Cynthia Austin

Dr Austin was thorough in our initial meeting and provided some education for my husband who was not as familiar with the various options. She is very responsive through My Chart but I really didn't see her or talk to her more than a few times throughout our journey.

After hearing about some of my other friends experiences at other clinics, their doctor is more hands-on and communicates through phone and text more frequently providing a more personal experience.

While we only met 2 or 3 times with Dr Austin (the rest of the appointments were usually bloodwork, ultrasounds, appts with nurses), she definitely made us feel like this is possible and she listened. She also was very patient, had zero ego and she gave us confidence in the lab as well as answered questions.

We discussed all strategies but we had already tried Clomid and due to my age, we decided that it may be more efficient to go straight to IVF. Dr Austin felt confident that we'd have good results with the microdose Lupron protocol and gave us the pros/cons of PGS. We decided to do that in combination with the retrieval. After only having 5 eggs retrieved (all 5 made it Day 5 blasts), we were disappointed to only have 1 PGS normal embryo. Since we had paid for the PGS to have 8 embryos tested in total and we wanted to have more than 1 embryo, we did a second retrieval right away (similar protocol but slightly more aggressive). We had 6 embryos make it to Day 5/6 blasts and 2 were PGS normal (1 didn't have enough DNA). We've had one successful FET (single embryo) but it's still very early in the process (week 6). We did have some issues with regulating my thyroid which I had to push a little to explore more with a different endocrinologist and I wish I had pushed harder for Endometrial Scratch Biopsy.

Sally is a much more experienced nurse and while I appreciate her compassion, the customer service is a bit to be desired. I work in a place where it is difficult to take private phone calls. She never checks my medical records prior to calling and then asks questions that are very difficult to answer in a public environment. I eventually got so frustrated with this that I had to give my patient husband the responsibility of corresponding with her. She has a heart of gold and I appreciate all that she has done. I'm sure it's not an easy job but when you pay so much money for something, you want excellent service.

Very thorough lab and I really enjoyed the retrieval and transfer process immensely. It was difficult to predict communication such as calls, lab results, etc. Some of the doctors were better about introducing themselves to us than others. And it seems that they are still a little bit behind as far as using binders and paper but you do have decent access to labs and can communicate through MyChart. I felt like everyone genuinely cared. I only had one that ultrasound tech who wasn't friendly at all. Again, it's a more expensive clinic than most and you'd expect customer service expectations to reflect that cost. The only other comment is that I had asked for Endometrial Scratch Biopsy early in the process but when I confirmed whether we could schedule it, we were too far along in the transfer process. Also, similar to this, we had an erratic thyroid issue and Dr Austin seemed less concerned than other medical professionals involved in my care but could have led to miscarriage had we done the transfer. As a result, it was postponed.

We paid around $35k for 2 retrievals/PGS/drugs and one FET.

Dr Austin discouraged us from multiple embryo transfer due to increased risks. We also didn't want to take our chances with so few frozen embryos in storage.

The first time I met with Dr. Austin, she spent over an hour with me going over previous treatment and what she suggested next. She helped me set a realistic timeline with moving forward. I didn't see much of her after this initial meeting, but we did communicate via her nurse as well as my chart messaging directly. When I had a miscarriage, we messaged back and forth regarding what we should do next and Her nurse called me directly.

She is very direct and realistic. She will tell you her opinion, but ultimately lets you lead the way in your care.

I felt like Dr. Austin is always making decisions based upon my personal situation.

I had used the long lupron protocol at a previous clinic with disappointing results. We did stims for 9.5 days, triggered and had 8 eggs with 3 embryos. 2 transfers ended in miscarriage and one was unsuccessful. With Dr. Austin, we did the antagonistic protocol with much better results. Stims for 12 days: 16 mature eggs, 6 final embryos. Our fresh transfer unfortunately ended in miscarriage but we have 5 more embryos. We are hoping to find the cause of our recurrent miscarriages before transferring any more embryos.

Chelsea is amazing! So compassionate, very responsive, and knowledgeable.

Cleveland Clinic fertility center has very short wait times and it was easy to schedule appointments. They are open 7 days a week with early hours (6:30 am) which makes it easy to work around your schedule. Their lab does close over the Christmas holiday for 3 weeks.

