Kenneth Steingold (retired)

Dr. Steingold was recommended to us by a couple of friends, so we have trusted him from the start. He is personable, caring, open, and keeps things lighthearted. We have only done one round of just letrozole & one round of letrozole / IUI at this point and are not pregnant, but we are hopeful. He continues to ask us what we want to do and gives us his opinion, and then he adjusts treatment accordingly.

Don’t hesitate to ask him any and all the questions you have (even if you think they may sound silly); he’ll answer them graciously and honestly.

When we initially met Dr. Steingold for a consultation, we had already been through 3 rounds of clomid with my OB. So, we first completed the HSG and initial ultrasound. I also told him I noticed less cervical mucus with clomid, so he also did a post-coital test (although he said they tend to do less of those because they are more outdated/not as accurate). He decided it couldn’t hurt if it was something I was concerned about. HSG went well; Fallopian tubes were clear. Post-coital went well (it was really cool to look in the microscope!). Ultrasound showed something near / on my right ovary. (He was out of town for this, so it was another doctor who performed it, and he was very vague about it, but just told me I might need to get surgery which worried me.) Dr. Steingold followed up with a second ultrasound with him to see what was going on before starting any treatment. Second ultrasound proved clear, which was confusing, but he was very happy with. He said we will continue to do ultrasounds to make sure whatever was there was gone — and to monitor egg size. Third ultrasound was CD 14 proved to be clear again, and egg size looked good with one Letrozole pill, but got a negative pregnancy test. Fourth ultrasound looked good as well. This round was two Letrozole pills, a trigger shot on CD 16 for ovulation, and IUI on CD 17. Just received negative pregnancy test today, so we are entering into another 2 letrozole pill / IUI round before we change to different dosage or shots with IUI for third IUI round.

Initial consultation $216 / HSG treatment $380 / 4 ultrasounds $100 each / Post-coital $50

Dr. Steingold has been an excellent source of knowledge and support in a very difficult time for our family. He is always professional however very personable and compassionate. My husband and I feel he truly wants us to succeed in our journey to parenthood with the least invasive options.

Not necessarily Dr Steingold but all fertility patient's, be forthcoming with your personal goals, timeline and plan of care up front and through out the process.

I have done two IUIs. Each with 2.5 letrozole for a few days at the beginning of my cycle. The first cycle the initial vaginal ultrasound was completed during my period. In the second cycle the vaginal ultrasound was completed mid cycle as monitoring to plan the date of the IUI. Both IUIs I used an OTC ovulation kit and called in the clinic after I received a peak test. With first IUI I had costochondritis and odd swelling of my leg calf. My PCP worked me up for these. Assumed they were from affects of letrozole as I had no other changes in meds or lifestyle. Both issued resolved. No issues with second IUI. After two unsuccessful IUIs I had an HSG. Preparing for third IUI now.

Consultation: was covered by insurance- copay $30 Monitoring Ultrasounds: covered by insurance co pay $30, bill ~$40 IUI: Sperm wash- $200, IUI- $300 HSG: covered by insurance ~$80 Letrozole: Covered by insurance first cycle .28 cents, second cycle $1.25

Dr. Steingold couldn't of been a better fit for us as a physician. He is thorough in his explanation of procedures but also let my wife address all of her questions in a very respectful manner. Our previous clinic was not at all accommodating in that sense. He listens to her inquiries and provides good information as to his plans throughout the cycle. Most of all, he was there for us throughout the whole process after hours. Many questions came up throughout our multiple cycles and he was always responded to us no matter the time of day (even times when he was attending conferences).

If you need a compassionate Doctor that will listen to your concerns then I highly recommend Dr. Steingold.

Antagonist protocol. My wife, I'm sure, has explained this in detail.

We entered into a shared risk program at the clinic. I do not know the specifics of the total costs.

Dr. Steingold is a good doctor. He is obviously very smart but I found that out communication styles have not meshed that well. I have anxiety and like to know every detail, while he gives much broader statements than I am looking for. I often feel like I have to prod for details. However, you can tell he is very passionate about what he does and he does show compassion for his patients.

