Carolyn Givens

Dr Givens was a good communicator, empathetic and professional. She has a conservative approach. She recommended the same protocol 9 times, all which failed, and when I asked multiple times if there was anything experimental I could try she said no, you should think about using a surrogate. Come to find out there are experimental things located within 2 hours of her office. She wrote a paper in 2010 around immunology and IVIG. Her paper was not supporting this treatment, but that's not what I asked. So, if you have a typical case I would recommend her. If you don't and would like to think more outside the box with your treatment, I would recommend you go to another clinic.

If you have a typical case and do not need a touchy feeling Dr, she is a good fit. She is quick, direct and to the point which I actually appreciate. I don't want to hang out at the clinic any more then I have to. If you want a doctor that is going to think outside the box, do research on your behalf and bring you all the latest information available whether she agrees with the treatment or not, she is not the right fit for you.

From 2011 to 2012 the PFC experience seemed boutique and custom. Dr's had reviewed charts prior to entering the room and came to the table with a plan. When I returned to begin transfers for a second child in 2014 the clinic was different. Much more crowded, rushed and even one of the nurses said to me that they were now so busy she had to remind the Dr's about each patient. During a transfer I was lead to a room that hadn't been cleaned from the previous procedure because they were so jam packed with procedures on the same day. It was chaos.

Round 1: age 36; retrieval using Follistim, Ganarelix, Menapure; great results; recommended against genetic testing as I had never been pregnant before; 29 eggs; 15 embroys (all excellent grade); Fresh transfer of 2 embryos; negative pregnancy test (Dr Given's said it was because I hyper stimulated but I had so many embroys she decided to move forward. Round 2: Frozen natural cycle; cancelled due to lining being too thin Round 3: Frozen cycle using stim drugs to help with lining; cancelled due to me ovulating Round 4: Frozen cycle using progesterone and estrogen injections (Dr Given's called this the gold standard to help with thin lining) Lining only got to a 6. Dr Chenet told me I "needed to buy a uterus" at a lining check but that it was Dr Given's call. I requested NOT to see Dr Chenet at future appointments. Dr Given's decided to give it a shot. Transfered 2 embryos; resulted in birth of 1 baby 9 months later: Rounds 5 & 6: Used same protocol as Round 4 both ending in chemical pregnancies Endometrial biopsy - Dr Given's didn't get enough tissue the first time so I had to do this twice. It's painful and delays the process. Biopsy came back fine meaning we were doing transfers on the correct day Went through the rest of the embroys using the same protocol as round 4 with negative pregnancy tests each time. Now out of of embryos Dr Given's reason was that they were not genetically tested. Retrieval #2: 15 eggs; 6 embryos; 3 genetically normal 2 transfers using the same protocol as round 4. Negative pregnancies both times. Thin lining continued through out each round (between 6 and 7) - reco is a 10 With 1 embro left Dr Given's recommended another retrieval and using a surrogate. I did the research and decided that route was not for me. Moved embryo to a new clinic and started from scratch.

The PFC staff was organized, compassionate, friendly, and available. Embryologists were great too.

PFC is fancy. Very nice, clean and huge for SF. They have appointments before work hours (8:30am) and there is plenty of parking in the area. Office tends to be crowded but I never felt that it lacked privacy.

My first cycles were on a special value plan. I can't remember the exact costs but because I was only 36 and using my own eggs I qualified. Everything outside of that was a la carte. My insurance didn't provide coverage so everything was out of pocket. There were no payment plans offered.

Dr Given's and the staff at PFC have a conservative approach. When asked about alternative medicine, experimental treatments, ways of eating, etc. they all seem to blow it off as there is "not sufficient research"

During an egg retrieval cycle, you see one of the doctors that's available when you go into the office. You are going almost daily if not daily for a week when your eggs are growing and I think I saw a different dr each day for the sonogram. I liked all but one. Her bedside manner was nonexistent and I think she laughed at one of my questions in a scoffing manner. I already felt like an alien growing eggs and full of hormone shots so I didn't need this dr I had never met acting that way. I gave that feedback during my "exit interview" after my eggs were frozen. They seemed genuinely interested in knowing how I felt about my interaction with that dr. Everyone else was great. I can't rem if Dr Givens or another dr harvested my eggs. I had such great results and felt so comfortable overall there that it didn't matter. I've met with her twice recently to discuss next steps (turning my frozen eggs into embryos and implantation to become pregnant) and she is open to answering any and all questions I have and new information I may have read up on that she hasn't heard about yet...things are happening quickly in this field.

Ask a lot of questions and do your research. For the egg retrieval portion, it's pretty straightforward and takes up a month of your life. I've found that it's better to talk to as many people as possible when moving forward with the rest of the IVF process. There are many more moving parts and things to know.

PFC does a lot of business. That's just a fact and it's obvious when you're in the office and when you call in. This is not really your friendly neighborhood doctors office with just your Dr or a couple docs, it's a practice and a center with a lot going on. I like that it was this way. It feels both high end (makes you think modern and successful in producing live births) and super professional.

