David E. Carnovale

He is incredibly thorough and attentive. He knows when to be light hearted and when to be serious. He was great at explaining endometriosis and he expressed sympathy and disdain at the fact that I had not felt cared for or valued at our first fertility clinic. When I came to him with a pregnancy, he was positive and upbeat--but when the ultrasound revealed that the pregnancy might not be viable, he didn't sugar coat. He was clear that I might miscarry (which I did) but he did not rub it in or do so in a manner that was thoughtless. We eventually did have success in conceiving with our second round of IVF and are now seeing him for treatment in trying to conceive baby number 2. Though time has passed and his practice has grown, the attention to detail has not faltered. I still see Dr. Carnovale at EVERY visit, he still takes time to answer EVERY question, and is still as attentive as ever. I've always felt cared for and valued and respected, not talked down to, and my opinion/input/thoughts are always considered and respected.

Take notes. He is incredibly smart and will walk you through everything. But also always come with your questions written down. He'll take the time to answer them, but if you don't have them written down, sometimes he's so thorough that you get caught up in all the info he's giving you and forget the other questions you had. Also--be yourself. I know others that love Dr. Carnovale but find him a bit quiet or reserved. He definitely can be that way, but if you relax and just be yourself, he can actually be really funny!

He took the time to really listen to me and my husband before ever doing a physical examination. Even though he had thoroughly reviewed our medical history, he asked ME questions and listened to MY answers. He asked what our desires were, what our desired outcome was and how quickly we wanted to get there. He cared about what we had to say and took all the time needed to answer questions. As we progressed through treatment, our first attempt at IVF resulted in a cancellation and change to IUI due to poor response to stimulation medications. It was hard news to take, and he was caring and considerate and understanding. Furthermore, when we came back to start our next round of IVF, he remembered how i had struggled and asked how I was feeling. He asks questions about us as a family, and remembers details of our lives. We are not just a medical record number.

He suggested and did perform laparoscopic surgery for endometriosis after reviewing and listening to my symptoms as well as seeing evidence on an US. We did conceive naturally after that but miscarried. We started IVF in the fall of 2016. Our first round, I responded poorly to the stimulation medications, so we switched to IUI that cycle, which failed. We then waited a couple months (holiday season) and then did IVF again in January of 2017. This time, with the addition of Omnitrope (human growth hormone). With that medication protocol, we achieved successful egg retrieval, got 9 egs, 8 of which fertilized with ICSI, and 3 of which made it to day 5. Transfered 2, 1 frozen. Successful singleton pregnancy carried to term! We have just started IVF for baby #2, after having another endometriosis excision surgery in August. This time I have DOR as well, so the protocol has changed slightly to include higher doses of stim medications as well as the Omnitrope.

They are ALL so so supportive. I know at least 2 of the nurses were former infertility patients themselves, so the level of empathy is off the charts. Every member of the staff takes the time to answer my questions no matter how stupid or annoying. They clearly communicate well internally, because the transition between staff members--if necessary--is always seamless. They work together very well as a team, and that results in stellar patient care.

Since I first began seeing Dr. Carnovale, they have moved to a brand new office in the same building. It is very nice, clean, and private. The great part is that now the lab and embryologist are all part of the same suite as the medical staff. In fact, they can now do retrievals and transfers in their suite as well, where previously you had to go to the OR at the adjoining hospital. Usually you are one of the only patients in the office. You may see one or two other patients. But they don't try and cram tons of patients in at once, which results in you having plenty of unrushed time with the staff. In addition, they are usually very prompt--if your appointment is at a given time, expect to be seen at that time. No waiting for an hour! All around it's just a peaceful, non-stressful place to visit with caring staff and they respect your time.

My laparoscopy was robotic, so total cost would have been $64,000(ish) without insurance. It was covered though since it's not considered fertility treatment. If I needed to have a tube repaired, it would have been $2500 . One round of IVF is approx $12,500 with another $2500-$4,000 for meds.

Both Dr. Carnovale and the embryologist discussed with me the risks/rewards of transferring 1-2 embryos. Based on quality, my age, and my history of miscarriage, we mutually decided to transfer 2, which resulted in a singleton pregnancy.

Dr. Carnovale is a nice guy, I wouldn't say he is necessarily a super emotional person but does explain things in detail, answers questions, and takes into consideration your personal and physical limitations. He listened to my background and finally diagnosed me with something instead of what I was used to hearing, which is pain is normal.

Make sure you ask questions and follow up questions and ask for more details.

Dr. Carnovale's office is relatively small and you are usually the only patient in the office. You get 1:1 time with Dr. Carnovale and everything is done by him or he sees you immediately after treatment with the nurses. He did take the time to ask me what I wanted and what I knew was going on with my body.

Dr. Carnovale diagnosed me with endometriosis- I had a surgery to confirm and remove a significant amount of the disease. He had me do an Ovarian Reserve Test/SIS/and ultra sound, he had my husband get a sperm analysis and DNA test. As a right now we are waiting till I heal from surgery to start IVF.

Katie is my main nurse and she is always willing to listen, shows compassion, and advocates for my care.

The only downside to this clinic is that it is very hard to get someone on the phone- I have to leave a message a lot (even to schedule appointments). It would be nice if they had a receptionist separate from their office manager. However, because it is smaller you get in right away and you never really have to wait.

So far it has been about $1,500 in diagnostic tests and surgery. I believe IVF will be around 12-15k and drugs will be over 5k.

Dr. Carnovale indicated that he will transfer a single embryo during IVF.

Honestly the only weakness was that it took me 4 months to get into his office. Otherwise he was so wonderful. Once we finished some of my procedures he assured me that he believed I wouldn’t have problems getting pregnant but if I did here were the next steps. Also because of my uterine reconstruction, he spent time explaining how long I needed to heal, ideal years for fertility, and the risk of an incompetent cervix so I could start looking into stitching my cervix during pregnancy. He looked beyond me as his patient and wanted to prepare me for the future.

Ask the questions because he will take the time to answer!

I was young and pretty scared when I started seeing him. Not to mention I had terrible anxiety about the vaginal ultrasounds and he was always patient, kind, and answered every question I had. When they were removing a balloon from my uterus after fixing my bicornuate uterus, he made a point to have my favorite nurse perform the removal, and he came in towards the end to calm my nerves and answer questions.

I was placed on loloestrin fe before my uterine reconstruction, and again after I was diagnosed with stage 3 endometriosis. I’m not ready to conceive yet, but I would go to him if I struggle.

Every single one was so nice! And they would even sit with you and wait for the doctor. They worked so hard to earn your trust

The clinic office is small, but they do a good time about scheduling so that you’re maybe with one other person/ couple max. They work hard to make you feel comfortable, and when I called the clinic with questions literally any of them could address my concerns

Insurance covered all of my procedures except tubal flushing during my labroscopy.