Christine Skiadas

Although I have not been seeing Dr. Skiadas that long, I have been incredibly impressed with her. Having been through two previous egg retrievals and three failed transfers of PGD/PGS tested embryos, I feel that she worked really hard to put together a new protocol with aggressive monitoring that, so far, has yielded positive results. It was very clear to me that, prior to our initial appointment, she had carefully reviewed my previous cycles and results to find new treatment or tweaks. I had lots of questions about how to do things differently and different tests we could try and she took the time to fully respond to all questions that my husband and I had. She was very supportive of my desire to do some outside testing. Dr. Skiadas explained all of the risks and odds of success at each step of the process, something that I felt in the dark about prior to meeting with her. Although I really liked my previous doctor, I never felt truly informed about important factors to me, such as the rate of fertilization with ICSI, how many embryos can be expected to make it to biopsy, etc. Dr. Skiadas provided me with all of the information I was looking.

Dr. Skiadas seems to be a very popular doctor so make sure to always schedule a follow up appointment right away. So far I have to say that the initial delay in seeing her has been worth it!

Dr. Skiadas has been informed and up to date on all of my treatment and results during my appointments with her. I felt that she carefully put together an IVF retrieval protocol that was tailored to me. Although most of my telephone contact has been with her nurses, Liz and Caitlin, I have always felt both that the nursing staff had spoken to Dr. Skiadas and also that were very familiar with my case.

Dr. Skiadas turned my retrieval protocol on its head, using Gonal-f and microdose Lupron with a 37 hour HCG trigger, each twice daily. I had daily monitoring and my doses were adjusted frequently. Because of my good response to this protocol, Dr. Skiadas had concerns for OHSS so she added in Cabergoline and Cetrotide post-retrieval, which was very effective.

Caitlin and Liz are the doctor's primary nurses and they are both excellent. Whenever I called with a question or concern, I received a prompt call back. They both also did an excellent job of keeping me informed throughout the retrieval cycle, which decreased my stress and anxiety. I have always been impressed with the Harvard Vanguard nursing staff, including the incomparable Chris.

HVMA has multiple locations throughout Massachusetts, with two labs open on weekends. Although this can be a good thing, only one location is really convenient for me and I sometimes found it difficult to get early weekday ultrasound appointments at my location because it seems to be a popular site. If you have an inflexible work schedule this can be a challenge. Also, bloodwork needs to be done prior to 8:45 a.m. to allow the specimens to be picked up by courier.

Luckily, my insurance covers most of my fertility care and treatment so I paid co-pays for office visits, procedures and medications after meeting my deductible. I did not have to pay for monitoring bloodwork or ultrasounds. I paid out of pocket for PGD/PGS testing through Igenomix ($6k - $9k per time for both).

Dr. Skiadas is clearly knowledgeable, compassionate, and understanding. I have chosen to try to become a mother on my own (SMC) and have never felt anything but support from her. Her approach has been clear and honest, and progressive relative to what has happened. Again, while I have primarily interacted with the nurses and other members of the medical team, rather than Dr. Skiadas, that hasn't troubled me and so far the convenience offered by the large practice has been a plus.

Because of the nature of the practice, and the opportunities to interact with Dr. Skiadas directly tend to be more limited, I would recommend being prepared to ask all your questions in those consultations if it's important for you to get answers from your RE. The nurses have also been very available to answer questions, but some patients may feel strongly about communicating directly with their physician.

All of my interactions with Dr. Skiadas, the nurses, and the medical team have been positive. However, Harvard Vanguard is a big operation and can, at times, feel like a machine. There are definite (for me) upsides to that in terms of ease of scheduling (for US, for IUI, etc.) and convenience of multiple locations. The size also means that you're one of many patients and so for the most part my interactions have not been directly with Dr. Skiadas but rather with the nurses. Personally, that hasn't bothered me. I feel like I have always been able to get questions answered and the team is responsive. And when I have had interactions with Dr. Skiadas she is warm, clear, and straightforward.

Dr. Skiadas' plan and preference was to do three natural cycles of IUI. The first cycle I did was completely natural and I had a short luteal phase and early period (less than two weeks post-insemination). After that, Dr. Skiadas added a progesterone suppository to the next IUI to help maintain a pregnancy if indeed fertilization and insemination happened. IUI's 2 and 3 were natural, and 2 was with a trigger shot. The 4th was with Clomid and a trigger shot and progesterone, the 5th (due to a cyst being present) was unmedicated but with trigger and progesterone. And the 6th was with Clomid, a trigger shot, and progesterone. Cycles 1-5 did not produce a pregnancy. I am currently in Cycle 6.

Both Caitlin and Liz are warm and compassionate and great communicators. They have been readily available for consultation and follow up questions.

