Jennifer Brown

I found Dr. Brown to be competent and sympathetic for the most part, but I experienced quite a bit of shaming around my weight from her. As in, the day that my third loss in a year was confirmed, she mentioned that maybe I should take some time off to get "the best possible environment" for transferring my last embryos as everything seemed fine except I keep miscarrying. By which she meant "lose weight" because she believes that high BMI can cause implantation problems--and she's pretty blunt about that in a "that's the science" way. That same day, she told me that if my insurance was maxed out and wouldn't cover a transfer of my final remaining embryos, they'd do it anyway. So, it's a mixed bag having her as your fertility doctor. I found her generally sympathetic and likable, and she really seems personally to want me to leave their clinic with a baby, but she has the ability to hit that sore spot (whether it's justified and true or not, being told that you being fat might be why you keep losing your pregnancies is really painful). She also sometimes seemed not to remember my exact history/background and I would have to reminder her "we decided not to do that because X, Y, Z...." Honestly, I was always happy when I was seeing Dr. Murray, her partner, instead, as I felt she was just as competent, but more sympathetic.

Honestly, if they're at all heavy, I'd suggest they specifically ask for Dr. Murray instead. You'll see all three doctors anyway, but I think she's a better option personally (not clinically, where I'd say any of the three clinic docs are similar) for anyone who's sensitive about conversations about their weight.

This is a small clinic (though one of only two in our state) and I consistently saw the same doctors, nurses and other staff, so all of them, including Dr. Brown, knew me well and were genuinely warm and sympathetic during the hard parts of my journey.

4 rounds of IVF, all antagonist protocol (Gonal-F and Menopur stims, Cetrotide to block ovulation, Lupron+HCG trigger) with two freeze all cycles (due to PCOS and OHSS risk).

The nursing staff were all pleasant and competent, however some were less clear in their communication than others, so I was happy if Mo was my nurse for a given cycle, as she was always helpful, prompt providing information, and really, really nice and kind.

They are really competent, and always treat you like a person--if you're "lucky" enough to spend a lot of time with them, they definitely seem to care deeply about your outcomes. But, two of the three doctors have made comments to me about my weight being the reason I can't get pregnant that have been deeply hurtful. Communication with nursing staff can be spotty (and you'll always get voicemail when calling and will have to wait to hear back).

I had insurance (I've now met my lifetime max), but insurance paid: $7,800-$9,900 for each round of IVF, depending on whether it was freeze all or fresh transfer cycle and whether they did ICSI or the embryos went to blastocyst before transfer/freeze. ~$2,300 for each FET (not including monitoring (2-3 visits for ~$300/visit) or beta testing (~$500 for HCG, progesterone, and estrogen))

I advocated for eSET in my initial transfers--my doctor was open to transferring multiples because of my age, but went with my choice for two rounds before deciding to move to DET.

Dr Brown was very kind and explained everything/step in detail and what the plan was. She felt pretty positive about me conceiving. She had personally called me to let me know the transfer didn't work.

To make sure you ask all questions and have a clear understanding of what would come next if the cycle didn’t work.

I felt like a human because they were very compassionate with what they do for a living. Felt welcomed every time I walked into the office.

Started taking birth control on CD2 for 16 days. Had a uterine fibroid removed on day 17. Day 18 started stims taking 225 Gonal F and 150 Menopur mixed. That mixture was taken for 7 days. On day 8 of stims Ganirelix was added for 6 days. On stims day 13 I had to take HCG IM shot and a dose of Lupron. Stims day 14 just Lupron and stims day 16 was egg retreival. They retrieved 16 eggs of which 12 were mature and 8 fertilized with ICSI. After transfer tried Progesterone injection but wasn't able to give myself the shot so switched to suppositories.

The nursing staff had the same positive outlook as did Dr Brown. Made you feel like a human and not a number.

The clinic is up to date with their technology. Very clean and friendly atmosphere. I didn't have anything that I disliked about the clinic just that fact is it didn't work which is not a 100% guarantee anyways.

No issues even had Dr Casson preform an ultrasound :)

costs as when I first started. Office visits, blood work and ultrasounds were covered by insurance. IUI and IVF (including meds were not covered) semen analysis $175 injection training $125 SHG $350 IUI's $400 each IVF without monitoring $7,000 plus $530 for anesthesia

Because of my age she was concerned with transferring multiple embryos but I was still at the age where it fell under their guidelines and I was able to have 2 transferred. She was very helpful in describing the risks of a successful transfer.

Dr. Brown clearly cared about our situation and wanted to help us. I wish that she had taken the time to review our prior care in better detail before automatically letting me decide to proceed with another IVF cycle. She did not rush us through our appts with her but was not there to do the retrieval or the transfer. She did call me personally with my bloodwork results which was nice.

Dr. Brown is a very nice woman who will take the time you need to discuss concerns and help make a plan that works for you.

Dr. Brown sat down with my husband and I and reviewed the procedures and tests that needed to be done as well as those that were done in the prior setting with other doctors. She personally called me when I had a negative pregnancy test (blood work) and spoke with me about my options.

