Rachana Garde
Shady Grove Fertility
Available Lines of Communication
Doctor email
Nurse email
Nurse email
Direct line to nurse
Not available by personal cell phone
Medical SchoolU. of South Carolina
ResidencyBarnes-Jewish Hosp
FellowshipDuke
Fairfax
8501 Arlington Blvd., Suite 500
Fairfax, VA 22031
703.876.0735
Woodbridge
13580 Groupe Drive
Woodbridge, VA 22192
703-680-1770
8 assessments
10
10
Age
35
Treated
2019
Success with this Doc
?
Treatment
2 Fertility Medications
Diagnosis
Recurrent Pregnancy Loss, Tubal Blockage
10
10
Doctor Garde is one of the most patient and understanding doctors I have ever meet in my life. She is so nice and always loving and caring, more then willing to help or get me help. I could not have made a better choice in a doctor ever.... She is always very good at coming up with a plan and always making sure me and my husband are comfortable. She is very good at listening concerns and always will to try and coming up with a solution.
The team here [Shady Grove] is very good. Patience, understanding and effective. Your comfort and emotions are always taken into consideration. Making sure that you're comfortable and you understand is always key.... I'm a self pay so paying was not a problem. I was always told how much my next appointment payment would be. Most of the time it's a estimate price.... I had some blood work done at my Kaiser Permanente provider. Unfortunately no one from shady Grove called to explain the results.
Age
35
Treated
2019
Success with this Doc
?
Race
Black or African-American
Income
$0 - $49K
Occupation
Nurse or HC Services
Order & Number of Docs Seen
2nd of 2 Docs
Treatment
2 Fertility Medications
Diagnosis
Recurrent Pregnancy Loss, Tubal Blockage
10
10
How was your experience with Rachana Garde at Shady Grove Fertility?
Doctor Garde is wonderful I can't believe how understanding and patience she is with me. I'm a strong person and even Dr.Garde has a was of bring the best out of a tuff day. She is always very good at coming up with a plan and always making sure me and my husband are comfortable. She is very good at listening concerns and always will to try and coming up with a solution. There are no words to describe her she is one of the best doctors I have ever had. Doctor Garde is truly my blessings and I can't wait to continue our journey. I truly believe that if any Doctor can help me with having a little angel it would be Doc.Garde.
What's one piece of advice would you give a prospective patient of Rachana Garde at Shady Grove Fertility?
Be honest, trust her judgment and everything will just fine. Trust that she always has your best interest at heart.
During treatment, were you treated like a number or a human with Rachana Garde at Shady Grove Fertility?
Doctor Garde is one of the most patient and understanding doctors I have ever meet in my life. She is so nice and always loving and caring, more then willing to help or get me help. I could not have made a better choice in a doctor ever. There are no words to describe the kind of doctor Dr.Garde is I'm more then happy to call her my doctor. She is a true blessing.
Describe your experience with your nurse at Shady Grove Fertility. (Assigned nurse: Rachel Kelly)
Daniell Kelly is the best ever ❤️❤️
I was so sad when I got my new nurse I cried. I will truly miss Danielle Kelly
Describe your experience with Shady Grove Fertility.
The team here is very good. Patience, understanding and effective. Your comfort and emotions are always taken into consideration. Making sure that you're comfortable and you understand is always key.
Describe the costs associated with your care under Rachana Garde at Shady Grove Fertility.
I'm a self pay so paying was not a problem. I was always told how much my next appointment payment would be. Most of the time it's a estimate price.
What specific things went wrong at Shady Grove Fertility?
- Failed to call with results
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5
6
Age
40
Treated
2018
Success with this Doc
No
Treatment
1 IVF, 4 Egg Freezing, Donor Sperm
Diagnosis
Tubal Blockage, Uterine Fibroids
5
6
Dr. Garde was very sweet and caring I wish she would have performed my procedures and that I actually saw her and not just communicate over the phone. I didn’t feel the personalized experience that I had expected....Dr Garde put me on very high dosages of medication due to quote, my age. I took 450 iu Gonal F, 150 iu Menopur, Cetrotide, and 10000 HCG. I hyper stimulated my first retrieval and was in extreme pain for a month. The next cycle she change my trigger to Lipton and my ovulation was delayed so she switched me back to HCH for my third cycle.