At our consultation he ordered bloodwork for me and a Semen Analysis for my husband. Bloodwork was fine, SA came back borderline. We proceeded to start Clomid as I had a short Luteal Phase and he thought this may help. After 2 rounds of this not helping my Luteal Phase he also wanted to recheck my husbands sperm. The results came back much lower and he said IUI was definitely the course of action and we could have a 10-15% chance each time, and he also referred us to a fertility urologist for my husband. He also prescribed an Ovidrel (hcg) shot for me. The day of my IUI my husband gave his sample and the numbers were even lower than the last test. The Ovidrel shot was successful in extending my luteal phase but ultimately the IUI was unsuccessful. We are now waiting to see if we find anything out at the urologist before proceeding with any further treatment.

Clomid is cheap with our insurance, $4 a cycle. The IUI was $500 out of pocket ($300 for the actual IUI and $200 for the sperm wash).

I have had nothing but positive experiences with Dr. Steingold. He was involved in every visit, phone call, and email that I had. He's very patient and listens to concerns. I appreciated the help and reassurance he often gave me when I was struggling in whatever way during the IVF process.

I would recommend that a prospective patient be upfront and honest, just as I have with every step of the way. I felt like I was always heard when I expressed any of my concerns.

I was put on birth control prior to my stimulation cycle began. I got off of the birth control and a few days later I started my stimulation cycle. My cycle included Gonal-F and Menopur injections every night. I added in Cetrocide (sp?) about five days in, in the morning to make sure I did not ovulate. A couple of days before my egg retrieval, I did my trigger shot, which was Pregnyl. This protocol produced 13 eggs on the date of my egg retrieval. 11 were fertilized with ICSI and 7 made it to 5 day embryos.

My monitoring appointments always felt like a well-oiled machine. They were always handled by my doctor and we would always go sit and talk in his office afterward for 5-15 minutes. I never felt rushed.

My husband and I did the shared-risk program (6 tries or a lot of our money back), which cost us about $26,000. This included all of our fees and medications.

My doctor prefers only transferring one embryo at a time because of the risk to both babies and mother if multiple embryos make it as a viable pregnancy.

Dr. Steingold is in this to help families. He makes himself available to patients, cares for them, and frequently checks in to make sure you are handling things emotionally. He is also benevolent and frequently writes off services to help when he can. He gives full information and helps his patients have reasonable expectations about their outcomes. He is also comfortable with and encourages active patient participation in the treatment plan. I always felt like he listened to my ideas and concerns and helped to address them in his plan.

Be ready with questions and ideas you may have.

My first IVF was with the antagonist protocol and it didn’t yield the egg numbers we were expecting. For the next cycles we tried the flare protocol and got many more, better quality eggs.

General appointments were a $40 copay. They offer single cycle IVF for roughly $12,000 and a shared risk six cycle program for $22,000. All appointments are included in the IVF cost.

The doctor transferred more embryos that typical in our case due to lower embryo quality.

Dr. Steingold is one of the most compassionate doctors I’ve ever seen. He is a bit “awkward” and my wife and I usually jump right into the conversation to get things going. I recommend having questions written out. He will take all the time you need to answer them. He is also open to trying new things if a patient suggests them.

Be a proactive patient. Have questions ready and if you feel strongly about doing a certain treatment, test, etc. push for it, or ask him to explain why he truly disagrees.

We were very quickly diagnosed with severe male factor infertility. We did TESE sperm retrieval and three full rounds of IVF. The first cycle he put my wife on the antagonist protocol but the egg yeild wasn’t as high as expected. For the following cycles he did the Flare protocol and that led to much better results. For IUIs we did four completely unmedicated cycles. It took two unmedicated cycles to conceive our daughter. After going back to try for baby number 2, we did two more unmedicated cycles followed by one femara/trigger cycle, and one follistim/trigger cycle. We are now looking to do IVF again.

Our insurance doesn’t cover anything, so these prices are self pay. Ultrasound monitoring-$200 Consultation-$150 IUI-$250 HSG-$600 Shared Risk IVF with ICSI-$22,000

I really appreciate that Dr. Steingold looks at each patient as an individual. Due to extremely poor sperm quality, our embryo quality was also poor. Day 5 transfers are standard but he chose to do day 3 transfers for us out of concern that our embryos wouldn’t survive in the lab. He also transferred more embryos that suggested for my wife’s age due to their poor quality and low chances of success

Dr. Steingold is very thoughtful and considers every option. I feel that when he is treating me, it's like he's playing a challenging game of chess. Slow and steady, every move decisive. He is very compassionate, and out of every doctor I've ever been to, he's the only one who makes me feel like a person, and not a diagnoses.

