Divya Shah

When we started seeing Dr. Shah we had come from another fertility clinic who told us that IVF was the only option we should consider. Instead of just moving us along to that process, Dr. Shah ordered new rounds of bloodwork and some additional tests to round our our history that the other clinic hadn't done. Once we had those results, we were presented with two options - continue trying Clomid or move onto IVF. Given our current financial situation, it was a blessing to hear that Clomid was still a viable option for us. Since that first consultation I've seen Dr. Shah twice more. Each appointment she takes the time to explain to me in very simple ways what is going on in my body and how that impacts my fertility. She's patient and willing to explain things multiple times to make sure I feel comfortable with our plan. She's the best person we could have guiding us through this process at this time.

It took us over a month between when we initially called for an appointment and when we were able to schedule one, so I'd consider calling early. I also don't see her at every appointment, but have been able to (and encouraged by the nurses) schedule other appointments with her if I need to.

Dr. Shah and the team at UPenn Radnor knows me by name and always refers to me in that way during appointments. Additionally, they know that we drive over an hour each way to our appointments and make every effort to give me the first appointment slot so that my work day isn't interrupted significantly. They are reassuring and answer even some of the simplest of questions.

I have been taking the highest dosage allowed of Clomid coupled with an Ovidrel shot to trigger ovulation and timed intercourse. That combination works best for me - other options have not worked. Because I have PCOS and annovulation, she has not recommended that we move onto Clomid and IUI. IUI isn't going to increase our chances all that much more and because it isn't covered by my insurance, she doesn't think it's something we necessarily need to consider. This treatment combination has produced one strong follicle in 4 of the 5 cycles we've completed. We had no reaction in the last cycle which caused us to take a break for the summer. We just resumed last week and are in the middle of a sixth Clomid cycle now.

Susan is the NP who is the primary on my case. She's just fantastic - even though we're in our sixth round of Clomid treatment, she has walked me through the steps every time and hasn't assumed I know what to do because I've done it before. She returns my phone calls within the same day and even at appointments where I'm in and out of the office before she comes in, she still calls me in the same day to check in and make sure I'm feeling ok with where things are.

What I appreciate most about UPenn is that they are a teaching hospital. One of the first things that Dr. Shah said to us is that she will never push us to the most invasive - and often most expensive - treatment plan. Because they are a teaching and research hospital, there is benefit in moving through each prescribed option and trying things multiple times. It has resulted in a longer amount of time that we've been in treatment, which may not be for everyone depending on how long they've already been trying. But it's kept our treatments within the window of what is mostly covered by my insurance which meets our financial needs at this time.

She is a wonderful, honest, thorough physician and she never got frustrated with my thousands of questions. She did everything she could to explain each step of my treatments with me. She also was extremely honest with me in regards to my fertility issues and what my realistic expectations for pregnancy were. I never felt like she would push me toward something she didn’t feel would work for me.

Come prepared with your questions and have an understanding of the process. I feel like having a handle on things and knowing what to ask shows that you are ready to make informed decisions and that you are completely invested in the process. She will explain and re-explain anything you don’t understand. She will give you realistic expectations and she will guide you toward the best options for your specific situation!

My doctor and the clinic always made me feel like my feelings, questions and requests were extremely important. I never felt like I was a number in Dr. Shah’s eyes!

I did two iuis with her using an antagonist protocol, then we did and hsg which showed I more than likely have a blocked right tube. We tried a microdose Lupron ivf protocol which never led to a retrieval and was cancelled on cycle day 13 after no growth. I am currently in the tww after a succeful ivf cycle called the estrogen patch protocol and an antagonist protocol.

Always willing to listen, respectful, knowledgeable and caring!! They all go above and beyond the call of duty.

Organized and caring!! I always felt and feel important to them. I have never felt like a number!! They are prompt and informative. The financial people are also amazing at helping navigate you through the insurance coverage you might have and fee schedules!!

