Christopher Sipe

He is real. He talks with you not at you like most doctors do. I loved how supportive he was of my situation and he answered all of our questions without hesitation or making us feel like they were dumb questions. He makes me feel safe and welcome and not just another patient.

Ask those question you have been wanting to ask. He will explain it or draw out diagrams for you. He is there to help.

He was the first doctor to really help me understand why after countless IVF attempts over the last three years I was unable to even get to the retrieval phase of the treatment. He told me medically what was happeneing and also was the only doctor who gave me the best explanation in laymen’s terms. I have a receptor issue not an imbalance. I was originally misdiagnosed with PCOS.

I am still with Dr. Sipe for treatments. So far we have only done a saline ultrasound and blood work up for my husband and myself. We are in the process of starting an egg donor treatment which will start in December.

She is friendly and so wonderful. She always calls even for the small stuff. She always answers questions and does not make me feel like I am lost on what the treatment will be or is. She always has a warm smile on her face too.

I love the location. They just moved from Oak Brook to Hinsdale and it is easy to get too and close to the highway. I really appreciate the hours for monitoring appointments. They start at 630 am so I can get in and out before work. They do retrieval’s and transfers on your schedule not just once a month which means they do them 7 days a week which really helps with scheduling. There have been a few appointments where I was waiting to go in for 20 minutes past my time, but the staff was super apologetic and got me in and out once I went back for my appointment.

So far my cost has just been my co-pay for insurance. As we get further into our egg donor treatment we will have a cost of roughly $10-16 thousand dollars. Their billing and financial departments are so far very easy to work with and we have worked out payment plans that work best for my husband and I.

I felt at ease in our appointments and liked Dr. Sipe’s optimism. He was very up front about our odds and treatment steps moving forward. I wish we had a bit more direct interaction/communication with him.

Expect most communication to come from his nurses, not from Dr. Sipe himself.

I have very limited direct interaction with the doctor outside of consultation appointments, but Dr. Sipe’s nurses have been helpful and responsive and in that case has made me feel more like a human than a number.

We have completed three IUI cycles under Dr. Sipe. I was prescribed 5 days of 50mg Clomid starting on day 3 of my cycle. After monitoring appts, I was I triggered with Novarelle HCG intramuscular injection. The IUI was performed the next morning. I came in one week after IUI for progesterone testing to confirm ovulation and two weeks later for pregnancy test. Same protocol each cycle, no successes.

Most of my interaction was with Liala and she was always willing to explain results and answer my questions. She promptly called after appointments. When other nurses contacted me, I also had very positive interactions with them as well.

Strengths- Easy to make appointments, positive interactions with all staff members, timely appointments, genera feeling that they know what they are doing! Weakness- Billing has been complicated at times, had to call after appointments were not submitted to my insurance, didn’t always receive responses when I called or emailed with questions. They switched billing systems and patients were not informed, I only found out after asking why I stopped receiving bills in the mail. All issues were eventually resolved.

In total we’ve spent around $2,400 for initial testing, consult, and 3 IUI cycles.

I have not yet reached that stage of treatment.

Fabulous. Great bedside manner and easy to work with. Explains procedures well and answered questions. I always felt like he would give us as much time as we needed when we met.

Trust him and his experience. We had to change treatment courses twice but once we figured out what my body needed (which you can only do by seeing how you react to treatments), we were good to go!

Dr.Sipe was caring and easy to work with. During such a hard time in life he some how was able to make me smile and laugh during appointments. I trusted everything he was doing. While at the clinic b/c they have so many doctors it can feel like a "number" for daily appointments but I personally didn't mind b/c with all the visits you see the same faces and it made me feel like I wasn't alone in this!

First round of IUI discovered that my body reacted to Clomid too well and had to cancel b/c of 13+ eggs. Due to this had to move to IVF. Started on very low doses of meds b/c of the Clomid situation. However, my body didn't react to these as much and ended up converting from IVF Egg Retrieval to IUI b/c Dr. Sipe thought this was better than doing a retrieval on such a low amount of eggs (3). After IUI didn't work we moved again with IVF on a more standard protocol of drugs. This worked great and retrieved 29 eggs, 23 fertilized and ended up with 9 very good embryos. Did the first transfer with two and negative. Dr.Sipe believed this was do to my progesterone going down too quickly. So we next did a frozen transfer with two embryos and got a positive! This resulted in twins. We just completed another frozen transfer 4 years later and now have a singleton. Frozen transfers seemed to be better for my body.

The nurses are all great to work with. They help with questions and support with getting meds/samples etc.

