Katherine Melzer Ross

Dr. Ross is straightforward and has a calm demeanor. She is realistic in her expectations and explains each step of the process, including answering my many and repeat questions. As my struggles with infertility continued, I felt that she became even more invested in my case.

Ask questions!

I started with unmedicated IUIs, then gradually increased the number of meds I used in my IUIs. Once I switched to IVF, I started on a high dose of Gonal-F because Dr. Ross already knew how my body responded to the drug from the IUI cycles. For my next round of IVF, which is to begin next month, we are trying different meds as well as higher doses of some of the ones we have tried.

I went to two of three locations for monitoring. At one, there was usually no wait but it was only open for 45 minutes. At the other, the window was longer (about 2 hours) but there was almost always a wait - though sometimes the wait was short.

Under my insurance, for 9 IUIs and 1 round of IVF we have spent around $25,000. However, at least $12,000 of that has been for donor sperm which is separate from the clinic.

For my first fresh transfer, Dr. Ross wanted to transfer only 1 on day 3. Since my other embryo from that retrieval had multiple abnormalities, Dr. Ross is willing to transfer 2 embryos from the next IVF cycle (assuming I get several).

Dr Ross is a very compassionate, caring doctor. My husband and I were very impressed with her from the start. My frustration though was that I never saw her ONCE after the initial consultations to start IVF. I did most of my monitoring at Genesis in Staten Island where I saw a nurse practitioner for ultrasound and bloodwork. I went to Brooklyn Surgery Center for 2 egg retrievals in which 2 different doctors performed them and not Dr Ross. Although I really liked Dr Ross, I felt like I never saw her for any of the treatment. I greatly appreciated her taking the time to respond to emails and call me but I would have liked to actually see her...particularly to perform the retrievals. If I did IVF again, I am not sure I would go to Genesis due to this. We live in NJ so we had to drive to Staten Island and Brooklyn for all the monitoring and retrievals. So not sure it was worth it in the long run for all that driving to never see the doctor we chose in the first place.

Don't expect her to do all your retrievals, if any. Not sure if she would be the one doing the transfer, as we sadly never made it to that step.

Dr Ross had me do mini IVF ( low stimulation) cycles. She chose this due to my age and diminished ovarian reserve along with us paying all of the IVF costs out of pocket. She had me on 100 mg of Clomid daily and 150 IU of Menopur every other day on the first cycle. After only getting 2 follicles, and ending up retrieving only 1 egg on the first cycle, she upped the Menopur to 150 IU daily for round 2.

Well oiled machine. First come, first serve. Went to Staten Island for all but one monitoring session that fell on the weekend.

Genesis offered a military discount of 25% which helped since we had no fertility coverage. Cost of an IVF w discount was approximately $3500. If we had at least 3 cycles, then one transfer was included. Retrieval was done at the Brooklyn Surgery Center in the same building as Genesis Bayside Parkway office. The cost to the Surgery Center was $1000 per retrieval. We also did PGS testing where there was a one time laboratory cost of $1875 (after discount) and the genetic lab charged $250 per embryo plus shipping

Dr Ross stated that she would only transfer one embryo if we PGS tested, which we did due to having recurrent miscarriage due to chromosonal abnormalities.

Initial she was very encouraging and engaged. But I’ve the diagnosis was done she didn’t seem to care much about anything. The nurses did everything. From monitoring to calling and the IUI itself. Dr Ross was available by email but seemed annoyed with answering questions. In the end she didn’t seem to care about the outcome or adjusting my treatments although I had diminished ovarian reserve so clearly time was an issue.

Don’t expect to see your doctor during treatments. When you go for monitoring in that main office, make sure you know how many people are ahead of you. They are very unorganized and skipped me twice because the receptionist crossed me off the list before I was seen

Most of my cycles were without any treatment - just monitoring and then a canceled cycle. I did one Clomid cycle which resulted in a “maybe” mature enough follicle on the side that’s not blocked but that cycle did not work.

I think an IUI was about $700 My insurance covered the dr visits and monitoring

She was very kind, attentive, and personable. She is very knowledgeable and great at explaining things. She diagnosed an issue others had missed, and was flexible in her approach. Not a weakness of hers but while she was out on leave, her replacement was not my favorite doctor, and this doctor ended up performing significant portions of my treatment.

Just understand the schedule of all the offices, and despite the satellite offices, understand how much time you will be forced to go to the main office.

Did unmedicated IUI, did medicated IUI with letrozole and trigger, and eventually did one round of IVF.

Some days it was packed and others it was calm and just me. This could definitely be done better. It was also up to patients to track their place in line, ect - which works with some people and not with others.

IUIs ranged from 3000-5000 depending on protocol they quoted something like 12000 for a round of IVF (plus meds) but in reality it was way more out of pocket for the whole process

An issue for me was that I think two different doctors handling my care had different thoughts, Dr. Ross suggested multiple, while a doctor that actually did my transfer suggested only one. In the future, I plan to move forward with two, as was Ross's original advice.

