Dr. Shah was always friendly and available when I had questions and concerns..She took the time to listen to me and explain everything thoroughly...She never pushed for something I wasn’t comfortable with. While we were unsuccessful, I was pleased with our experience. I felt she did everything she could...
[at Penn Fertility Care] You most likely will always see a different doctor for actual procedures. Everyone was always kind and caring, but other than your nurse, you’ll always see different faces...A single cycle with fresh transfer was $11,000. A FET $3,500.00...Over the 8+ months of visiting, I became familiar with a bunch of nurses, but there was always new people.
How was your experience with Divya Shah at Penn Fertility Care?
Dr. Shah was always friendly and available when I had questions and concerns. She listened to what I wanted and felt was best for my body. She never pushed for something I wasn’t comfortable with. While we were unsuccessful, I was pleased with our experience. I felt she did everything she could.
What's one piece of advice would you give a prospective patient of Divya Shah at Penn Fertility Care?
Don’t be afraid to speak up and voice your concerns and ask questions.
During treatment, were you treated like a number or a human with Divya Shah at Penn Fertility Care?
Dr. Shah is very caring and answered any questions I had. She took the time to listen to me and explain everything thoroughly.
Describe the protocols Divya Shah used in your cycles at Penn Fertility Care and their degree of success.
Our first cycle with Dr. Shah we kept our doses lower to avoid OHSS. As a result I ended up with a small amount of eggs. This led to an unsuccessful day 3 transfer and no remaining eggs to freeze. The second cycle we doubled my meds, yes doubled. This resulted in 21 mature eggs, which was awesome! But our fresh transfer was canceled due to borderline OHSS. We ended up with 4 embryos to freeze. After 2 frozen embryo transfers (1 embryo and 2 embryos respectively) were unsuccessful we decided to take a break. We have 1 frozen embryo remaining.
Describe your experience with your nurse at Penn Fertility Care. (Assigned nurse: Christina)
Christina was amazing!!!! She was honestly the best part of the entire experience. Always available, always willing to answer any questions. If you could pick the perfect nurse, it would be Christina 100%!!
Describe your experience with Penn Fertility Care.
You most likely will always see a different doctor for actual procedures. Everyone was always kind and caring, but other than your nurse, you’ll always see different faces. Over the 8+ months of visiting, I became familiar with a bunch of nurses, but there was always new people.
Describe the costs associated with your care under Divya Shah at Penn Fertility Care.
A single cycle with fresh transfer was $11,000.
A FET $3,500.00.
Dr. Shah was very personable. She gave her full attention to my husband and I, gave us all of the information, and answered all of our questions. She even illustrated and wrote notes on paper for us...explained the potential treatments before the results were back and then explained then gave options for treatment. She gave me her opinion, but let my husband and I decide what the best treatment would be for us...We had our consultation, then had blood work, genetic testing, and an ultrasound all in her office minutes after the visit.
[University of Pennsylvania Penn Fertility Care's] strengths would be their location, cleanliness, and assess to other care. The clinic is located in a health campus with other offices, a lab, and radiology department. They do not do surgery there, so the egg retrieval would have to happen in downtown Philadelphia...She [nurse] explained everything thoroughly and provided me with her direct number...Plan on having some testing done after the consultation as well. We had our consultation, then had blood work, genetic testing, and an ultrasound all in her office minutes after the visit.
How was your experience with Divya Shah at Penn Fertility Care?
Dr. Divya’s strengths include showing compassion, being detail oriented, knowledgeable, and thorough. I haven’t had any negative experiences with Dr. Divya. She explained what would happen every step of the way and also explained the results to all of our testing. She also explained the potential treatments before the results were back and then explained then gave options for treatment. She gave me her opinion, but let my husband and I decide what the best treatment would be for us.
What's one piece of advice would you give a prospective patient of Divya Shah at Penn Fertility Care?
My advice to anyone would be to be prepared with questions. Plan on having some testing done after the consultation as well. We had our consultation, then had blood work, genetic testing, and an ultrasound all in her office minutes after the visit.
During treatment, were you treated like a number or a human with Divya Shah at Penn Fertility Care?
Dr. Shah was very personable. She gave her full attention to my husband and I, gave us all of the information, and answered all of our questions. She even illustrated and wrote notes on paper for us.
Describe the protocols Divya Shah used in your cycles at Penn Fertility Care and their degree of success.
We haven’t started any treatment as of yet, but she recommended IVF for us. We’ll be going over the details at our next appointment.
Describe your experience with your nurse at Penn Fertility Care. (Assigned nurse: Christina)
The nurse was just as nice and knowledgable as Dr. Shah. She explained everything thoroughly and provided me with her direct number.
Describe your experience with Penn Fertility Care.