The clinic has several locations, which helps if you don't live in the city of Chicago. The downtown location is available all 7 days when in monitoring a cycle, which was great! Some people don't like how busy the main clinic is but I liked it...made me feel "normal". Also went to the Hinsdale clinic and loved getting to know everyone there b/c it is smaller.

The first round was not covered by insurance and was around $15K. The second time was covered by insurance so just co-pays per my plan. Meds are separate and depend on pharmacy or insurance coverage.

Dr. Sipe is supportive of your desires but also educates well on risks etc. to these decisions.

I absolutely trust Dr. Sipe's medical opinion. Especially during the whole IVF process, I had tons of questions and he very patiently explained all of them. He always explained why he was taking the course of action he did, what were medical standards, what were reasons that he adopted certain standards. Probably my main negative is that he was sometimes paternalistic. My husband found that very comforting, myself less so. Also he was very thorough at explaining risks even if sometimes we'd rather not have heard it.

Expect most of the communication to be through his nurses. Advocate for yourself if you need to.

I think feeling like a number is almost inevitable during the fertility process - there's just so many tests and checks. But I also realized that the further in the process I went (IVF vs easier treatments), the more personalized care and check-ins I got from the nurses/doctors. In the early days, being treated like a number was almost comforting - it gave me hope that this is all so routine that I'll be out of there in no time.

I had a long delay in starting treatments while I started thyroid treatment to get my TSH to < 2.5 which seems to be the norms expected in the fertility/OB community. There was also a long back and forth between my endocrinologist and RE because my TSH values aren't as stable as they say it should be (in retrospect I think other factors, including time of day of testing make a difference). Eventually, I pushed to start fertility treatments once my endocrinologist was comfortable with it. Fertility Treatments: chemical pregnancy (no treatment, while waiting to start) IUI #1: clomid 50mg, HCG trigger. No pregnancy IUI #2: clomid 50mg, HCG trigger. Ectopic pregnancy. Treated with methotrexate. HSG shows tubes are clear but aren't functioning the way they should. Birth control for 3 months after ectopic to (a) prevent a pregnancy while methotrexate clears out of the system (b) resets the body in preparation for IVF. IVF (egg retrieval): gonalF + menopur + cetrotide. Doses adjusted as needed based on regularly blood tests/ultrasounds. Protocol chosen since it often works well for PCOS. HCG trigger. ICSI+assisted hatching (not sure if they did the latter but we gave consent to). ICSI was recommended for PCOS and we saw no downside. 13 eggs retrieved -> 9 fertilized -> 4 day5 blasts IVF (fresh transfer): PIO+minivelle patches+baby aspirin to prep lining. Transferred 1 embryo. No pregnancy FET: Lupron+Minivelle+PIO+baby aspirin. 2 embryos transferred (recommended because frozen success rates are lower than fresh). 2 gestational sacs : 1 blighted ovum, 1 (so far) healthy pregnancy.

The staff at FCI is excellent. My nurse was the one who coordinated my treatment, called with results, etc. They were always responsive and responded within the day. They were the ones who bore the brunt of my questions. They always called when they said they would so I knew that I would always get my test results within the day.

I've been very happy with FCI. The clinic itself is very well run - from the nursing staff to the administrative staff to the lab. They know what they're doing and they do it well. Probably the hardest part of dealing with the clinic is getting that initial appointment (which can sometimes be a bit of a wait). But once you're in the door, they are very easy to work with.

IL has a fertility mandate in place so everything (including up to 4 egg retrievals) is covered by insurance. In brackets are the amounts that I personally owed/paid. Initial battery of tests ~$3.5k (out of pocket $800). Each of the IUI's were ~$2.5k (out of pocket ~$400). The ectopic was another $2k (meds/monitoring/etc) (out of pocket $400). HSG had a facility fee so $1.2k. IVF $17k (out of pocket $3k) FET $5k (out of pocket $500)

Dr. Sipe is very careful to try and avoid a multiple pregnancy. With our FET, he recommended 2 with the following logic: 1 embryo has a 40% chance of a pregnancy; 2 embryos has a 55% chance of a pregnancy with an equivalent increase in the chance of twins. In the end, it turned out to absolutely be the right choice for us.

Dr. Sipe is direct and precise. He lets you know what you’re looking at and is very honest and clear about your situation. All the while, he’s still able to show compassion and very willing to hear you out and try to ease any concerns.

See him, he’s great!

The entire staff was helpful and kind. There were many quick appointments and tests but I never felt like I was just being shuffled around. They always took time to answer any questions and make sure I felt comfortable.

