Elizabeth Fino

Dr. Fino is exceptionally knowledgable, practical and compassionate. She spends at least 20 minutes with me every call we have and thoroughly answers all of my questions. She's also exceptionally open to hearing what research I have done or approaches I would like to consider. I appreciate that after my first failed transfer of a PGS tested embryo she gave me information on a reproductive immunologist to further explore additional options.

Don't be discouraged by the fact that you don't see her very often or that you can't get immediate access to her. She is exceptionally responsive and thorough and if you schedule a call you will get all the time you want/need with her. She's been fantastic and I trust her completely.

NYU is a large fertility clinic and well oiled machine. At first I felt like a number until I learned how to operate within the system. It's difficult to have direct access to your Doctor, which is understandable given the volume of patients they say day in and day out. However, any time I leave messages with Dr. Fino's assistant for Dr. Fino I get an immediate response. They went above and beyond for me several times. Dr. Masbou who is a fellow that works with Dr. Fino is super responsive and accessible by email as well. The staff at NYU has come to feel like family and they are very responsive and well organized.

IUI protocol: letrozal (for PCOS) First Egg Retrieval: Gonal F (150), Menopur (150) both tapered down to 75 toward end of stimulation, Cetrotide First Transfer Cycle: Estrace (2 mgs, 4 mgs, 6 mgs), Progesterone 1.5cc First cycle Vitamins/Medicines: 750 mg Metformin, 600 mg CoQ10, 800 mg Folic Acid, 2,000 mg Vitamin D3 After failed transfer Dr. Fino performed a saline sonogram to look for fibroids and/or endometriosis and an endometrial biopsy. The biopsy found Endometritis. Husband and I were treated with strong course of 2 antibiotics for 2 weeks. Second Egg Retrieval: Gonal F (150), Menopur (150) both tapered down to 75 toward end of stimulation, Cetrotide. During this retrieval Dr. Masbou performed a follow up endometrial biopsy or scratch to both confirm Endometritis was cleared and at the recommendation of Dr. Jonathan Scher (reproductive immunologist). Second Transfer Cycle: Includes protocols from Dr. Jonathan Scher (reproductive immunologist as well). Estrace (2 mgs, 4 mgs, 6 mgs), Progesterone 1.5cc, Baby Aspirin (81 mg), Lovenox (0.6mL), Intralipid 20% Second cycle Vitamins/Medicines: 1500 mg Metformin, VitaCare (prescribed prenatal), 600 mg CoQ10, 1.4 mg Folic Acid (Metanx), 4,000 mg Vitamin D3, Fem-Dophilus pro-biotic, 400 mg Magnesium Citrate, Prednisone (15 mg per day), Synthroid (25 mg)

The NYU nursing staff is like my family. They all know me by name, are upbeat friendly faces to see every morning monitoring. Can't say enough about this staff. Really love them.

The clinic is extremely large so you have to proactively manage your care and be your own advocate. Do your research so you're prepared with your questions when you talk to your doctor or the staff. I keep a binder with all of my lab results, protocols, Insurance forms, Financial forms, general info etc. I have found absolutely everyone on this staff to be responsive and fabulous.

Well oiled machine. Check in at computers up front and wait to be called. Blood taken first then sent to room for the ultrasound. I always get there early and am in and out in no time.

Our first cycle was completely covered by United Healthcare with the exception of PGS testing. The first cycle totaled approximately $21,000. Our second cycle (retrieval, PGS testing and transfer) have been completely covered by Progeny.

NYU recommends single embryo transfer for PGS tested embryos. We discussed all of the risks.

There is nothing constructive to say about Dr Fino. She is a great communicator, pays attention to every detail in our paperwork/conversations and is extremely compassionate. We just did retrieval earlier this week and our numbers were good. Dr Fino noted that my wife was at risk for OHSS and carefully adjusted her medications and schedule to get the best possible results with minimal discomfort (even though this information was usually relayed to us by the nurses).

You're one-on-one time with her may be limited so always be prepared with questions. That being said, it's not difficult to reach a nurse or another doctor in the practice that can help you along the way.

Dr Fino, Nurse Mary and the entire staff at NYU are fantastic. When you speak with them, you feel like you're the only patient in the world. That being said, NYU is a machine and the volume of people entrusting their fertility services can be overwhelming. In more boutique centers we visited, you can easily call or email your doctor. At NYU, you can hopefully schedule a call with them within a week.

