don't rush things.

For my IVF I used shots and medication. I had progesterone shots that I needed help with due to having to put them in my bum. The stomach shots weren't bad. It was all based on my personal information.

I was able to setup a payment plan for the egg retrievals and IVF. Medication for egg freezing was paid out of pocket, but I got a group deal. IVF medication was covered by insurance and the clinic helped me facilitate getting those.

We only did one embryo, but I am going to ask about doing two next time to increase my chances.

I wish I had gotten to meet with him more frequently, but I always felt extremely confident he knew what he was doing and was putting me on the best possible course of treatment to ensure success. My only complaint would be the limited windows of time he was available each month for procedures, causing longer wait times (~2 months) between cycles than I would have liked. I wish this schedule had been slightly more flexible, but realize this is how they are able to treat so many patients.

If there’s anything you want to ask or make sure he knows about you, be upfront so you can use the time with him most efficiently.

Used ganirelix and menopur for retrieval cycle and Luprolide (sp?) for the trigger shot. Due to number of eggs retrieved, froze all embryos rather than doing transfer right away to increase chances of success. Used Estradiol tablets for the first frozen transfer, then after that didn’t work, switched to patches for the second frozen transfer, which worked.

The only part of my treatment not covered by insurance was a $300 admin fee, and I was able to appeal to get this covered under my insurance plan.

Because of my age (31), no prior history of issues or known risk factors, and the fact that a pregnancy with multiples is considered risky, Dr. Kaplan recommended transferring only 1 for at least the first two cycles.

He is very charming. I feel though unless you have a fairly easy case, easy to stimulate, lots of eggs, good rate of fertilization then he is willing to work with you. If you are a challenging or slightly difficult case, meaning you have DOR, poor eq quality, high attrition rate of your eggs then you should definitely look elsewhere. He seemed to have no added advice or plan of action if you had a poor stim cycle.

If you are older, 40 and over, DOR, this is not the doctor you should choose. He is very sweet, but if you are a difficult case, then I would choose another clinic.

Initially, he started me on OCP, which over suppressed me. That was stopped half way through. The 2nd time, he primed me with Estrogen and Progesterone and that helped my numbers. The Menopur and Gonal were high doses. I cannot recall the exact numbers. 5 eggs from this cycle. The 3rd time, he did Estrogen and progesterone priming, but added Lupron, and same doses of Menopur and Gonal. 1 egg from this cycle. My AFC was 10-11.

All my costs were covered by BCBS AFTER I met my deductible which was $2400 in network.Meds covered pretty much under my insurance.

Dr. Kaplan is direct and clearly communicates his opinion. I appreciate that he does not sugar-coat the situation since fertility treatment is too expensive and time consuming to operate under false pretense. He is, however, quite busy. After my failed or canceled cycles, it was difficult to schedule a consultation appointment that wasn’t a few weeks out (by then I would have missed the opportunity to start a cycle the month immediately following the cancellation/failed cycle). In each case, he was able to do a brief phone consult with me the week after, in between procedures (i.e., no specific time scheduled), so I did not need to wait weeks to speak with him. In interacting with Dr. Kaplan it is best to have done your research and prepared all of your questions in advance. The conversation goes very quickly so know what you want to say and what questions you want answered. Dr. Kaplan does not provide an email address which would be helpful but I understand that this would be impractical given the number if patients he sees. Dr. Kaplan likes to do his own procedures and, therefore, bases your protocol around his set procedure dates each month. I appreciate that he likes to do the procedures himself but at the same time it is frustrating having to wait to start a cycle based on his dates. Dr. Kaplan does his retrievals at the Highland Park location since his embryologists are onsite there. Transfers are done either at Highland Park or at his office on Michigan Avenue, which is beautiful. During my initial consult, Dr. Kaplan informed us that he prefers to do frozen embryo transfers to give the body a bit of time to recover from the retrieval. This is an important consideration for those who want to do fresh transfers.

He is recognized as one of the best. As such, he is in high demand and, therefore, may not get to spend very much time with you. Therefore, you will need to interact more frequently with his nurses. If you want an RE that can spend more time with you, perhaps Dr. Kaplan is not the right doctor for you.