The intial steps were a series of tests throughout my cycle to make sure everything was okay. Everything came back fine except my progesterone level. It was lower than he would have liked to see so I was prescribed Clomid 50mg for 5 days. Once that was through they monitored the follicles to make sure they were growing okay, and when they got to a sufficient size, I did a trigger shot of hcg to force ovulation. The following day and the day after that they performed an IUI. 12 days later they did a blood test and found I was pregnant! Prescribed me Crinone 8% vaginal gel to help my progesterone levels continue to rise, which I continued for 30 days. Had a vaginal Ultrasound at 5 weeks and found out it’s twins!

All the nurses were incredible. Kind and patient and very knowledgeable. They did so much during the whole process and I will forever be grateful for all their help.

Wonderful staff and beautiful office. Many locations so if there isn’t an appointment available, you do have the option of seeing another clinic considering most of the tests are time sensitive. It felt like the nurses are always available or get back to you quickly. Never any mishaps or confusion, the staff seemed to always be aware and on top of everything.

Thankfully my insurance had great coverage, once I met my $3000 deductible. That is the amount I paid for everything excluding the specimen.

Dr. Sipe has a very sympathetic and kind disposition. He helped my husband and I keep a sense of humor throughout this process, which really resonated with us. He was also very upfront about the risks of multiples and advised against multiple embryo transfers in our particular situation. He took great care to explain our test results and treatments. We met with him at our first initial consult, a follow-up consult to begin IUI treatment, a consult to begin IVF treatment and then a review of our first IVF cycle, which failed, to talk about what he would change for the second cycle. He also did perform my embryo retrieval. 3 different other doctors performed my first transfer, second retrieval and second transfer--doctors in the practice rotate for those procedures and you work with whomever is on duty that day. Dr. Sipe is just the right combination of frank and empathetic.

Do your own research and ask questions! The more you show that you know about the process, the better conversations you can have. Also, there are no dumb questions. Dr. Sipe can break down anything for you and make it more understandable.

FCI is a very large organization, but I primarily went to a suburban satellite office that was small in size. There was always the same receptionist, same billing person, my doctor and three nurses. 90% of the time, it was my primary nurse who called with my results. It was only on weekends for monitoring for my two IUIs and IVF cycles that I felt more like a number when I had to go to their central River North location. The waiting rooms are full and several women are herded in many at a time for ultrasounds and blood draws. During IVF procedures, however, the experience was very intimate and we did not feel like a number at all.

For the first IVF cycle, we did the standard protocol for an unexplained diagnosis: One month birth control, Lupron for suppression, followed by Follistim and Menopur. We retrieved 11 eggs, 8 of which were mature and 4 fertilized. 3 made it to Day 3, he recommended we transfer 2 10-cell embryos and the third leftover made it to blastocyst and was frozen. At our IVF post-mortem, Dr. Sipe told us that I didn't respond as well as hoped to this protocol and that my follicles grew in a wide spread of sizes. His goal with the second cycle would be to change the protocol with the goal of creating more eggs that are closer in size. The second cycle protocol was three days of Ganirelix only for suppression, followed by higher doses of Follistim and Menopur, then Ganirelix introduced again prior to retrieval. The second cycle retrieved 11 eggs, all 11 were mature, 8 fertilized and 6 made it to blastocyst stage on Day 5. We transferred one single embryo on Day 5 and have just received two positive betas with hope for a successful pregnancy. We have 1 embryo frozen from the first cycle and 5 from the second cycle for future attempts. Though we did not meet the goal of creating MORE eggs the second cycle, it was far and away a better cycle with better results, and my follicles grew close in size with the second protocol. It was obvious throughout the whole cycle that my body responded better. I was also more relaxed because I knew what to expect.

Agnes called me with test results and always responded to my emails in a timely fashion if I emailed her with lower-priority questions. It was obvious to me that she works with a lot of patients because she would not remember specific details about my past with the practice, such as whether or not I had IUIs prior to IVF, etc. The more time I spent with the practice, the more familiar I felt she was with me. When other nurses subbed in for Agnes or when I was monitored over the weekend at a different office, I found that other nurses often gave me more information as far as specific numbers; sometimes I would have to ask for exact values rather than just hearing from her that they were "good" or "normal" or "a little low."

FCI has a state of the art IVF clinic that's one of the biggest and best in the area, which I consider a good thing for IVF because you want experience on your side when it comes to embryologists and doctors. One thing to keep in mind is that the chances are small that your doctor will perform one or more of your procedures. Nurses perform IUIs and the doctors rotate for retrievals and transfers. I had 4 different doctors (one was my own doctor) for the 2 retrievals and 2 transfers I did and you will be meeting those doctors on the day of the procedure just a few minutes before. Being monitored at one of the smaller suburban satellite offices provided a more intimate experience than the main hub in River North, which is higher volume.