We had completed an unsuccessful IUI with my wife's OBGYN and, given her age (almost 41) decided to move straight into IVF. With Dr Fino we timed my wife's cycle, started with the injection therapy, and did a retrieval. We are waiting to see how many viable embryos there are after day 5/6. Then the plan is to do PGS (at an outside lab) and frozen embryo transfer.

Mary is the main point of contact for many of the IVF patients and she is incredible. All of the onsite nurses and professional and reliable.

At the end of the day, we chose the bustling, busy operation that is NYU Fertility over a more boutique, personalized experience because of numbers. They are exceptional against the national average in terms of FET, live births, and single births. We knew what to expect and, while it would be great to be able to call/email our doctor anytime, we have been satisfied with our decision based on results so far.

There are a LOT of people doing morning monitoring at NYU Fertility right now. If you arrive at the tail end of a particularly busy day (9am, as opposed to coming closer to 7am) you could be there for 45 minutes. But the staff and operations there are generally very efficient and have everything down to a science.

We are fortunately covered for 3 cycles of IVF through insurance (but not PGS testing). From what it looks like, their costs are comparable to NYC average.

NA

As a patient I met her once- after that I was thrown into the NYU system. I can't really rate her as I was her patient because I hardly ever dealt with her at all- when I would finally be able to pin her down on the phone I had good clear candid conversations with her- I think she was clear and understood my perspective and honored that- but I did not get any sort of follow up from her and no human communication- even when I got pregnant-

Be extremely persistent in regards to communication- she will not follow up it is really on you to make extra phone calls and demand calls back and time to talk to her about issues you may have

When I actually talked to Dr.Fino she was great on the phone and respected my approach to getting pregnant. That said it was difficult to reach her, the phone system sucked, it took me weeks to schedule a phone appointment. And it felt like a system that was not humanly compassionate.

I only wanted to use IUI as my insurance would not cover anything else- so she helped facilitate that and believed that there were quite a few options with in the IUI cycle that may work for me- so if Clomid wasn't working we could go down a different road in the IUI system. I felt this was really helpful and I really appreciated that she did not push IVF which I was opposed to

I dont remember who was who- but the people taking blood where nice- main nurse that I worked with was super responsible in returning phone calls and calling in results-

I thought that the clinic felt like a total factory- I think that if you want to go in and get IVF then thats what they do- thats what they are comfortable doing. That said you will not have a personal relationship with your doctor- it is a big place and you will be thrown into the system- you will deal with a different person each time that you go in- if your ok with that then you should go for it- that sort of attitude was not for me- I had some doctors who were cold and not helpful and did not explain things to me and made me feel dumb about questions or scheduling etc. My actual doctor on the other hand was great when I could arrange a time to meet wither her ( they did not encourage in person but rather phone calls) I was never able to email her directly only thru her assistant which I found insulting and found that other friends of mine did not have that experience at other clinics. Their phone system was bonkers and it was rare to have a person at the clinic pick up the phone instead you have to go thru this long phone system and call center to leave a message- then when they would finally leave a message it would be from a non working number that you could not call back and then would have to call the service again and wait another 3 hours-

$1k

My interaction with her was limited other than determining a plan of action pre- and post-cycle. I never doubted her abilities, but did not have direct contact with her during the course of treatment to explain why certain decisions around timing and hormone levels were being made.

Understand that you will not see her directly or be able to access her directly during cycles, but rest assured that the clinic is a well oiled machine.

When I spoke directly with Doctor Fino (after my first cycle ended and I received my PGS results), I found her to be helpful, understanding and willing to go into as much detail as I needed. I felt more like a number during the cycle itself, going into the clinic and seeing a different doctor each time and receiving a call from a different nurse each time. I found it difficult to get in touch with Doctor Fino without scheduling a call a week out.

First time was typically 300 Follistim and 150 Menapur. For this current cycle, starting an estrogen patch a week before beginning injections to stabilize my estrogen levels and hopefully generate eggs that are more consistent (14 eggs retrieved last time, but many were too mature or too young).

Rarely had the same one twice; however, all were kind and intelligent. Always received a call back promptly from a nurse when I left a voicemail with the clinic.

Like a factory; limited interaction with doctors. Not for those who need their hand held. However, well oiled machine that seems to be working well.

7-9am. If you get there early, you should be seen within 15-30 minutes. Restrictive hours, though.

$15.5k for cycle with PGS, $3k for meds and $5k for PGS

Strongly encouraged to do single.