Be open minded and patient. He's a quiet man, but there's a lot going on it that brain that's willing to make your dreams of parenthood happen.

At first we did Clomid, at first a 50 dose for 5 days, then 100 for 5 days next two cycles, then 150 for 8 days following two cycles. During the Clomid rounds, we would do one ultrasound to check my eggs or follow up with progesterone blood work. My first ultrasound showed that I have several follicles waiting, thus all of our treatments are cautionary. Fun part when we started injections. First cycle on Follistim was 75, 125, 175 over the course of 37 days, follow-up with IUI and progesterone suppositories and a HPT. Cycle failed, one follicle grew. Second cycle, Follistim 125, 175, 200 over the course of 14 days with IUI ending it and HPT and progesterone suppositories. Cycle failed with 4 follicles. Currently on my third Follistim cycle, I started 150, up to 200, then 225, and today with an ultrasound showing 10 follicles struggling to take off (between 10 and 13 in size), we're reducing dose back to 150 for two days. If this cycle isn't canceled, I will do the IUI again. My case is unique in that each cycle I've responded completely differently, and I'm crazy resistant to the medications. The IUI is due to that, my husband's sperm is almost perfect.

Costs so far have been affordable. For 10 months of seeing him with 5 months of at least 7 appointments in a month, my balance has come to under $4000. They have agreements with pharmacies to be able to provide medication at a lower, affordable cost. For example, through my insurance, Follsitim would be $650, but with their partnership, I can get it for $260.

N/A

I am so grateful to have worked with him. While he wasn't successful in my IVFs or IUIs, likely because my eggs were too old, he monitored my treatments with an out-of-town doctor (my donors live elsewhere). He did so with professionalism, total generosity, and kindness. He's also a totally honest guy, kind, and thoughtful. I was grateful and lucky to have him on my side.

Choose him!

I have been working with him so long that I don't remember specifics from early treatment, but I appreciated that he was relatively conservative with medication, and seemed to have a lot of trust in my body to do its work, which encouraged my trust in it as well. He was very straightforward about research on different options, and even my own chances for success - reasonable about how it may not work, but also explaining that one never knows how things may go. It helped me to be reasonable and hopeful.

Dr. Steingold was a very kind and compassionate man. During the IVF process he clearly outlined the steps of everything that I needed to do with days and times and was very specific. He was very optimistic for a positive outcome. I sometimes felt that I was just a number in his office because at times during our meetings he was not familiar with my case or history and would refer back to my file. At times information from my file was misplaced and not always available when needed. After my second failed egg retrieval he told me honestly that he wasn't sure where/ how to proceed with my case and needed to consult other doctors. I also don't feel like he provided information to me without me asking the right questions.

You need to be prepared with detailed questions to ask him ahead of time as he does not always provide the details without being asked.

I'm not sure the treatment plan for my first egg retrieval but I was on Gonal F 300 and 1 vial of menopur daily for approx. a week and a half. Before taking ganaerelix and then an HSG trigger. Produced 11 eggs, 10 mature, 8 fertilized, 4 made it to blasts; results of PGD/PGS were all 4 abnormal. The second cycle was a lupron flare twice a day with Gonal F and menopur for two weeks. The idea was to produce more eggs. The second retrieval resulted in 10 eggs, 10 mature, 8 fertilized, 4 made it to blasts, PGD/PGS tested, all 4 abnormal. None of the 8 total embryos had the same pattern or abnormality. No patterns were apparent. Dr. Steingold said he was very surprised by the results both times and did not have an explanation for it. He consulted with other doctors to determine the best way to proceed further third egg retrieval/IVF attempt or proceeding with egg donor IVF.

Each IUI procedure was about$250-$300. My IUIs were with clomid. We used a multi-cycle IVF package that was around $20,000 for the two egg retrievals which did not result in any transfers or embryos to freeze for later use. We also used ICSI with both retrievals which was about $1200 each retrieval. We did PGD/PGS testing with both rounds that was around $800-900 each time. Medications for both retrievals was around $5000-$6000 each time. Doctor fees for the retrievals was around $5000.

