Celeste Brabec

We are currently in the middle of our first IVF treatment and so far, have been very pleased with Dr. Brabec. She is warm, informative and we have seen her for every appointment so far, except for 1. She does talk a bit fast in general but has always slowed down when we ask questions and takes her time to answer.

Don't be afraid to slow her down from talking so fast and ask all your questions.

We are currently planning for our first egg retrieval and will do genetic testing on our embryos ( ICSI will be done) before doing a frozen transfer. They knew right away we would be doing a frozen transfer due to our history of multiple miscarriages and my PCOS diagnosis.

The clinic will only transfer 1 embryo at a time.

Was very knowledgeable and eager to help. Gave choices and recommendation but ultimately let the patient decide on treatment plan. She does talk quickly and is sometimes hard to follow, however she will re-explain if asked- nursing is also very good about following her and asking if everything was understood.

Expect for her to talk quickly- not because she is rushing you or in a hurry, just because that's the way her brain works. Do not be afraid to ask her to slow down or go over something again- she will do so gladly.

Diagnosed with PCOS at first visit. Had 2 rounds of clomid with OBGYN with negative OPK's prior to first appointment with Dr. Brabec. She prescribed metformin to be taken daily, letrozole used on days 3-7. Also prescribed dexamethasone and used Ovidrel for trigger shot prior to IUI. Did 3 IUI's with this protocol, all resulted in a negative pregnancy test.

Before insurance each IUI cycle was approximately $1,000 using letrozole and Ovidrel trigger protocol- this does not include initial testing.

I saw Dr. Brabec about three times over the course of 1.5 years. At my initial consult, she recommended IVF as my course of treatment based on my age and lab values. I was not ready for that and wanted to try IUI first. She recommended IUI with injectables to increase the chances of pregnancy. During the diagnostic phase prior to IUI, she recommended I get a large fibroid removed, which I did. During that surgery with another surgeon, it was discovered that I had endometriosis. This VERY important finding was completely glossed over by Dr. Brabec. I knew nothing about endo at the time and trusted her since she didn't discuss it after my surgery. During that second consultation to finally start IUI, she only gave me the options of IUI with oral meds or IVF. No injectables. I pointed out this discrepancy from our previous visit, and she stated that injectables are rarely used with IUI anymore due to the risk of multiples. I pointed out that that was her recommendation a year prior, which she again glossed over. After two failed IUIs with oral meds, I sought out a second opinion on my case to see if IVF was the next best step. I did not consult with Dr. Brabec about this b/c she was gung-ho about IVF from the get go and felt that I already knew what her answer would be. My second opinion doctor encouraged me to look into endometriosis again before doing anything, because in her eyes (based on my labs and testing), I was a fertile woman and something else was causing my infertility. THANK GOD I found her and also found Nancy's Nook group on Facebook which provides amazing information about endometriosis. I still knew very little about endo at the time. Through this group, I found an endometriosis specialist in STL. He read my operative report from 1.5 years ago where I had the fibroid and endometriosis removed and HE informed me that I had Stage 4 endometriosis. To say I was shocked and disgusted that Dr. Brabec never mentioned this to me is an understatement. I honestly don't know that she ever ready my surgical report, as it clearly stated that I had endometriosis on my bowel, bladder, and uterus. Upon learning this, I feel that the IUIs I had were likely a waste and that I also wasted 1.5 years of my fertility life by not knowing I had stage 4 endo. Dr. Brabec was completely negligent in this area, and even after confronting her about this, she was less than helpful and said how she had it documented that we discussed the endo. Had I known I had stage 4 endo then or had been given ANY education about it, I would have been ready for IVF at that time. Also, her treatment recommendations for endo are very outdated and old school. So- if you know you want IVF and are ready for it, this might be the doctor for you. However, if you want a thorough investigation into the causes of your infertility, want education about your fertility picture, or if you have endometriosis, I would absolutely not recommend Dr. Brabec as your provider. She basically feels that IVF is the answer for anything.

Only go to her if you are ready for IVF and have done your research on why you need IVF.

