Mary Abusief

Dr. Abusief is very patient and understanding. She always gives me the time to ask questions and takes her time to explain anything I don't understand. At one point I was considering doing IVF overseas for significant less cost (prior to having IVF covered under my insurance) and Dr. Abusief was very supportive and offered her care that I might need before and after the actual IVF procedure. I've experienced several setbacks during my IVF treatment and Dr. Abusief was very sympathetic during it all. One minor drawback with Dr. Abusief is that her office is in Palo Alto, while all other doctors from the clinic are based in San Jose. So during the IVF cycle where I needed to get an ultrasound every other day, I saw 4 different doctors in the San Jose but not Dr. Abusief. There just wasn't enough appointment slots with her being the only doctor in the PA office. In hindsight I might have gone with a doctor located in the San Jose office, purely for convenience and greater chance that I would actually see the doctor during the IVF cycle.

Dr. Abusief seems to have limited appointment slots so while it is normally fine during the consultation phase to schedule appointments further out, during the later part of the IVF cycle where ultrasound is taken every other day, most of the available appointments are with other doctors located in San Jose. So I would advise those who live/work in the San Jose/South Bay area to choose doctor based in San Jose, and those who live/work in Peninsula to expect to have to travel to San Jose as there are more doctors available.

We started easy with oral medication and timed intercourse, as I have had one natural pregnant/birth before. But after two miscarriages, Dr. Abusief strongly encouraged us to consider IVF with genetic testing. We wanted to try non-invasive protocols first so we spent couple more cycles with injectable medication with IUI before moving to IVF. Dr. Abusief was considerate about the cost of the procedure and our past history of natural pregnancy, so she didn't order anything that wasn't necessary. In the end, based on my age, my body responded relatively well to the IVF protocols and produced acceptable # of eggs. Unfortunately all of the embryos have shown chromosomal abnormalities and are not viable for transfer.

So far the cost of one IVF cycle including retrieval, but NOT including genetic testing and transfer, is about $23K. Genetic testing is done by a 3rd party lab. Transfer is estimated to be around $4,000. These are billable costs, and may not reflect actual "out-of-pocket" cost if going through insurance or any cast discount if not covered by insurance.

We loved working with Dr. Abusief. The only downside is that since it's a large practice there were appointments where I saw one of her colleagues instead. She did not perform my egg retrievals or transfers because she was not "on-call" that day. She took over as the medical director and seemed stretched a little thin. I would have liked it more if there were less doctors involved and I was able to work with Dr. Abusief more exclusively.

Be prepared for the fact that even if you like her a lot, you may not enjoy her colleagues as much and will often be in their direct care instead of hers. Although she was my primary RE, I was seen by many other doctors during my cycles with her.

It was my first IVF cycle and we used a standard long-lupron down regulation protocol. They retrieved 9 eggs, however only 6 were mature. No human growth hormone was used, just the lupron, gonal-f, and menopur. She stated that she started me on a higher dose of gonadotropins due to my low AMH, however I've always had an even higher dose with subsequent cycles with other doctors.

I bought a package through ARC that covered one retrieval and fresh transfer and one frozen transfer. The package was around $12-13,000 and did not cover ICSI or more than a set number of ultrasounds in a cycle. I paid extra for needing extra monitoring appointments as well as a whole lot of blood work, ultrasounds, and endometrial pipelle procedure for a chemical pregnancy.

They will only transfer 2 embryos if you use day 3 embryos for my age bracket (Under 30). If you are using day 5 embryos, they will only transfer 1.

I felt they were professional and the actual surgical experience was amazing. Best procedure I ever had- I was alone, going through a divorce and a scary procedure with no one there for me. but I had a heated bed, kind words etc. It was great.

The desk staff and phone systems are a huge labyrinth of confusion. Just persevere and you will get through.

Both were to freeze eggs: First Cycle which only yielded 4 frozen eggs lupron 10 then Gonal F300 +minopur then HCG trigger Second Cycle yielded 12 frozen eggs: GonalF300 + minopur+dexameth pill Ganriliex HCG trigger

I was self pay. The fees are pretty set and standard. The fee for the full egg retrieval process was about 10K plus I had insurance for the drugs part so I'm not sure how much that was.

Dr. Mary is kind and compassionate. She spent good time reviewing our case and created a clear plan going forward. She has been available for communication thus far and has not run over 20 minutes late for any of our appointments.

You may not be able to see Dr. Mary for each treatment. She acknowledged that she does not specialize in autoimmune infertility, but makes appropriate referrals to a clinic nearby that does with whom she works closely.

The plan so far is: estrogen priming followed by a lupron downreg protocol. St in meds include: Follistim or Gonal-F and menopur. We will use conventional fertilization.

We're still figuring this out. Estimated to be $15,000 for IVF. Additional for our FET.

With PGS testing , the recommendation is a single embryo transfer

Dr. A told us what the normal protocols were, but was also flexible and patient when I asked about possible deviations. It took a lot of effort for me to go to a fertility doctor, and at first I was very scared. Dr. A was incredibly understanding and supportive of me going at my own pace. I never felt pressured or like a number in any way. A year ago I would have never believed that I would be brave enough to undergo a hysteroscopy and do 4 medicated Luis. Dr. Abusief's support all the way through was really key in helping me overcome my fear.

Be honest and ask a lot of questions.

Letrozole, progesterone, orvidrel

Dr. Abusief was very kind and compassionate. She even called me the night that my fresh transfer did not work to make sure that we had a plan I felt comfortable with going forward. She goes above and beyond.

PAMF Infertility Group is a collection of REIs, so expect to see her colleagues along the way. The good news is that you have many people thinking about your case, the bad news is that you won't see her every time. I didn't mind because I understand that she has a family too and cannot be there every day.

Don't remember the details.

Covered by insurance, except meds.

PAMF's primary goal is a single healthy delivery as this is the healthiest for baby and mommy. I did only single embryo transfers.

The Dr has great bedside manner and seems to care for her patients. She's a good first RE for couples new to fertility clinics as she is very good at sympathizing with you. At times I felt my underlying issues weren't consider in deciding on a protocol and that the team was taking more of a blanket approach to my care.

Get a consultation but also speak with 1-2 other clinics before jumping in as it's hard to jump ship later on.

$16,000 fresh IVF with ICSI, $5000 for medications $1500 for IUI (I think)

The office has a policy to only transfer one but on occasion they may make an exception but it had to be a team decision.

Dr. Abusief has been a part of our fertility journey for about 5 years. From the first moment I met her, she was warm, caring, understanding, and reassuring. My husband and I move 2 hours away and still chose to see her while struggling with infertility. Dr. Abusief is very thorough away makes sure to lay out all of your options as well as advise of any supplements or medication that you may need. I appreciate that she isn't judgmental and never makes you feel uncomfortable. I'm obese, but I'm healthy and have gained weight because of hormone imbalances and she has always made me feel very comfortable and laid out all of my options from the beginning. I would recommend her over any other doctor in the area.

Know that she will always have a plan and your best interest at heart.

Did nothing for me except take my money. Spend thousands over the months and got no answers or success. Treatment never changed and was never taken further. Had to seek another clinic who ran tests that were supposedly already done that gave me answers and ultimately led to the co caption of my daughter.

Find a better doctor

Expensive

She's great. Felt like a personal, caring environment

None

As expected and covered by insurance

Excellent physician and excellent bedside manner.

You found the right person. Be grateful to be getting excellent care.

I don't feel comfortable sharing this here.