Joseph Sanfilippo

I only met with him once in three years. He just told me to lose weight. He looked at my chart and said it could be endometriosis but he didn’t want to test for it as I have a severe reaction to some anesthesia and he did not want to risk it.

Do not get your hopes up. Be prepared to feel like you are being processed. He did not give me any insight as to why I was infertile. He wanted me to try iui and see what happened.

Dr. Sanfillipo wanted me to start weight watchers and did a full blood work up. Nothing was concluded from the blood work. He then wanted me to begin with an aggressive letrozole dosage for an iui cycle. We also did vaginal sonograms and HSG.

The cost was higher than their clinics. An iui cycle out of pocket was around $1800 with all medication and testing.

None.

I was diagnosed with Asherman's Syndrome a few years ago and my uterus was about 80% scarred. Dr. Sanfilippo was able to clear my uterus of all scarring and does frequent checks to make sure it hasn't come back. When all of my gynecologists didn't listen to me when I said I had pain, Dr. Sanfilippo did and found that I had stage 3 endometrosis which he removed and I had to have one of my tubes clipped. I have been through 2 retrievals and I am getting ready for a third but Dr. Sanfilippo is always very realistic with us regarding our odds and has looked into research studies and consults other doctors to try to assist us the best that he can. He is always willing to change protocols to increase positive outcomes and he listens to me when I want to do things a certain way. I have had multiple surgeries (getting ready to have a 10th soon) due to miscarriages, removal of scarring and removal of endometriosis and Dr. Sanfilippo has never left me in the dark about anything. He always makes sure I understand everything that is going on. He is so compassionate and empathetic and I have never had a doctor listen to me as much as he does.

Dr. Sanfilippo is extremely thorough and spends time with you to really make sure that you understand everything going because infertility can be really scary. For those with Asherman's syndrome, he has a lot of experience with it an has done wonders for me. I cannot say enough great things about him. There is a wait to get in with him though but once you have your initial visit, he is always willing to give you a call if you have questions or if you want to discuss treatment options.

Due to having Asherman's, Dr. Sanfilippo has had to do multiple surgeries on me to remove scarring. He does a hysteroscopy each time to remove the scarring and inserts a intrauterine balloon for a week to prevent the walls of the uterus from sticking and causing more scarring. He has also put me on estrogen for 28 days with progesterone for the last 10 days of that in order to start a new cycle. The estrogen helps to thicken the lining to prevent scarring as well. I get sonohysterograms every couple of months now to double check for scarring. For my endo, he did a laparoscopy and removed endo from my bowels, ovary and cavity walls. I also had to have my tube clipped due to it being blocked and fused to my ovary. It was a 3hr surgery to remove everything. I have done 2 retrievals with Dr. Sanfilippo and the second retrieval he was able to switch up meds which resulted in better response. Unfortunately we think the first transfer we had didn't take due to harmful fluid leaking from my tube into my uterus which has now been taking care of and and my second transfer was negative for unknown reasons. I have trouble getting my lining to thicken due to the Asherman's and Dr. Sanfilippo tried different protocols and was able to get my lining to 8mm for my 2nd transfer which is the thickest it has been yet. I am getting ready to do my 3rd retrieval soon.

Costs vary depending on what all you are getting done. My insurance does not cover any IVF treatment so it was around $10,000-$12,000 each retrieval and that was with a little discount that I get due to being employed through the same healthcare system. My insurance covered my surgeries. They do use a private anesthesia group for retrievals that do not take insurance. All retrievals are done in the office with that group. The billing department will try to bill insurance first before billing you. You pay a lump sum up front and they take what is not covered from that and then they reimburse you for anything that was covered by insurance such as ultrasounds and what not. The billing department does check with your insurance first to see what all should be covered or not covered.

Dr. Sanfilippo prefers to do FET with genetic testing if needed but is totally willing to do fresh transfers too. Due to us having 2 failed transfers, he was willing to do a fresh transfer with 2 embryos to increase our chances but we have decided to do another freeze all cycle and do PGS testing instead.

Dr. Sanfillipo is always very thorough in all of my appointments. He is also very candid about any health risks that I might encounter during treatments, which I appreciate. He never makes me feel like any of my questions are stupid.

Healthy diet and weight is very important to him.

