How was your experience with Larry G Andrew at East Bay Fertility Center?
Dr. Andrew was recommended to us by another couple who had success with him. Prior to our first consultation with Dr. Andrew, we had already seen another infertility doctor for a consultation and some diagnostic testing. After meeting with Dr. Andrew, we felt a huge difference between the first infertility doctor we saw at another clinic and Dr. Andrew. It just seemed to click and it felt right that he should be our Dr. We felt like we had the best chances of success with him. He seemed to go into more depth and exploration as to what was causing our infertility. He also caught some health issues with my husband that had gone undetected. His approach resonated with us and his recommendations of how to move forward also felt right. Due to my advanced maternal age, Dr. Andrew was very candid with us regarding our chances of success, but he also was positive and we knew he would sincerely do all that he could to help us have children. After two IVF cycles (one failed and one miscarriage), we are planning to do one more IVF cycle and we still trust Dr. Andrew and feel he's the right Dr. for us, as we give it one more go.
What's one piece of advice would you give a prospective patient of Larry G Andrew at East Bay Fertility Center?
Trust Dr. Andrew. He knows what he's doing and knows his stuff. Anyone that I've talked to that has also been a patient of his says the same thing. If there are questions or doubts you have about anything, don't hesitate to bring those up to Dr. Andrew. He will listen and engage in an open dialogue with you to come up with a plan that makes sense for everyone involved.
During treatment, were you treated like a number or a human with Larry G Andrew at East Bay Fertility Center?
Dr. Andrew sees me at every single visit. Since his clinic is small, his staff knows my name and they are all very personable. It makes each visit as comfortable as can be considering that I wish I wasn't even having to seek infertility help.
Describe the protocols Larry G Andrew used in your cycles at East Bay Fertility Center and their degree of success.
My IVF cycles were fairly textbook. Even for my advanced maternal age, I produced the number of eggs that Dr. Andrew expected and hoped for. I was placed on the typical meds for IVF: Menopur, Gonal-F, Cetrotide, Lupron (trigger shot), Estradiol & Progesterone (after embryo transfers). Dr. Andrew also put me on medication for slightly low T3 hormone levels. I also am on a medication to help suppress my immune system that is a little bit in overdrive, discovered by a special lab order Dr. Andrew recommended. I feel like Dr. Andrew truly is trying to leave no stone unturned when looking at what will most help increase my chances of conceiving.
Describe your experience with your nurse at East Bay Fertility Center. (Assigned nurse: Susan)
The IVF coordinator and nursing staff are so warm and friendly at East Bay Fertility. They will take all the time you need to discuss questions, or concerns, or clarify if you're confused about protocol. Erin, who works in the lab, is one of my favorite people at East Bay Fertility. She is a ray of sunshine!
Describe your experience with East Bay Fertility Center.
This clinic is very small compared to many other infertility clinics. Esthetically, it's not anything fancy, perhaps even a little dated, but their focus is on helping couples conceive and keeping that cost down as much as possible for their patients, which I so greatly appreciate. It's allowed us to do two IVF cycles, and attempt a 3rd in the near future. So, their pricing is definitely a strength. Another strength is their response time to phone messages and emails. I know they are very busy, so there might have been a small number of occasions where I had to nudge them a few times for a response, but overall, they do a great job with call backs and responding to emails. A weakness of this clinic is that their hours are sometimes minimal, with phone calls often going to voicemail, even during their open hours. So, it can be hard to actually catch someone on the phone. With that said, however, if you are in the middle of an IVF cycle and it's after hours or the weekend and you need to speak to someone, you are given the Dr's pager.
Describe the costs associated with your care under Larry G Andrew at East Bay Fertility Center.
The pricing at East Bay Fertility is the most affordable for ART that I have seen. But, the lower pricing, compared to other clinics, has no bearing at all on the quality of care received at East Bay Fertility. Dr. Andrew is very passionate about the field of human reproduction and infertility. He is committed to making it possible for most couples to be able to afford ART, if they are struggling to conceive on their own. We really feel like we couldn't have gotten the quality of care AND the affordable pricing anywhere else.
Describe Larry G Andrew's approach to eSET (elective single embryo transfer) vs. multiple embryo transfer at East Bay Fertility Center.
Dr. Andrew will discuss this with each patient and approach it as situational. In my opinion, he truly wants to help each patient achieve pregnancy and will make a recommendation based on the context of your situation. But, he also wants to hear you out and wants to consider the factors that are important to you in deciding on eSET or multiple embryo transfer.
What specific things went wrong at East Bay Fertility Center?
- Failed to call in prescriptions to pharmacy
Describe the specific things that went wrong at East Bay Fertility Center.
On two separate occasions, I made trips to the pharmacy to pick up a prescription, but the prescriptions weren't called in to the pharmacy and I had to call East Bay Fertility to remind them to send in the prescription.