Randall Barnes

Northwestern Fertility Clinic is a large practice, which means you deal with lots of different people throughout the process, from multiple nurses, to schedulers, to financial advisors, to psychologists, to doctors who are on call the day of your procedures. It is not guaranteed your doctor will perform your retrievals or transfers. Overall, I had a positive experience with NFC, and with Dr. Barnes. I am in the midst of my treatments still, so I am not able to speak to my results yet... that is still to be determined! Also, in the midst of my treatment, and after several appointments with Dr. Barnes, I received a letter from Northwestern letting me know that he was retiring. So, in the midst of my treatments, I was left without a doctor and had to switch to a different doctor in the practice. My husband and I were surprised that this was never mentioned to us during multiple appointments with Barnes or with the nurses. It seemed like something they should tell us, so we could've started the process with a different doctor verses being caught off guard. This was my biggest critique of working with the NW Fertility clinic thus far.

Dr. Barnes is now retired from Northwestern Fertility Clinic.

I took 300 units of Folistim and 150 units of Menopur for 5 days, and then started a daily shot of Ganirelix to prevent ovulation. Day 10 I took my trigger shot and went in 36 hours later for my ET. 7 eggs were retrieved, 4 fertilized. I also thawed my 18 frozen eggs, 11 which fertilized. Overall, 15 eggs fertilzed and we are now waiting for our results on day 5 blastocyst stage, after which the remaining blastocysts will be biopsied and sent for PGD testing.

The clinic itself feels well organized considering the volume of patients they serve. At times I felt like it was a cattle call with the other women who were coming in for their routine early morning blood work and ultrasound appointments, but that comes with the territory when your'e working with a large clinic. Most of the time they got me in and out within 30 minutes for my morning appointments. Additionally, the clinic itself is a beautiful space, and the views overlooking lake michigan with soft music playing definitely make the experience more pleasant.

Morning appointments were an open window from 6:45-7:45am. Some mornings the wait was longer than others. My shortest appointment time was around 20 minutes, and my longest was 45 minutes.

Luckily my insurance covers this process.

My doctor strongly steered us toward eSET, although I had my heart set on transferring 2 embryos. He explained that due to complications from multiples, the best practice now is to recommend an eSET.

He was very patient, took time to explain and to sit with us as we processed information he gave us - which we very much appreciated. He was "fatherly" - not a chatter bug, so sometimes communication was overly "clinical" instead of "warm" - but a consummate professional. He made you feel like you were in good hands, which was reassuring.

He won't be "warm", but you will feel safe with him.

I always enjoyed Dr. Barnes "fatherly" manner. Although I sometimes wished he would be more firm in the direction of treatment, but I always trusted that he would effectively communicate with us if we were deciding to try something he didn't believe would be productive. I also appreciated that he treated my wife and I with the utmost care, concern and legitimacy - in other words, he never made us feel like we were "odd" for being a same-sex couple trying to get pregnant and when we switched to trying with my wife's eggs - he was on board!

My wife and I had tried "at home" for 6 months "turkey baster method" - then we tried IUI's for 6 months, with my eggs. Then we tried 4 IVF cycles with my eggs. Then we tried 3 IVF cycles with my wife's eggs - which resulted in two pregnancies, but two miscarriages.

Northwestern's staff has been INCREDIBLE! They are all very attentive and treat patients like family - particularly Trish at the front desk, who is a dream to deal with at all times! Dr. Angela Lawson has also been a god send! She particularly championed us with the insurance/billing department which made a royal mess out of a same sex female couple - it was as if we were the first lesbian couple to EVER use their fertility treatment - that part was EXTREMELY frustrating.

The insurance and billing coordination has been a nightmare. Again, it was as if the clinic had never before dealt with two women partners - they couldn't figure out how to bill, who to bill - and we were in the best case scenario - meaning both of us had wonderful, expansive Blue Cross Blue Shield coverage PPO coverage. Everyone else we would recommend a million times over as being wonderful!