We have insurance coverage for infertility after meeting our $5,000 deductible. Items not covered by our insurance included backup sperm freeze for IVF ($500) and embryo freezing ($1200 up front plus additional yearly cost, about $500)

Dr. Sipe recommended a single embryo transfer on Day 5 for my age (35). We also wanted to reduce the risk of multiples and we agreed with this recommendation.

He is a smart doctor. He relies heavily on results, studies, and research. We appreciate all of those things but also wanted compassion and personalization. I also didn't enjoy the 'poor responder" placed on me much of the time. We also felt that we had to do a lot of homework as supplemental treatments weren't really discussed. I didn't like feeling like we had to remember everything to ask or it wouldn't be offered.

Don't expect to be coddled and do your own homework.

A little too blunt for our taste. It often felt like information shared was in the form of "ripping the bandaid off" and with dry humor. We always wanted the honest answers but would have preferred more compassion surrounding this topic.

We primarily worked with Anto Higgins and she was the shining light in our experience with Dr.Sipe and River North FCI. The only thing I felt bad about was that Anto would take any of the negative feedback/ frustrations that we shared personally. I found the nursing staff to be very frustrating with sharing conflicting/competing information, the lack of compassion, and lack of information shared about procedures. I felt that I had to turn into a nurse myself to make sure I was aware of what all was happening to my body and I found that to be unacceptable. The whole experience added so much more stress to an already stressful situation.

It feels like a cattle call, but you typically aren't waiting too long. I've had many issues with calling and not being able to leave a voicemail or have one returned in a timely manner with trying to book appointments.

I thought Dr. Sipe was knowledgeable and kind. He made sure we understood what was happening. Our clinic was large, so while he did our consultation, explained what we were testing (and did some himself) and gave the results and prescribed next steps, I did not see him each time I was in the clinic. For me this was fine because it meant I didn't need to be there as long each time.

He will tell you what is going on in a way you can understand, but doesn't seem big on sugar-coating.

Dr. Sipe was very friendly, and it helped that he went to med school with my husband's urologist. He used humor at times (never in a way that made me uncomfortable), and he was respectful of our apprehension/pessimism. He did a good job explaining the steps, which I appreciated. But I should note that while he treated me he was not on call for my retrieval or transfer, so different doctors did the actual procedures. But it was explained this was a possibility at the very beginning, so it wasn't a surprise.

We needed ivf with icsi due to male factor issues, so we were trying to limit my follicle growth without suppressing. Sorry, but I don't remember my protocols exactly.

I worked very closely with the nurses and emailed them often. They called frequently (sometimes daily) to tell me anything about my blood draws and any changes to my protocol. There was one day where I did not get a call (my coordinator was off) and sort of freaked out, but after calling and leaving a message I had a prompt response. All told, it was a good experience.

Strengths: top embryologists, super organized, convenient to my home and work, clean, made parking accessible. Weaknesses: men are considered not the primary patient. With MFI this is a huge weakness. My husband felt uncomfortable in the sperm rooms because they were off of the main hallway and he could hear all the people coming and going, and his calls were not always returned the way mine are. They need to remember male patients are often half of the equation. Also very large, so it can feel like a cattle call during blood draws and ultrasounds in the morning.

There was a financial counselor assigned to our case, which was helpful. They ran our insurance and gave us the best description of services and costs (better than the insurance company), and it was very accurate. Since we had insurance coverage our costs were very luckily minimal.

Dr. Sipe is an excellent clinician. He was sympathetic, comforting, and compassionate. Most importantly, he is kind. He took the time to walk through our diagnosis and recent test results. He answered all of our questions (many before we even asked them).

You are your own best advocate. My advice is to go in prepared with a list of questions. Chances are Dr. Sipe will answer them without you having to ask them, but it's good to have them handy. Time with an FCI doctor is precious so use it to your advantage and ask as many questions as you want/need to. Dr. Sipe will never make you feel rushed and he will always walk through each step of your treatment. If you need him to repeat himself, he will.

FCI is a large practice and you will feel like a number when you go in for blood work and ultra sounds, but Dr. Sipe makes every effort to engage with you when you go in for consults. He is kind and comforting during what is an extremely stressful process. You don't get a lot of time with him. Frankly, I only saw him when I was in for a consult. Over a year, I believe we had 5 consults, but I was okay with that. His job was to get me pregnant and to oversee my treatment not to hold my hand for every step of the way.