The clinic’s strengths would be their location, cleanliness, and assess to other care. The clinic is located in a health campus with other offices, a lab, and radiology department. They do not do surgery there, so the egg retrieval would have to happen in downtown Philadelphia.
Describe the costs associated with your care under Divya Shah at Penn Fertility Care.
I haven’t completed treatment, but I believe IVF will cost about $15,000. Medications alone will cost a couple thousand and egg freezing will cost about $500 for 3 months (I believe).
Describe Divya Shah's approach to eSET (elective single embryo transfer) vs. multiple embryo transfer at Penn Fertility Care.
She stated that for young couples, I believe under 35 years of age, she would recommend single embryo transfer, but I think it would ultimately be the patient’s decision.
She [Dr. Divya Shah] 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.
[UPenn is] 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 [monitoring appts] 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!!
How was your experience with Divya Shah at Penn Fertility Care?
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.
What's one piece of advice would you give a prospective patient of Divya Shah at Penn Fertility Care?
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!
During treatment, were you treated like a number or a human with Divya Shah at Penn Fertility Care?
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!
Describe the protocols Divya Shah used in your cycles at Penn Fertility Care and their degree of success.
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.
Describe your experience with your nurse at Penn Fertility Care. (Assigned nurse: Dawn)
Always willing to listen, respectful, knowledgeable and caring!! They all go above and beyond the call of duty.
Describe your experience with Penn Fertility Care.
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!!
Describe your experience with your monitoring appointments at Penn Fertility Care.
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!!
Describe the costs associated with your care under Divya Shah at Penn Fertility Care.
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.
Describe Divya Shah's approach to eSET (elective single embryo transfer) vs. multiple embryo transfer at Penn Fertility Care.
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.
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.... 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.
Dr. Shah and the team at UPenn Radnor knows me by name and always refers to me in that way during appointments.... 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.
How was your experience with Divya Shah at Penn Fertility Care?
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.
What's one piece of advice would you give a prospective patient of Divya Shah at Penn Fertility Care?
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.
During treatment, were you treated like a number or a human with Divya Shah at Penn Fertility Care?
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.
Describe the protocols Divya Shah used in your cycles at Penn Fertility Care and their degree of success.
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.
Describe your experience with your nurse at Penn Fertility Care. (Assigned nurse: Susan)
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.
Describe your experience with Penn Fertility Care.
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.
Dr. Shah is excellent at communicating what's going on. She breaks things down for "non-science people" and will re-explain something as much as you want. She is kind, compassionate and has been rooting for us since day 1. She is open to my concerns and suggestions (one example is that I wanted to try a natural FET instead of a medicated cycle). She explained the pros and cons of each and ultimately let me decide. This is just one example of many where she has helped me make a decision.
Be prepared to acknowledge that the office is run much differently than most other clinics because UPenn is a teaching hospital. Once I figured this out, it became much less stressful. You will be on hold a lot. You might have to follow-up with the nursing staff. If you miss a call, it's a huge pain to get the team back on the line. Having said that, Dr. Shah ALWAYS called me back in the same day that I asked to talk directly to her and there is ALWAYS an on-call doctor that you can reach (even at 3am). You just have to know that Dr. Shah is managing your care and that every single doctor at UPenn is fantastic, as well. I never had concerns about my care, it was just annoying the way their communication system is.
How was your experience with Divya Shah at Penn Fertility Care?
Dr. Shah is excellent at communicating what's going on. She breaks things down for "non-science people" and will re-explain something as much as you want. She is kind, compassionate and has been rooting for us since day 1. She is open to my concerns and suggestions (one example is that I wanted to try a natural FET instead of a medicated cycle). She explained the pros and cons of each and ultimately let me decide. This is just one example of many where she has helped me make a decision.
What's one piece of advice would you give a prospective patient of Divya Shah at Penn Fertility Care?
Be prepared to acknowledge that the office is run much differently than most other clinics because UPenn is a teaching hospital. Once I figured this out, it became much less stressful. You will be on hold a lot. You might have to follow-up with the nursing staff. If you miss a call, it's a huge pain to get the team back on the line. Having said that, Dr. Shah ALWAYS called me back in the same day that I asked to talk directly to her and there is ALWAYS an on-call doctor that you can reach (even at 3am). You just have to know that Dr. Shah is managing your care and that every single doctor at UPenn is fantastic, as well. I never had concerns about my care, it was just annoying the way their communication system is.
During treatment, were you treated like a number or a human with Divya Shah at Penn Fertility Care?
Please note that many of the nurses mentioned in other reviews are no longer at Penn. There have been a few wonderful new nurses (Christine and Dawn) who are excellent at relaying information, call back promptly and are kind and compassionate. Whenever I am there, everyone say hello to me and remembers me. I can reach Dr. Shah whenever I want to speak with her directly.
Describe the protocols Divya Shah used in your cycles at Penn Fertility Care and their degree of success.