The window of hours was "do-able". It didn't feel like a cattle call - but certainly it was noticeable that a lot of women were having fertility issues - which I found depressing (but I'm sure, some people must find that comforting to know they are not alone). I very much appreciated when they separated the fertility dept. from the obstetrics - talk about depressing, seeing pregnant women, or women pregnant and with kids - as you struggle.

I have no independent recollection of how much any procedure cost. We were fortunate enough to have wonderful insurance coverage through Blue Cross and Blue Shield. We had primary and secondary coverage for most of the treatment time.

Dr. Barnes was great for our initial and IVF consults. He answered our questions clearly (and there were a lot!) and was prompt with follow-up questions I sent through the patient portal. I wish he'd talked with us more during our failed IUIs to see if we could change the protocols, but ultimately I think we would have ended up doing IVF anyway.

Advocate for yourself! Ask questions and make sure you are clear on answers.

I saw Dr. Barnes for our initial consult, IVF consult, egg retrieval, and then early pregnancy ultrasounds. He was great about answering my questions, even if I sent them through the portal. My monitoring visits were managed by sonographers, lab staff, and nurses. There are a lot of patients at this clinic, which can make you feel like a number, especially during early morning monitoring appointments. However, all of my nurses were wonderful about communicating with me directly and responding to my questions quickly.

For our IUIs we used clomid with an Ovidrel trigger. The first month we did 50mg of clomid on days 3-7, the second 100mg days 5-9, an the third 100mg days 3-7. Once we decided to move to IVF I started birth control for 21 days. On day 15 I added 10 units of Lupron, which I stayed on through my stimulation phase. I began 150 units of Follistim and 150 units of Menopur on day 2 of my cycle. From there I stayed on the same dose for 13 days, along with the 10 units of Follistim. On day 13 I decreased the Lupron to 5 units and added the Ovidrel trigger. Egg retrieval was scheduled for day 15. 12 eggs were retrieved, with 11 being mature. 8 fertilized normally with ICSI. On day 3 we went in for transfer and still had 8 growing. We transferred two 8-cell embryos and on day 6 two were still growing and were then frozen. I tested positive 7 days after my transfer and had my beta 10 days post transfer. A week and a half after my positive beta I went in for an ultrasound where we saw one gestational sac; a week later we saw one fetus and the heartbeat. Our daughter was born in February 2017 at full term.

The nursing staff was phenomenal, with the exception of one nurse. The IVF nurses were significantly more responsive and compassionate than the nurses who just handle IUI.

Strengths: Academic institution, good results, high quality, seamless process (runs like a well-oiled machine). The front desk staff is incredible, as well as the lab staff. They're always cheery and friendly, which is helpful during a stressful time. Weakness: Due to the large number of patients they see, it's easy to feel like "just a number" if you don't advocate for yourself. The early morning monitoring appointments are great for working women, but it can sometimes feel like you're being shuffled from lab to ultrasound and then waiting for a nurse to meet with you or contact you (for IVF they would call me later that morning). Above all, advocate for yourself. Do not be afraid to ask questions or push for a specific protocol if you think it will help.

Monitoring appointments take place between 7-7:45AM on weekdays and 8-8:30AM on weekends. Only once was there a line out the door in the five months I worked with this clinic. The other mornings it was a breeze to check in, wait to be called for lab/ultrasound, meet with nurse (for IUI only), and then make a new appointment or head to work to wait for more information pending lab results (IVF). It's a well oiled machine.

I don't remember the exact numbers, but I think our meds were around $2700 (with insurance) and most of our procedures were covered by insurance. In the end I think we spent around $2K toward procedures, including embryo freezing, which was not covered by my insurance.