Dr. Fino is an extremely intelligent and humane doctor who is well-versed in the latest research. She is collaborative and not paternalistic. At NYU you definitely don't see your doctor every visit but I always knew she was looking out for me. Dr. Fino let me try IVF with my own eggs three times even though my results were always atrocious (bad eggs). When I switched to donor eggs my donor had her best cycle ever and I'm on my second successful pregnancy from that cycle.

If you have a question that the nurses can't answer, don't be afraid to call Dr. Fino's office directly.

Dr. Fino takes the time to really explain things and spoke to me like I was an intelligent grown-up. I felt like a partner in my own treatment. She was also open to considering ideas I had researched myself, which was wonderful.

3 different IVF protocols with some additional adjustments to see if we could make my eggs work -- there was one we didn't try but by that time I was over it and wanted to move on to donor eggs.

The donor nurses are great (at least as of Fall 2015).

NYU is huge and you have to be proactive at times to get the communication you need. But the doctors and resources are tremendous.

Monitoring is an efficient cattle-call. I loved being in and out before work. When I moved out of the area and traveled in for a cycle they accommodated me during non-monitoring hours when it was mor convenient for me.

I can't remember the exact price of the cycles but they are pretty upfront about the costs.

Warm bedside manner. Takes her time during initial consultation. Difficult to get a hold of in between visits. No guarantees you would see her for follow-up visits due to the structure of the clinic which involves seeing any IVF doctor who is doing monitoring or procedures on the day you need to come in.

She is a wonderful doctor, and I would have been happy to work with her, but at NYU there are no guarantees of which doctor will see you for appointments which was not a good fit for me.

Dr Fino is wonderful and has great bedside manner and explains things very clearly. She made me very comfortable, and I planned to continue to work with her. However, I found the office itself to be very impersonal, difficult to connect with the same person, difficult to navigate with long hold times and often having to talk to the answering service. I also found the group orientation very impersonal and also not as private as I would like which is why I switched clinics.

I had a cycle of timed intercourse during which I took Ovidrel as trigger shot and then took Progesterone for two weeks after, but not successful.

Nurses were kind and helpful, but I did not like not having a point person/primary nurse

Nice facility. Compassionate staff but can feel a bit like a factory with many many patients and fairly impersonal process. Monitoring hours are 7-9 am, and if you arrive close to 9 am it could take a very long time. May see a different doctor at every visit.

minimal co-pays

NYU recommends eSET

I think Dr. Fino is very kind and explains all of your options well. However, in my 9 months of treatment, I only saw her twice. She does seem very busy nonetheless so your time with her is limited.

Lower expectations of doctor facetime/contact. Doctor is difficult to get ahold of by phone.

Dr. Fino is very nice and has good bedside manner.

I was on 9 cycles of Letrozole with no changes in treatment over the course of that time. In addition, I had one surgery to remove a polyp that she thought might improve my chances.

Nursing staff are better in person. It's impossible to get them on the phone. Much better off stalking them in person.

Strengths - they have experience and see a high volume of patients so probably know each and every possible case or explanation. Weaknesses - very little doctor content, feels like a factory, nurses and billing are impossible to get on the phone. You will call 4 times, and every time they will say you will hear a response in by end of day, and you do not. It gets extremely frustrating on top of everything else that goes along with this process.

IUI cycles top to bottom are about $1500-2000 per month depending on the monitoring costs. As I move onto frozen transfer IVF, it is estimated it would cost about $18k top to bottom.

N/A

Dr Fino is knowledgable and kind. She is realistic but also supportive and encouraging during a time that can feel hopeless and frustrating. She wants what's best for you and you can feel that she is completely behind you.

To ask a lot of questions because she will answer you honestly, not sugar coating, but also not making you feel helpless.

Dr Fino is kind and compassionate, she has been very reassuring throughout the entire process. She is very smart and good at explaining the medical information so we could understand. She did not rush us in our initial meeting. We had an interesting scenario where we were forced into fertility preservation because of a newly diagnosed cancer, on top of our infertility struggle.

Menopur + Gonal F, trigger was Ovridel and Lupron

They are extremely kind...it's a big place and initially you can feel like you could get lost in the shuffle. But they all have a smile on their faces, they are happy to see you, answer your questions and are kind & loving during the monitoring process and retrieval.

Sometimes feels a bit overwhelming when you walk in and see a large waiting room filled with people. But it moves smoothly and they're prompt to see you, call w bloodwork/medication info and they make everything as easy as possible.

Rather efficient...not terrible waiting times, to be expected.

I have UHC/Progyny insurance and it's amazing.