Cleveland Clinic offers employee discount at about 60% off IVF. Deposit was about $5800, meds were around $3000. I am still getting bills from labs/ultrasounds etc that are being run through insurance.

Dr. Austin suggested single embryo transfer based on my age (30 yo). However, she did say the decision was ultimately up to me.

As a single woman trying to have a child on her own, I knew going into this I would end up meeting people that didn't fully agree with my decision. During the initial consultation Dr. Austin asked me, "What on Earth would make you consider this at the tender age of 29 years old?" Tender age of 29... As if 29 was way too young to be considering having children. She did do a good job explaining the process of IUI and what to expect very well and let me know up front that I would not be seeing her often, since the nurses run the show and perform the IUI's. During the entire process (5 IUI's) and after each negative, I voiced my concern that no fertility testing had been done. No HSG to check for blocked tubes, no blood test to check ovarian reserve. I was continually told, I'm "young and healthy" and they aren't necessary. Same thing happened with medicated cycles. We started off with un-medicated cycles. After two negatives, I had to more or less stress I wanted to try a medicated cycle. After getting the doctor to agree, we started letrozole. After timing issues, I once again had to suggest trying the HCG trigger shot and trying monitored cycles with ultrasound. I called and voiced my frustration to the secretary and tried to schedule a meeting with Dr. Austin before my next cycle. The secretary told me she didn't have anything open for the next 2 months, but would pass the message along to the doctor. Luckily, Dr. Austin did call me back very promptly and offered to squeeze me in for a meeting. At the meeting, she did apologize for my frustration, and we discussed each negative cycle. I once again voiced my concern that we don't even know if my tubes are open. She still wasn't on board with doing an HSG, but said if I really wanted it, she would order it. She more or less told my next steps were moving to IVF. We discussed the difference between IUI and IVF, what it involves and the cost and I left with paper work on IVF, and the decision to make weather to use my remaining vials for IUI or save them for IVF. I decided to do one more IUI and save my last vial for IVF. In the end, it did work out since I did get pregnant with my last IUI attempt, but felt there was a lot of unnecessary frustration along the way.

If you have any concerns or questions about procedures/meds/timing, be insistent on making sure the nurses pass the information along to the Doctor. I had some timing issues with IUI and voiced my concerns to the secretary/nurses, and it appears the doctor was never notified.

Every time I had to call with a question or concern, I was treated as if I were an annoyance to not only the staff, but to the doctor as well. For the amount of time and money spent trying to get pregnant, I wanted to make sure I was not only doing this right, but optimizing every chance I had to ensure success.

I did 5 IUI's. The first two were completely un-medicated, due to my younger age and no know health issues. Both unmedicated cycles were negative. The third IUI was medicated with Letrozole 2.5mg. Letrozole was used because my cycles tended to be on the longer side and I wasn't ovulating until day 20-23 of my cycle. This cycle was negative. The fourth was letrozole 2.5mg, HCG trigger shot, and monitored ultrasounds for follicle count. HCG trigger shot and ultrasound were used to better pin point ovulation timing. This cycle was negative. The fifth was Letrozole 2.5mg, HCG trigger shot, monitored ultrasounds, and progesterone 200mg suppositories since my luteal phase was a bit on the short side. The 5th IUI resulted in a positive pregnancy.

The nursing staff was very friendly. I lucked out and had the same nurse for 4 of my 5 IUI cycles, and a different nurse for one.

Overall, I feel as if I were treated more as a number than a patient, which is very unfortunate. In the end they did deliver me results, but with a lot of frustration along the way. A huge weakness is the phone system. I can't think of a single time I called where I was able to talk to the secretary in less than 10 minutes of being on hold. The longest I had ever waited to get a hold of someone was 18 minutes.

Dr. Austin was very thorough. We did every test we could so far. The one test we haven't done, she wanted to wait to do until we were ready to start IVF (currently saving for this). I wish she wouldn't have encouraged us to do 4 IUI's and just told us to start saving for IVF sooner. IUI's aren't covered by our insurance, so knowing that money could have gone to the savings is frustrating. I wish we would have met with her in person more often rather that communicating with her via the nurse all the time, however, when we did meet with her she was always so caring. She was very carful with her words when discussing testing, keeping in mind that our first and only child died, which is incredibly important to my husband and I.

