Dr. Alvarez is very kind and compassionate, while being professional, frank, and clear in describing everything you need to know to make an informed decision about your fertility journey... He is LGBTQ inclusive since he is a gay man himself and specifically very trans-inclusive which can be a challenge to find. He is also compassionate and non-judgemental of women who are overweight an obese, he doesn't give you the doom and gloom fatphobic approach that some doctors can take.
Fertility Centers of Illinois is a bit of a high volume place, and you can get lost if not very proactive with messaging on the portal and calling to make appointments...you need to be in the driver seat with remembering to make your appointments promptly, requesting refills with enough time to get the meds and not run out, asking questions, setting up surgeries etc. It's not the kind of place where they just seamlessly do all of that for you. You need to take charge, since there are so many patients and so many locations. The River north clinic runs smooth as butter, Buffalo Grove has weird hours and its hard to get in there, Hoffman estates runs REALLY late with appointments, blood draw, ultrasounds,
How was your experience with Juan Alvarez at Fertility Centers of Illinois?
Dr. Alvarez is very kind and compassionate, while being professional, frank, and clear in describing everything you need to know to make an informed decision about your fertility journey. He is obviously a brilliant doctor, his resume and education are absolutely top-notch (My sister is a Yale trained physician, looked at his resume and told me I was in excellent hands). He is LGBTQ inclusive since he is a gay man himself and specifically very trans-inclusive which can be a challenge to find. He is also compassionate and non-judgemental of women who are overweight an obese, he doesn't give you the doom and gloom fatphobic approach that some doctors can take. Where they make you believe that only skinny women can get pregnant. I am overweight and got pregnant on my first IUI. He never shamed me or made me feel bad about myself. He simply asked about my diet and exercise and I explained that I did regular exercise and eat as healthfully as I could. Most doctors don't seem to believe that many plus sized people actually do work out, but he did.
What's one piece of advice would you give a prospective patient of Juan Alvarez at Fertility Centers of Illinois?
He is an amazing doctor and his nursing team is also great. Fertility Centers of Illinois is a bit of a high volume place, and you can get lost if not very proactive with messaging on the portal and calling to make appointments. But other than that Dr. Alvarez is AMAZING and my experience with FCI was great because I knew how to navigate it.
During treatment, were you treated like a number or a human with Juan Alvarez at Fertility Centers of Illinois?
Dr. Alvarez and his entire teams were so sweet, patient with my millions of questions, very responsive, and warm. The first surgery I ever had in my life was to remove uterine polyps and I was TERRIFIED, but Dr. Alvarez, the nurses, everyone was so sweet! Dr. Alvarez was very prompt to respond when I called him after hours--He was paged because of a worrying side effect--that turned out to be my first pregnancy symptom!!
Describe the protocols Juan Alvarez used in your cycles at Fertility Centers of Illinois and their degree of success.
I had endometriosis, a suspected blocked fallopian tube, suspected PCOS, and three large uterine polyps. I also found out I have low thyroid horomone. He had me do an HSG and found out my tubes were both open! Did comprehensive PCOS screening (came back negative or mild), we did laproscopic surgery to remove the polyps and he put me on thyroid meds. Then a month after the surgery, we did a monitored IUI cycle with HCG injectables and Endometrin vaginal inserts. I got pregnant on the first try!!
How competent was Juan Alvarez at LGBTQ care?
Dr. Alvarez is himself a member of the LGBTQ community. My husband who is trans--did not have any interest in carrying a child, but Dr. Alvarez did not make any assumption and asked him if he'd consider it. The way Dr. Alvarez asked was very impressive, he did not use any triggering language and asked in a way that way still very gender confirming. Both my husband and I were sold on working with him after our first meeting.
Describe your experience with your nurse at Fertility Centers of Illinois. (Assigned nurse: Rebecca and Christin)
Rebecca and Christin were both SO SWEET! very prompt in responding to messages over the portal, very knowledgeable, very clear communicators.
Describe your experience with Fertility Centers of Illinois.
A bit of a high volume place, so you need to be very proactive about making your appointments, reaching out via the portal promptly with any questions, etc. hard to get appointments unless you are VERY proactive and willing to go to multiple locations (which is actually nice, in a way because I had the privilege of working with Dr. Alvarez even though I live way out in the suburbs.) Just know that at FCI, you need to be in the driver seat with remembering to make your appointments promptly, requesting refills with enough time to get the meds and not run out, asking questions, setting up surgeries etc. It's not the kind of place where they just seamlessly do all of that for you. You need to take charge, since there are so many patients and so many locations. The River north clinic runs smooth as butter, Buffalo Grove has weird hours and its hard to get in there, Hoffman estates runs REALLY late with appointments, blood draw, ultrasounds, etc. So don't go there if pressed for time.
Describe the costs associated with your care under Juan Alvarez at Fertility Centers of Illinois.
Insurance covered almost all of it. I think about 2-3K we paid for. Which is great considering all of the testing, blood work, ultrasounds, the surgery, the monitored IUI and injectables.
What specific things went wrong at Fertility Centers of Illinois?
- Failed to call in prescriptions to pharmacy
- Failed to call with results
- Failed to order appropriate test
- Failed to send your chart to another clinic
- Failed to inform you of changes in protocol
- Failed to convey critical information
Describe the specific things that went wrong at Fertility Centers of Illinois.
FCI didn't do a great job of outlining in their welcome letter or communicating along the way that donor sperm was to be shipped directly to them. I think members of the LGBTQ community often have sperm shipped to their homes to do at home inseminations, so they shouldn't have assumed everyone would just know to ship a huge container to their office. My husband is trans and I am a woman carrying the baby, many friends of ours got pregnant by shipping sperm to their door. FCI should have made sure to tell us in writing and confirm with us that they wanted us to ship the sperm to them. The day before my first IUI, they called asking where the sperm was. I told them in the canister at home. They were shocked and told me I couldn't do the IUI because the chain of custody was off and the sperm could be damaged. It wasn't, we made sure to keep the container sealed. But their legal team probably didn't want to be liable. Anyway, after some back and forth and a realllll nail bitter the day before my IUI, i told them look no one said anything, the welcome letter said nothing, I looked over paperwork and messages, no one told me a thing. We are going to be out of hundreds of dollars in sperm, shipping, and meds if we don't go through with this cycle. This is not our fault. FCI did end up being very understanding and apologetic and sweet to us. They said they understood it was a lapse in their communication and would take steps to rectify this in their practice going forward. So it all worked out! In that first stressful cycle I got pregnant!!
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Clinic
Fertility Centers of Illinois
Chicago/River North