The first time I saw Dr. Gould, my wife and I sat down with him, gave him my entire medical history and prior health; and he immediately knew what the problem was, and was able to explain it to me to where I could understand it. He went over an anticipated plan of how we would get sperm (I'm unable to ejaculate, and my body also tends to kill off sperm). When we did the procedure the first time, they got plenty of semen, but all the sperm were completely dead. So, we chose to do a future procedure (the same one, but 3 months down the road), and it was done. The second time around, we had a little more success (out of several billion sperm, we got close to 30 live sperm).
When they retrieved 27 eggs from my wife, the embryologist [at NCFMC] had searched out, among billions of sperm, and found enough live sperm to fertilize every egg (which was way beyond what I had expected). They gave us updates on progress, and transferred 2 embryos, resulting in the live birth of our son. While the experience was stressful (which, I'm assuming, every experience WILL be), it was better success than I could anticipate, and for the clinic and that success, I'm forever grateful.
How was your experience with John Gould at Northern California Fertility Medical Center?
The first time I saw Dr. Gould, my wife and I sat down with him, gave him my entire medical history and prior health; and he immediately knew what the problem was, and was able to explain it to me to where I could understand it. He went over an anticipated plan of how we would get sperm (I'm unable to ejaculate, and my body also tends to kill off sperm). When we did the procedure the first time, they got plenty of semen, but all the sperm were completely dead. So, we chose to do a future procedure (the same one, but 3 months down the road), and it was done. The second time around, we had a little more success (out of several billion sperm, we got close to 30 live sperm). From there, it was pretty much the clinic handling everything, and that was the end of our treatments with Dr. Gould.
What's one piece of advice would you give a prospective patient of John Gould at Northern California Fertility Medical Center?
Be honest, don't be afraid to tell him everything you know. The more he knows, the better your chance of success.
During treatment, were you treated like a number or a human with John Gould at Northern California Fertility Medical Center?
The way I was spoken to, it appeared that there was practically no chance of success, and my wife and I were mandated to have donor sperm present. At the same time, though, Dr. Gould assured me he would be trying extensively to have success obtaining my own live sperm for IVF, and though it took 2 procedures, we had success, and now I have a 1 year old son from his extensive efforts.
Describe the protocols John Gould used in your cycles at Northern California Fertility Medical Center and their degree of success.
No medications were ever used by Dr. Gould, but he went with the electroejaculation procedure twice, and it was effective in obtaining adequate semen/sperm results.
Describe your experience with your nurse at Northern California Fertility Medical Center. (Assigned nurse: Marcie Colletti)
We had a hard time getting along with our nursing coordinator; it took a while for us to get used to her, and her to us. We finally managed to get things worked out, and she met all our needs in a timely manner. The rest of the nurses were great, encouraging and positive; one even had had to have fertility treatments herself, and because of that, stood out among the others as someone who knew what it was like on a personal level.
Describe your experience with Northern California Fertility Medical Center.
We went in starting IVF having little to no idea how long things would take; because we didn't know, and expected things to be done within a month, and weren't getting updates, it stressed us out. We finally got things cleared up and questions answered, and from there the experience was great. Two of the doctors came across as pessimistic toward my results, and demanded that we have donor sperm on standby; two of the doctors were completely empathetic, and came across that anything is possible, and that it wasn't the end of the world for me. When we did the electroejaculation the 2nd time, we were told that they washed the semen sample obtained, but didn't give specific results, but when they retrieved 27 eggs from my wife, the embryologist had searched out, among billions of sperm, and found enough live sperm to fertilize every egg (which was way beyond what I had expected). They gave us updates on progress, and transferred 2 embryos, resulting in the live birth of our son. While the experience was stressful (which, I'm assuming, every experience WILL be), it was better success than I could anticipate, and for the clinic and that success, I'm forever grateful.
Describe the costs associated with your care under John Gould at Northern California Fertility Medical Center.
Payment was expected up front prior to any appointment or procedure; I vaguely remember the particular procedure costing somewhere around $1200.
Describe John Gould's approach to eSET (elective single embryo transfer) vs. multiple embryo transfer at Northern California Fertility Medical Center.
Not applicable.
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Clinic
Northern California Fertility Medical Center
Roseville (closed)