We transferred from another practice in a different state. Dr. Sipe was recommended to us by a friend who works in infertility (i.e., he is an embryologist in a different state and reached out to his network to get us a referral). Because we participate in a health insurance plan (Aetna) that follows the Illinois mandate, we were required to do 6 cycles of Clomid with IUI before we could get cleared to do IVF. After the first 3 failed cycles, Dr. Sipe wanted us to move to IVF but we had to do 3 more cycles before we could get approved. He expressed sympathy and frustration at the needless bureaucracy. After getting cleared for IVF, we did the long Lupron protocol and did a fresh embryo transfer, which worked! We are now pregnant and have several embryos that we were able to freeze.

Meghan is an incredibly sympathetic and kind nurse. She always answered my questions and promptly responded to my phone calls and e-mails.

My understanding is that FCI is the third largest infertility practice in the country. This means there are a LOT of patients in the waiting room (especially at the River North Clinic) and you may feel like a number. Do not let this alarm you! There are numerous benefits of being at a large practice. Their SART numbers are fantastic. They have a lot of experience dealing with a variety of diagnoses (male infertility factor, low AMH, etc.). They have many experienced phlebotomists and ultra sound technicians and do their best to move through patients as quickly as possible. If you can, try to get a doctor who does IVF procedures at the River North Clinic (as opposed to the Highland Park Clinic), because patients at River North can do retrievals and transfers based on their own cycle unlike patients at the Highland Park Clinic who have to cycle up when FCI has time at the clinic. Tip: If you're doing monitoring out of the River North Clinic, try to make your appointments around 9:15AM -- you miss the 1st morning rush and come in before the 2nd morning rush.

Treatment covered by insurance -- we paid copays and coinsurance.

Dr. Sipe listened to our concerns and responded with helpful advice (encouraging us to seek further information from third parties so we didn't feel as though the information was biased). He always seemed to remember information about us as though he really did remember us (I have a hard time believing any doctor really remembers many of their patients :)), always set us at ease by joking with us, and showed a lot of compassion for the rocky rough road of infertility. He also never pushed us to pursue any course of treatment and was willing to work with us - we wanted to use any embryo we created but also didn't want 10 children, so we limited the number of eggs we attempted to fertilize. It was clearly not normal procedure for the clinic, but he was willing to do what we were comfortable with. Anything negative I would say about him would actually be about the clinic or certain nurses, so perhaps the negative about him is that he didn't watch a particular nurse closely enough, but I'm not sure how much control he has over that.

Be willing to voice all of your concerns - he will listen and he will do his best to reassure/respond.

My husband and I were very hesitant to pursue IVF for ethical reasons. Rather than just writing us off or dismissing our concerns, he addressed our concerns and encouraged us to talk with a Christian doctor we trusted or a pastor at our church. It is thanks to his willingness to listen that we now have 3 beautiful children.

I know there were adjustments made from my first IVF cycle (4 embryos created, negative pregnancy test with first two embryos, and chemical pregnancy with FET with remaining two) to the second, and I believe it was to potentially improve the quality of the eggs retrieved (we were limiting the number of eggs retrieved and fertilized for our personal ethical reasons). The successful IVF cycle (twins with the 2 embryos, and then singleton with FET with remaining embryo two years later), we asked that Dr. Sipe do ICSI with only half of the eggs we were choosing to fertilize. Of the 10 we chose to fertilize (we froze the rest), 2 of the non-ICSI eggs became our twins, and 1 of the 5 ICSI became our singleton. The rest didn't make it. We started with birth control pills the cycle before retrieval and added lupron a little under a month later (my cycles were always screwy, and I always developed cysts with the birth control pills that slowed the process down). I don't remember cycle dates of when we started the remaining medications, but as we were trying to limit the number of eggs retrieved, we lowered the dosage of medications for the second round. I was on Lupron, Follistim, and Menopur for stim. Then did the HCG shot, and began progesterone in oil injections, vivelle dot patches, and baby aspirin during the 2ww. (And beyond for this cycle!)

My final primary nurse (I had several over the years) was awesome (how can I not remember her name?!). She was so caring and was willing to talk on the phone as long as I needed, answered any stupid questions I had (I had already gone through 2 IVFs and an FET at this point, so you would think I didn't have any more questions). She was so compassionate - I really like her a lot. The first I had no longer works at FCI, but she was terrible - if she was still working there after messing up one of my cycles really badly - resulting in cancelling it and delaying starting again for 2 months - we would have requested a different nurse. Thankfully she had moved on (of her own choice). The second was ok - Amanda, she just didn't have great "bedside manners", but she was efficient and organized. She may have been going through something because some days she was really friendly and others she seemed to be in a bad mood.

