David Frankfurter

Dr. Frankfurter is highly ranked for a reason. He's very thorough. He's a bit matter of fact in his manner, but he laid out all the pros and cons of our options and never once did he make us feel like our chances were hopeless. He also took the time to answer any questions we had. The only time I felt a bit dismissed by him was when I showed him my BBT charts and he told me that they weren't useful in helping TTC. When I panicked over misunderstanding the dosage on my trigger shot, he was the on-call dr and was so nice and patient, explaining to me what to do, and then telling me I did exactly what I should have done (calling him for help), and that it would all be ok. I feel that he's meticulous, and he really listens and cares.

Dr. Frankfurter is high in demand, so making appointments with him can be difficult. He books up fast! Expect at least a month wait before you can get a consultation appointment.

The staff are incredible. They were very patient at explaining things to me, even when I'd keep repeating questions. Dr. Frankfurter was candid about our situation and our options, but comes across as very knowledgeable and concerned. On procedure days, Dr. Frankfurter and all the staff were so kind, understanding, and helpful. They joked around with us to help lighten the mood when they knew we were nervous. The nursing staff are really wonderful people too, as they come to know each individual patient from the daily monitoring. They listened to my fears and emotions, and never made me feel less of a person.

I don't remember the specifics for egg retrieval, but I was on birth control and lupron (for suppression) for a month before the transfer. I was also on progesterone suppositories and vivelle estrogen.

They clearly had a large case load and were sometimes slow to follow up, so I just had to be on top of the communication. But they were always courteous and helpful, never made me feel bad, talked down to, or less of a person. My assigned nurse even sat down with me to give me an impromptu tutorial on injections after I'd already taken a class, when I was nervous about the first injection.

They aren't the most expensive, but not the cheapest. I chose them for the doctor and overall clinic feel. I like that they're in a prestigious university setting, and have a great relationship with the university hospital and medical team. Being in this setting means they're very up-to-date with current research. They are less likely to turn away patients too, from what I understood when researching them originally, because of their university/teaching mission.

It was efficient but a bit factory-like. You stand in line for your blood draw than you stand in line for the ultrasound monitoring. There's an unspoken rule about when to keep the door to the changing room open/closed (open if any of the 2 changing rooms are available, closed if both are occupied) and who sits in the chair by the door (whoever is next waiting for a changing room). Since the two lines are right next to each other, sometimes it got confusing and frustrating when a new, uninformed patient sat in the chair waiting for a blood draw because they didn't want to stand in line, or someone closed the door when there was a changing room available.

The first time we had insurance coverage, so I believe we paid less than $7000 for egg retrieval, ICSI, embryo storage, and egg transfer, but more with medications. This time, we don't have insurance coverage and are paying out of pocket, so the expenses are more. We haven't calculated our costs yet for our treatment yet.

Dr. Frankfurter is very responsible and wants to limit the chances of multiples whenever possible. He told us he preferred to only transfer 1 embryo, which was fine with us.

Dr. Frankfurter clearly understands all the clinical ins and outs of our case and the challenges we’ve faced. He is not pushy about treatment, and he is also realistic about chances. He does not spend time injecting a lot of false hope, preferring just to focus on next steps. I do wish he was more accessible by phone or e-mail for emergency situations that arise between appointments, particularly because it is so difficult to get a consultation with him.

Go for the technical knowledge, not for the hand-holding.

It took a long time to get an appointment with Dr. Frankfurter himself, but when we did we felt it was worthwhile. We had a history of a number of unexplained losses, and as soon as we sat down, Dr. Frankfurter launched into a review of these that made it clear he had closely studied our case. He operates at a very technical level, but also took the time to acknowledge what a hard time we’ve been through.

We did a natural cycle IUI using only a trigger shot. I confess I thought the timing of the trigger and IUI was close, however the procedure did result in a pregnancy. Unfortunately, we had to terminate the pregnancy due to a severe chromosomal abnormality. We will likely be moving on to IVF with PGS, and will stay with Dr. Frankfurter and his advice in doing so.

The nurses and front desk staff are all very nice. The approach of GW is in general less “luxurious” than some of the private clinics, but everyone is doing their best to provide comfort and efficiency.

This is not an upscale fertility clinic. The waiting rooms and treatment rooms are nothing fancy, but you are there for the people with an academic interest in reproductive endocrinology, not for the perks. Monitoring takes place from 7-745 am each morning, and if you get the timing wrong, you’ll sit for a long time in a crowded waiting room of stressed out women and couples. No one is going through this process for fun or luxury, however, so to me it only matters that we get the best, most thoughtful, and intelligent care.

A natural cycle IUI cost us $1000, plus the cost of the trigger shot ($100). We have no insurance coverage for ART, and paid this out-of-pocket.

I fully trust Dr. Frankfurter and can't recommend him enough. He is truly invested in all of his cases, and I felt truly cared about (not just as a patient, but as a person). He's responsive and willing to mix things up to get different results. He learns as he goes and tailors treatment protocol to each individual.