I did two rounds of IUI with letrozole pills (2.5 mg for five days), along with Ovidrel trigger shot both times. I believe I had several good sized follicles both times.

I think IUI was around $700 per cycle which included an ultrasound. Meds were another $120 per cycle.

I had a wonderful experience with Dr. Brabec. She tells you how it is and I love that. I don’t want anyone that’s going to sugar coat anything and that is by far Dr.Brabec! She did tell me I needed to lose a little weight which is a shock to whoever hears it, but if that is what is holding me back from growing my family, I will try to lose what I need to! What I also love about Dr.Brabec is her POSITIVITY! When my husband and I could not get pregnant my attitude became so negative, but the second we walked through the doors her positivity lit up the room! She also told us,” Don’t worry, we will get you guys a baby, we just have to figure out what is going on” I honestly believe that they are going to get us pregnant! She also told us that we can only talk about IVF for 1 HOUR a day, just because that’s all I literally think and talk about. She keeps me in check and I need that in a doctor.

Be patient and open minded. Don’t get your feelings hurt if you are told you need to lose weight or some other lifestyles changes.

We have only had our consultation and my husband had a seman analysis. I had a vaginal ulrtasound done, which determined my PCOS. Then we discussed our treatment plan and I was put on Metformin and the birth control pill.

We are going through IVF and with all of our costs not including what we have already spent, it will be around $27-$30k.

Dr.Brabec only recommends one embryo at a time just because there is that chance that you can have multiples and having multiples means bed rest and possibly NICU time for the babies.

She’s straight to the point but optimistic. She’s determined to find a way to make us a baby even with challenges. She’s confident but not cocky. She’s warm but realistic in our expectations. As a physician, she respected my profession and knowledge base but still explained everything completely and made sure my husband understood.

Don’t be afraid to stick to your guns if you want to try a less invasive approach first. She is determined to get you a baby so she can be aggressive is recommended IVF right away if that’s what she thinks would give you the best shot.

We actually conceived naturally after our first visit with her after only being on the supplements she recommended. That pregnancy ended in a ruptured ectopic. She then further recommended IVF however she was open to allowing to us try IUI first. We took letrozole 2.5 mg, Ovidrel 250 mcg trigger shot, insemination and then progesterone. We are currently in the 2 week waiting period.

Not sure

When my labs were not going according to plan, I wish they would have called off the cycle. It felt like a money thing to them to keep me going. We were expecting 6-7 eggs, but only got 1. It didn’t mature past day 3. In the followup from cancelling the trial transfer, she said she wouldn’t change my protocol or do anything different. She would recommend an egg donor as well. We were also charged for that follow up call even though we paid for a special program to get two rounds of IVF. The clinic seemed more focused on making money than trying to find the right plan for us. I actually got pregnant on my own after IVF.

I would ask for specific break downs of the financials for clarity of what you would be charged for. Ask if she will actually be your doctor or if her staff will he overseeing your treatment.

I was told I have low egg reserve and bad egg quality before my labs even came in which was a huge shock to us because we had been doing treatments for 2 years before seeing her and we were told it was “unexplained fertility”. So her protocol for us was the maximum medication she could give me because of the low reserve and bad egg quality.

$18,500

I believe Dr. Brabec is an experienced RE. This experience makes up for her lack of bedside manner. She cuts straight to the point and does not always listen well. Dr. Brabec is clearly busy but certainly cares about her results. She gave exaggerated optimistic odds (65% success rate) when encouraging us to use donor eggs. When our donor egg cycle failed, she said "we knew the odds were just 50%." Both odds are higher than those reflected on the clinic's SART records.

We were told Dr. Brabec had no bedside manner before we met her by several patients of hers who had had success being treated by her. Had we not known that, it would have been harder to accept.

Based on lab results, we were advised by Dr. Brabec's staff to use frozen donor eggs. We jumped at the opportunity given the success rates she cited. Our med/timing protocol was the same as all first-time donor egg recipients at her clinic and was very similar to those I've learned about from patients at other clinics. My uterine lining was right on track for the initially estimated transfer date. The transfer failed (did not result in a pregnancy) due to a "poor quality" embryo. Two REs consulted after this experience indicated they would not have transferred an embryo of that grade.