I've heard it described as a "baby factory". I personally don't think this is completely fair. It seemed to me that the doctors were willing to and wanting to deviate from "normal" protocols for individual women and do what is best for each patient. I even had a doctor perform a procedure on a holiday at the request of Dr. Sipe just because I had been traveling and if we didn't do it on this particular day, my next IVF would have been delayed by another month. He didn't have to do this, but he was willing to help us out. I appreciate that it's a huge clinic as it meant I didn't have to "cycle with other women" - we did it on my cycle, and there were doctors available every day of the week. Dr. Sipe did not perform all of my procedures, but that didn't bother me, either, as I know all the doctors at this clinic are very good at what they do. Although at first I felt a bit nameless in the clinic, by the time I got pregnant with my twins, the nurses and office staff were asking to see the ultrasound pics and celebrating with me. They knew me by name and were so compassionate and kind. I cried when we left for the final time because although I was glad to have that journey behind me, I appreciated the people who worked in the clinic very much and still kind of miss seeing them at 6:00 in the morning! It was also super helpful that they have clinics all over Chicagoland as I was able to do a lot of the monitoring at a clinic that was closer to my place of work, thus meaning I didn't miss work as much as I otherwise would have.

We had fantastic medical insurance, so I'm not entirely sure. I do know that when we had the first round of testing done and discovered that insurance didn't cover these tests, we didn't think we could afford to do anything else, but the clinic worked with us so that we could continue. The woman I talked to on the phone from the billing office was absolutely wonderful.

Dr. Sipe was very good about being warm and compassionate. At times we could have used more "information" but once we asked the right questions, we always got the answers we needed. I loved that he would do any and all procedures (IUI, retrieval, transfers, etc) if he was available. I still remember his personal call to me to let me know I was pregnant. He made sure to make himself available when we had important things to discuss, milestones to hit, changes in treatment, next steps, good news, bad news and all in-between!

If you are looking for a doctor who is warm and light hearted, with a sense of humor, he is it. He treats you like a person not a number. He keeps adjusting protocols until things are right. I loved working with him and would recommend him to friends and family who are struggling with infertility.

Dr. Sipe, in my opinion, had a very warm bedside manor. He helped keep things as "light" as they could be, and walked us through the process. We had questions, and hiccups along the way, but overall we had a good experience! He made sure that if he was available to do a procedure, he did it. He also took the time to call us with results, updates, etc!

My issue was not getting a period to return after getting off the pill (I was on the pill for 15 years). He used a mixture of clomid, progesterone and estrogen supplementation just to get my period started (took a year of trial and error). Once I got my period, we tried a cycle with injectables and tried naturally, which was unsuccessful. We tried again another cycle for IUI with injectables and were unsuccessful. We tried IUI again with a different protocol and ended up canceling the cycle because I was overstimulated. We tried our last IUI and ended up with a chemical pregnancy. From there we switched to IVF and our fist attempt was successful! - for IVF we used Lupron, Menopur, and Follistim, also I had to be on progesterone supplementation throughout.

JJ (who I believe is not longer at FCI) was warm and caring. She was exactly what I needed in a nurse. Great follow up and explanation of steps and medication. My only complaint - and this isn't JJ specific, is the clinic didn't do a great job of explaining the shot process (both abdominal and in the behind). We could have used more help there and had to do a lot of web research on how to best administer shots.

It is one of the largest, if not the largest in the city. The number of patients there didn't bother me, but some say it feels like a "factory". To me it just meant "I'm not alone, there are others in the same state as me." Overall you could tell they saw a lot of patients and to me that meant a lot of experience.

Monitoring was easy, I would just go early in the am and wait, but never more than 10-15 minutes for blood draws and/or ultrasounds.

I don't remember, we had great insurance (luckily), and had to pay maybe 10% out of pocket.

Dr Sipe is an excellent physician. He takes the time to explain prognosis and outcomes. Dr. Sipe gives evidence based recommendations and will not offer false hope by recommending the latest trends in Fertility treatment . He’s friendly, funny and professional.

Write things down. Ask questions. Do your research.

Dr. Sipe has many patients but he has always spent as much time as my husband and I needed. We experienced two miscarriages and he showed us compassion and listened to our concerns and heartache. He has a positive approach. He is very personable and is honest with his professional opinion.

I don’t remember the dosage but I was on birth control and Lupron to suppress hormones. Then given follistim, menopur and minivelle as my cycle progressed. Progesterone in oil 5 days prior to transfer.

Liala called me consistently with information the day of my appointments. She is excellent with communication and responds the same day to messages.

I feel the clinic is extremely proficient and the staff are professional. The facility is clean, there are short wait times during peak hours and people are friendly. The billing department can be difficult.

There is a large waiting room that can get busy but that doesn’t bother me. I felt the wait times were short but I was usually there early.

