How was your experience with John Orris at Main Line Fertility ?
Strengths: He represented himself as wanting to take an "aggressive" approach (he used that word a lot), and that sounded appealing to us. I wasn't getting any younger and we just wanted to hurry up and have the kid already.
Weaknesses/things that were not to my taste: As I said before, he seemed to take somewhat of a generic, impersonal approach to our case. He talked about getting me pregnant rather than getting me a live birth (my problem was/is multiple miscarriages and I felt he was not paying attention to that). He did not ask any particulars about the past miscarriages and did not seem to think that any details were relevant. He adopted a very masculine/"bro" attitude toward my husband; maybe other men like that or feel it addresses their insecurity around infertility treatments but we thought it was weird. He informed me what we were going to do (medicated cycles, combo of clomid/letrozole), rather than advising and explaining a course of treatment. The first cycle (clomid + timed intercourse) did not work. The second cycle when I came in shortly before ovulation, he informed me (rather than suggesting to me) that we were going to do an IUI. When I expressed some hesitation, saying that I'd heard success rates were not much higher than timed intercourse for people with my medical history, he retorted in a snappy tone of voice, "Fine, then don't do it." And turned away and started ignoring me. I finally agreed to the IUI but I felt like I was bullied into it. It didn't work anyway. For the first time in my life I was having trouble getting pregnant--when I had come to him not for help conceiving but with figuring out what was happening with my miscarriages.
The following year, I went back to MLF for monitoring on a new pregnancy (that we conceived on our own, not with their help) and ended up seeing him a couple times during that period. First, he gave me false hope when Dr Glassner had been telling me to prepare for another loss; when it finally ended in miscarriage again he came across as cold and unsympathetic. He scheduled me for a D&C--did not ask my opinion or preference--and again started talking about "getting aggressive". I let him do the procedure but I will never go back to him after this.
What's one piece of advice would you give a prospective patient of John Orris at Main Line Fertility ?
Stand up for yourself and don't be afraid to ask questions.
During treatment, were you treated like a number or a human with John Orris at Main Line Fertility ?
When he was ready to see you, he would stand at the end of the hall and shout your name (rather than looking into the waiting room and making eye contact). He made no real effort to listen to our specific concerns. Instead, he seemed to assume that he knew right away what our problem was and he recommended a cookie-cutter approach that did not seem to take any of our particulars into account. He kept using generic language like, "we'll get you pregnant," completely disregarding that our problem was repeated miscarriages and that in fact we conceived easily several times on our own. To be fair, I think he *thought* he was being personable and congenial, making chitchat, but it came off as insincere and like he was not really listening.
Describe the protocols John Orris used in your cycles at Main Line Fertility and their degree of success.
1st cycle--100 clomid
2nd cycle--150 clomid, 5 letrozole
He was pretty dictatorial and didn't describe rationales, other than being "aggressive"--his favorite word evidently.
Describe your experience with Main Line Fertility .
It's nice that they have multiple locations, however, you should know that most of the doctors rotate between locations. I chose the clinic mostly for its location in Bryn Mawr, but then I found out that if I wanted to keep seeing my same doctor I had to travel occasionally to the West Chester and Paoli locations as well. The nurses also change locations so it's hard to get to know them.
The Bryn Mawr office has so many people working in it that it's kind of impersonal. Morning appointments feel like cattle calls and sometimes they get backed up and waits can be long. I waited over an hour one time just for a blood draw.
Maybe they are good if you are experiencing some forms of infertility, but I found them on the whole pretty insensitive about recurrent miscarriage. Everyone, doctors and nurses, was always saying, "Don't worry, we'll get you pregnant." For a lot of people, that's not the problem and it made me feel like they weren't paying attention to me as a person--or, more importantly, to me as a patient with a particular medical history.
If you are willing to walk five minutes at the Bryn Mawr office, you can get free street parking.
I wish they had electronic medical records and some sort of patient portal where we could log in and see our test results. With these huge paper files, it feels like a different decade. Also, sometimes they would forget to forward my file to the appropriate office where my appointment was on a particular day.
Describe the costs associated with your care under John Orris at Main Line Fertility .
My insurance doesn't cover IVF but does cover other infertility procedures, medications, etc. So I just had a $35 copay with each visit
Describe John Orris's approach to eSET (elective single embryo transfer) vs. multiple embryo transfer at Main Line Fertility .
N/A
What specific things went wrong at Main Line Fertility ?
- Failed to call in prescriptions to pharmacy
- Lost appointments
- Failed to call with results
- Failed to order appropriate test
- Failed to inform you of changes in protocol
- Provided conflicting information
Describe the specific things that went wrong at Main Line Fertility .
I think they are all a bit disorganized--front desk, doctors, everyone. My initial doctor didn't order a full reproductive loss panel though I had had repeated miscarriages; I've had nurses say they are going to call with test results and then they don't; nurses say they are going to call in prescriptions and then they don't; and one time I called to schedule a new cycle with my particular doctor and the receptionist scheduled me with him for a date and time at an office location where he wasn't even going to be on that particular day! I showed up for the appointment and they looked at me like I was crazy--"Dr Orris is never here on Wednesdays" etc. The doctor who was there was able to squeeze me in, but none of this was reassuring.