They were scheduled times with a first come first served policy. Through the years I got to know both the sweet lab technician and the wonderful ultrasound tech! They were always understanding and excited when all was going well or on the harder days too!!

I have insurance coverage to a certain capped amount, so I only paid a copay for dr visits and for donor sperm related costs. Medication coverage limits were reached so I pay all Meds out of pocket.

Because of my low amh and my age, we decided to transfer two eggs to give me the best chance of a positive pregnancy test. I completely agree.

She was very empathetic and clearly knowledgeable. My only negative is that she was more cautious than I would have liked, after 22 cycles all negative tests- I’ve learned I would’ve like to be more aggressive a year ago.

She will do whatever you choose - so push if you feel like you’re not being aggressive enough with your treatment.

Dr. Shah was very kind and very honest. She recognized how hard this is and always tried to remain positive but gave us her honest opinions.

I did the first 8-10 cycles taking letrozole and times intercourse. We moved to letrozole and IUI because that did not work. Due to my PCOS, ovulation was unclear so we introduced ovidrel shots as well. I reacted fine to all of this, the 2.5 mg of letrozole day 3-7 just made me a little more emotional than usual. Then we moved to gonal-f injectables with IUI. This cycle was longer because we started on too low of a dose. At this point we are back to monitoring with oral meds and times intercourse while saving for the inevitable (IVF).

I love the staff at Penn. Going through this for as long as I have, seeing the girls (Angie, Susan, Aleah) is nice. They’re familiar. They’re professional. They make me feel safe in a very hard situation.

Strengths - Always on time with appointments, in and out. And they always provide fast, accurate feedback. Negatives- IVF is too expensive:( for something some of us need to have - our only hope - it’s disheartening to know I can’t afford the one thing that I need.

My insurance has covered everything except the gonal-f to date. IVF begins at $8,500. PGS testing is an additional $6,000 and meds between $2k and $5k.

Dr. Shah does not perform multiple embryo transfer to my knowledge.

Dr Shah is genuine and compassionate and although we rarely saw her, we felt like she was monitoring us closely from afar. She didn’t do any of my procedures and I think that played a part in feeling like a number and not a patient at this clinic.

Trust her and don’t be afraid to ask questions!

Dr Shah was compassionate and I really felt that she was invested in our care. She called us whenever we got bad news and to give her best wishes when we decided to switch clinics. We didn’t get the outcome we had hoped for so we were eager to get some new ideas by switching clinics, but leaving Dr Shah was bittersweet.

I was on a high-responder protocol. I was on Follistim 150 daily to start. Eventually added in Ganirelix and menopur. Eventually we attempted HGH because of a cycle that resulted in poor quality embryos, howevery retrieval was cancelled.

The NP assigned to us was the least compassionate human being I’ve ever met. She was very negative and made the whole IVF process near unbearable. Every time I asked that something be submitted to insurance, she gave me a snarky response about they would never cover it. She acted like I was an inconvenience to her daily.

I get the impression that this clinic may be more concerned with their statistics than with their patients. There are about a dozen doctors and in my time there, I saw every single doctor once for one procedure or another. After over a year at the clinic, I still felt like a new patient.

We paid separately for the egg retrieval ($12,000), FET ($2,500). PGD was paid directly to the lab and meds were separate. I must also say that the Financial coordinator is extremely unhelpful! We were better off googling. At my first meeting with her, I asked her what options there were for paying (do people ever take out loans, are there assistance programs, any opportunities for discounted meds, etc) and she looked at me like I had 12 heads.

We got the lecture about risks of multiples to the nth degree. I was told I would be the next octomom if we transferred two embryos!

I felt comfortable with Dr. Shah immediately and felt like I was in great hands. Most of my reluctance of recommending her would only come from how Penn Medicine is run and my experience with the nurses. Dr. Shah had a worksheet made up to help guide her conversations with her patients regarding all of the possible causes of infertility and the tests to identify them. It was incredibly thorough and helpful. I have nothing but great things to say about her.

