Jennifer Ratcliffe

It has taken me almost a year to write this review. As soon as I got to the car after the visit with her I burst into tears. I had gone to her to see about freezing my eggs. During the ultrasound she said I "didn't have that many eggs." My AFC was 14 on the right and 7 on the left, which I later found out is quite normal for 33.5 years of age. I can deal with bluntness and lack of a warm bedside manner but what happened after the ultrasound was inexcusable. In stead of taking me into her office to have a conversation (which I was paying out of pocket for), she simply stood in the hallway and proceeded to tell me that I needed to schedule the egg freezing soon because I didn't have that many eggs. She said this as another patient was walking by us in the hallway and another patient was at the receptionist's desk in the waiting room. I made eye contact with both patients and they looked away, like they knew they were overhearing things they should not be hearing. I was totally in shock that she would violate my privacy in such a manner. I managed to ask a couple questions, the first asking her to write down what my follicle count was and then I asked her what next steps were and she brushed my off, telling me to contact the patient coordinator. I went and got my bloodwork done downstairs because it had already been ordered but I knew the moment I walked out the door I would never be returning. I am not an overly sensitive person by any means but to tell a woman she has a low egg count is distressing enough but then to do so in front of other patients and not give. private consultation or answer questions is absolutely appalling. I. sincerely debated for weeks about filing a HIPAA violation complaint with HHS. To make matters worse, it took nearly a month to get my blood test results. When I called to inquire, I was told the nurse or patient coordinator was on vacation but when the results came in I would receive a call from the doctor. I called back again a couple weeks later and was again told I would get a call from the doctor. About a week after that I got call from a patient coordinator who said by blood test results "looked good." I never heard from Dr. Ratcliffe. A few weeks later, I received a letter in the mail describing my initial appointment that apparently had been sent to my primary care provider and copied to me without my knowledge or consent! Another HIPAA violation - and to boot, the information in the report was not accurate. After this experience I checked the reviews online, and saw another patient mention the same thing re holding consults within earshot of other patients. Sadly, this appears to be Dr. Ratcliffe's MO. This was such a horrible experience it took me 6 months to get over it and move on to another doctor. Based on her complete lack of disregard for patient privacy I cannot recommend Dr. Ratcliffe to anyone.

Stay away. There are plenty of other physicians in the Bay Area who will respect your privacy and give you the dignity of a private consultation and answer questions.

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$240 for initial consult and ultrasound. I was quoted $7,340 for egg freezing including 5 years of storage (not including approx. $5K for medication).

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Dr. Ratcliffe is clearly competent, but I didn't love her bedside manner. She often seemed rushed. I wish we would have gotten clearer explanations about her decision making process. Also,during an examination when she was counting my eggs, she made me feel like it was my fault when the number of eggs was less than we'd hoped for.

It's an emotional roller-coaster. Dr. Ratcliffe is smart, but she's also not going to fully explain her decision-making process. If you have any questions, write them all down ahead of time so you can ask them all during your appointment, and be prepared to feel dismissed.

It was a few months ago now, so I don't really remember everything. Started with birth control pills to regulate my cycle. Then a couple weeks of daily hormone injections to grow my eggs, a booster shot closer to the day of egg retrieval, egg retrieval, 3-day embryo transfer, suppositories and (I think) more shots after transfer, blood tests for pregnancy testing. I don't remember the actual drugs or doses.

It was relatively affordable compared to other clinics. It was approximately $12,000 for the IVF cycle plus approximately $5,000 for all the drugs/hormones.

Because of my age (40), Dr. Ratcliffe chose to transfer all embryos (3 the first time, 4 the second time).

I have put off writing a negative review because I did have success with Dr. Ratcliffe in my first IVF cycle in 2015. She presented as brash and rude but I had been warned about her bedside manner. She was confident in her ability to get us pregnant so we minimized her negative behaviors. During that cycle and subsequent cycles she dismissed my questions and concerns, she literally told me a question I asked was "stupid." She told me my eggs "sucked" and there was nothing we could do to improve egg quality. When I asked her about evidence based suppliments that other clinics were using such as CoQ 10 and DHEA she laughed them off. She did not explain to me that she only does day 3 transfers. When I asked about our embryo grading she told me she doesn't believe in this practice, an embryo is either "good or it isn't." She never gave me a diagnosis. After failed cycles when I asked if we could do things differently she said there was nothing different that could be done. We did not know how many embryos made it to transfer day until the day of transfer while medicated on Valium. We were asked to make decisions about the number of embryos to transfer at that time. While medicated. With her I transferred three, three and four embryos respectively. I had no idea at the time that this was against industry guidelines. Dr. Ratcliffe never called me with results, positive or negative. During each of my embryo transfers and all of my ultrasound appointments she spoke about her personal life, mostly about her cats, sometimes negatively about her daughter and husband. Her mother covers the front desk of the clinic at times, I have watched her yell at her mother and call her stupid. I have witnessed her yell at office staff. She discusses confidential patient/treatment information in the hallway with patients that can be clearly heard in the waiting room. Despite all of these negatives we kept returning to her practice because we had success with her the first time. It wasn't until I began educating myself and working with a fertility coach that I realized it doesn't have to be this way. When I switched clinics I felt a huge amount of relief.