Don't get frustrated when she isn't the one your seeing all the time, but know that nothing is done without her input.

When we would meet with Dr. Austin, she spend a good hour each time going over every little thing we could ask her, making sure if we didn't understand something to find a better way to explain it, drew us diagrams of the entire process for us to keep for notes. She was truly wonderful.

She saw that the first doctor we went to only prescribed clomid without doing any tests. That was the first thing she wanted done- to find out the cause of my cycle's just stopping and getting out of whack. Once we learned more about me through the tests, she prescribed me a thyroid medication, as well as increased the Clomid. When that no long worked, we switched to a letrozole. We began doing IUI's and trigger shots during the second cycle of letrozole. Every month when a treatment wouldn't work, she would go back to the drawing board and thing of another test that could be done (which I liked, I felt that she really was doing everything she could).

Our primary nurse was so wonderful. Would call to give me updates as much as she could and always had something positive to say to help us get through the experience.

I wish IVF wasn't so expensive. They have a wonderful staff, but certain procedures are only done during certain hours because of sharing equipment, which can be a pain for people who don't always have the time to take off of work during those set hours.

We spent at least $4,000 between all the tests, copays, IUI's and medication. Not to mention the money spend on the high quality pre-natal vitamins, and the organic, fertility diet my husband and I were on.

I had this question for her during one of our meetings. I brought it up because during my first pregnancy, I experienced a placental abruption and was afraid that by implanting more that one embryo, I was putting myself and too great a risk. But because of my daughter being stillborn because of that placental abruption and educating myself on how often pregnancy loss occurs, I thought maybe implanting two would be better. Dr. Austin talked my husband and I though it, and we all agreed that a single embryo would be best for my situation.

I did not get to see Dr. Austin very often. I think I only met with her three times. When we did meet she was very straight forward and honest. I did feel a little like she would get confused about my diagnosis or issues. Sometimes I had to remind her that we had borderline low morphology or endo. Although she is hard to get a meeting with, she personally called me after each failed cycle to discuss the next steps. She also was always very good at responding via My Chart, Cleveland Clinic's messaging system. I definitely got to know my nurses better than her, but I felt like she was available if I needed to contact her.

She is very straight forward which can be difficult to take when you are so emotional already. Still she was very understanding about all my worries and concerns and took the time to address them.

The staff at Cleveland Clinic Beachwood learned my name and never forgot it. From the receptionist to the doctor, everyone was very friendly and compassionate. Even at times when I was less than happy, they kept a smile on their face.

I was diagnosed with Diminished Ovarian Reserve with an AMH of 0.131 at age 27. I also had an abnormal HSG which lead to a laproscopy where they found that my right ovary had the tube twisted around it and was atrophied. After many cycles we found that my right ovary never produced. They also found endo on my left ovary which they removed. After my surgery, I was given the option to move straight to IVF or start with IUI first. Dr. Austin was honest that I needed to move quickly considering my AMH levels, but gave me the option of IUI or IVF. Because we were paying out of pocket, we decided to try IUI with clomid first. After 3 unsuccessful rounds we moved on to IVF. My first round of IVF was an Antagonist protocol. Dr. Austin referred to it as the most aggressive protocol. I did not respond well to the meds and also had a cyst emerge so that cycle was converted to an IUI. The next 2 cycle I did mini IVF which both were canceled due to a lead follicle emerging. The last cycle I did with Austin was an micro flare lupron cycle. They retrieved 7 eggs, 6 mature, 4 fertilized but all stopped growing by day 3. Dr. Austin suggested donor eggs at this point (though she had mentioned it to me before) and I decided to pursue this route. I found an egg bank with a donor I liked that was outside of the Cleveland Clinic and Dr. Austin stopped being my primary at that point althought I still did testing there.

I actually did not get assigned a primary nurse but I really liked working with Nicole and requested her for everything. She was wonderful and friendly and positive and everything you could want in a nurse. The other nurses I worked with were also great. The ultrasound techs were proficient and quick as was the blood lab. Both secretaries at the front office were so helpful and kind.