Approximately $12,000 for lab costs and one embryo transfer, including a $1,500 "coordination fee." The fee for eggs was $15,000 from a separate egg bank that our fertility clinic works with. We paid that fee to our clinic. However, via an online donor egg recipient forum, I learned that we were overcharged more than $1,000 by our clinic.

Dr. Brabec told us she is usually unwilling to transfer more than one embryo at a time citing that it's in the best interest of the patient and child(ren).

We only met with Dr. Brabec once before we started our treatments. She did spend time with us to discuss the options and thoroughly discuss IVF. We left that first consultation very confused as it was more of an information overload. I didn’t speak with Dr. Brabec again until our IVF cycle failed.

Be sure to ask questions so you fully understand your treatment and fully know what to expect, the risks, etc.

I started my cycle with 150 units of gonal f, 150 units of menopur, and 1 tablet of dexamethasone a day for 3 days. After my first bloodwork, she increased my gonal f to 300 units a day for the remainder of my cycle, 7 days; and kept menopur and dexamethasone the same. I started cetrotide 3 days before my retrieval. My trigger was 2ml Novarel and 80 units of leuprolide. The next day they had me administer another 2ml of the Novarel.

For our IVF cycle, we were quoted around $20K but that included PGS testing. However we ran multiple tests before we could start a cycle which added up over time. I think we had at least $600 in blood work.

At times during our treatment, I really liked Dr. Brabec, and other times not so much. As some one who really wants to understand my treatment and the reasons for selected protocol, I felt like communication was greatly lacking. I also felt like Dr. Brabec got defensive when I questioned her about what went wrong with her cycle (not blaming her). I was apparently diagnosed with PCOS but wasn't made aware of that fact for several months until I asked during our IVF consult. Otherwise, I don't know if I would ever have been told.

With Dr. Brabec (or any RE), it can be intimidating to ask questions, but you really need to be your own advocate throughout the process.

I did two cycles of IUI with letrozole, then my husband and I decided to move on to IVF. For our IVF cycle, I was on an antagonist protocol with Menopur. I had a short stimulation period followed by freeze-all egg retrieval. Dr. Brabec had high hopes for our retrieval (as did we), but out of 18 eggs retrieved, we had 8 that were immature, and of the ten mature, only three fertilized. Only one made it to Day 5, 4BB blast. That FET cycle resulted in a negative.

Due to my age (34), Dr. Brabec recommended a single embryo transfer. We ended up with only one embryo so it was a nonissue.

I loved Dr. Brabec when we first went to her. She was blunt, but somehow compassionate. I appreciated her honesty and her matter of fact way she said "we will get you a baby". After my ultra sounds, she referred me back to my OB and said that I needed to have a fallopian tube removed. She was the doctor, I trusted her, so I did. We did a fresh transfer, never addressing the endometriosis, and transferred our only 2 embryos. After days of back and forth we are pregnant, no we aren't, we finally were told I was having a chemical pregnancy. After that, about 2 weeks later I got a call from one of the nurses that they were ready to start again. My husband and I requested an appointment to talk with Dr. Brabec, we just wanted some answers...what would we do differently, how does this happen, what are the odds of another chemical pregnancy? So, had our appointment. Dr. Brabec was sympathetic and told us that if we really want our best chances of having a baby we needed to go the donor egg route. We were not opposed to that, we just want to have a baby. I mentioned to Dr. B that I had been going to acupuncture and that it was helping my stress levels, if nothing else, immensely. She basically told me that I was wasting my money and that during the next round, with donor eggs, I would need to stop that. My husband and I looked at eachother and thought, ok, lets go home and look at these donor banks and make a decision. Then one of the nurse comes in and says ok, we can get your stim shots started for this next round asap. We looked at eachother and were so confused, Dr. B had just told us our best chance of having a baby was egg donor. The nurse called Dr. B back in and it felt so confusing and nobody seemed on the same page. Dr. B said that she would still work with us if we wanted to try another round with my eggs, but that donor eggs would be a MUCH better chance of having a baby. We left feeling frustrated, confused, and over all defeated. I went to acupuncture the next day and she told me to go talk to another doctor, so we did. We immediately made the switch.