I would go in to the office [Shady Grove] twice a week sometimes three and I never got a warm and fuzzy from the staff. I had to contact a supervisor on one of the nurses because she was being very insensitive. I also had a hard time dealing with the fact that they allowed children to attend appointments.... They were not personal they treated you like a number. I saw a different person every time I went in for an appointment, no consistency....I had a wonderful nurse. She was very thoughtful and provided me information
Age
40
Treated
2018
Success with this Doc
No
Race
Black or African-American
Income
$100K - $199K
Occupation
—
Order & Number of Docs Seen
1 Doc Seen
Treatment
1 IVF, 4 Egg Freezing, Donor Sperm
Diagnosis
Tubal Blockage, Uterine Fibroids
5
6
How was your experience with Rachana Garde at Shady Grove Fertility?
Dr. Garde was very sweet and caring I wish she would have performed my procedures and that I actually saw her and not just communicate over the phone. I didn’t feel the personalized experience that I had expected. I would go in to the office twice a week sometimes three and I never got a warm and fuzzy from the staff. I had to contact a supervisor on one of the nurses because she was being very insensitive. I also had a hard time dealing with the fact that they allowed children to attend appointments.
What's one piece of advice would you give a prospective patient of Rachana Garde at Shady Grove Fertility?
Demand to have one doctor do all of your procedures instead of a different doctor each time.
During treatment, were you treated like a number or a human with Rachana Garde at Shady Grove Fertility?
I only spoke with my dr over the phone she did not do any of my retrievals. I also felt that my treatment plan was not customized to my specific needs.
Describe the protocols Rachana Garde used in your cycles at Shady Grove Fertility and their degree of success.
Dr Garde put me on very high dosages of medication due to quote, my age. I took 450 iu Gonal F, 150 iu Menopur, Cetrotide, and 10000 HCG. I hyper stimulated my first retrieval and was in extreme pain for a month. The next cycle she change my trigger to Lipton and my ovulation was delayed so she switched me back to HCH for my third cycle.
Describe your experience with your nurse at Shady Grove Fertility. (Assigned nurse: Andrea Williams)
I had a wonderful nurse. She was very thoughtful and provided me information in a timely matter. She was always available to answer any of my questions. She prayed for and with me. She wanted this to happen for me just as much as I did.
Describe your experience with Shady Grove Fertility.
They were not personal they treated you like a number. I saw a different person every time I went in for an appointment, no consistency. They allowed children to the appointments which I thought was insensitive to those struggling to conceive. They were very accommodating to scheduling last minute appointments.
Describe the costs associated with your care under Rachana Garde at Shady Grove Fertility.
12,500 plus HCG and monitoring cost $700
Describe Rachana Garde's approach to eSET (elective single embryo transfer) vs. multiple embryo transfer at Shady Grove Fertility.
I do not
What specific things went wrong at Shady Grove Fertility?
- Failed to inform you of changes in protocol
- Provided conflicting information
- Failed to convey critical information
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7
7
Age
43 - 46
Treated
2015 - 2018
Success with this Doc
?
Treatment
IUI, 3 IVF, Donor Eggs, Donor Sperm
Diagnosis
Unexplained
7
7
Dr. Guarde is excellent in person and on the phone, and very relatable. My concerns are that she never informed me in advance when she would be unavailiable.....she was on vacation or otherwise not working during two of my three "own egg" transfers, which was very upsetting to discover in the moment... She was always very supportive, but I feel like almost too gentle without providing solid recommendations for the next step, ie when to move on to donor egg.
Multiple times I had to call the emergency care number [at Shady Grove] to get results and be provided the correct dose of meds or timing of my shots/appointments because they failed to follow instructions on which number to call. Admittedly, my schedule was unique, but I provided very clear instructions on which phone number to leave results but they often failed to read the notes in my file and called the wrong number which I could not reach remotely to verify the next step in my protocol. Fortunately, no cycle was ever lost due to the comms error, but it did cause extra stress that I did not need.
Age
43 - 46
Treated
2015 - 2018
Success with this Doc
?
Race
European
Income
$50K - $99K
Occupation
—
Order & Number of Docs Seen
1 Doc Seen
Treatment
IUI, 3 IVF, Donor Eggs, Donor Sperm
Diagnosis
Unexplained
7
7
How was your experience with Rachana Garde at Shady Grove Fertility?