N/A-- never made it to transfer

Dr. Steingold strikes me as a deceptively quiet guy who is a huge hit at parties. He does this thing where he sits back at his desk and gives you a piercing look as he's getting his thoughts together, and you're not sure whether to stare right back at him, start making stilted conversation, or just play with the random fidget objects he has on his desk. I think some might find his bedside manner to be a little awkward, but my husband and I are awkward people, too, so we all got along really well. He didn't bat an eye at our first appointment when I handed him a history of our previous treatment, which included the statement "Sh*ttiest Christmas Present Ever" regarding the results of a failed December IUI. (I spelled the whole word out on the paper I gave him.) When we arrived at his clinic, we had already done a year of unsuccessful infertility treatments at VCU and were reasonably well-informed patients. I was afraid he would make us start all over to see whether his approach to treatment had better results, and was incredibly relieved when he didn't make us repeat any needless tests (HSG, etc). We picked back up from where we left off with VCU. We did four IUIs, all of which failed, and then one cycle of IVF, which worked. As cheesy as it sounds, he grieved with us in the failures, and rejoiced in the successes. He provided clear explanations throughout each of the treatment cycles, and made me feel like an involved, integral member of a team instead of someone who was just along for what amounts to a really, really crummy ride. Also, he keeps a bobblehead figurine of Stewie from Family Guy in his office. This earned him a ton of bonus points from me.

He may not immediately come off as being warm and fuzzy, but he is. A friend referred me to him, and one of the things she spoke so highly of was his compassion as she and her husband went through the process of infertility. We absolutely saw that compassion during our treatment.

We never had a clear diagnosis. The closest we got was unexplained infertility, along with possible PCOS, and a defective luteal phase. My husband's sperm had major motility issues (<5%), however, his counts were off the charts, which was why we were never officially diagnosed with MFI. We did increasing dosages of Gonal-F for all of our IUIs, along with the trigger shot, and ultrasound monitoring. Our last two cycles also included Crinone from the time of the IUI until the BFP/BFN (they were all BFN). Our last IUI was a back-to-back one, at our suggestion, in hopes that it might boost our chances (it didn't). I can't remember the specific drugs for our IVF cycle, but based on what others have described, it was fairly standard protocol (birth control followed by hormones, hormones, and more hormones -- also baby aspirin [this was my idea based on stuff I read online; Dr. Steingold said it couldn't hurt], Valium for the day of the transfer, short term dose of prednisone, and an antibiotic). They retrieved 20 eggs, 13 of which fertilized using ICSI, and 7 of which made to 5-6 day embryos. (The recommendation for ICSI surprised us, as we hadn't been diagnosed with MFI. When I asked why, Dr. Steingold shared that they recommend ICSI for all of their patients simply out of an abundance of caution, but that ultimately it was our decision. It meant more money, but we decided to go ahead with it because we didn't want to hurt our chances of success.) We opted to transfer two embryos; when we discussed it with Dr. Steingold, he said that statistically transferring two versus one gave us "a little bit of an edge." We were desperate and thought twins sounded like a great idea. One of those embryos stuck, and our daughter was born 9 months later. We went back two months ago to do a frozen transfer. Dr. Steingold's approach was to duplicate everything we could from the fresh transfer, although I admittedly forgot to do the baby Aspirin. The protocol for it was Endometrin and Estrace, and repeating the Valium, prednisone, and antibiotic that we did for the fresh transfer. The only difference was that we chose to transfer one versus two embryos. Dr. Steingold agreed with this decision. We were in a different spot than we had been two years before, and didn't need that "little bit of an edge" -- we could more easily come to terms with a failed cycle, and had four remaining embryos. I'm currently 8 weeks pregnant with one baby. I'm going to stay on the Estrace and Endometrin through the end of week 13, assuming we get there.

This is complicated question to answer. We had some infertility coverage through the majority of our treatment, but it still resulted in significant out-of-pocket expenses. They were in line with, or below national averages for IUI and IVF.

We loved Dr. Kenneth Steingold as our doctor! He was very up front and honest and tried to make sure that all medications and test were in our price range!! Dr. Steingold has wonderful bedside manor. I wished we could have continued our journey with him, but unfortunately their donor egg bank wasn’t broad enough for us.

I have actually referred one of my co-workers to him. I explained to her how compassionate he is and up front and how great he is at making sure you understand every step.

We did all of our regular testing to find the diagnosis for the infertility. When we started the IUI cycles we jumped right into the injection medication instead of clomid since i had done that twice before with my OB-GYN. I had monitoring apts to watch the size of the follicles. I never produced for than 3 follicles in 1 cycle and maybe one of those made it to the right size. After more blood work he told me I have premature ovarian failure and went over my chances at IVF and told me that my chances were higher with donor egg

Most of the things I did a his office was I had some type of insurance coverage for except the IUI procedure it itself. I did have a surgical procedure as well, so I’d estimate we paid about 5000-7000 over the years of seeing Dr. Steingold.