Educate yourself about industry standards and best practices and have your questions ready at the time of consultation. Don't be afraid to challenge her and don't accept her opinion as gospel.

Each cycle was an antagonist protocol. She insisted on using birth control to suppress despite my DOR (A diagnosis she never informed me of, I only learned later when I requested and reviewed my records). No information was provided about treatment strategy or reason for the protocol.

Retrieval and transfer was approximately $14,000 without medications

Dr. Ratcliffe believes strongly in multiple embryo transfer. The only risk of multiple transfer that was explained to me was the possibility of multiple children. This was done while medicated on Valium.

At our first consult she layed out all the facts and bluntly advised us of our treatment plan and potential need for IVF later on. We waited a year before coming back so we met for a mini-consult to see if treatment plan needed to be changed. It did, so we adjusted and started right away.. We are now waiting the results of our 3rd cycle and have another plan to adjust trestment if this one doesnt work. At first, I felt Dr.Ratcliffe was cold and shut-off to her patients. Until recently when I had many questions and since her visits are fast I knew I wouldnt have a chance to ask them all. The clinic had given me a flyer with my new patient folder to email with any questions, so I did. Dr. Ratcliffe responded within 1 day, she had answered my questions and clarified my concerns and reitterated the next steps in our plan. Although she lacks the bedside manor and empathy I would like my RE to have, she does answer questions when asked (via email) and gives me the most important/sensitive information directly.

Every patient experience is different and what I may need for my care, another person will have their own wants and needs. I had read bad reviews mainly about her manors before seeing her as a patient. She is intense and that can be offputting and scary when dealing with such a volnerable situation. Especially since I'm so young. But I really do appreciate the directness and her willing to answer my questions.

Our first consult included an extensive ultrasound where Dr.Ratcliffe concluded the likely cause of my infertility. She requested diagnostic lab work and S/A .Once confirmed that our cause was not Male factor infertility, she then performed a sonosalpingogram to see if the tubes were damaged with scar tissue from having surgery as an infant and/or an appendectomy in my teens. After the test showed they were ok, she then narrowed the issue to my potential poor egg quality and low follicle counts. Started on me 100mg clomid D3-7 to increase the chances I could release a "good" egg and recommended we start with IUI. Dr.Ratcliffe checked the results the clomid had on my follicle count by ultrasound on CD10-12 that showed I had 2 large follicles 23mm/18mm. She ordered for me to have a "trigger shot" of HCG to ensure timing of ovulation. The Medical assistants instructed me on how and when to administer the injection.We scheduled the IUI 36 hours after the Hcg shot. We showed up and gave the specimen to the nurse who then performed a sperm wash of the sample. When ready, we went to the exam room where Dr.Ratcliffe performed the IUI. I was given a blood test order to check for pregnancy 2 weeks later. RESULTS: 1s Cycle(no Hcg shot): failed 2nd Cycle:failed 3rd Cycle: a waiting results. If this one fails we plan to stop clomid and start Constrolled Ovarian Hyperstimulation Injection medication with 1 last IUI...and last resort is IVF.

Consult: $260 Diagnostic labs: $1200 Seven analysis: $30 Medication-hcg shot-ultrasound-sperm wash-IUI: $800ea.

During our initial consult, I was giving her my medical history and mentioned three very early miscarriages. She waved her hand and said, "Oh, those don't count." If she doesn't believe they're important to my fertility struggles, I trust her, but I was just trying to give her the complete picture and her careless attitude really turned me off. She never encouraged and was always annoyed by me educating myself outside of her office. I became scared of even sending her emails asking questions because she would tell me to "stop reading out-of-date articles on the Internet." I was always asking about things that other current fertility patients I was in touch with were going through, so my information wasn't out of date. These questions could have been handled with more tact and care to say the least.

Don't expect a warm bedside manner.

Definitely on the expensive side compared with patients at other clinics I spoke with.

When your struggling with infertility your extremely sensitive and once your in cycle times that by 10! This woman never showed empathy or good bed side manner. Very short with us. Seemed annoyed when questions were asked. I always felt uncomfortable but we felt stuck since she was the only local fertility doctor. My husband and I couldn't afford a commute. She made our experience so much worse then it needed to me. Certain interactions I remember with her still make my stomach churn.

Please don't give this Doctor your money. She treats her patients so badly. There are other choices in S.F.

Very blunt. Funny. Prefers easier cases that won't hurt her numbers. Good communicator if she thinks you are worth her time.

Don't take the bluntness personally and if you don't get pregnant quickly, find a bigger clinic.

She is very straight forward, doesn't sugar coat. She also pressured us to try treatments we had no interest in, at which point she seemed to lose interest in helping us. She offered to help vet egg donor candidates, but when it came time, she blew us off.

She is good if you have simple issues, otherwise, go elsewhere.