The Center for Fertility and Reproductive Medicine at Harvard Vanguard is a large practice, with offices in several locations. That contributes to a lot of positives with respect to convenience - generally being able to schedule diagnostics (ultrasounds, labs) and basic procedures (IUIs) at a time and location of your preference. It can, however, at times lead to it feeling a bit like a factory. While my experiences with the medical team have always been positive, I have dealt almost exclusively with the nurses and by phone rather than in person. They have always been warm, professional, and thorough. But if you want a more one on one experience or a lot of time with your physician this may not be the practice for you.

To date (after 6 IUIs), I have had to pay a co-pay for IUIs and for the HSG test, as well as a copay for medication (Clomid, progesterone). Labs and ultrasound monitoring were covered by insurance.

If I had to do this process 1000 Times, I still would only choose Dr. Skiadas to coordinate my care. She performed several surgical procedures on me and I trusted her judgement and clinical skills above anyone else. Every time I had a procedure done at the hospital, all of the nurses would say “oh, you are so lucky to have Dr. Skiadas”. I could not agree more. Not only did she work to surgically improve a problem that is quite rare and not well understood, she also was always there to answer question and provide guidance and emotional support along the way during our visits. Once my issue was surgically improved, we did several rounds of Ivf. And— while it was certainly a long road— I have a beautiful baby to show for it. I could not be more grateful for dr. Skiadas. I feel like I owe her the world.

Wait for her no matter how long it takes. She is the only doctor I would ever see. Trust her process— it works!

I can’t say enough good things about Dr. Skiadas. She was compassionate to my unfortunate struggle , but was also Very honest about expectations. She always had a plan and my trust in her never waivered.

I had multiple surgeries in the operating room prior to starting Ivf with dr. Skiadas. She performed all of my surgeries and the entire process was seamless. Once my uterus was improved, we did an IUI which was successful but ended in miscarriage. She was so compassionate during this time and helped me recover both physically and emotionally. We then did IVF and had an unsuccessful transfer x 2. The third one worked and I have a perfect little baby to show for it.

Fabulous! Always got a call back in a timely fashion. Nursing (and reception) was super well organized. If they didn’t know the answer, they would ask my doctor and always get back to me. This is a hard and emotional process— they were always fantastic without exception.

Fabulous— multiple locations are helpful!

She strongly recommended single transfer.

Dr. Skiadas is compassionate, caring, and I felt she was truly interested in getting me pregnant. She was patient with questions. I enjoyed seeing her during visits. I wish I saw her more during treatment

Come armed with questions, information about who will communicate with you and how, and how you can reach her personally if there is a staff communications issue.

Dr. Skiadas herself took time to answer questions, check in with me during a loss, and was considerate. I had lots of technical questions which she was patient with. The only reason I didn’t rate her the absolute highest was the nurse staff which were often poor communicators

Textbook antagonist protocol with a traditional hcg trigger. There was a miscommunication along the way and the nurse increased my menopur along the way, yet my Doctor hadn’t recorded it. I’m convinced this is why I had so many eggs and a mild case of OHSS. She did not recommend ICSI or PGS due to my age and the severity of my husbands MFI. When we did a second cycle, I did antagonist again with a lower menopur dose, CoQ10 for my husband and I both, thyroid meds for me, ICSI due to low fertilization rate the first time around, and PGS due to a loss.

The first nurse miscommunicated my menopur dose. That was just the start..... The second nurse didn’t communicate my trigger accurately. Also had issues with the blood work in the lab

Dr Skiadas is great. The nurse manager is good. The nurse coordinators are painful and provide the wrong information which is very challenging in an IVF cycle where one misstep can cost you an entire cycle.

I used insurance so we only paid for PGS

She wanted to transfer more than one due to my age, but my insurance required an eSET for the first attempt. It just worked out that each time I did a cycle and transfer, I had one embryo remaining and insurance did not allow banking.

Dr. Skiadas is very skillful as a physician and a wonderful, warm person. She is incredibly knowledgeable, but won't hesitate to consult with colleagues if a situation arises that she hasn't treated before. She was appropriately aggressive and didn't try the same thing that failed too many times. She truly seemed to care.

It is worth the wait for appointments to see her; don't settle for another doctor at the practice!

Dr. Skiadas is amazing. She really seems to care about all her patients (both me and my spouse), and always remembers (or is really good at writing notes and reviewing before the next appt) personal details about me and the conversations we had. She is respectful of our goals and desires, and always asks for our input.

We had a few hiccups with nursing staff not totally being on top of the treatment plan (assuming we were following a standard course when Dr. Skiadas had recommended some uncommon changes). They were all very kind and supportive, just maybe didn't spend enough time reviewing charts before making calls.