I think the biggest strength of the Cleveland Clinic is it's cutting edge technology and labs. They were able to do all tests and labs right in office. They had on-staff people to do everything from the surgery to HSG to the blood word to embryo assessment, etc. This made getting results quick and efficient. I also think have multiple specialists on staff os great. There were several IVF specialists, male infertility specialists, etc. They also have great appointment times. I was able to do 6:30 a.m. appointments for all my scans and bloodwork which allowed me to still get to work on time daily. They also are open every day of the year except Christmas Eve and Christmas day. Weaknesses... The biggest weakness of Cleveland Clinic was their knowledge on how much things would cost. Many patients pay out of pocket, like myself and while they did provide cost break downs they were so far from accurate it was shocking. They quote you for an IUI around $460 but after the meds, scans and bloodwork that insurance doesn't cover it was more like $3,000 each time. The billing department was unable to help you figure out what was covered by your insurance as well. I was able to get the codes but even my insurance company was unsure until after the fact about what each scan would cost. Another weakness is the pharmacy. Barron's is the pharmacy they recommend using. It is a wonderful place with super helpful people, but they are not the cheapest. I wish I would have known that by I had trust CC with they said it was the cheapest. Overall I felt they had no idea what their procedures were really costing patients. At times I wanted additional tests done, like vitamin D or FSH, but CC was unwilling. They were also unwilling to try estrogen priming and other procedures that sometimes work for patients with low AMH. I felt they were very rigid in their views and treatments. The last weakness may be more personal but still... after my 4th failed IVF I decided to move on to donor eggs. I searched the 2 donor egg banks CC recommends but was unable to find any donors I liked. I searched for several weeks before eventually branching out and looking at other donor egg banks. Eventually I found a donor I loved but it brought me under the care of a different lead RE. The RE was located in California where I'd be traveling for my transfer but I still needed all my monitoring done at Cleveland Clinic. The second I was no longer under Dr. Austin's care, they stopped helping me. Dr. Austin even met with me to say she could no longer answer questions for me because she didnt want to step on toes. I completely understood this. What I didnt understand is why I could no longer use their lab for blood work or get the appointment times that I had been using for 3 years. After I switched doctors my blood work had to be done at the main lab where I would wait for an hour at times. Then the blood would have to be sent to an external lab to be processed and results would sometimes take 1 or 2 days to come in. They even sent me to a whole other branch of the Cleveland Clinic to do a procedure they had done on my twice before, but they would no longee due since Dr. Austin wasn't my primary. I was confused by this since they were still receiving my money for these appoinyments. I felt like I was just a number to them at that point. Prior to this I had not felt that way though, but I felt it needed to be mentioned.

Quick and easy monitoring appointments at convenient times. The lab techs were proficient and quick.

I mentioned this in the weakness portion but... I paid put of pocket for everything. I felt Cleveland Clinic was unaware of how much their procedures really cost their patients. They always provided estimates but were so far off it was shocking. Their billing department was unable to help me predict costs and even my own insurance company wasnt much help. They quoted IUI as costing $460 plus meds but it really cost $3000 once scans and blood work were factored in. The IVF cycles ran anywhere from 18,000-30,000, but whatever their quotes were it always cost at least a couple thousand more.

I never made it to transfer but Dr. Austin did mention that she prefers to only transfer 1 embryo. If we only had 2 poorer quality embryos she said she would consider transfering 2 at that point but we would need to have a discussion about the risks.

When I met with Dr. Austin, I was very frustrated with my other treatments at a different clinic. I had many questions regarding the failure of that clinic and the possibility for success at Cleveland Clinic. Dr. Austin never promised anything and never said anything against the former clinic. At my first visit, she was kind, but very professional. (I am sure that physicians are extra cautious when they are meeting with someone who was upset with a former clinic-- as they do not know if being frustrated is warranted). However, as my treatments progressed, Dr. Austin became so much warmer and appeared personally invested. She never gave me false hope, but also listened to my concerns, explained treatment options and allowed my husband and I to determine what was best for us based on those options. Even after my first failed IVF, I felt confident that even if the treatments did not work for us, we had done everything possible.

I think that when I first met Dr. Austin, I felt that she was professionally kind, but not warm. However, after my first meeting with her, this changed and she became much warmer. I would not worry if at first Dr. Austin does not appear as warm.