Dr. Garde is very personable and relatable, and is the only woman that practices at the clinic I was at. In hindsight she was a little too optimistic and her hopes for a pregnancy with my own eggs ended up costing me a lot more than I thought I would expend to get pregnant, finally only having a viable pregnancy through donor egg (and two separate donors at that). I only saw her in person twice, once for my initial consult and once during an early ultrasound with my first pregnancy. The rest of the time all comms came through the nurse. I did have several phone calls with Dr. Garde to discuss the outcome of my miscarriages and the way ahead. She was always very supportive, but I feel like almost too gentle without providing solid recommendations for the next step, ie when to move on to donor egg.
What's one piece of advice would you give a prospective patient of Rachana Garde at Shady Grove Fertility?
Ask her the hard questions, because she will not tell you unless you ask. If you ask, she's very forthcoming.
During treatment, were you treated like a number or a human with Rachana Garde at Shady Grove Fertility?
Dr. Guarde is excellent in person and on the phone, and very relatable. My concerns are that she never informed me in advance when she would be unavailiable.....she was on vacation or otherwise not working during two of my three "own egg" transfers, which was very upsetting to discover in the moment.
Describe the protocols Rachana Garde used in your cycles at Shady Grove Fertility and their degree of success.
I did 3 cycles using an "antagonist" protocol, each with increasing doses of menopur and gonal F. My first cycle rendered the most eggs and embryos, but none of the cycles ever ended up producing a PGS-testable "blastocyst" and so embryos were implanted without testing, resulting in miscarriage or BNF. First cycle implanted 3 embryos resulting in week 11 miscarriage. Second cycle implanted 2 embryos resulting in week 7 twin miscarriage. Third cycle implanted 2 embryos resulting in BNF. Dr. Garde never explained the rationale behind the protocol or the increase in dosage or why she didn't want to use a different protocol. After the third cycle I moved on to donor egg.
Describe your experience with your nurse at Shady Grove Fertility. (Assigned nurse: Ashley (forget last name))
Ashley was very caring and supportive when providing the results of my blood tests.
Describe your experience with Shady Grove Fertility.
Shady Grove Fertility is very much a baby making factory that is interested in outcomes and not so much the care and treatment of the individual. But they get results....they just might not be the results you hoped for (pregnancy via donor egg instead of your own eggs) and the way you hoped (seeing your doctor verses the "on call" doctor).
Describe the costs associated with your care under Rachana Garde at Shady Grove Fertility.
I was a self-paying patient (no insurance coverage) and was provided a 25% discount for being active duty military. First 2 cycles were purchased as a group for ~$17000 (with discount) and 3rd cycle was purchased separately for ~$12000.
Describe Rachana Garde's approach to eSET (elective single embryo transfer) vs. multiple embryo transfer at Shady Grove Fertility.
We discussed very early on my desire for a singleton, but was convinced that due to advanced age that more embryos needed to be implanted, and my decision was helped because the embryos were not of freezable quality, so it was either implant or destroy, so I did the multiple embryo transfers.
What specific things went wrong at Shady Grove Fertility?
- Lost appointments
- Failed to call with results
- Failed to convey critical information
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6
6
Age
27
Treated
2016
Success with this Doc
No
Treatment
1 Fertility Medications
Diagnosis
Anovulation, PCOS
6
6
Rachana was very informative and was able to answer any questions we had. She [Dr. Garde] was friendly, listened to put concerns and was supportive in our decisions whilst also advising on what she would recommend for our course of treatment and what testing was needed to track hormones abd other factors affecting our situation. ... We could not afford to switch to IVF so we cancelled the cycle without completing the IUI.
Strengths: they [Shady Grove Fertility] are organized and have a plan for everything. The staff are all friendly and I like the fact that there are numerous offices so if one was closed you could go to another for monitoring. Weaknesses: the cost. It is so expensive that we couldn't ever consider spending $20k to do IVF there. ... Ashley [nurse] was so compassionate and understanding. It was like having a good friend walk you through everything. She celebrated with us and hugged me when I cried. Definitely the kind of nurse I wanted in that situation.