I appreciate that I’ve been able to see Dr. Steingold at every visit. I appreciate his willingness to talk for as long as I need to during our appointments. As a patient, I need to understand everything and be very involved and Dr. Steingold has been understanding and accommodating.

Plan to advocate for yourself. Do your own research and ask questions. Dr. Steingold is very agreeable to incorporating his patients’ desires into treatment.

For all three retrievals, I was on a standard antagonist protocol with the same dosages.

I’m an out of pocket patient so without the benefits of health insurance, we’ve paid a lot for our treatments.

Dr. Steingold pushes for single transfers.

Steingold is very intelligent with his approach to infertility. He and I bounced back different ideas of treatment and ultimately decided upon a treatment plan specifically for me that met my needs as a patient.

Come in prepared with questions that you might have. Write them down in advanced because it is very possible to forget questions during the emotion and stress of doctors appointments.

I'm on 7.5mg of Letrozole, Ovidrel (trigger shot), IUI, and progesterone. The first round was unsuccessful, but working on my second round. We will incorporate gonal f if needed in the future.

With my insurance to see him a general office visit with an ultrasound, it is $20.53. My IUI was $300.

We have not discussed yet.

He has always been present, I see him, if I have questions I text him and he either texts back or calls back. It’s been a good experience so far. Anytime I have a question or concern over something he is willing to talk it through with me and will let us do what we prefer after the consult and pros and cons. I respect his opinion and he respects ours so it’s a great working relationship.

Don’t be afraid to ask questions about the meds or other options. Also don’t feel bad texting him or calling he will always make time to talk to you.

We did a shared program that gives us our money back (the bulk $22000) if we don’t have a live birth. The medicine and anesthesia are not included but you can do as many IVF and FET cycles as the plan allows I think 6 full cycles

He based this on my age and gave us the choice after he told us what his thoughts were.

Dr. Steingold has a great sense of humor when needed and is also a terrific listener. He follows what you want to do, within what he is able to do. He always wrote us a to-do list at the end of each appointment. He gives plenty of opportunities to ask questions in his office after your ultrasound, etc.

Come prepared with questions, and expect very direct answers. He is very realistic, but you will need to be comfortable with asking questions and prompting change in protocol when you're ready to.

We tried 2 IUIs, but stopped the 2nd time after finding a blocked tube and I was only producing follicles on the blocked side. We also had to switch from a fresh IVF transfer to a frozen because of my levels and I was close to getting OHSS. I was disappointed at first, but know he made the best call for me and our future attempts.

28000

The biggest strength is that he is optimistic and willing to try whatever he can. One weakness he has is not thoroughly reading my chart/latest updates before each visit. I found that I had to go over things with him a couple of times, reminding him where we were in the process.

Come to your appointments with specific questions.

I believe each IUI total, with medications, was around $900

He's very knowledgeable and thorough. He takes his time and even answered all of the questions my husband had. Immediately after my first IUI, I got sick, throwing and almost passed out. Although it was a rare occurrence to him, he did as much research as possible to see why this happened and what could be prevented next time.

Ask plenty of questions.

HSG -$450, IUI-$1000, Consultation-$200

He's a very nice doctor and has a ton of experience, but I didn't feel like he was always looking out for me and making suggestions of what we could try next. He did the right thing in keeping me educated, but I always had to ask him what about trying this....

we tried clomid first and then tied it with an IUI. That didn't work so we tried several rounds of follistim with IUIs and that never worked. I finally took a break and then ended up going with acupuncture and then switched to a different doctor.

$3500

Incredibly compassionate. He never gave up and encouraged me at every visit.

He's got a great success rate and will work with you every step of the way.

I used clomid for 3 cycles. The 3rd cycle I used clomid and progesterone and that's when I got pregnant.

Can't remember exactly but know that my insurance didn't cover a lot of it. I talked to their accounting person and she was able to let me know ahead of time the costs associated with the tests that were being run. She was amazing!

I really liked Dr. Steingold at first and I think he truly does care about his patients. He was kimd and communicative. However, I stopped seeing him because I think he was a little lazy when it came to some treatments. I started a femera and progesterone cycle, was pregnant and