Dr. Austin was always very responsive to my e-mails and phone calls. After my first failed IVF with Dr. Austin (2 embryos transferred, neither were successful), I met with her and she appeared truly disappointed and sympathetic to my concerns and devastation. Dr. Austin answered my questions and concerns clearly and did not give me false hope, but she was always kind and sensitive to my feelings. She truly was amazing.

My first treatment involved doing injectibles (I believe Gonal-F and Menopur and Ganirelix--this was used briefly). The goal of this was to increase the number of eggs, but I only had 4 eggs and 3 were retrieved, I believe. My second cycle I think they called the Antagonist-Agonist cycle and it began with Lupron the cycle before my IVF cycle. I then used Gonal-F, Menopur and Ganirelix. I was told this is not used as frequently and is not a plan that 'makes sense' on paper, but they have used this almost as a last effort to increase the number of embryos and had good success with patients who have not had success with other treatments. With this cycle, I had 6 eggs and 4 retrieved-- 3 were mature and fertilized. Following each egg retrieval, I used an estrogen patch and progesterone.

I loved Sally. She is very thorough and spent time making sure I completely understood the plan. I knew that if I called her, she would always call me back. I drove up from 2 hours away and every time i was there, she offered me something to drink for the ride home and told me to have a safe trip back. Sally truly cared about me and my treatment.

I think just to start, when I called to make my appointment, I think they offered one within one week; I expected to wait much longer. Cleveland Clinic at Beachwood was easy to find and it was also easy to park. The waiting room was spacious and had a television screen with information about IVF as well as pictures of success stories. The area where procedures were completed was like a mini hospital floor. The nurses there were very kind and I never questioned their knowledge or experience. Everything was kept very clean, which was not what I had experienced before. For me, I was just impressed that they sedated me for the egg retrieval (I had been wide awake at the other clinic I went to and that was terrifying). At the embryo transfer, my husband had to put on scrubs and I needed to be in a gown-- both of us needed to cover our feet and hair as well. The lab technicians were also professional and knowledgeable.

I do not remember the costs

She was wonderful! She was very understanding and compassionate. She even pointed out mistakes that other Fertility MD had made and explained to us why they were not for us and how she could help us to get a successful cycle. She treated us like family. She was always available and if she could not speak with us she made sure that someone else was. She even called to tell us that she was not going to be able to do our Frozen transfer and told us who would and gave us her number to speak with her beforehand!

Enjoy the time you have with her. Ask questions.

She was very thorough at our Consult and went over a detailed plan of care and all the possibilities that might come up and how to make the changes needed to make our cycle a successful one. He nurse was always reachable and compassionate. She came and spoke to me before my retrieval and was there to talk to us when it was finished.

She was always reachable and willing and ready to help in any way she could. Very compassionate and caring.

Dr. Austin is extremely knowledgeable in her field. She takes the time to explain not only what the steps will be, but what is happening in the body, with diagrams and all. She listens to concerns, emails back and forth, and has a calming demeanor. She is trustworthy and you know she is capable in her field.

Know the time commitment it will take, especially if not local.

She emailed me directly back and forth when I had questions. She understood my concerns and was very direct in a way I could understand.

She made sure I was taken care of both while in the office and at home, with all questions answered, everything understood, and was very kind.

I like that it is a smaller facility for easy accessibility. The receptionists are very friendly. They don't do ultrasounds based on who arrived first however. If more than one person arrives at the same time, it's whomever's file gets picked up first.

IUI is around $300 IVF is around $10,000 Both costs are without medication

Dr. Austin stated that they don't typically do more than 2 embryos transferred per cycle.

We really only met with Dr Austin twice, so much of my review is meant for the Clinic in general. But Dr Austin was extremely knowledgeable and very helpful. We felt very comfortable with her and her experience.

Have all your questions written down and ready to ask... The first consultation is overwhelming.

While we did not work with Dr Austin all that much, we were assigned to a nurse and she was almost always available to take our calls and questions. Or she would call us back in a short time period. She walked us through every step.

The nurses were awesome. Everyone was helpful, called me back quickly, provided answers to every question, reassured us along the way.

Great success rates for IVF. A little more expensive than other ones, but worth it.

About $17,000