Age
27
Treated
2016
Success with this Doc
No
Race
European
Income
$100K - $199K
Occupation
—
Order & Number of Docs Seen
1st of 2 Docs
Treatment
1 Fertility Medications
Diagnosis
Anovulation, PCOS
6
6
How was your experience with Rachana Garde at Shady Grove Fertility?
Rachana was very informative and was able to answer any questions we had. She was friendly, listened to put concerns and was supportive in our decisions whilst also advising on what she would recommend for our course of treatment and what testing was needed to track hormones abd other factors affecting our situation.
What's one piece of advice would you give a prospective patient of Rachana Garde at Shady Grove Fertility?
Come prepared. She will ask what you know about your situation when you meet with her. Also don't be afraid to speak up for yourself and tell her what you want to happen.
During treatment, were you treated like a number or a human with Rachana Garde at Shady Grove Fertility?
She took time to answer questions and say down with me to explain when the treatment wasn't working and what our options were.
Describe the protocols Rachana Garde used in your cycles at Shady Grove Fertility and their degree of success.
We decided on an IUI cycle because previous unmonitored clomid and letrozole cycles resulted in no pregnancy.
The protocol started with letrozole 5mg for 5 days, followed by ultrasounds every 3 days. This disagree had no effect on follicle growth so she added Gonal-F 75IU injected once a day for 4 days followed by another ultrasound. There was still no follicle growth so the dose was increased to 150IU and continued for another 3 days. The next ultrasound also showed no change so Dr Garde then informed us that in order to increase the dose any more would need to switch to an IVF cycle in case of OHS and maturing too many follicles.
We could not afford to switch to IVF so we cancelled the cycle without completing the IUI.
Describe your experience with your nurse at Shady Grove Fertility. (Assigned nurse: Ashley Urben)
Ashley was so compassionate and understanding. It was like having a good friend walk you through everything. She celebrated with us and hugged me when I cried. Definitely the kind of nurse I wanted in that situation.
Describe your experience with Shady Grove Fertility.
Strengths: they are organized and have a plan for everything. The staff are all friendly and I like the fact that there are numerous offices so if one was closed you could go to another for monitoring.
Weaknesses: the cost. It is so expensive that we couldn't ever consider spending $20k to do IVF there.
Describe the costs associated with your care under Rachana Garde at Shady Grove Fertility.
The cost for the IUI procedure was approx $3,500. We got a portion of that refunded because the cycle was cancelled.
The medications totalled approx $1,500.
Describe Rachana Garde's approach to eSET (elective single embryo transfer) vs. multiple embryo transfer at Shady Grove Fertility.
N/A
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10
10
Age
39 - 41
Treated
2015 - 2017
Success with this Doc
?
Treatment
6 IUI, 2 IVF
Diagnosis
Diminished Ovarian Reserve, Male Factor
10
10
Dr Garde is my primary RE. She may not perform every IUI or Egg retrieval, but she gets the information and makes the decisions and either she or her immediate staff contact me...She is very thorough and takes the time to explain the options and processes involved...She answers my questions in a down-to-earth manner and makes sure we understand what's going on and why.
Strengths [at Shady Grove Fertility] Multiple locations with varying hours. Open every day. 24 hr nurse line. They don't allow children, so that makes it more comfortable. Weaknesses On weekends I go to a different location, so it's not as personal as my primary location...Multi-cycle IVF pkg with ICSI and Assisted Hatching = $21,500. Does not include meds or PGS testing.
Age
39 - 41
Treated
2015 - 2017
Success with this Doc
?
Race
European
Income
—
Occupation
—
Order & Number of Docs Seen
1 Doc Seen
Treatment
6 IUI, 2 IVF
Diagnosis
Diminished Ovarian Reserve, Male Factor
10
10
How was your experience with Rachana Garde at Shady Grove Fertility?
Dr Garde is my primary RE. She may not perform every IUI or Egg retrieval, but she gets the information and makes the decisions and either she or her immediate staff contact me. She works for a clinic with multiple offices and RE's.
She is very thorough and takes the time to explain the options and processes involved.
What's one piece of advice would you give a prospective patient of Rachana Garde at Shady Grove Fertility?
Be open about your situation and ask questions. Oh and take notes.
During treatment, were you treated like a number or a human with Rachana Garde at Shady Grove Fertility?