We used femara with an ovidrel shot for 4 cycles without ovulation. We then tried 1 clomid/ovidrel cycle during which I did have one small follicle and ovulation, but did not get pregnant. I am currently trying to lose weight before we try the clomid again with IUI. Dr. Sanfillipo did not recommend injectables without IVF for me due to the high number of immature follicles on each of my ovaries during my 5 cycles. I found this frustrating at times but I appreciate that safety is always his number one concern.

With my insurance, each femara cycle was roughly $150.00. My initial testing was around 500.00

Dr. Sanfilippo was not knowledgeable compared to other RE's that I have worked with. He was not compassionate or willing to take ownership of his patients. It was a very impersonal visit with him reciting what seemed like a script. He had not even reviewed my records beforehand. It was an overall terrible experience. I would never do an IVF cycle with him or his staff. I had a special request, and they were unable to make any accommodations despite the circumstances. They definitely did not show any compassion.

Go elsewhere if you can.

He gave me very generic recommendations, and did not provide specifics at our consultation because he did not even formulate a plan.

n/a

n/a

Dr. Sanfilippo has amazing bedside manner. He takes the time needed at EACH visit to go over everything and always makes sure he answers any questions you have. He also will go over your history at each visit to make sure HE stays caught up on changes and refreshes his memory for any specifics to you and your case. He sees hundreds and it's refreshing to know he always has YOU on his mind during your visit.

Listen to him. He knows what he's doing. Do all the tests, they ARE necessary and he will find a treatment plan suited to you and your needs. He has a positive pregnancy test as his main goal when it is yours.

First you will have a sit down consultation with him and potentially one of his partners. He will go over your previous history and what you wish to accomplish in his care. He orders a full panel of blood work depending on your case (you'll also find out your blood type!). He then ordered a sonohysterogram (SHG) to check on uterus health. From there, he ordered a Hysterosalpingogram (HSG) to check on Fallopian tubes and more detailed uterus health. After all results, he goes over them with you during a follow up and together you make a plan of treatment. He then prescribed timed intercourse with either clomid or letrozole. We would do a few treatments of that and if nothing worked, we would do some monitored cycles with ultrasounds and continue from there.

Costs are average to above average for infertility treatments. He bills appropriately, it really depends on your insurance and what is covered. This is not his fault.

He goes though everything and explains everything that needs to be done, hes never in a rush to get to the next patient and always makes dure we understand evevything. But its not just Dr. Sanfilipo but his entire staff that works together, if we have questions we cab call anytime and get an answer that same day, and we always have lots of questions. If tests need to be completed they always have room for us. The entire staff if so caring and we definitely aren't just a number in the patient world, we are there to help make our dream come true of having a baby and he is there to do everything in his power to make it happen. When we started this process i was diganosed with endometrial hyperplasia with atypia. So I had to go see the oncologist before we could move on with my fertility treatment. After treatment for my precancer and lots of biopsies I got the ok to go back to the fertility treatments but only have 6 months to try. This would be an absolute dream for us to get this grant and make our dreams come true.

Ask questions, they are there to give you the answers your looking for.

We recieved a paper with all the costs the day we went in for our fertility treatment, everything was very clear, yet, very expensive.

He answers all of your questions honestly and without judgement. He is always willing to explain his thought process behind his choice of treatment. He's shown compassion when I've shown signs of pain during a procedure.

Don't be afraid to ask him anything and everything.

I'm 29 with diminished ovarian reserve as a result of multiple surgeries to remove ovarian cysts. We started with IUI since I was still young, but Sanfilippo made it clear he thought IVF would be our best bet. The IUIs failed.I was told to be cautiously optimistic once it was time for IVF. He chose a protocol designed for poor responders, but it didn't work. My cycle was canceled due to low response. Next, I was told that my chances of success with a second IVF were less than 10%, but he understood I was still young so he would be willing to try again if I wanted to. He said it was time to start thinking about donor eggs as the alternative. I ended up deciding to use donor eggs and we are in this process right now.

A single IVF cycle was around $12,000 plus medication. Donor IVF was $16,000 plus medication.

Dr. Sanfilippo was a great doctor who was unfortunately surrounded a poor support staff. Dr. Sanfilippo made sure to give details about your procedure and had a good bedside manner. We unfortunately had a lot of bad experiences at UPMC, but Dr. Sanfilippo was the only reason we kept going back. If Dr. Sanfilippo was at any other clinic, we wouldn't hesitate to see him again.

