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.

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).

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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

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!

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.

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

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

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

Approximately $10,000