She answers my questions in a down-to-earth manner and makes sure we understand what's going on and why.
Describe the protocols Rachana Garde used in your cycles at Shady Grove Fertility and their degree of success.
First 2 IUI's were with clomid. No pregnancies.
Next 4 IUI's were with FSH and trigger shots. 1 pregnancy ended in miscarriage due to genetic problem.
ER-rationale- age factor, need to move on from IUI.
2 egg retrievals. Both using FSH. 1st-2 embryos that were PGS tested as abnormal. 2nd-3 embryos have been sent for PGS testing. Awaiting results.
Describe your experience with your nurse at Shady Grove Fertility. (Assigned nurse: Andrea)
Nurse is very helpful and responsive. The rest of the office is as well.
Describe your experience with Shady Grove Fertility.
Strengths
Multiple locations with varying hours. Open every day. 24 hr nurse line.
They don't allow children, so that makes it more comfortable.
Weaknesses
On weekends I go to a different location, so it's not as personal as my primary location.
Describe the costs associated with your care under Rachana Garde at Shady Grove Fertility.
IUI's were covered by previous insurance.
Insurance no longer covers infertility.
Multi-cycle IVF pkg with ICSI and Assisted Hatching = $21,500. Does not include meds or PGS testing.
Describe Rachana Garde's approach to eSET (elective single embryo transfer) vs. multiple embryo transfer at Shady Grove Fertility.
No comment
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10
10
Age
33 - 34
Treated
2009 - 2010
Success with this Doc
Yes
Treatment
4 IVF
Diagnosis
Tubal Blockage
10
10
She [Dr Garde] always took plenty of time when me. I never felt like I was rushed. She answered every question I had and I never felt like a question was ignored....We traveled from another state because having a singleton was very important to us. Dr. Garde understood that. We did two cycles with her and she always adjusted the protocols as needed along the way.
We traveled from out of state because we wanted to be at a clinic that helped people achieve singleton pregnancies. We felt that other clinics downplayed the risk of carrying twins (not just higher-order multiples). They [Shady Grove] were very used to working with out-of-state patients and we appreciated that.
Age
33 - 34
Treated
2009 - 2010
Success with this Doc
Yes
Race
European
Income
$50K - $99K
Occupation
—
Order & Number of Docs Seen
3rd of 3 Docs
Treatment
4 IVF
Diagnosis
Tubal Blockage
10
10
How was your experience with Rachana Garde at Shady Grove Fertility?
Dr. Garde was easy to talk to and she really attempted to get a feel for what was important to US.
What's one piece of advice would you give a prospective patient of Rachana Garde at Shady Grove Fertility?
Travel as far as you need to to see Dr. Garde!
During treatment, were you treated like a number or a human with Rachana Garde at Shady Grove Fertility?
She always took plenty of time when me. I never felt like I was rushed. She answered every question I had and I never felt like a question was ignored.
Describe the protocols Rachana Garde used in your cycles at Shady Grove Fertility and their degree of success.
We traveled from another state because having a singleton was very important to us. Dr. Garde understood that. We did two cycles with her and she always adjusted the protocols as needed along the way.
Describe your experience with your nurse at Shady Grove Fertility. (Assigned nurse: Mary)
Every time we called Mary, she picked up the phone herself. We never had to leave messages with voicemail or with a receptionist. We had ONE nurse and she was easily accessible. That meant a lot to us.
Describe your experience with Shady Grove Fertility.
We traveled from out of state because we wanted to be at a clinic that helped people achieve singleton pregnancies. We felt that other clinics downplayed the risk of carrying twins (not just higher-order multiples). They were very used to working with out-of-state patients and we appreciated that.
Describe the costs associated with your care under Rachana Garde at Shady Grove Fertility.
Another reason we chose this clinic is because they had one of the most generous shared help plans in the country. We did misunderstand the plan (our fault) and did not use it the first cycle (although we had an income-based discount). If we had had a full understanding of the program, we would have ended up saving ourselves the cost of that one cycle.
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8
10
Age
26
Treated
2018
Success with this Doc
?