Dr. Skiadas and her team are great; I have heard nightmares about her colleagues (one in particular). Stick with Dr. Skiadas and don't see one of her colleagues in the event she is unavailable for something.

Insurance copays.

She recommended a single embryo transfer based on my age and other factors, but was very patient as I asked her about a lot of statistics, the possibility of a selective reduction if we transferred multiples, etc. She never judged but gently advised what she thought was best.

She was very compassionate and understanding. Was patient with my issues, I'm not great at this. Let me make informed decisions about everything, did not try to sell me any procedures, made us feel like it would be fine if we quit at any time.

Don't be afraid to ask questions, she'll give you an accurate answer.

She was very straight with me about what was happening, what the odds were, etc and then actually let us make the decisions

Natural frozen cycle (the BEST IVF treatment I've ever done). She also did a lupron protocol for the egg retrieval and used high does CoQ6 during stimulation that resulted in a lot of viable embryos.

Everyone I spoke to were very compasionate and answered my many, many questions

Transfers and retrievals are done at Boston IVF, I didn't realize that at first, but it's fine. Otherwise I love that they're part of a larger health care network so you have multiple locations that you can use and transferring to an OB within that network is easy.

Covered by insurance

She will only transfer one unless there's a reason to do more. In my case we did genetic testing on day 5 embryos, no reason to do more than 1

Dr. Skiadas is sweet and seems caring but her patient load is too high and she is never the doctor that attends the retrieval or the transfer, she just sets the protocol. I also felt she could have provided more information and assistance early on and after my insurance ran out I felt abandoned and hopeless.

Just be aware she does not handle your retrieval and transfers. You also need to speak up and advocate for yourself if you have questions and concerns.

Patient load is too high. Had to learn a lot on my own. Felt like follow-up wasn't great.

I felt it was very random and specifics weren't discussed too much. I felt so naive through the first cycle and wish I would have known more.

Sometimes nurses were very caring but I had other incidents where I felt they treated me like a number and just weren't responsive to my feelings.

Convenient location, convenient appointment times. Attached to a clinic that provides other services. Parking was good. Overall the staff was professional but they seem to have too many patients to really care about your personal care.

Insurance covered 90% of my costs.

My experience with Dr. Skiadas, although we have not been successful yet in having a child, has been positive. I do not think that I could have made it this far without someone so intelligent thoughtful and caring.

None.

Dr. Skiadas is thoughtful and kind and takes her time with us, always. She is sympathetic when she needs to be and hopeful when she needs to be. She is great at explaining the facts in a way that we can understand and is always empathetic of what we as the patients are going through.

I find HVMA to be extremely organized and well run. The nursing staff overall are wonderful, however, when you get reassigned, sometimes it is not seamless. You have to make sure you ask questions, clarify all timelines and treatments and double check med levels. Usually they are spot on, but make sure you are your own advocate.

Extremely organized, thoughtful and thorough. They have a patient system that you can log onto to get various test results, see upcoming appointments and most importantly ask questions of your providers. If it is an emergency, make sure to call. They are very responsive.

IUI and first round fully covered. Subsequent rounds I had to pay for the screenings and monitorings.

She was a good communicator and direct. She explained the process and logic of each step well. At one point we had an early miscarriage, and she was sympathetic but not overly so.

You don't see much of the dr, most everyday items are handled by the nurses and other staff.

She tended to take the more conservative method in terms of treatment and dosing (which I generally agreed with given my history)

Generally very good, but sometimes the wait times were very long (and frustrating)

The nurses were great. Waiting times were a bit inconsistent or long, which could be frustrating. They also just moved the practice to a brand new floor on an area by itself so you don't have to interact with the obgyn patients, and have brand new rooms / machines

My experience with Dr. Skiadas and her whole staff was wonderful. She and all of her nurses were calm, professional, and warm. I felt like they knew how emotional this whole process is and took that into consideration with their care. Dr. Skiadas also pushed our insurance paperwork and process faster so that we could move onto the next level of care within 24 hours. I don't remember any specific people at RSC but overall I had a good experience, everyone was professional and moved us along quickly which was nice.

She was wonderful as well as her whole staff at Harvard Vanguard

Kind and compassionate

Very nice and thorough, I only wish she had more appointments available! It took awhile to get the first appointment and then scheduling could be difficult at times. She was very supportive and made sure to know all of my history.

She is very kind, takes her time to answer questions.

Sometime took awhile to get ahold of on the phone.

Definitely needs more appointments and more flexible scheduling, it would be very hard to get what I needed. The Quincy office is in an area of high traffic and I was once scolded by the receptionist for being late on a very snowy day.

I don't remember.