The drugs I took were Follistim, Menopur, Ganirelix and HCG. I ended up going for a couple more days to let the eggs get even bigger so I needed more Menopur which I was able to pick up at the office (PFC). They keep drugs on hand for this last minute purpose as the rest comes in the mail ahead of your cycle. I ended up with 28 eggs retrieved and 22 were frozen. Given my age at the time of 39.5, I would have to think her protocol worked well.

I don't think I had a specific nurse, but I did have a coordinator and team assigned to me. I was able to email my team specifically so the best person could always pick up my question and respond. When you are in your cycle, you are always able to reach someone and get really fast service. I think they work weekends. When I called after hours, a dr called me right back to answer my question.

Strengths: professional, discreet, convenient location to get in and out of, highly qualified doctors, the office feels brand new, fancy fertility lab onsite surrounded by glass so you can see them when leaving, their own egg donation center across the hall from their offices, very responsive when you are an active patient, nice nurses and doctors, your own financial contact who handles your payments and answers any questions you may have.

I think my total fees for egg retrieval in 2014 was $12,000. That included all of my drugs. I think the finance person grossly underestimated how much my drugs would be. The dr. Also added more at the end to let my eggs "cook" a bit more. On their price sheet in 2014, they list X-Cycle Fee as $8,345. They say this includes 4 of each of the following---office visits, ultrasounds, Estradiol as well as one of each of the following---anesthesia, egg retrieval, facility, lab, cryo preservation & one yr of storage ($600). Blood testing, ultrasound and at least one office visit were covered by my insurance as they will not cover fertility treatments, but do pay for "diagnostic procedures and tests provided in connection with infertility evaluation. Office visits and consultation used to diagnose infertility."

Dr Givens was direct and clear on my prognosis from the beginning. She was on time for my appointments. She answered my many, many questions, and she explained my treatment well. My previous answer covers everything else.

I would give them advice to anyone looking at any RE. Be specific about their success rates for your type of case.

Dr Givens was compassionate, honest and direct. She and her staff always remembered my name, my husband's name and the status of my case. She handled delivering bad news well. She was very clear with me about my prognosis and what my options were.

I don't remember.

Nurses were compassionate and super organized. I always knew what was happening, when and why. I was set home with great documents and knew what do to next.

PFC came across as "fancy" when I first went, though ultimately the quality of the care I received across the board helped a lot. I never felt like I was just a number. My only complaint was how they operated with egg donors. They had a strong preference for anonymous donors and we didn't so we definitely requested a couple of things that came across as exceptions. Also, after we left the clinic (because we moved), we were notified of a storage tank failure. I think they handled it pretty well, but I was not at all affected so it's hard for me to know that for sure.

She strongly preferred transferring 1 embryo. So did I so we didn't discuss it much.

Dr Givens was always patient through all our questions, explained things clearly during uncertain situations and was kind and always professional. She never pressured us into IVF or using donor eggs, even when that was the most logical next steps. She always gave her opinion during appropriate times but really acted almost like a trusted counselor.

To ask as many questions you deem necessary and Dr Givens will gladly answer and help you come to a decision you're comfortable with. Read up, do your research but have realistic expectations based on your age, situation etc.

Dr Givens and her staff were always responsive to my needs, timely and we felt well informed during a stressful and oftentimes complicated process. My husband and I have high standards and we felt like PFC in general exceeded our expectations in almost every area!

Always responsive, caring and informative.

PFC is a well oiled machine. They take pride in every aspect of your care and it shows! From the front desk staff to the nurses and doctors, everyone was professional and well informed to do a good job.

She is candid, no-nonsense, not super warm-and-fuzzy but very competent and was genuinely happy with the positive outcome. Some PFC physicians I liked more and some I liked less, but it was the overall competence of the center that was important to me.

She is very no-nonsense and not super warm-and-fuzzy. But that was fine with me. All of the doctors at PFC had different personalities, some I liked better and some I liked less - but it was the overall competency of the center that was most important to me.

I went in with very good numbers and was doing IVF because it was the straightest route to pregnancy as a single woman. My cycle involved Follistim, Menpur, Ganirelix, and a bit of Lupron late in the cycle. It was a straight-forward stimulation and retrieval. Upon embryo transfer I was on progesterone and HCG.

AMAZING. Can't speak highly enough of the nurses and care coordinators.

PFC is a smooth operation. I like their facilities and appreciated how competently they executed on my care.

Roughly $22,000

She was wonderful!! Very knowledgeable. We did IVF 2 times, the first we were pregnant with twins, but there were problems.... the sack never formed correctly and we miscarried around 9 weeks. She was sensitive with the details of the problems, but also direct. she knew we needed to understand the severity of what was happening. when we did miscarry, we were due to leave for Hawaii for vacation in two days. she organized the procedure to be done on the next day (a Sunday!) so we could keep our plans to go. She also kept in touch to make sure there were no complications while we were gone. Our next IVF we had a successful pregnancy, and she was amazing during that one as well.

Ask a lot of questions. She will be honest.

The entire staff, both dr givens and the nurses always had smiles on their faces, and made you feel like they knew exactly who you were. even when dr givens had to give us bad news, she was sensitive but direct, giving the facts, but in a kind manner. when the news was good you felt like she was your biggest cheerleader.

always friendly, made you feel like they knew you. very informative.