Get a second opinion.

She wanted us to do a fresh transfer, she said that would be our best option. She never addressed my endo. I started on bc, then applied testosterone patch for 5-6 days. On 8/4 I started leuprolide injections and growth hormone. I also started menopur and follistim in the evenings. My egg retrieval was 8/10, we started progesterone shots 8/12. Our transfer was 8/15.

I would say around $18000.

Dr. Brabec's compassion and love for her patients shines through. She was always thorough and reassuring with her instructions and plan of care. She took the time to make us feel comfortable with our plan of care and addressed and questions or concerns we had through out the entire process.

Know that Dr. Brabec and her staff is always there to answer any questions you have from filling prescriptions, to lab test and procedures. Weather in person, on the phone or via patient portal you will always receive a prompt response. No question is a dumb question so ask, ask, ask. They will always be able to guide you.

We did IVF ICSI. with a male fertility factor Dr. Brabec assured us ICIS was the best course of action to get the most healthy embryos. With our fresh cycle we got 5 healthy 5day embryos. We transferred two of them and had a successful pregnancy with twin girls born at 28 weeks gestation. For our next two cycles we did two FET cycles. Our first attempt at defrost was unsuccessful and lost an embryo. They moved onto the next embryo with a successful thaw we completed transfer with. We received a positive pregnancy test but unfortunately miscarried by our 8 week scan. We then attempted anther FET witch resulted in a negative pregnancy test.

IVF ICIS approx $17,000 FET cycles approx $6,500 each

Dr. Brabec was open to multiple embryo transfer for our first cycle. She did advise we transfer no more than two embroys. Both embryos took and we were blessed with twin daughters born at 28 weeks gestation. For our next two cycles Dr. Brabec advised we only transfer one embroy at a time to reduce the risk of premature birth.

Dr. Brabec is thorough and to the point. She wants to see you succeed and fully explains her recommendations, the risks, and the course of action. She is mindful not only of her patients and their desires, but of her practice as a whole.

Go to the consult! Dr. Brabec has years of experience and will be honest with you regarding your treatment.

Prior to seeing Dr. Brabec I'd been diagnosed with PCOS and had some evidence of stimulation using clomid. My first cycle with RRC was in 2011 and started with a round of oral meds (letrozole) which was cancelled due to no response. 2nd cycle was letrozole days 3-7 (I think) then 37.5 iu of Follistim days 3, 5, 7, 9 (ultrasound), 11, 13 (ultrasound), then Ovidrel on day 14. IUI was day 15. It led to a successful pregnancy. In 2013, we were trying for a second baby. We started in September with the same protocol, but we upped the Follistim to 75 iu. Had the IUI, but negative pregnancy test. 2nd cycle we upped to the Follistim again to 116 iu until a monitoring ultrasound. Had second IUI, also a negative result. At baseline ultrasound for 3rd cycle I had a cyst, so we did a month of birth control. The real 3rd cycle, we did Letrozole again (days 3-7), then 116 iu of Follistim days 3-7 and backed down to 75 iu of Follistim every day after until the Ovidrel trigger. Had IUI and a successful pregnancy. In 2016, trying for 3rd baby, protocol was as follows : Letrozole days 3-7, 50 iu Follistim every other day starting on day 3, half tablet of dexamethasone every day, Ovidrel trigger on day 12, IUI on day 13. IUI was successful and led to a successful pregnancy. I also took metformin ER throughout each attempt since I have insulin resistant PCOS. I was more heavily medicated on my second set of cycles due to poor response and probable secondary infertility. Dr. Brabec held back when trying for the 3rd baby as she was concerned for multiples.

Each cycle with injectible meds ran $3-$5k depending on medication.

I only saw Dr. Brabec in person a few times but I found her to have an excellent balance between professionalism and being a compassionate nurturer. She was very confident which helped me feel the same way.

