Randle Corfman

We were referred to Dr. Corfman by a friend of ours (who had success doing IVF with him). My husband and I both felt that he was thorough and straightforward during our consultation. Despite my low AMH (1.1), he put us in the "unexplained infertility" category, though this diagnosis was not verbally mentioned to us, it was just written on our paperwork. He recommended we do anywhere from 0-6 medicated cycles (letrozole, trigger, progesterone) and made us feel confident we would not need IVF. We left the consultation feeling hopeful and decided we would do 2-3 of the medicated cycles. Our first medicated cycle was canceled because they found a cyst on my ovaries during the baseline ultrasound. Dr. C recommended I do a month of birth control to get rid of the cyst and prevent others. The next month we were able to go ahead with the medicated cycle and everything went well. However, when the cycle resulted in a negative beta, my husband and I elected to pursue IVF. During IVF prep, Dr. C ordered day 3 blood tests (AMH, FSH, etc), a saline sonogram, and he put me on birth control pills for down-regulation, which I would be taking for 5 (!) weeks so that I fit into his schedule. When I went in for the saline sono (which he performed and did a great job), he told me my AMH had dropped to 0.7. Then, during the procedure, he could see that my ovaries looked "small" (they counted 6 follicles). He then explained that having fewer eggs meant less chance of success with IVF. He said that we would go ahead with stims, but if I didn't have at least 4 eggs by retrieval, the cycle would be canceled at that point and we would be out $6k-$8k. Needless to say, that appointment did not make me feel good. My husband and I decided to press pause and seek a second opinion. I've come to realize that Dr. C is kind of "old school" and so is the way he does IVF. He has one cookie-cutter IVF protocol and I think it probably works for a lot of people, but it didn't feel right for us. We wanted to work with a doctor who would be more considerate of my low AMH, and would modify the protocol accordingly.

Do your research. If you feel a "standard" IVF protocol is a good fit for you, Dr. C is your guy! If, like me, you have low AMH or need more specialized care for another reason, I would suggesting seeking treatment elsewhere.

For my medicated cycle, I was on letrozole from day 3 to 12 of my cycle. I don't remember the dose. I responded well to letrozole and it looked like I might ovulate 2-3 eggs which is what we wanted. The letrozole did lower my estrogen enough that they started me on estrace (oral). On day 12 we were instructed to do a Ovidrel trigger, have sex that night, and have sex again on day 14. On day 15 I started crinone (vaginal progesterone). Beta was negative and they had me stop the estrogen and progesterone supplementation. We started IVF prep with Dr C and he had me doing 5 weeks of birth control pills for down-regulation (we then sought a second opinion and stopped treatment with Dr C).

The medicated cycle (no IUI) was about $1500 I believe, mostly because of monitoring. One round of IVF was going to be close to $20k.

Dr C seems to be more open to multiple embryo transfer than other clinics. He explained the success rates of transferring 1 vs 2 embryos - I think he said it was a 45% (or so) chance that a singleton would stick, and if we transferred 2 embryos, it was a 68% chance 1 would stick and 70% chance they both would. We didn't discuss the risks of carrying multiples in detail, and we never discussed transferring more than 2.

Dr. Corfman is an intelligent, experienced reproductive endocrinologist. He clearly explained the likely underlying cause of our issues - from consult to failed transfer - and we felt confident in his knowledge. He also has the best bedside manner of any of the REs with whom we've worked (2 treatment REs and 1 consult RE). I felt he was personally invested in our success. He spoke to me like a human, rather than a patient, and treated me as I imagine he would treat his own family during consults and procedures. Unfortunately, our fresh transfer was not successful. And our stimming and retrieval also did not go as planned. When we consulted with Dr. Corfman after the failed transfer, it appeared there was information available at the time of the egg retrieval and fertilization regarding the quality of my eggs/embryos that was not shared with us throughout the process. Given what we know now (after consulting with other REs and embryologists), we would have liked to know the reality of our situation prior to the transfer. It may not have changed our course, but it would have more realistically managed our expectations. Dr. Corfman also indicated at our post-transfer consult that there would be no changes to our protocol, should we move forward with another round of IVF. He recommended donor eggs and possibly donor sperm. After consulting with another RE, we learned there are potential changes to make to the protocol and are in the process of a second round right now. It took time for me to be able to write this review of Dr. Corfman, as I have tremendous respect and admiration for him. My greatest hope was that our first round had worked in his clinic. That being said, I think it's also important to share that the recommendations he made for us (no changes to protocol and donor eggs/sperm) varied greatly from what another RE has recommended.