Dr. Barnes pushed SET and advised against transferring multiple embryos. We felt more comfortable with two and we were OK with the possibility of multiples. He was out of the office the day of the transfer and his chief, Dr. Jared Robins, did our transfer with one of the fellows (Dr. Okeigwe). Dr. Robins suggested transferring two embryos based on quality and my age. Be advised that Dr. Barnes will try to push you toward SET.

Dr. Barnes did not seem interested in actually seeing me as a patient or making sure that I was taken care of. I only saw him for the initial consultation and then once I was finally pregnant (before miscarrying). Once he determined that I was likely miscarrying and could potentially have a tubal pregnancy, he fell off the radar and left me hanging without confirming if I did or did not have a tubal pregnancy.

I am unsure of how Dr. Barnes is as an IVF doctor, but if you are going to see him for anything less, I would be prepared to see very little of him.

I was doing timed intercourse with letrozole to induce ovulation. I rarely ever saw Dr. Barnes. I only saw him for my initial visit and once I was pregnant and ready to go in for an ultrasound. When I did go in for an ultrasound and it was determined that he could not see anything on the ultrasound, he told me I could have a tubal pregnancy and that they would call with more information the next day. I did not hear from them for days, despite my trying to contact them on my own. I was worried that if it was tubal, I was at risk of my fallopian tube bursting and losing it. Only when I had my OBGYN get in touch with the office did they ask for me to come in for another ultrasound, but Dr. Barnes did not see me - another Dr. in the office did. This is when they told me they did not think it was a tubal pregnancy, but I did, in fact, miscarry for the 2nd time. I felt like, because I was not an IVF patient but rather on the timed intercourse/medicated cycle, I was not worth his time.

In my initial consultation, Dr. Barnes' assistant doctor diagnosed me with PCOS based on my ultrasound. (I had gone a significant amount of time without menstruating). I then met with Dr. Barnes and he determined that I should start on letrozole to encourage follicle growth, then once I had sufficient follicles, I would take a trigger shot to induce ovulation. I was able to get pregnant twice, but miscarried both times. I do believe that the treatment strategy was effective an appropriate.

The nursing staff was great at this facility. Without them, this place would seem like nothing but a baby-mill.

The clinic was very efficient and always had time to take me in. The only problem with their availability was that over the weekends, it was difficult to get in touch with someone if I needed to. One other issue I had was that the office was always so busy, it almost seemed like a baby-mill.

Dr Barnes is incredibly warm as a person, though is bedside manner is a bit old school. I felt that once I had 1 failed cycle, my protocol was not changed prior to my second cycle. In between my 2 cycles, he discovered I had anemia. Anemia is perhaps the FIRST thing that should be tested for anytime you give blood so it was frustrating that it took an entire IVF cycle to discover this. Due to the anemia, Dr Branes wanted to do further testing to rule out internal bleeding since I showed no signs of anemia. This resulted in a colonoscopy and endoscopy which both came back clear. From there, Dr Barnes didnt have any other explanations as to why my first cycle failed so we moved forward with my second cycle - which also resulted in an early miscarriage. After 2 failed cycles I decided to move on to another clinic. We transfered our 1 frozen embryo when we left.

Be your own advocate. This would be my advice with any Dr, but especially with doctors at NW who barely know your name let alone your case.

The NW office is EXTREMLY busy. You are given a number for every appointment in order to get labs and ultrasound. I saw Dr Barnes maybe 3 tiems during my care, though if he was available and in the office, I was able to request a visit. The nurses, particularly Amy, were kind and sensitivie. The IVF nurses on the other hand were impossible to get in touch with. I would leave messages and not get a call back for days.