I found her to be extremely competent and realistic. She also had my best interests at heart and was very "real" about how to proceed. I didn't have many choices because of my situation- but she was very optimistic about my course and everything turned out positive for me. I was very lucky!

She is a kind doctor who doesn't sugar coat anything but is sensitive enough to treat you well

With any fertility treatment, there are so many emotions. Try to not get too wrapped up and trust them. Maybe I was lucky because things went according to plan, but there were times I didn't see her and I was ok with that. It didn't bother me but I know it bothered other people. I trusted that things were going according to plan and Dr. Fino did not disappoint.

There are many of them but it was mostly limited to drawing blood and then then a follow up phone call for me. They were all pleasant and helpful.

It is a bit like a factory. Lots of doctors. Lots of nurses. Very process oriented.

It was mostly a well oiled machine but I did have an emergency once where I was injured and worried about the pregnancy. They saw me immediately and my doctor made sure to see me as well.

Egg freeze - $12000 Ivf- $7000 OOP

I would have liked to have more communication with her, but overall the experience was good. She is right in the middle when it comes to giving information in a soft manner vs. a cold manner. We communicated the most when I was deciding to do IVF.

Do your homework and breath a lot.

It was a very busy clinic and I liked the “in and out” aspect, but I can see how many patients would not. I also rarely saw Dr. Fino

Even though the clinic was super busy, she remembered me and called a lot.

I really do not have a comparison because this is the only clinic that I’ve gone to, but it was a bit like “herding cattle” as it’s extreme busy and I never saw the same women in the clinic. That said, I never waited very long and everything was very professional.

12,500 for treatment. 9,000 for drugs and pgs testing was 3,600

She didnt recommend testing other than hormone blood work and ultrasound and pushed me to begin medication. In retrospect she should have recommended a HSG, male factor testing, immune factor testing, Prometrium challenge, etc.

If you aren’t ready for IVF don’t bother.

I only saw her twice in 6 months - all monitoring appointments were done by nurses.

NA

Never saw same nurse twice. Injured during ultrasound - sore for a week after. No compassion, sometimes testing done with the door open or with another attending trainee without asking for permission. Misspelled and misprounced my name. Awful experience.

It’s a cattle call. Expect to wait 2-3 hours for your monitoring appointments. Impersonal. Unless you’re ready for IVF this isn’t the place for you. I can’t think of many upsides for NYU as I had a generally terrible experience.

Under $500 for consultation and basic diagnostics test.

NA

The reception staff was terrible! I can't even pretend that they weren't. However, all of the nurses and finance people were amazing!

Don't let the receptionist annoy you. Don't be afraid to ask questions

Dr Fino was through and thoughtful and it always felt like she cared. It never felt like a show of interest. She was busy built always felt like she was there only for you.

We used IUI and Planned on doing that for 3 rounds. IF unsuccessful we would switch to IVF. Dr Fino was very accommodating. After the first unsuccessful IUI she allowed us to take the IVF classes and prepare for IVF while continuing the IUI treatment. We were luckily successful with the second IUI

Super amazing at being available and assuring during the process

The clinic is very reputable and professional with the exception of the receptionisht

Dr FIno was very engaging and I know she wanted to see us with a pregnancy. We never changed up our approach towards pregnancy. I would have liked for her to have offered more aggressive treatment or solutions to our recurring losses.

Do research and ask about trying different methods to achieve pregnancy.

Nursing staff knew me by name, Dr Fino was very warm and personable. She made me felt heard and valued and was very caring during this difficult time.

We did IUI with clomid, never did progesterone.

Nursing staff was the same each time I went in so it was comforting to see familiar faces. All were very knowledgeable and I knew I could ask anyone a question and expect a solid answer.

NYU is a large clinic with small satellite offices. There are many doctors on staff and I selected mine based on online reviews. The clinic is connected to the hospital so billing for various procedures is very streamlined

Dr. Fino was very nice, took a lot of time with us listening. Seemed very intelligent and knowledgeable. Gave us all our options.

Understand that you won't see her every time you come in for visits (and there will be a lot of them). But that she is aware of what's going on and is monitoring everything.

I definitely felt like I was treated as an individual. I understand how some people think it can feel like a factory when you are getting monitored and during the numerous appointments. But I would rather get in and out fast since I had to go some many times. Everyone was always nice and friendly and personable during my many many monitoring appointments. Dr. Fino was very nice and gentle and honest.

Someone was always available to speak with on the phone whenever I had questions.