If your round of treatment is unsuccessful, definitely consider consulting with another RE.

While working with Dr. Corfman, we utilized the following: Pretreament: endometrial scratch Treatment: IVF with ICSI; Gonal F and Menopur; Ganirelix; Lupron and Pregnyl Rationale for treatment: male factor infertility and PCOS

We paid approximately $20,000 for a round of IVF with ICSI and fresh transfer.

Our doctor recommended single embryo transfer (based on grade of embryo. genetic testing was not recommended). This was recommended due to my age and the high risks associated with multiples.

The only strength I fee Dr Corfman had was his ability to explain the process and the percentage outcomes and what the potential risks were. He was unwilling to bend any of his treatment plans and refused to begin any treatment until I was a certain weight, which ended up costing me more than a year of time and effort in trying to have a child. He also refused to consider IVF via my own eggs due to my AMH level which was .99 at age 38. He said it would only be an option to do IVF if we used donor eggs or donor embryo. We did look into donor embryo, which he sold as a much more affordable and successful option, but told us that we'd have to get on the list - when we entered the list we were number 16, and after almost a year, we are still only number 15 on the list - his inability to communicate the real chance of receiving a donor embryo was very poor. He made us feel as though it was a viable option - we don't have as much as four years to wait for that option. I am overall very disappointed in the care I received and feel robbed of over a year of effort and time in the fertility process. This is precisely why we switched doctors after a failed IUI as something told me we were on the wrong path.

If you aren't young and skinny - find another clinician to conceive your fertility plans.

Because my AMH was considered lower than normal for my age at .99 at age 38, Dr Corfman refused to consider IVF with my own eggs and would only consent to IVF with donor eggs or embryo. We were further advised we could not do IVF until I was 187 pounds. When I first saw Dr Corfman, I was 221 pounds and he would not initiate any treatment whatsoever for the recommended IUI protocol until I was 200 pounds or less. He also would not do the IUI until i had an HSG done to rule out tubal blockage, which I feel I could have had done right away, but again I had to wait. Wasting more of my time. The HSG was performed at a local clinic and he did not do it - but he also did not fully explore whether my left tube is truly blocked and only said that I had no other signs that it would truly be blocked (the dye did not fully expel through my left tube, only my right) When I did finally reach 199 pounds, we were told we had to wait another 2 months because he wanted me to take two cycles of birth control and take high doses of metformin prior to a cycle. We went through one IUI cycle, which failed, and then he wanted a sonohystogram done, so we could not do a second IUI the following month, costing me even more time. over a year passed from the first time I consulted with him to the first time we tried for IUI and I feel as though we lost so much valuable time. I should have gotten a second opinion much sooner. The IUI cycle we did included letrozole and a trigger shot. After the frustration and lack of communication, we sought a second opinion from a different clinic. I am not happy at all with the care plan outlined by Dr. Corfman in retrospect, especially due to the extended time I was forced to wait to begin treatment and my age. And the fact that he flat out refused to consider IVF with my own eggs.

the actual bill for the IUI procedure itself was $440. This did not include medications or the Ultrasounds and bloodwork.

Dr. Corfman is a kind, gentle physician. During my HSG he took extra measures to make sure I was comfortable and free from as much pain as possible. We didn’t see him often during our visits, but he was always there with questions regarding our treatment.

Speak up about your medication schedule. The staff and Dr. Corfman are always willing to adjust things if possible!

I was diagnosed with PCOS and anovulation upon meeting with Dr. Corfman. He went about treatment cycles logically, but took into consideration your input and needs. He made sure we knew our success rates with each type of treatment and suggested that we started with timed intercourse for 6 cycles and go from there. We have not been successful and plan on moving towards IUI/IVF.

My cost was definitely more than we expected for timed cycles with ultrasounds, medications, etc. however, the clinic was upfront about their costs and we knew this before treatment began.

Dr. Corfman does a wonderful job at explaining everything and was amazing with the actual procedures which are generally very uncomfortable. There was absolutely no pain or discomfort during my embryo transfer and the egg retrieval was a bit uncomfortable, as to be expected, but tolerable by all means (This clinic uses conscious sedation so I was awake and do remember my retrieval). Although we did not get the outcome we were praying for, Dr. Corfman was very honest and upfront with the not so great odds we were up against and gave ya all our options. One thing I do wish is that there would be a more holistic approach to the treatments. I have done a lot of research on my own with using supplements and making lifestyle changes. It’s not that Dr. Corfman is against those approaches, they just aren’t encompassed in the treatment plan and don’t seem to hold much importance there.

