Drew Tortoriello

Dr. T is an incredibly warm and caring doctor who always made me feel cared for. He is calming, methodical, and thoughtful about very personalized treatment. I felt like the patient experience at Sher, because of Dr T, was very special .... a unicorn in the fertility world.

Dr. T is supportive of immune protocols, experimental supplements, and the like in order to come up with creative solutions for personalized treatment. But I needed a second opinion to find success my second time around. Don't be afraid to compare protocols and ensure you are on the right path.

My first retrieval with Dr. T was successful enough. We retrieved 16 embryos, 13 were mature and 12 fertilized. 3 made it to day 5 frozen and all 3 tested normal. One is my daughter. The second implanted but I miscarried, and it turned out that it was not a normal embryo even though it tested as such. The third didn't result in a pregnancy -- but it turned out that I had severe uterine scarring (Asherman's Syndrome) and that embryo would have never implanted. I was also told by Dr. T to use the IVF meds intramuscularly, and to this day found that an odd recommendation. My second cycle with Dr. T yielded only 3 embryos and none made it to day 5. I got a second opinion and learned about the scarring, did another retrieval with a new doc where my meds were all increased based on my weight. That retrieval yielded 6 day 5 frozen embryos.

I had insurance coverage for everything except a few medications and PGS testing.

based on my history the preference for me was always single!

He is patient and understanding of what his patients are going through. He is also very candid but you have to ask a lot of questions and be an educated patient. I had to ask about other options available. At times, I felt as a number. On one occasion he misread my test results and didn’t realize until I questioned it. He is very responsive to emails and gets back to you promptly which is great but his emails were abbreviated.

Be an educated patient. Ask questions. Schedule follow-up appointments.

I have DOR so he did not want to use BC for priming since it would suppress my eggs. He had me on Estrogen patches before my cycle started, then Gonal F and Menapur. He added another injectable to prevent early ovulation around D11. He then had me go in every couple of days and adjusted my dosage according to the results. he added HGH during my 2nd cycle which got cancelled due to a lead follicle.

I do remote monitoring in another state, so Im not aware of Sher's practice when it comes to monitoring

I haven't received a bill yet.

n/a

Dr T is a wonderful person, and I feel safe and well cared for with him. He knows his stuff and has zero ego. He is open to experimental treatment but committed to the standard fundamentals. I did have two failed transfers with him, however, with tested embryos. He recommended a very different protocol than I had had previously, and I wonder if it was too different, or too out there. His protocol included things like prednisone and intralipids, which I know are controversial. When I wanted to switch back to a more standard protocol he was very supportive, and so far this one has worked (I'm 11 weeks). I would feel very comfortable going to him for a future cycle.

You must do your own research and be proactive! He is quiet and introverted ... Make sure you ask all your questions!

For the first two FET rounds: Crinone Estrace Prednisone (slightly elevated NK levels) Lovenox (for slightly elevated anticardiolipin) Intralipids (slightly elevated NK levels) For third, I switched to PIO thinking maybe it was affecting implantation, skipped prednisone and intralipids and waited on the lovenox until a positive beta. This transfer worked, and so far so good.

$1540 per transfer with insurance Plus other costs

He was very open and asked my preference. Because I said single without hesitating, we didn't discuss it further

He explains things calmly and in detail. I saw him at every visit except one weekend monitoring. I trust his judgement and results were close to what he had predicted. For my 2nd round I requested he change one aspect of treatment and he agreed to do so. He responds to emails very quickly which reassures me that my treatment is important.

Don't be afraid to ask lots of questions and explain your ideal outcome. Initially he didnt recommend PGS testing but when we explained we wanted to bank frozen embryos he agreed PGS testing would be beneficial. I'm glad we made that choice.

He recommended a mid amount of medication for my poor egg quality and dimished ovarian resserve. He didn't change anything during monitoring. I only got 1 PGS embryo but I guess egg quality was a little worse than expected. He recommended ICSI and DNA sperm fragmentation for my husband because of low morphology.

My insurance paid for most of it, except retrieval anesthesia ($625) plus cost of PGS testing. I paid copays for office visits and medications. Calls with dr were $75 (not covered by insurance). Injections meeting with nurse cost $100. We had to pay co-pays on all testing. DNA sperm fragmentation test was not covered by insurance.

We told him we were very against twins so he didn't recommend iui or clomid. So he knows we would never transfer more than one embryo.

He was very even keel. I had a huge set back and he just sent me an email delivering the news. I was offended by this. He then was rushing me to try again right away and I wasn't ready. I decided it was best to go somewhere else. I also was told I could have later appts. That was not the case when I was cycling.

Ask tons of questions

I was on low dose of injections for egg banking.

Copays and anesthesia

I thought that he treated my case like no big deal. He said he sees a ton of patients with DOR and recommended banking embryos. He also suggested that I could just do a regular cycle but it seemed like he highly recommended the banking.

Ask a tons of questions!

He used low dose meds bc I have DOR. He recommended banking for 3 cycles and then testing.

Copays

Dr. T is great! He was a little matter-of-fact about some things, when I could have used some reassurance at times, so that is probably my one complaint. But he is gentle, and I always trusted him. He did a great job and has a gentle touch.

Make sure you ask questions. He will answer, but isn’t always direct with offering information that you might need to know in anticipation of your needs.

We did Femara IUI. I am an SMC and didn’t have any proven infertility at the time, so we started slow. I had one cycle cancelled because my estrogen was low. Two actual IUIs, both negative.

I had insurance, so I just paid copays.