Be aware that Penn Medicine acts a bit like a team and even if Dr. Shah is your primary RE and guiding your care, you will see any of the doctors at a given procedure and no doctor at all during your monitoring.

Dr. Shah is warm, straightforward, and whip-smart. She goes over things in as little or as much detail as you are comfortable with.

Dr. Shah debated between an antagonist protocol (which she selected) and another type of protocol (not sure what that would have been) based on my DOR diagnosis and relatively young (in infertility world) age. The logic for going with the specific protocol was never relayed to me. Did a natural start, 450 gonal f for days 1-5, then ganarelix was added, and I went to gonal f 300 + menopure 150. I had a dominant follicle by day 7 which they warned me might get me cancelled and by day 9 they cancelled the cycle and converted me to IUI that didn't work.

While I liked the other staff in the clinic, I didn't like either of the main nurses at Penn Radnor, Julie or Beth. Julie was my coordinator and she just doesn't have a lot of patience and was frequently confusing. When I was trying to confirm one set of her instructions early on, she made a snarky remark that she had done this many times. I replied back that I hadn't and wanted to make sure that I understood. She sounds condescending on the phone and ordered medications that I didn't need without warning me that I didn't need to pick them up right away (that they were only "in case of"). I would see Beth sometimes during monitoring and I felt as though she was withholding information (probably bad news). She was not my primary contact, however, so my experience with her was minimal.

The clinic at Radnor is well organized and run. The prices for self-pay patients seem to be more reasonable for everything (treatment and meds) than anywhere else I've researched or read about. It is less busy than the office at 3701 Market and for some things you would still need to go to their University City location, but for monitoring, etc, I was at Radnor. However, you will rarely see a physician during your actual treatment. All monitoring is coordinated through the nursing staff. You'll have an ultrasound technician do your scans and a tech to do your blood draws. You sometimes can see a nurse or the nurse pratictioner after your monitoring appt, but your nurse will call in the afternoon with an update to your plan. The entire team including the faculty and the fellows will meet and discuss cases. After a treatment fails, they will discuss recommendations for the next round (I don't know if this is for all cases or just more difficult ones, but it happened for mine without any prompting or request and I got the impression that this is just what they do).

Prices changed July 2016 and I do not know current rates. 6750 covered one retrieval and 2 transfers (1 fresh, 1 frozen or 2 frozen) and ALL embryology, anesthesia, monitoring, bloodwork, mock transfer, etc. Everything. Cancelation before retrieval netted a refund of all but 1500. There were other graduated refunds possible (ie only one transfer, but no embryos to transfer reduced cost to 5000). 1 retrieval and 1 transfer (fresh or frozen) was 5000, but the only refund possible was if your cycle was cancelled before retrieval (cost reduced to $1500). This also included absolutely everything (monitoring, embryology, icsi, bloodwork, education seminar, med training).

Strengths: she showed lots of compassion. She was very thorough and I appreciated that about my initial visit. Weak: I wish I could have spoken to her to share some of my concerns including be given the option to have an ultrasound the day of my IUI. Since I suffer from PCOS my progress has always been a little slow so I believe my IUI may have been done too early. I did not get monitored after my IUI. In fact, the office never called and checked on me after my IUI. I was just instructed to call if I get a positive test. If I don’t then I would just call on the 1st day of my cycle.

You may only see your doctor once and that’s it

Dr. Shah spoke with compassion. She was very informative.

Letrozol day 3-7....then trigger shot.

Strengths: very detailed and showed compassion Weakness: at times it was difficult to speak to her

Strengths: location, clean, staff was very friendly and did show compassion Weakness: front desk office is in a main hallway which is not private and forces you to have a personal conversation in a public hallway. After an IUI, I did not get a follow up call from nurses or staff to discuss my next options or at least to check on me.

$250 for iui