I would tell any IVF patient (not just those of Dr. Frankfurter) to ignore the self-deprecating thoughts. You are resilient, brave, and strong! Specifically regarding Dr. Frankfurter, just trust him. I've wasted so much time turning to "Dr. Google." Dr. Frankfurter is so smart and detail oriented. Just live your life, and let him do the work!

Dr. Frankfurter tailored my care to my individual needs. With my first egg retrieval, I got only 3 eggs (2 mature). Both fertilized but weren’t growing appropriately. We put both in on Day 3. BFN. With the second cycle, he totally changed things up, and we got 20 eggs! I really appreciated his willingness to think outside the box. He isn't afraid of the tough cases.

With my first fresh cycle, I started with birth control. We learned that it over-suppressed me, and did estrogen priming the next time. The results showed a huge improvement. I stimmed with Menopour and Follistim. I triggered with Lurpon. I went from 3 eggs to 20. With my FETs, I started estrogen on CD 3. I added in progesterone around approx. CD 18. If a positive result, I'd continue both to 12ish weeks.

The nursing staff became my family. They are responsive and sympathetic.

Since its at a university, the clinic doesn't have all the bells and whistles as some of the newer clinics. But I found the doctors to be far more qualified here than anywhere else. That's what really matters! With GW, I didn't feel like I had to be my own advocate. I let them do the work, and I fully trusted them.

Highly efficient. I was usually in and out in 10 minutes.

We paid fully out-of-pocket. I found their packages to also be the most reasonable of all clinics we looked at.

Dr. Frankfurter will transfer one embryo most of the time as its safest for mom and baby.

Dr. Frankfurter was great at explaining the procedures and protocols and why he was recommending them for us. He's friendly, but not overly warm, which was what we liked. He answered all of our questions fully and did not ever make us feel silly for asking. He's a little conservative on his approach, but not stuck in his way. Over the time we saw him he changed general protocols based on current peer-reviewed studies.

Be prepared for a wait to get in to see him at the beginning of each cycle, but know that once you get in he will do everything to help you out and make sure your cycle goes well.

Dr. Frankfurter, the other REs, the nurses, and the staff were all wonderful. They all knew who we were, where we were in our cycle, and were very caring. It's a busy office, so there can be waits for initial meetings, but once you are in a cycle they make sure you get everything you need.

The nursing staff was amazing! Unfortunately, there were a lot who left as I went through cycles (I believe most, if not all, left for reasons that were not about the clinic, but their commute, own health issues, etc.) but each new nurse was great. They were always available to answer questions, give results, and let me know next steps.

I loved that the 3 REs and nurse staff met to discuss each patient even though Dr. Frankfurter was the one making the decisions for my care. This meant that no matter which RE was doing my monitoring or procedures they knew who I was, where I was in my cycle, and what I had previously done. Everyone was rooting for us and were so happy when we were successful. I always preferred when Dr. Frankfurter did my procedures since he was my primary RE, but was happy to have any of them -- they were all good!

Monitoring was set for early morning and you just showed up. They were well organized and got through a lot of people without huge waits or making you feel rushed.

I liked the clinic because it was small and I felt like I received personalized care. Dr. Frankfurter was quick to provide me with information, I felt like he cared about me as a person and was always willing to discuss different treatment options. I ended up switching clinics when I moved to DE and liked that RE as well--the high quality treatment I received from Dr. F was one of the reasons I hesitated leaving his clinic.

Be sure to ask how the clinic can help in terms of cost, timing of appointments, etc. Dr. F was quick to help when there was a challenge.

Dr. Frankfurter went out of his way to ensure I received the level of information I needed/wanted. He understood quickly that I wanted to know everything personally so I could digest it, ask questions and then make my own decisions. He was quick to respond to emails and phone calls.

Over the course of several years, I had several nurses assigned--a new one was assigned each cycle as needed. I found the nurses to generally be very caring, it was a small clinic so I knew all of them by the end. Definitely a bonus at the clinic.

Strengths are the individual care, the fact that the clinic is associated with a teaching hospital so has the newest research available and doesn't turn down patients, was willing to work with me on cost. Major weakness that I worry about now (looking back) is wondering if their lab quality is as good as some of the for-profit centers around our area.

There is a line but it wasn't horrible. If you arrived early, it wasn't ever a problem. They allowed me to bring my daughter when I was T42 to the monitoring appointments which was wonderful since I'm a single mother.

IUIs ranged from $500 to $2000 depending on the meds, IVF was $6900 for 3 cycles (they offered this when I asked for a better deal)

I never had embryos that made it to Day 5 so the idea of eSET wasn't really as appropriate for me, but we did discuss it when I did an FET with leftover embryos and I chose eSET with their support.

Dr. Frankfurter is extremely knowledgeable and an expert in his profession. He is not particularly emotional or overly sensitive in his approach; but We’ve chosen him for his expertise. He has always thoroughly explained each step, test, result, diagnosis, etc. and has answered any and every question we could think of along the way.