Due to my age, diminished ovarian reserve and low AMH (0.6), we went straight to IVF. My first cycle was a standard antagonistic(?) protocol with Follistim (300 IU to start), Menopur (150 IU), Doxycycline, and Ganirelex (250). I was also taking a prenatal vitamin from my local pharmacy, and had started acupuncture and yoga at Pulling Down the Moon since I could no longer run as a form of exercise. We considered ourselves very lucky with the first cycle as after 4 embryos retrieved, we were able to transfer 1 PGS-tested 5-day embryo via FET. Unfortunately, that did not result in a pregnancy. For my second cycle, I was put on the Lupron microdose protocol since that is typically used with “poor responders.” This included 40mcg of Lupron BID, 450 Gonal, 75 IU Menopur. However, that cycle was canceled as my body did not respond to it. During this cycle, I also started taking the PDTM Prenatal multi-vitamin with supplements and added supplements Kaplan recommended (CoQ10, pycnogenol, L-Arginine). My third cycle was similar to my first but with a different dose of Menopur - 300. I also took 300 Gonal and 250 Ganirelex. All of my 5 embryos arrested before making it to Day 5. For my fourth cycle, I was on 100 mg Clomiphene, 300 Gonal, 150 Menopur then 250 Ganirelex. I had 5 eggs retrieved, 3 fertilized, 2 made it to Day 5. One came back PGS normal and the other designated as “special considerations.” One of my issues in preparing for FET is my lining not getting thick enough. I’ve had three canceled FETs due to this. One FET cycle I was on Estrace (initially 2 pills am/pm) and baby aspirin then doxycycline, Medrol, and PIO. Another FET cycle I was on delestrogen (0.3ml every 3rd day), baby aspirin, and 5 units of Lupron then Doxycycline, Medrol, PIO. The next cycle was a stimulated FET with 150 Gonal but I ovulated before the FET. I’m currently on another stimulated FET protocol - 5 units Lupron and 150 Gonal.

My BCBS IL PPO insurance provided by my employer has different coverage for procedures vs. medications. My lifetime medication max was $15000 which was usurped with my first round of stim medications and didn’t cover the full expense. I have been out of pocket for meds ever since then. For 4 stim rounds and 5 FET preps, I’d estimate I’ve spend $20-25K in medication alone. Most of my procedures are still covered under my insurance so I’ve only had to pay deductible/co-insurance though do not know the amount. I’ve elected for PGS testing for the cycles where it was possible so for 2 rounds that was about $10K including biopsy, testing, and storage.

I’ve been visiting the clinic for four months and only met with him once, so very little to go off of. The clinic pushes most of the communication and forward plans through the nurses so I have much more experience working with them. The one time I did meet with Dr. Kaplan, he was very kind and spent time answering all of the questions we had - I did not feel rushed. I would overall like more interaction with him, but cost for appointments without insurance coverage is prohibitive so I’ve relied on email communications.

I do believe the clinic is good and ultimately if your case is complicated I think the staff is strong and experience is significant that you are in the right hands. If you are expecting more personalized 1:1 with Dr. Kaplan himself, ensure that you are financially able to make the appointments with him.

I was diagnosed with unexplained infertility while my husband has been diagnosed with mild male factor infertility. To date, we’ve gone through 3 IUIs with no success. I’m at the point now where I’m a bit frustrated as next steps are not clear to me. For each IUI treatment I started off on letrozole, followed by a trigger shot of Ovidrel, and progesterone to follow (Crinone). Monitoring throughout each cycle indicates I’ve responded positively and no changes were made to prescribed dosages.

I have no comparison but costs seemed pretty as expected. I’ve challenged quite a few bills as an out of pocket patient as they do charge for everything! I’ve been able to lean on my insurance for some of the blood work related costs as they are willing to accept this as non-treatment related activity and reduce it significantly. I also was surprised to see that despite $1400 (for me) in IUI clinic related costs, there is also a $300 ‘management of ovulation’ fee that seems pretty excessive. For out of pocket patients, they discount $25.