I can’t recall

I don’t

He failed to do an HSG on me, even after I requested, and after the IUI failed he wanted for me to repeat again with more expensive medication. I went to a second doctor to get another opionion, that doctor quickly discovered I had blocked tubes with HSG and also noted my blood work that I did with Dr. Sipe showed I have PCOS (so Dr. Sipe actually missed both diagnosis). He wouldn’t change medication protocols that thinned my lining. Negligent doctor that set me back previous time & money.

Get another RE fast!!! Second opionion if you have concerns

His office moved you through like cattle, he wouldn’t change medication protocols to tailor to individual needs under any circumstances (I had thin lining & he wanted to keep me on clomid bc that was the med he used exclusively), and he once joked about the shape of my uterus

He used the same cookie cutter recipe for every patient and didn’t consider their specific case

Every time I reached out I got a different nurse, it was hard to reach via phone. My IUI was performed by a tech I have never met.

This is place that moves you like a number. Tons of people in waiting room, many nurses who don’t know who you are, hard to get calls back. Very impersonable. Obviously my botched diagnosis was the biggest issue, but I learned that I was better off at a smaller clinic who would take a vested interest in my case.

2k of lab testing prior, 2.5k IUI, the next IUI cycle would’ve been 6k with injectibles

He was knowledgeable and patient. He explained everything and made us feel comfortable. He truly seemed like he wanted to help us start our family. He was willing to meet with us whenever we needed him. He also removed a polyp before our first retrieval and I felt very safe and in good hands.

Go into Ivf with an open mind. This can take some time. Also ask about the statistics for your specific age. That is very important to manage expectations.

His staff was amazing. They got to know me and really took great care of me.

I was on menopur and follistum both rounds but starts with Lupron and went to Ganirelix for the 2nd round. The clinic helped me out with medication when I ran out of coverage. I had better results with Lupron.

The entire staff was excellent. They all knew me by name and did their best to make me feel comfortable. I enjoyed chatting with Robin when I needed blood drawn. Stacy was a Great tech. And Patricia eased my nerves with every change and helped me with meds when I was running low.

They are organized and efficient. I never waited more than 10 minutes for an appointment. They also have a Chicago office for weekend appointments. The retrieval’s were both smooth and I was very comfortable each time.

I have a blue cross PPO. Both my procedures were covered at 100 percent. They were around $5000. All the monitoring was covered by insurance as well.

While I appreciated that he would try to simply diagnosis and treatment for us (non-scientific folk), it came across as though he wasn’t as driven to get results - felt more like he was trying to be our friend. When after the second transfer (all from 1 Retrieval) we still weren’t pregnant, we changed treatment protocol for our 2nd Retrieval...we got less eggs but NO embryos. He recommended just going back to the initial protocol for our 3rd Retrieval (we decided to get a 2nd opinion instead). He also didn’t fully disclose efficacy risks of freezing/thawing to genetic test/freezing to wait for Transfer/thawing for Transfer...we wasted 2 embryos that were perfectly fine

If you want friendly, he’s your Dr!

He was always very personable and empathetic - he often tried to lighten the mood by making jokes.

There were always long waits on a Monday or holiday...mornings were certainly the busiest. They definitely seem to over schedule themselves a lot! The billing team was always friendly, I felt like they were all rooting for us too! Not so much can be said for general reception. They would forget to record that you arrived (despite filling out a form) which meant you racked up lovely parking bills.

Cattle call, with a line around the corner

It varied greatly as my insurance went from not being covered to pseudo covered

Dr Sipe was very personable from he start. He was thorough with explaining treatment and was realistic with us. A lot of communication during treatment was via his nurse, she was great but would have preferred to have his email.

Make sure to ask questions if you’re u clear about something

personable, easy to talk with, personalized care

All staff was wonderful!

I never felt like a bnumber at FCI, how we I know some patients have said that. I felt I received individualized care. All transfers and procedures are done in their main clinic in Chicago. They have several offices throughout the suburbs. My nurse was available via email and responded promptly.

They were open in early AM which made it convenient so that it didn’t impact work hours

Approximately $30K including all transfers, procedures, appts and meds.

Our first transfer we transferred 1 embryo (our “best”) one that resulted in a negative. The second transfer we transferred 2 - it was negative. Third transfer we transferred 2 and that resulted in a singleton pregnancy.

He is very informative and nice and doesn't sugar coat. I have already referred 3 people to him and 2 of which have children and one is currently in his care. That pretty much speaks for itself.

You will be more in contact with his nurse than him, but they do deliver questions to him for answers.

He was very personable and nice. He displayed my son's birth announcement in his office.

Estrogen priming worked for me.