You might not get to see the doctor a lot, but she and the nursing staff are always looking out for you.

We scheduled and started an IUI cycle before we had my final results for AMH and FSH. Although those two results and my follicular counts resulted in Dr. Brabec considering me not a candidate for IVF with my own eggs, we continued with the IUI cycle because it was already planned and paid for. It resulted in a negative pregnancy test so we immediately chose to start an egg donor IVF cycle. The doctor's rationale for recommending donor eggs was a combination of high FSH (18.8), low AMH (0.02) and low anterior follicular count (5 total). As well as my history of negative test after 12 months of trying "naturally" and 3 rounds of Clomid, 4 months of Metformin and 3 rounds of Femara. We received 8 eggs from Fairfax egg bank and 2 made it to blastocyst, a third was close but did not make it. We chose to transfer both embryos and that transfer resulted in a live birth of fraternal twins at 31 weeks.

Estimating: I believe the IUI cycle was about $1,500 with medication. The IVF cycle was just under $10,000. That is just the transfer side because we used donor eggs, which were $15,000.

Dr. Brabec didn't give a recommendation for or against multiple embryo transfer. She asked what we wanted to do and supported it.

Dr. Brabec is very knowledgeable and presents information in a confident, yet warm and empathetic manner. When I first met with her, I was very nervous about starting my journey to becoming a single mother by choice. She instantly made me feel at ease and laid out my options in a very pragmatic fashion. I underwent six IUIs and one IVF with fresh transfer before becoming pregnant and successfully delivering my daughter. Dr. Brabec gave me the outcome I had desired, even though the journey took longer than I had planned. Dr. Brabec honored my wishes and allowed me to continue attempting IUIs; I was never pressured to undergo IVF, although in hindsight, I wish I would have moved to IVF earlier in my journey. Dr. Brabec is in high-demand and for that reason nurse practitioners handle the majority of the office visits. All my IUIs were performed by a nurse. Dr. Brabec performed my IVF egg retrieval and fresh transfer. She was unavailable to perform the follow-up ultrasounds. Although I didn't see her on a frequent basis, I always had the sense that she would make herself available if needed/requested. Her nurses and staff are very competent, so I always felt that I was in good hands.

I would advise a prospective patient to be come to an office visit prepared with a list of questions/concerns. Dr. Brabec is in high-demand and the time a patient has with her is limited.

IVF with fresh transfer = $10,625 IVF with genetic testing + 1 frozen transfer = $14,533 Frozen transfer only = $2,558 Internal embryo biopsy = $2,500 The above prices exclude medications and external hospital fees.

Dr. Brabec strongly advocated to transfer two embryos.

While I apprecaite a candid and forthcoming doctor, I felt Dr. Brabec was not candid where it counted. She over medicated me putting me into OHSS during my egg retrival and then bluntly asked why I waited to start my embryo transfer. Did she not read my file? She doesn't take into consideration the impact to you as a human and to your body. She would consult with me and then pawn me off to the other doctor at her practice at the last minute. His success rates are lower than hers and something tells me she sends the people she doesn't think will do well to him.

Go somewhere else, especially if you are over 35.

No specialized treatment, just pumps you full of drugs and sees what happens.

She will only transfer one at a time, it's their policy.

She can be a bit abrasive and her bedside manner isn’t the greatest. I have also witnessed her being short and rude (in my opinion) to nurses. She seems to know what she is doing, but could be more compassionate towards her patients.

Ask tons of questions and make sure you get the answers you are looking for before you leave the office.

We have done every test I know of to come to the unexplained infertility diagnosis, which is discouraging. We have done 2 rounds of IUI, neither of which were successful using letrozole, trigger injection & progesterone.

Costs are significant and they usually want payment up front or will bill you immediately following for treatment. Luckily, we have great insurance that covers many of the procedures and tests. But, if we didn’t I’m not sure how we would afford treatment if at all.

Celeste spoke candidly about my age and options. She explained what would happen and even when I didn’t understand, took the time to reassure me that she was part of this and would do everything she could to get success. She never promised it but seemed optimistic about our chances.