Antagonist protocol for egg retrieval (BCP, Follistim, Menopur, Ganirellex). For transfers BCP, Lupron, Estrace, PIO, but ultimately what worked was a natural FET with only Crinone.
Describe Divya Shah's approach to eSET (elective single embryo transfer) vs. multiple embryo transfer at Penn Fertility Care.
The clinic follows the national recommended guidelines for embryo transfer. Due to my age, we transferred 1 embryo each time. Dr. Shah never pushed me to transfer more than 1 and I never asked to.
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...
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...
How was your experience with Divya Shah at Penn Fertility Care?
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.
What's one piece of advice would you give a prospective patient of Divya Shah at Penn Fertility Care?
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.
During treatment, were you treated like a number or a human with Divya Shah at Penn Fertility Care?
Dr. Shah is warm, straightforward, and whip-smart. She goes over things in as little or as much detail as you are comfortable with.
Describe the protocols Divya Shah used in your cycles at Penn Fertility Care and their degree of success.
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.
Describe your experience with your nurse at Penn Fertility Care. (Assigned nurse: Julie Huston)
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.
Describe your experience with Penn Fertility Care.
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).
Describe the costs associated with your care under Divya Shah at Penn Fertility Care.
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).
What specific things went wrong at Penn Fertility Care?
Failed to call with results
Failed to convey critical information
Describe the specific things that went wrong at Penn Fertility Care.
The fertility information does not go into the online portal (mypennmedicine) and so I had no knowledge of my AMH levels until meeting in person with my RE, despite the fact that all tests for other things (and even things like my HSG) are put into the portal. I also wouldn't have a record of my E2, FSH, etc unless my nurse happened to tell me (or I asked) AND I wrote it down. If you like to know exactly what's going on in your body, like I do, this might bother you. There isn't anything here that is "wrong" per se, it just doesn't mesh with how involved I care to be in my own health and treatment.
She [Dr. Shah] was very honest and compassionate. This wasn't our first cycle so we knew what to expect, but she still went over everything thoroughly. Overall she just came off warm and caring at a point in our lives when we were fragile...she embraces educating her patients on their treatment...We used a very strong protocol with ganorelix. I did not produce a lot of mature oocytes. And our fertilization rates were low as well. With PGD and PGS after all.of this we typically ended up with 1 or 2 embryos per cycle.
Dr. Sparks in the lab [at U of Iowa Center for Advanced Reproductive Care] is at the top of her field and does an excellent job teaching you about the process. I felt knowledgable about our situation and the process. Appointments run on time and there wasn't a long wait to get in initially...[The nurses were] Absolutely amazing!!! I came to love these women, from the ultrasound tech's to nurses they went above and beyond to welcome you into this family.
How was your experience with Divya Shah at U of Iowa Center for Advanced Reproductive Care?
She was very honest and compassionate. This wasn't our first cycle so we knew what to expect, but she still went over everything thoroughly. Overall she just came off warm and caring at a point in our lives when we were fragile.
What's one piece of advice would you give a prospective patient of Divya Shah at U of Iowa Center for Advanced Reproductive Care?
Ask all the questions, even if they sound silly to you, she embraces educating her patients on their treatment.
During treatment, were you treated like a number or a human with Divya Shah at U of Iowa Center for Advanced Reproductive Care?
She was so verswd on our history it was like she was instantly apart of our team. She worked hard to build trust and was totally honest.
Describe the protocols Divya Shah used in your cycles at U of Iowa Center for Advanced Reproductive Care and their degree of success.
We used a very strong protocol with ganorelix. I did not produce a lot of mature oocytes. And our fertilization rates were low as well. With PGD and PGS after all.of this we typically ended up with 1 or 2 embryos per cycle.
Describe your experience with your nurse at U of Iowa Center for Advanced Reproductive Care. (Assigned nurse: Jan)
Absolutely amazing!!! I came to love these women, from the ultrasound tech's to nurses they went above and beyond to welcome you into this family.
Describe your experience with U of Iowa Center for Advanced Reproductive Care.
This is the premier clinic.in the area, I would not think about going anywhere else, ever!! Dr. Sparks in the lab is at the top of her field and does an excellent job teaching you about the process. I felt knowledgable about our situation and the process. Appointments run on time and there wasn't a long wait to get in initially.
Describe the costs associated with your care under Divya Shah at U of Iowa Center for Advanced Reproductive Care.
Our insurance paid 80% after we met our deductible of $2000, but PGD and PGS were not.covered, so we spent $7000 out of pocket on that each cycle.
Describe Divya Shah's approach to eSET (elective single embryo transfer) vs. multiple embryo transfer at U of Iowa Center for Advanced Reproductive Care.
Strong preference for SET. Very concerned with health and safety of mother.