We did an IVF cycle with my eggs (fresh) using gonal-f and menopur as well as Lupron. We retrieved 7 eggs with only 1 mature and 3 which were matured in the lab and all were fertilized with ICSI. We did a transfer on day 3 with a day 2 and a day 3 embryo. The remaining 2 embryos were left to grow to day 5 but did not survive. We received a negative bloodwork test and were left with nothing.

Monique is an amazing nurse who showed compassion from the first time we met. She was an excellent communicator who responded almost immediately to any and all of my questions. She even emailed me post delivery of our baby girl to see how things were going and wanted us to visit so that she could meet her.

The clinic takes a look at you as a whole person and takes into consideration your financial situation when ordering tests. The billing office has been questionable as they seem to have a lot of turn over which has resulted in multiple calls due to billing errors but the staff on site has been more than helpful in resolving these issues.

the IVF procedure was 10,530. We had to do preliminary assessments due to my prior IVF being a year old. I would say overall we spent approximately 12-13,000.

Dr. Brown had a candid conversation about the risks of transferring more than 1 embryo, however, given that mine were not of great quality, it was decided that two made more sense to transfer.

Makes time to answer questions and discuss alternative options. Warm bedside manner. Draws lots of diagrams of uteruses and ovaries. Give patients options and does not force a set one size fits all treatment plan.

Dont be afraid to call with questions and ask to speak with her, she will usually make time.

Used clomid and IUI to increase odds of unexplained infertility. Was diagnosed with endometriosis and moved on to IVF. Did two months of birth control before frozen embryo transfer to help with endometriosis. Had polyps removed from uterus. Resulted in two chemical pregnancies.

Very friendly in person, sometimes rushed on phone calls.

Receptionist and billing are helpful and friendly. Very clean, inviting waiting area. Professional staff. Practice manager was receptive to feedback when I was frustrated with an experience, was refunded for appointment.

I have infertility insurance coverage. However, I wished I’d known to shop around for drug prices instead of using their default pharmacy.

Very enthusiastic about our choices to do a single embryo transfer.

We only tried letrozole for 3 cycles, which unfortunately was not effective. We have paused on any further treatment because of the costs, as our insurance does not cover it and also my husband and I decided that we need to work on "us" and our health before giving conception another shot.

Ask questions, be open.

Dr Brown took the time to meet with both my husband and myself and make sure all of our questions were answered definitively

Started with a workup, Dr Brown asking questions about fertility history. Next bloodwork. Finally a course of action.

All staff was extremely easy to communicate with; I never dreaded calling or asking a question. I was given direct email communication with the team, which was fantastic.

I felt at ease the moment I walked into this clinic. Everyone was helpful and answered any questions my husband or myself had. I never felt like I was just a number, that nobody cared or that they weren't willing to help me. The entire staff was compassionate and understanding.

Our insurance covers diagnostic costs only. Any procedures that were done would need to be covered by my husband and myself.

Dr Brown had a good bedside manner but just wasn't the right fit for me and my needs. I wanted a dr who took the whole body into account and would address my autoimmune issues in fertility treatment. She said she didn't think there was a connection between my infertility and auto-immune, and that's why I left her as a patient. In addition, I had to have 3 septum surgeries and she was not great at communicating the risk before having the first that I would have to have more than one due to the length of the septum. This led to a big let down after the first surgery - to find out I needed another and then another...

Ask for clarity about any risks/potential next steps before a surgery. Also, if you have other health issues that YOU believe are connected to infertility, I don't think she will be a good fit for you!

Dr Brown treated me like a human, but she wasn't willing to adjust my treatment based on my health issues. She said CCRM had specific protocols, and those were the only ones she was willing to use with me.

It definitely felt like we were a number with the nursing staff. They were nice, but they didn't seem to know our situation enough as they should have

She preformed surgery and our initial conversation. We did not see her other then that. We did speak to one of the other doctors there one more time but other then that we saw mostly the nurses. She did do wonderful with my surgery and make me feel very secure.

She listened and was relatable. She understood things we went through and talked to us about many options.

Clomid for iui. The amounts stayed the same each time. I wish they tried different ways after the first 3 didn’t work.

Loved the nurses! They were always the same ones which was really nice to establish a relationship. They always answered questions and did whatever they could to make it easier.

The clinic was small and welcoming. You almost never had to wait. They even gave us ferry passes so we did not have to pay for the way home. The billing office was a pain they had trouble billing my insurance but it all worked out.

750 for iui 350 sperm retrieval

Jennifer Brown Is extremely knowledgeable and very compassionate. She will often take extra time with you if needed. Jennifer Brown is invested in the outcome of patients and has excellent bedside manner.

To expect that communication between doctors and nurses to be confusing

Communication is difficult. Calls can take longer than 24 hrs to be returned. Questions about insurance go unanswered. Concerns about prices/costs ignored.

IUIs- clomid, ovidrel (4 negative) IVF- ortho-cyclen, Menapur, gonal f, ganirelix, lupron, pregnyl (current)

Strength- they're highly skilled Challenge- they're too busy/there aren't enough of them

Strength- extremely knowledgeable, invested in positive outcomes Weakness- not enough doctors/rns/other office staff (they seem spread thin), communication of treatment plans between doctors/rns, expensive

Approximately $10,000