Mary Bray (retired)

Dr. Bray is a very experienced and passionate doctor. She has been around the fertility scene for a long time and knows a lot about...well everything from insurance to OBGYNs. She does have a very distinctive mannerism (which for me worked great) - she is blunt, likes to talk about statistics/studies/insurance and does not give a "oh, you'll have a baby!" talk. What she does really well is give you facts and science and then makes an educated guess about what will statistically happen. After all my diagnostic testing was done as well as the SA on my husband she looked at everything and told us our next steps, how likely they were to be successful, etc. She was also attentive to my needs outside of fertility (such as a running injury that was making PIO injections really painful -she found an alternative). Overall, I have really appreciated Dr. Bray's honesty and outlook. Also, because it is an outshoot office of the main Long Island (Mineola) clinic, there is a smaller and more family feel. Any time during my IVF monitoring that I wanted to see Dr. Bray I did. That means a lot to me.

Don't worry if she seems to get distracted by insurance policies - she has your back and knows your case. She'll also complain a LOT about the computer system but in the end she is kind, caring, and very good.

First we did a diagnostic testing cycle. Then three cycles of clomid/timing. Since our biggest problem is male factor, her rationale for clomid/timing was if we have 2-3 eggs rather than 1 there is a better chance of a sperm getting to something. Then we did three IUIs with clomid. Then we moved onto IVF with ICSI. We had to do a freeze all cycle because our embryos were sluggish and not ready by day 5. In the end this was good because I was close to OHSS and it allowed my hormones and ovaries a chance to cool off a bit. We did a FET in my next cycle (I had some uterine lining trouble so she switched my estradiol from oral to vaginal and that did the trick!). I was also having a lot of pain with my PIO injections due to a running injury. That FET turned out unsuccessful. We took a two month break and went into our next FET. She allowed me to do a natural cycle (I really wanted to try to go with my body's natural rhythm). I ran back into the uterine lining problems so she easily switched me post-ovulation to doing medicine. She switched my progesterone to vaginal suppositories to avoid the pain of the PIO on my injured hip and that helped a lot! She had be do Estradiol vaginally again and that with the progesterone got my lining nice and thick. We transferred one embryo (our last) and we got pregnant. It split into identical twins but very late (around 6 weeks) and something must have gone wrong with the split because both babies stopped growing and we miscarried. Dr. Bray was so kind and supportive and gave me a choice about going into a new cycle or taking a break. I decided to take a break and just try naturally. So, 6 months later I'm back with her and ready for a new IVF round.

I have insurance coverage so I have a 30$ copay for all monitoring/doctor's appointments. Dr. Bray also knew about some frustrating aspects of my coverage and helped me work it out ahead of time to take the most of my coverage. Without her knowing about these things I would have lost a lot of coverage.

She is totally in support of eSET for women under 35 who have good egg quality and who either have funds to pay for multiple transfers or who have insurance. She is not against doing two embryos (although she makes it clear she prefers one) and allows the couple to choose a single or double embryo transfer. She goes through all the statistics of a single embryo vs. double embryo getting you pregnant, getting you a singleton or a twin pregnancy.

Dr. Bray is knowledgeable, up to date on research, and uses evidenced based medicine. She is obviously passionately engaged in her field. She adjusted my cycles quickly when unexpected things happened and was adaptable. I felt that she was the first doctor to accurately represent what my chances were for each cycle, all the while still being hopeful.

Ask questions and express any concerns. She takes concerns very seriously and wants to know if you're having a hard time emotionally. She will also make a significant effort to make sure you fully understand and are comfortable. She is cut and dry, which I can see would turn off some people, but it was her frankness that helped me make good informed decisions about my treatment.

We had to do a certain number of IUI cycles before insurance would cover IVF. I took a low dose of Femara to stimulate egg production each cycle which worked but I did not become pregnant. She informed us earlier that due to my diagnosis, IVF would most likely be the successful treatment. I did one egg retreval with injectables menapur, gonal f, and ganarelix. I was also put on estrogen and projesterone. The third egg transfer was successful with a natural cycle as I ovulated on my own and responded unpredictably to the estrogen.

Most was covered by insurance but I did have to pay for some drugs, some for ivf transfers, retrievals, and the cost of embryo storange.

Dr. Bray is a wonderful doctor along with her team at the Brooklyn office. She’s very straight forward and doesn’t really sugar coat anything which to me is perfect. But for others it might come across as rough/harsh. She answers all my questions at all times. For the most part she’s been very conservative with my treatmeants which I’m ok with and every cycle she’ll increase my meds a bit. It’s resulted in 1 pregnancy but miscarried shortly after .... I’m ready to peruse my IVF journey with her. All in all, I would recommend her at any time. Although I haven’t been successful with having a baby. She’s really trying and you really can’t blame the doctors. They are there to assist as much as possible. At the end of the day it’s in God’s perfect timing.

Be prepared with questions and trust the process.

IUIs have been covered by my insurance. I just pay copayments on my meds. My IVF is not covered.

She is wonderful. From the moment I met her I felt/feel I was in the right hands. Im sure she will help us reach our goals. She is reassuring, honest, direct and knowledgeable. Im happy she is my doctor.

Dont be turned off by her directness. She really truly wants what you want and has dedicated her whole life to women being able to have a family.

I dont remember, it was overwhelming for me the first time around. I just followed instructions.

Insurance covered my visits

My doc agreed that because of my age she would transfer 2. We both agreed thats the ideal number.