Dr. Kaplan is extremely knowledgable but does not push the boundaries for treatment or looking for answers. He will not order additional testing until you’ve reached 3 miscarriages. Thankfully my OB ran a thrombophelia screen after two and discovered an issue. Dr. Kaplan added lovenox, but then after a 3rd miscarriage mentioned additional medications to consider. After having that many losses, and doing PGS, I was shocked to hear that there were additional low risk medications to add that could help. I wish he would have laid that all out ahead of time.

If you aren’t having success push him on options. He’s willing to adjust treatment a bit but I think he’s been in the game so long that he’s looking at statistics and not considering individualized options to better help the specific needs of his patients. For instance 2/3 of my pregnancies have been twins. I luckily get pregnant easily, but don’t stay pregnant. I sought a second opinion and that RE suggested only transferring one embryo next time to avoid complications of a twin pregnancy cycle given my fertility issues. I was shocked Dr. Kaplan hadn’t suggested this as a means to lower the risks I face with a clotting disorder that would make a twin pregnancy especially difficult. Dr. Kaplan is great, but doesn’t seem willing to think outside of the box.

Dr. Kaplan’s stimulation protocols for egg retrieval’s worked very well for me. He closely monitored me, frequently I was going in daily. I don’t recall the specific protocol.

Typically I had a $30 copay for ultrasounds and the costs for FET and ER were nominal under BCBS.

Dr. Kaplan prefers transferring two embryos. He never discussed eset.

During our 1st consult w/Dr. Kaplan, he said "you'll get pregnant easily, no problem". Well he was wrong & it's been a painful journey. He was too busy to spend quality time with us & hence we felt like a # & that he definitely didn't care about us at all. Our few conversations were always short because he was too busy! It greatly disturbed my husband & his total lack of compassion.

Don't do it. Go to a smaller clinic that truly cares about your success. If you enjoy having to ask the same questions over & over & beg for answers, then this is the doctor for you. He has way too many patients since this is a factory. He will not give you the attention and tailoring your journey might need, due to his overload of patients.

Yes it was definitely a cattle call with a 2+ hr wait every time.

As they didn't take my insurance, I spent over $60,000 for 2 rounds.

He loves to implant 2 embryos each time, even when it's not what the patient wants. They care more about their success #'s than listening to your needs.

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!

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.

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.

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 :(

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.

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.

$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 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!

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

I honestly have no issues with Doctor Kaplan. Every time I’ve met with Dr. Kaplan he was informative. Dr. Kaplan answered any concerns that I may have had. I was reassured during the whole process. I am very satisfied with the services I received from Dr. Kaplan and his staff.

Trust the process. Have faith in your physician.

Dr. Kaplan does not perform fresh transfers. He would only perform a frozen transfer. His rationale is that he wants the body to detox and rid of all the medications used during stimulation. He wants to create the best environment for a successful embryo attachment.

I had a window that I could schedule my monitoring appointments. The office always gave me options. I chose the best time and location for me.

I had pretty good coverage at the time. If your deductible is not met, they may ask you to place a down payment in the amount of your remaining deductible. Cryopreservation is not a covered expense. We paid $1500 for initial freeze and storage. We paid $500 for a back up semen specimen to be frozen. These are required. We did not perform any genetic testing on embryos, that would’ve been another $1000 plus I believe.

Dr. Kaplan allowed me to choose the option for a multiple embryo transfer or single.

My few consults with Dr. Kaplan were always great. I felt informed and understood exactly what we were doing. He is pleasant, caring, and always made me feel comfortable. The only issue is feeling like he isn't always accessible for further questions. It would have been nice to email him directly rather than to go through different nurses. Even to have had ONE assigned nurse would've been better.

Getting an appointment with him is tough, so plan far in advance. Do your own research and have all questions prepared before your visit with him in order to take full advantage of the consultation.

A thorough preparation of my uterus and lining using hormones, before my egg retrieval and before the transfer. He had me do pre-genetic screening on my eggs in order to get eggs that had the best chance of implantation. Also, he had us do intracytoplasmic sperm injection (ICSI) to increase the chances as well. Lastly, he recommended transferring 2 embryos at a time instead of one.

It made sense to do the multiple embryo transfer for us.

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.

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.

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 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.

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.

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!

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.

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.

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.

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.

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

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.

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

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.