Anto is the best nurse at FCI, she emailed back within 6 hours with all information. She was very compassionate and I felt like I was her friend.

It is very much a well oiled machine. There are hundreds of women there; so expect that you won't get much one-one attention every single day throughout your cycle. If you do what they say and show up on time; you will be successful.

11K for all of the monitoring and egg retrieval/transfer. 15k for medication

He is a wonderful doctor. The fact that I had a disappointing outcome was not due to him. Very knowledgeable, a good communicator, and (unlike the rest of the clinic) actually runs on time

Advocate for shorter wait times. He is a great doc but I'm considering leaving due to the obscene waits.

He is a very compassionate doctor

Typical ivf cycle and FET

My biggest frustration with nursing team was lack of communication. I would often need to wait many hours for a call back to questions. The primary nurse was also constantly OOO and there was no clear back up. Over July 4th I was frantic to get ahold of someone and I got like 5 OOo messages.

The biggest issue are the waits. Verrry often I would wait 2 hours to get through an appt. this is not acceptable and somewhat cruel when we women are going there constantly- managing kids and work.

$25k

Dr. Sipe was friendly, but didn't explain things in detailed terms. Hr tip toed around questions. Really rush face to face interviews. I felt like a number and not a patient. I wish he would have done all tests before hand than waiting to test after failed cycle.

Ask questions and do medical research before going.

Never really took time and explained things really fast. Never give me straight answers.

I really don't remember, but a lot of injectables with progesterone. Babys aspirin taking daily until pregnancy test. Clomid given first retrieval and second retrieval lupron and follistism.

The nurses were not compassionate. They never will returned calls back or give results on time. I think the nurses needed training on how to treat patients.

The clinic was clean but was always to pack and busy where you would wait 1hr for ultrasound or lab draw.

I had insurance but out of pocket total $4,000 for labs and deductibles.

Yes, Dr. Sipe suggested to transfer 2 to increase my changes.

Be certain to bring specific questions. Especially if you will be having testing done outside the downtown Chicago location.

Dr. Sipe always new our medical details rather than staring at a computer screen the whole time we spoke) and also asked how we were thinking and feeling at different stages along the way.

We started with 3 rounds of IUI with Clomid (5 days 50 mg start day 3). And ended up moving on to IVF with ICSI with assisted hatching using lupron, 75 units follistim and 75 units of menopur and 10 units of luprone 6pm-9pm for 5 days and then triggered with 500 HCG. After the 5 day transfer progesterone patch was used along with POI (until 11 weeks).

My nurse was difficult to get a hold of for same day response and frequently forgot which clinic location I was going to.

I'm sorry, billing came in over such a long period I am not certain how cost really broke down.

He is genuine & kind. He gave us the percentages & was willing to work with us to help us achieve our goal of having a child. I miss not being able to see him regularly as I would my obgyn. He is one special doctor!

Trust him. He's patient & personable. He's down to earth & an awesome doctor. He makes you feel relaxed & at ease.

I felt like a human because his team took care of me & my concerns. Someone was always there to support me & answer any questions I might have.

2 rounds of IVF involving injectibles & success in round 2!

Awesome communicators, personable, caring, sympathetic. The best nurses I've encountered & I work in the medical field.

Great hours, staff & facility. No problems with getting appointments when I needed them. Top notch!

Around $5000 out of pocket for 2 rounds of IVF, including meds. I'm lucky to have good insurance.

He is very friendly & honest. I think his biggest fault is the system he works in which is big & not personal. He explained the big picture, but left the nurses to explain the details. He was always willing to help out - especially in the donor egg process

Make sure to ask all your questions ask for the email for him directly

He was personable. explained things fully to me. responded to my questions. was available by email

i don't remember exactly but we started with low dose and then proceeded up

It's just really hit or miss with nurses at FCI. Some are amazing & others are just going through a protocol that they have to follow

they see a lot of patients they have early morning hours before work they see so many patients - sometimes you feel like a hamster on a wheel impersonal nurses especially at chicago site

10,000

It was professional and pleasant.

Ask questions and take notes. Dont be afriad to tell him to repeat it his answers.

I just felt he didnt not have time for one on one to go into details. He was kind and polite but not enough patient care.

I really don't remember but a lot of lupron and progesterone

Antoinette was very kind

They do not have up to date equipment and they are slow

$32000 with insurance

I highly recommend Dr. Sipe. he is a very honest and caring person. I felt that he did not lead me on about my chances. he was easy to understand. Dr Sipe was very smart and is a good doctor. It was a good experience working with him!

Be prepared to hear the truth.

He was very honest with me and I felt that he cared about me

i dont remember. they were ok.

it was pretty good.

with insurance probably 20k including egg donor