How was your experience with Michael Grossman at CNY Fertility Center?
Dr. Grossman is highly experienced and clearly an excellent RE. What I feel he lacks, however is warmth. It feels like he gives you the facts without really weighing in on and/or discussing your decision making. Dr. Grossman is extremely gentle with procedures. His personality is calm overall, but he is quick witted and brief in his interactions. He speaks quickly so you really have to pay attention to what he says or you might miss something.
What's one piece of advice would you give a prospective patient of Michael Grossman at CNY Fertility Center?
Before going into the intake, have a list of questions prepared for him as this will likely be the only time you sit down with him. Use the patient portal to communicate with him as he is usually quick to respond to your questions if you message him. You will also be able to schedule phone calls with him.
During treatment, were you treated like a number or a human with Michael Grossman at CNY Fertility Center?
The clinic itself is very busy and most staff seem to forget how harrowing the experience of infertility is for people. I wasn't aware that my initial intake would be my only real in person meeting with the RE. Procedures are not explained in detail. You have to be a squeaky wheel in order to get answers from staff.
Describe the protocols Michael Grossman used in your cycles at CNY Fertility Center and their degree of success.
For 5 days: Gonal F 225 IU once daily, Menopur 75 IUonce daily, Z Pak --take 2 tablets by mouth the first day, then 1 tablet by mouth daily until all the medication is gone, Prednisone 5 mg--1 tablet by mouth twice daily, Prenatal Vitamin one qd--take one by mouth daily. Day 6-9: Added Cetrotide .25 mg. Day 10: Stopped all injectables and took Lupron 0.8 mg and Ovidrel 250 mcg. Day 11: Just took Prednisone and prenatal vitamins. I had the retrieval two days later. They retrieved 17 eggs total. They ICSIed 15 eggs and 3 survived to day 6 and day 7. We refused PGS testing but we consented to assisted hatching. The following month, we decided to put all three embryos in during the transfer.
Describe your experience with the nursing staff at CNY Fertility Center.
As mentioned earlier, the staff need to remember that infertility is a tough thing for couples to face. Also, they need to not assume that we have googled everything and understand the IUI or IVF processes in their entirety. It would have been nice to have a sit down with someone who would explain the procedures before they were performed, as normally occurs in the medical field. Some of the nurses expressed compassion while others struggled to do so. When I called, I felt I was being a nuisance and often felt rushed off the phone. At times, I would have to call repeatedly to get a call back. They do make an effort however to follow up when you are monitored locally, to ensure you are on track.
Describe your experience with CNY Fertility Center.
The clinic itself is gorgeous! Top of the line equipment and services. They have a beautiful aesthetic with a full spa located upstairs where you can book acupuncture and massages. The lobby is warm and inviting with nice furniture, a beautiful fireplace, and dim lighting. It is clear that Dr. Kiltz, the head of the practice, poured his heart and soul into creating these clinics. I wonder how he would feel if he discovered how they are treating clients. If you are looking for affordable IVF, then CNY is the most affordable out there. Just be prepared to be treated as a number and not as an individual. A strength of the clinic is that you never wait long to be seen. Make sure to advocate for yourself if you come here for treatment.
Describe your experience with your monitoring appointments at CNY Fertility Center.
I didn't monitor at CNY, I monitored locally. For the most part, the local monitoring went smoothly. There was some glitches with CNY not getting results quickly enough--I believe that happened twice. Once, the local clinic that monitored didn't accurately count my follicles, so CNY scheduled an ultrasound at their clinic before my failed IUI. CNY didn't always post my lab results to my portal.
Describe the costs associated with your care under Michael Grossman at CNY Fertility Center.
It is $3900 for IVF with ICSI including 1 year storage of embryos and a year of FET. Meds via my own insurance company's specialty pharmacy--just paid co pays. If monitoring is done at CNY, it is an additional $875. If you go locally to your OBGYN, your insurance company pays for it. My insurance company pays for unlimited IUIs. Co pays at CNY are usually $50.
Describe Michael Grossman's approach to eSET (elective single embryo transfer) vs. multiple embryo transfer at CNY Fertility Center.
He didn't weigh in other than saying that three was the maximum that I could transfer due to my age.
What specific things went wrong at CNY Fertility Center?
- Failed to call in prescriptions to pharmacy
- Failed to call with results
- Provided conflicting information
- Canceled a cycle due to clinic error
Describe the specific things that went wrong at CNY Fertility Center.
We are struggling with MFI and were honest about that from the onset. We have been following up with a urologist for the past year and my husband is on clomid to improve his sperm count. We started an IUI cycle initially (as the IVF meds were costly and my insurance covers unlimited IUIs). The day of the IUI, they told us there was no sperm in my husband's sample. As I was loaded with follicles due to the injectables I took for the IUI, I inquired about them retrieving the eggs so they would not go to waste and was told they would be too fragile to do so. They suggested we may have to do TESE. I told her that was unnecessary my husband has sperm, his count was just low. We followed up with our urologist who centrifuged his sperm sample and showed us his sperm under the microscope. I reached out to the RE to express my frustration via the patient portal and he suggested that we freeze a few samples with CNY. We scheduled to do so at CNY, only to be told again that there was no sperm in his sample. We went to MAZE in Westchester and cryopreserved three samples of sperm. I drove it in a rented tank and left it at CNY. I followed up with the lab at CNY numerous times via telephone to confirm they received the cryo and discussed how they might use it in the procedure. Weeks later, we started on an IVF with ICSI track. All seemed to be going well until the day of my retrieval. As I was in stirrups in the retrieval room, the embryologist came in and announced that they wouldn't be able to do ICSI as the cryo from MAZE was terrible quality. I was enraged, naturally as the cryo was a costly procedure and they had weeks to assess the quality of the cryo instead of minutes before my retrieval. I told them they claimed that my husband didn't have sperm in his samples. I suggested they have him provide two back to back sperm samples to see if they could "find" his sperm. Following the retrieval I called the lab and asked about how I could take my eggs and transfer to another clinic as I didn't have faith they would "find" his sperm and ICSI the eggs retrieved. Miraculously, they called later that afternoon and told me they retrieved 17 eggs, and ICSIed 15 of them with his fresh sperm.