Dr. Ross was a beacon of hope in my infertility journey. I had previously been under the care of a different physician in a different clinic who made me feel like a number. Dr. Ross is the exact opposite. She has such a wonderful presence and such positivity. She explains in great detail, with sketches and everything, about your treatment plans and procedures, etc. She is compassionate and understanding. i never felt forced to do anything and I left every appointment with a clear understanding.

Enjoy her and listen. She’s a very knowledgeable doctor.

I suffer from PCOS and my husband male factor. She was open to IUI during our initial consultation, but after further testing, she acknowledged the low success rate and suggested IVF. Since I don’t cycle normally, she needed to start me on Provera to induce. The protocol she used was moderate. The plan: grow as many great eggs as possible, without putting my body at risk for OHSS. As far as the single fresh embryo transfer - my age was the sole decision maker. One egg if you’re under 35.

Their monitoring schedule is so helpful. Depending on their location, they have different monitoring hours. They started as early as 5:30am for those who work very early and were as late as 8:00am. All monitoring results were given by early afternoon.

Infertility is covered with my insurance. Genesis is considered a Center of Excellence with them as well. Therefore, I had $0 copays in the office and small copays associated with the testing and medicine. All together, we spent about $300.

Because of my age, under 35, Dr Ross would only transfer one embryo.

She is honest and caring, tried to help us an any way she could. Easy to communicate with, responsive to emails, etc. She offered both medical and moral support through this tiring process. If you are looking for a doctor that's compassionate and trustworthy, I'd highly recommend her.

Bring all your questions, she will consider them and answer the ones that she can. She is extremely supportive and will take time with you each visit.If you have been down the IVF road before and still have not had success, and are interested in any "experimental" treatments or immunological testing, you will need to be referred elsewhere. She practices evidence-based medicine.

IUI- Used Letrozole and Clomid. Clomid produces several follicles, whereas letrozole produced one. IVF-Used antagonist protocol and agonist (lupron) protocol. Agonist produced more mature eggs. Medications were adjusted throughout cycle depending on blood work results.

Normally didn't have to wait too long. On weekends, the wait time was always much longer.

IVF cycles (without meds) around $10,000. They participated in the NYS IVF Grant program.

We went over the recommendations for number of embryos to be transferred based on age.

Dr. Ross was our second opinion, and unbeknownst to me, I was already pregnant on my own when I saw her. She followed up with my bloodwork, made herself available and seemed interested in my case. However, when I lost the embryo at 6 weeks, things changed. She told me that she felt my autoimmune dz was causing my recurrent miscarriages, and she had exhausted all the tests to find out what was actually wrong. Then she referred me to another practice, who she said she "didnt really believe in their controversial methods" but we had basically hit the end of the road. Then she said well, let's do a hysteroscopy, just to see, maybe IVF with Lovenox. As a medical clinician, the thought of trial and error guessing with my already sick body and emotionally fragile psyche, was too much to bear and I will not be returning. IMO, if you have infertility with other medical complications, Genesis is not the place to go. Good luck to everyone.

Thankfully covered by insurance.

She was compassionate and knowledgeable. I had a specific situation and she did not make me feel embarrassed. I felt very comfortable with her and confident, although i did not get to interact with her aside from the consults.

Clomid and trigger for IUI

Many many costs for an IUI. Including extra costs that were not explained up front

I felt as though she honestly wanted to help us get to our goal. She explained everything and took my thoughts and concerns seriously. I was able to reach her via email or phone anytime of the day. She answered all of our questions.

Try to relax and trust that everything will work out

Dr. Ross transfers one single embryo at a time. I would prefer more but she explained the reasons behind transferring only one

I started the IVF process at age 36 to try for my 4th baby (after tying my tubes). I originally saw Dr. Katherine Melzer Ross for my IVF consultation. She was very nice and gave me tons of information. She answered every single question and was ALWAYS available via email or phone to talk. I remember her saying to my husband and I "You will get pregnant, it's just a matter of when." Eventually after a failed cycle and then a cancelled cycle (follicles did not grow enough), I finally became pregnant with my one frozen embryo that was left. The transfer was done by Dr. Grazi who was the doc on call the day of my transfer. He did an amazing job and reassured me that everything would be fine. My daughter was born last month (my current age = 37) (she was born at 31 weeks & 6 days) as a preemie, but all is well. I would like to thank Dr. Ross, Dr. Grazi, Dr. Smizer (who delivered my girl via c section) and all of the doctors at Genesis for their teamwork, friendly service and genuine care during my IVF process. If I had to do it again I would definitely choose Genesis. Frozen Embryo Transfer June 2019 Success! Baby Girl Born 12/31/19.

Listen carefully and take notes. Breathe and know that you are in good hands. Don't be afraid to reach out to any doctor here.

Fresh embryo transfer, then frozen. Used progesterone suppositories, gonal f, cetrotide, ovidrel trigger shot, estradiol.

They had very early times so I was able to get in before work, as early as 5 am. Multiple locations made it convenient as well. Early bird gets the worm

My insurance covered 85% of the costs. I paid less than $500 for meds. Storage fees for frozen sperm were included

Very strict about single embryo transfer. Multiple embryos were not offered. Maybe because I had 3 children already and my age was 36.