Peter Uzelac

Dr. Uzelac was compelling and informative at the initial consult and I felt like we would be in good hands. However, my case is somewhat unique - I'm 27, with an unexplained AMH of 0.4, normal FSH and average initial AFC of 15. Moreover, I'm in a committed relationship and able to make embryos, but not actively trying to conceive to "test" the embryos so all of my procedures are preemptive. During my first cycle - I felt like I was constantly seeking information and trying to understand my treatment plan. It felt important to know the why behind my dosages, days of stim etc. but getting thoughtful detail out of Dr. Uzelac was like pulling teeth. As the process progressed, each time I would go in for a scan I felt like I was fighting for details about how my follicles were progressing, how many there were, if this was an expected/unexpected outcome etc. Most upsetting, when I would as questions, Dr. Uzelac often seemed annoyed or even defensive. By my second round it was more of the later which was a massive red flag for me. There are a lot of unknowns in fertility, but you deserve a doctor who is willing to have an active dialogue with you about your specific case and not fall back on repetitive statements like "we just won't know" or "there just aren't explanations" etc. Particularly after I had my second round, which was somewhat different in protocol and very different in outcome, I felt like I couldn't get Dr. Uzelac to dialogue with me at all about learnings, findings or what we might do for round 3. It was at this point that I knew I needed to find a doctor who would be committed to this level of care. And let me tell you - it exists! It is not normal for your Dr. to get defensive when you ask questions or want to understand the reasoning behind your particular treatment plan. IVF/egg freezing is a tremendous emotional and financial investment and you have the right to decide who you want on that journey with you. If you are someone who has a nuanced situation and likes to ask questions - I'd recommend going elsewhere.

Trust your gut. I gave feedback to the head nurse after my first round with the clinic and truthfully, it didn't change much. Ask tough questions in your evaluation phase and see if you resonate with the way he responds.

I didn't get a ton of explanation on the "why" behind my first protocol except that I was young and likely quantity would be a bigger issue than quality. During the 1st round I started with an AFC of 10 & stimmed for 12 days (225 Gonal F/150 Menopur/10 mg Provera/+Cetrotide/Pregnal trigger). We retrieved 11 eggs, 8 mature (4 ICSI, 4 Norm) - 8 fertilized & 6 went on to become 5 blasts. Only 2 were PGT normal and subsequently frozen. Clearly my biggest drop-off came from egg quality revealed by PGT testing. For round 2, Dr. Uzelac reasoned that my body responded well enough to stims and perhaps a larger dose would help with quantity. I primed with Estrace & had a cyst on one ovary which Dr.Uzelac was not worried about and cleared right before we started. However, I started w/ an AFC of 7 - which was lower than both my AFC off 15 at my initial consult and my AFC of 10 during the last round. Here's where I wish I would have been louder. I felt in my gut that I should skip this month due to the cyst and the lowered AFC - I felt that Dr.Uzelac pressured me to move forward and I didn't feel comfortable pushing back. I stimmed for 10 days (300 Gonal F/150 Menopur/10 mg Provera/+Cetrotide/Ovadril). I only used Ovadril because we couldn't work out how to get a trigger shot through my insurance after working with the clinic for month -this was frustrating but I will add that context to the clinic review. We retrieved 7 eggs, 7 mature, 7 fert (all ICSI) and 4 day 5 blasts. Only 1 PGT Normal. One last thing - I had several tests done as a part of this process - not just embryo testing but also genetic screening, hormone testing, infectious diseases etc and had to repeatedly ask to receive a copy of the results. I Actually never received a paper copy of a detailed embryo report with the quality ranking etc and had to schedule time with Dr. Uzelac to hear the results over the phone and write them down.

I am fortunate to have a fertility benefit via Progyny, which covered everything after I'd paid $2.5k out of pocket.

Dr. Uzelac was very knowledgeable and understanding. I appreciated that he used a white board to explain the process to us, as I'm a visual learner. He also sympathized with us and gave us an option to do 2 IVF cycles for a slightly reduced rate (rather than paying for each cycle individually).

Always advocate for yourself and ask questions - you never know what you can get until you ask.

The plan was to do 2 IVF cycles to bank as many embryos as we could before transferring.

I didn't go past the initial consultation, but the treatment estimate I was provided was for 2 IVF cycles for about $45,000 which includes 1 FET, 2 rounds of medication estimate, PGTA and ICSI. Each FET after the 1st would be $4000.

I feel like the IVF cycle was not specialized for me and was not clear on the procedure and why they didn’t change the proton on the second round of medications After our IVF cycle failed we had a appointment and the dr went over all the options we have I felt like why before we started the IVF I didn’t get these information after I wast lots of money and time

Ask as much as questions they can because they will not explain all the fact and risk about your case

I wasn’t helpful, I had two cycle of medications and both are quite the same , they got 4 eggs and one of them fertilized and the only reason they said my overian reserves are diminished

$39,000

They have preferences on transfer of one embryo