She talks very fast. She has a lot of information to share so it seems to come at you fast but don’t be afraid to ask questions after. Be prepared to take notes.

Our first IVF treatment was unsuccessful but she learned from it and put me on some vitamins and my husband as well to try to improve our chances on round 2. After those adjustments, we ended up getting pregnant it suffered a miscarriage at 8 weeks. Since we had purchased a 2 cycle plan and had no frozen embryos, that was our last shot within our budget.

We purchased a 2 cycle IVF plan for $15,500. If neither were successful, we received half of it back. (Which was our case). Drugs totaled approximated $10,000

She chose to implant both embryos that had survived each time after 5 day’s. She explained that it gave us our best shot at a positive result.

Dr. Brabec was very good at describing specifics of my fertility prior to beginning our treatment. She was very straight forward with our chances. she was also able to show compassion and understanding when our IVF didn’t work out like we would have liked. We would recommend her to our family and friends and continue on our journey for our family with her clinic.

She is very open and honest. I’m sure some people can take offense to her bluntness. I found it refreshing.

We used a leupron protocol- with good doses of follistim and menopur for our IVF cycle. In hopes of getting more eggs -due to my diminished ovarian reserve.

IVF 10,000 + medication cost of 5,000

I felt like we were only a small patient to her so she didn't spend much time with us. It's hard to get to know someone in only 10 or so minutes. Since we were iui patients I didn't feel as important.

She's nice, but you don't always get to speak directly to her. I wish I could of had more time with her.

We did an iui. The nurse practitioner is who completed it all. They gave us letrozol and told me to use it on day 3 of my cycle. I also had dexamethasone. Was told to take that the same time. (Later found out on our 2 cycle to take in on day one of menses but they never told me that not even the 2nd time) then on day 10-12 they had me come in for ultra sound. Said to take my hcg shot and come back on day 14 for iui.

Iui was about 500 give or take per cycle

She seems rushed when speaking and explaining things to us. She does seem caring and competent though. She didn't change our treatment after a failed FET, but I scheduled a consultation and then she noticed things to change.

She is a good doctor. Confirm info with nurse so you understand what she is saying. She talks fast and it can be difficult to keep up.

Antagonist protocol. 6 eggs retrieved resulting in 2 PGS tested normal embryos. First one failed and second was a chemical pregnancy. No rational was given to me that I can remember for the protocol.

Monitoring is always in the morning, which isnt the most convenient for our schedule.There doesn't seem to be a line and seems to be well run.

We used Attain IVF Refund Program that cost about $21,000. Meds can be costly because they don't let you order from overseas.

She prefers 1 embryo transfer to reduce chance of multiples.

She cares about you and will spend a great deal of time going over what your best options are for success. She made me feel important and that she had my best interest in mind. She takes time with you and your family to go over all your options. She won't let you leave until you understand everything. You can ask as many questions as you would like and she doesn't rush you.

Sit down with her and ask her as many questions as you want because she won't let you leave until they are all answered.

My protocol was to have my tubes removed first then go through a FET cycle. I already had 4 embryos frozen so we implanted two. I feel like having my tubes removed first was what made this cycle successful.

My FET cycle cost around 5,000

I wanted to have two embryos implanted because I knew I would have a greater chance of it working. One embryo survived.

We have only seen Dr. Brabec at our initial consult. Our Nurse Practitioner is our main contact. Doctor Brabec was very warm and took the time to explain our options. She was very optimistic! I feel that we would see her more if we were doing an IVF cycle. She has an amazing staff that truly personalizes our care.

She is extremely knowledgable and very nice!

I don't remember specifics, but we felt comfortable starting with the least invasive treatment and Dr. Brabec supported us.

Dr. B was very smart and knew everything there was to know about fertility . She wasn’t very sympathetic to me as a patient and our personal journey . I also Felt that she wanted to rush to IVF and not explore every option before that

Make sure that you wear your big girl pants . She is very smart and will do the latest and greatest treatment but won’t be very sympathetic to you as a person