I started my protocol with 3 months of timed intercourse on Clomid. Each month resulted in a negative pregnancy test. I then moved onto IUI. The first 3 cycles were on Clomid. Each resulted in a negative test. Each month on Clomid Dr Barnes bumped up my dosage, yet I only had 1 or 2 viable follicles each month. After 3 cycles of IUI on Clomid and little reaction, Dr Barnes put me on Femara. We did 2 cycles on Femara, both resulting in a negative pregnancy test. Dr Barnes wanted me to do a 6th cycle of IUI, but we insisted we move to IVF. We did our first round of IVF which resulted in 2 quality embryos. My husband and I had decided in advance of our fresh transfer that we wanted to put 2 embryos in, however at NW their Dr's rotate and on the day of my transfer, a Dr Kazer was on rotation. He came into the room prior to transfer to confirm we had 2 viable embryos and when we let him know we wanted to transfer both, he basically used his scare tactics to force us into only putting in 1 embryo. I feel like this is a result of both his bedside manner, and the fact that NW does not like multiple pregnancies and look down upon transferring more than one embryo. We felt almost bullied and defeated and when I got pregnant, then quickly had a miscarriage, we regretted not following our hearts and transferring two. During our second IVF cycle, we insisted they allow us to transfer two. Again, Dr Barnes was not the Dr that did the procedure. This time it was Dr Robins who also tried to convince us to transfer one, but we stuck to our guns and transferred 2. Dr Robins is also a fan of 3-day transfers which did not sit right with me, but at the time of transfer, being hormonal and vulnerable, unfortunately you often listen to the Drs as opposed to following your gut.

The nursing staff is overworked. There is no consistency with care. Voicemails are not returned in a timely manner (48 hours). These are hormonal sensitive women these nurses are dealing with on an everyday basis. You already feel like a number and when you have a pressing questions or matter you would like to discuss, it's very frustrating to have to wait days to hear back.

Cattle call with numbers

IVF was $10k per cycle. IUI was $700. This was the out of pocket (cash) cost.

Dr. Barnes is a nice man, but I have always preferred female doctors. It was hard to get an appointment and he was the only one available when I could come in. He seems a little shy so I had trouble talking to him at times, especially after the miscarriage. He is very competent and knowledgeable.

Make sure you ask lots of questions and understand every fully during all procedures. Get support from a therapist or a support group from the beginning of your fertility treatments! I wish the doctors and staff had talked to me about this from my first appointment.

This was not Dr. Barnes fault, but I did my first IUI with his office. I didn't know what to expect, so after the insemination they told me to wait for 10 minutes on the table. I thought they would let me know when 10 minutes was up and I didn't have a watch or a phone. No one came in so after 45 minutes I got up still not really sure how much time had passed. Northwestern is a really busy clinic so I did feel like a number sometimes.

I did one IUI with him with 50 mg of Clomid.

I like the nursing staff but wish I had a primary nurse through the whole process. I interacted with a lot of different nurses there.

They know what they are doing and have a strong process. They see a lot of patients so you won't always get the personal attention you might want.

Insurance covered almost all of it luckily.

I spent much more time with the nurses than with Dr. Barnes, but I felt like he was always friendly and helpful and knew what he was talking about. He laid out short- and long-term plans for treatment, so I knew what to expect.

You might get pregnant sooner than you expect!

Sometimes nurses didn't seem to know where I was at on the schedule

I believe I took letrazole with a shot each time- the plan was to do this for 3 cycles and then continue but with IUI added. We got pregnant the third time around.

They were incredibly sweet and kind, but I found that sometimes they gave information that conflicted with what Dr. Barnes or other nurses had said.

The clinic was really beautiful and serene, and there was an order to it that made me feel like they had done this many times before (in a good way).

I don't remember

I had a very positive experience with him. He has a warm demeanor and is knowledgeable. In my opinion, he is very optimistic about treatment (which is a nice-to-have through this process). I did felt like at a certain point when IUI wasn't working, I was leading the process rather than getting answers about next steps.

I don't know if it is still this way, but when I went through the process, there weren't individual appointment times for monitoring. So people would start to line up in the hallway before the clinic opened (before we all had to go to work). It had a little bit of a cattle call feeling that was stressful.