Trust his expertise

I have always received a phone call explaining my results (good or bad) which allowed me to ask any questions I had. My thoughts/concerns/ emotions were never disregarded, but acknowledged as valid and warranted during our treatments.

Dr. Frankfurter is very conservative in his approaches. .

I have had a few different nurses over the course of treatments. One was terrible and two were wonderful. The terrible one has since left the practice.

While you have 1 primary doctor, you will likely see all of the doctors in the practice for monitoring appointments. The monitoring appointments are early in the morning, but ran extremely efficiently. The “admin” side of the office is run smoothly from my experience. Billing, while not perfect, has been extremely responsive and helpful when issues/descrepencies arise.

Monitoring was a “cattle call” line, but surprising ran very efficiently. You could be in and out within 15 minutes if you arrive early.

Dr. Frankfurter strongly advised against transferring multiple embryos due to the risks

Dr. Frankfurter is candid, personable and easy to talk to. He tries to inject humor into an otherwise arduous process.

If you want a doctor who'll tell it like it is, Dr. Frankfurter would be a good choice. He's not a warm and fuzzy doctor. But I liked him and trusted him with my care.

My nurse, Ifeanyi, was the absolute best. She was kind, compassionate, easy to talk to and most importantly, responded quickly to my e-mail inquiries. I had to take a last-minute international trip during treatment, and she went out of her way to make sure I had all the medications I needed during my time away. My experience through the process made me realize that the nurses are just as important (or even more important) than the physician. They are the ones who you'll turn to for day-to-day advice and support.

It's hard for me to evaluate since I don't know what other clinics are like. But as I mentioned before, the nursing staff provided me with the absolute best care. From a results standpoint, I do wish we were able to retrieve more eggs for embryo preservation, but I have no idea whether that had anything to do with the clinic. I am in my late 30s, so I wasn't exactly expecting a lot of eggs.

Monitoring appointments began at 7 a.m. It was first come, first serve. Some days were busier than others, but I don't remember having to wait that long to get through. It was a pretty efficient operation.

I was lucky that my care was completely covered by insurance.

He made a comprehensive treatment plan based on science and evidence and communicated well. He explained al the risks and benefits of various treatments. We always felt well cared for and would absolutely see him again.

Be prepared to hear some information that you don’t want to hear. He’s very honest, which I appreciated.

Dr Frankfurter was honest but kind. We’d had previous losses, including of living children, and he was able to express his condolences without dwelling. He explained everything beautifully and we really felt like he listened to us.

We used an estrogen priming protocol for DOR, with ICSi. I was a poor responder.

The nursing staff was not great. Many times our chart was not updated and our primary nurse wasn’t available. A different nurse called back after hours and left a message with outdated information. We almost missed a cycle due to this.

Doctors are great, nurses are not great. Financial team is also pretty terrible. Refused to answer legitimate questions about the pricing of a cycle and gave incorrect info about what insurance would cover.

Monitoring was quick and efficient

one cycle with monitoring and egg retrieval was about $10k.

We sought out Dr. Frankfurter because he is considered one of the best scientists in the area and not for his personality. We liked that we weren't being sold on some package deal or knowing that our money wasn't going to a marketing budget. We liked that Dr. Frankfurter was part of a university-affiliated system.

Remind yourself that you're there for his medical skills.

Dr. Frankfurter is not a warm human being; he is a scientist by trade, a great one at that, and that was why we chose him. I had to remind myself of this every time I interacted with him. I do admit to being emotional about the whole undertaking. My diagnosis of "unexplained infertility" gave me no solace whatsoever. My husband disagrees, but I felt that Dr. Frankfurter and his staff had no tolerance for big emotions. It may be that they are on the receiving end of many, many emotions, and have decided to take a decidedly more clinical approach to all aspects of the infertility treatments they offer.

As I noted above, the clinic is part of the GWU MFA program. It is not fancy, but it more than enough. I feel like there is a lot of commercialization of the IVF process; my husband and I purposefully avoided Shady Grove for this reason.

$7,500+ in 2011

We loved everything about the experience. He remembered who I was during treatment and always made me feel comfortable. He was very clear in explaining everything and we had success the first time we transferred our embryos.

Trust him. He knows what he’s doing.

Dr. Frankfurter and his team were warm and friendly. We trusted him and always felt as though we had a great interactions with him. He took a lot of time in our appointments to explain the procedures.

Honestly, I’ve put so much of it behind me now.

Wonderful nurses. Bright and sunny every day.

The clinic was strong. I’d recommend them to anyone. They were organized and thoughtful. I felt my treatment was in good hands. The nurses who took the blood were also great at their work. The facility was clean and the staff were encouraging and kind.

About $20,000 plus the medications.

I appreciated his thoroughness, accessibility and willingness to think outside the box. He seemed to tailor the treatment plan to my patient history and when it didn't work, he thought about why.

If you want to meet with him, schedule as soon as possible.

Dr Frankfurter was the best doctor I encountered on my journey. He took time to thoroughly review my file, answered my questions and seemed interested in my concerns.