Dr. Sanfilippo listens to your concerns and will put you on a path that is specific to your needs. He did listen when we told him that we had been doing fertility treatments for years and just wanted to go straight into IVF without having to do anymore IUIs or medication cycles. He took into account all of our prior history and agreed that our best course of action was IVF. The only negative I have to say about Dr. Sanfilippo is his support staff is not good or organized which made our experience at the facility negative.

Dr. Sanfilippo suggested IVF with menopur and follistem injections. I was monitored with ultrasounds and bloodwork. The support staff (nurses) didn't perform an ultrasound and kept using an old one to determine future protocols. Once I realized what was going on, I brought it to their attention and they immediately got me in for a "fresh" ultrasound to monitor.

My husband and I had a ton of bloodwork done and the cost was really high. The IVF was very expensive, but probably around the same as the national average.

Dr. Sanfilippo was willing to do a multiple embryo transfer, however I only had one embryo to transfer.

Dr. Sanfilippo was extremely thorough in explaining every step of the process for IUI's and IVF. He may have been a little more clinical in how he handled things but he always had our best interest in mind. He would also take into consideration our thoughts or requests during each cycle. When we found that we were receiving conflicting information from the time of our appointments to the time the nurses would call us with protocols my husband and I were ready to change doctors. When Dr. Sanfilippo found out about this he called me directly to address my concerns and we did not have a problem after that.

Going into the appointment, know that he is very detailed in clinical terms.

For the first IVF cycle we went with the lowest dose of medication which resulted in only 1 embryo that made it to freeze. For the second IVF, Dr. Sanfilippo increased the medication which resulted in 6 frozen embryos that made it to freeze. Unfortunately I do not remember the amounts of each medication.

Before insurance each ultrasound was around $500. Medications for an IVF cycle were around $4,000 before insurance. A total IVF cycle with medications, retrieval, transfer is around $14,000 - $15,000 before insurance. Frozen embryo storage is around $500 per year.

Dr. S does not have a very warm bedside manner and doesn't do a great job of listening or providing individualized care. He comes across as very skilled, but as a new patient, I felt lost and like I was bothering him to ask questions or take up his time.

Have a list of questions ready and do your research PRIOR to an appointment.

Still adding them up

Great experience with Dr Sanfillipo. He shows compassion and takes his time explaining everything. He explains things in ways for someone not in the medical field can understand, which I've found some doctors have difficulty doing. He took his time and listened to all of my questions and concerns. I never felt like I was asking a dumb question. Yes, our first round was not successful but had nothing to do with him. My body did not respond the way we were hoping. We liked him so much we are sticking with him for round two.

Don't be afraid to ask questions if you don't understand. He will take the time to explain everything.

Medications were 4K IVF was 12k My insurance does not cover fertility treatments.

I liked that he was honest, but did not like that my multiple miscarriages could not be explained as all my tests came back normal. Eventually, only after going through IVF treatment did we discover that the issue was Luteau Phase Defect and that the solution was simply to inject myself during the first trimester of pregnancy with progesterone. It was a lot of heartache to reach this conclusion, but ultimately I am now a mother of 1 and 9 months pregnant with my second. Both naturally conceived and maintained by injecting progesterone during the first 13 weeks of pregnancy.

Leave no stone unturned, the simplest of solutions could be overlooked by the providers as they tend to focus so much on the more complicated factors.

The costs are expensive, but luckily my insurance covered most of it.

He has good bedside manner and did treat us with much respect. I feel like he didn’t look into much more than it’s just unexplained infertility. After my Ivf failed and I miscarried the response was it was just bad luck we should try again. But we simply couldn’t afford it.

Around 15k for Ivf and 2500 for each iui

Joseph Sanfilipo took time to explain my diagnosis and gave me the treatment options. He gave me time to ask all my questions and heard what I said and cleared all my doubts. I met him only twice and I dealt with the nurses most of the time during my procedures and treatment.

Ask lot of questions. Don't hesitate in clearing your doubts. He will give you time to ask all your questions. Be prepared with all your questions before the appoinment.

I have PCOS and I was suggested to try Aggresive Letrozole IUI as it was the effective one

I’m just getting started in the process, but the dr. Seems knowledgeable and competent. I I’m very hopeful that the process will be successful. I have a clear understanding of the upcoming steps and the nursing staff responded quickly to questions I had later.