Treatment
2 IUI
Diagnosis
Male Factor, Unexplained
8
10
She [Dr. Garde] is a wonderful doctor, we dont see her much but when we do she gives all the information and answers any and all questions. Shes very polite and kind. She draws pictures to help us understand and stops along the way to make sure we dont have any questions...We used Clomid for 5 days, had 3 fertilized, this was expected. Then did ovidrell to trigger, then performed an IUI. Everything was perfect in terms of lining and eggs just unsuccessful
The nursing office at Shady grove is very welcoming. The nurse who takes your blood etc its wonderful! She talks to you shes gentle we love her. Our primary nurse is a little more busy so we dont see or talk to her much unless getting results...For our first iui we spent 1800 not including medications which were a little over 200...They have support pages, they work with you financially and emotionally. The provide everything they can to you in order to help you on your journey, they have a ton of offices so you can go to different locations if needed.
Age
26
Treated
2018
Success with this Doc
?
Race
Other
Income
$50K - $99K
Occupation
Teacher
Order & Number of Docs Seen
1 Doc Seen
Treatment
2 IUI
Diagnosis
Male Factor, Unexplained
8
10
How was your experience with Rachana Garde at Shady Grove Fertility?
She is a wonderful doctor, we dont see her much but when we do she gives all the information and answers any and all questions. Shes very polite and kind. She draws pictures to help us understand and stops along the way to make sure we dont have any questions
What's one piece of advice would you give a prospective patient of Rachana Garde at Shady Grove Fertility?
Ask questions
During treatment, were you treated like a number or a human with Rachana Garde at Shady Grove Fertility?
The office talks to you about your job, in specific they ask questions. They pay attention to us like people. They laugh and have fun.
Describe the protocols Rachana Garde used in your cycles at Shady Grove Fertility and their degree of success.
We used Clomid for 5 days, had 3 fertilized, this was expected. Then did ovidrell to trigger, then performed an IUI. Everything was perfect in terms of lining and eggs just unsuccessful
Describe your experience with your nurse at Shady Grove Fertility. (Assigned nurse: Andrea)
The nursing office at Shady grove is very welcoming. The nurse who takes your blood etc its wonderful! She talks to you shes gentle we love her. Our primary nurse is a little more busy so we dont see or talk to her much unless getting results.
Describe your experience with Shady Grove Fertility.
Shady grove is a wonderful facility. They have support pages, they work with you financially and emotionally. The provide everything they can to you in order to help you on your journey, they have a ton of offices so you can go to different locations if needed.
Describe the costs associated with your care under Rachana Garde at Shady Grove Fertility.
For our first iui we spent 1800 not including medications which were a little over 200.
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7
9
Age
32
Treated
2014
Success with this Doc
Yes
Treatment
2 IUI
Diagnosis
Anovulation, PCOS
7
9
Understanding, patiently explained all treatment options, warm personality!
She splits time between the Annandale and Woodbridge offices and isn't frequently available in Annandale. If it is important to you to actually SEE your doctor frequently, I'd recommend the other office location or selecting a different doctor.
Age
32
Treated
2014
Success with this Doc
Yes
Race
European
Income
$500K
Occupation
Marketer or PR
Order & Number of Docs Seen
1st of 2 Docs
Treatment
2 IUI
Diagnosis
Anovulation, PCOS
7
9
How was your experience with Rachana Garde at Shady Grove Fertility?
Understanding, patiently explained all treatment options, warm personality!
What's one piece of advice would you give a prospective patient of Rachana Garde at Shady Grove Fertility?
She splits time between the Annandale and Woodbridge offices and isn't frequently available in Annandale. If it is important to you to actually SEE your doctor frequently, I'd recommend the other office location or selecting a different doctor.
During treatment, were you treated like a number or a human with Rachana Garde at Shady Grove Fertility?
Dr. Garde was able to explain my fertility issues and options for various treatments. She primarily works in another office (Woodbridge, I believe), so I often saw her colleagues instead.
Describe the protocols Rachana Garde used in your cycles at Shady Grove Fertility and their degree of success.
Each cycle we added another element: Clomid only, Clomid + IUI, Clomid + Injectables + IUI
Describe your experience with your nurse at Shady Grove Fertility. (Assigned nurse: Sara)
The nurse would call the same day as any bloodwork and provide me an update on the results, including the actual estrogen, progesterone levels. Would help clarify next steps, including making appointments on my behalf.
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