As with any infertility doctor, go in to it open minded. You have to trust the process. I had to go through a failed cycle to find out my egg quality is the problem.. now we are on to deciding what’s next.

I used the regular protocol there. I started by taking birth control for a month or so and then on to stim meds. It included ovarian stimulation meds such as Gonal F and trigger shot Pregnyl. I used ganrilex acetate to prevent ovulation before the retrieval. I did have Lupron at home on standby in case my estrogen levels spiked too high but I never had to use the Lupeon protocol. I used progesterone suppositories twice a day following the transfer, I believe those start before transfer if the lupron protocol is given. That’s all I can remember off hand without my list in front of me.

We haven’t gotten our total bill yet. It was around $20,000 for one cycle of IVF fresh transfer, no frozen embryos.

My clinic recommends transferring 1-2 embryos depending on a number of variables.

I was hesitant to use Dr. Corfman at first because a lot of our care was performed by nurses as he is often out of the office at satellite locations. However, his nurses were amazing. One of my treatments was scheduled on a weekend during a huge snowstorm. Dr. Corfman performed the procedure himself so his staff would not have to come to the office in hazardous conditions.

If you’re looking for someone to look out for your best interests, he will be honest with you and not beat around the bush. He truly wants his patients to be successful.

Our 5 treatment cycles were IUI. All were unsuccessful. We met with Dr. Corfman to discuss what to do next and he suggested donor eggs. Initially, we did not want to even consider using donor eggs as we were already using donor sperm. We asked if he would sign off on paperwork for us to try ICI at home and he did. After 5 more failed tries, we found ourselves back in his office. Time was not on our side. I was getting older (as are my eggs) and my wife did not have promising numbers. He was very sympathetic to our situation but made sure we were aware of all of our options. We could try IVF with my eggs and possibly experience expensive heartache or we could consider IVF with donor eggs and have our family.

Some of my care was covered by insurance but for all of the treatments I was provided, the business office was very good at providing cost information ahead of time and issued me any refunds when necessary.

We haven’t transferred eggs yet, but when we were doing IUI, Dr. Corfman discussed the possibility of multiples and asked us to think about selective reduction in the event of four or more embryos. Because of my age, 38, all of our IVF conversations have been about implanting at least two embryos.

Strengths: Extremely honest and won’t waste your time. Gets a plan in action and makes you feel like you can succeed. He balances optimism, while being realistic. He’s very talented and doesn’t give you false hope. Weakness: very busy, so I felt rushed at times. He also seemed like he forgot who we were one time, anc had to ask us questions about our chart. Make sure you advocate for answers, no matter what.

Advocate for yourself, and make sure you get answers. Be ok with not seeing him and mainly communicating with nurses.

Started with metformin for pcos and then letrozole and ovidrel. Had a SIS done to make sure my tubes were open after my D&C. Now moving onto IVF for MFI.

Around $20k for one fresh cycle IVF, and some other costs to freeze embryos.

He thought we would be ok with transferring two embryos, depending on the quality.

After the transfer, the dr corfman stayed. He had already done his job... but he didn't immediately leave. For about five minutes he held mine and Andrews hand. He told us he had a good feeling. That he hoped he wouldn't have to see us again. And then, before he left us to be together as parents, he said "they are yours now." That stuck with me in ways you cannot imagine. He was down to earth. Funny when he needed to be lighthearted. Serious when he needed to be. And walked us through everything.

Go to him.

The only thing I really remember is that my body took well to one of the hormones - so I was able to adjust my course as necessary as my eggs were growing well/big at the time. I ended up not using about half of the medication was prescribed.

I had all my monitoring appointments at a separate satellite location.

It cost us well over 20,000 out of pocket for our procedure. We opted for the VIP program which was more than the standard 17,800 plus then you had to pay for your medications separately resulting in about 8,000 - 9,000 in medications alone on top of the rest.

He made sure it was our choice but told us the possibility of them splitting, etc. We chose to place two. and both took. He made sure to tell me that he thought I was healthy enough to place two and that if twins or triplets were an option, that my body should/would be healthy enough to handle that choice and if he didn't think so, that he would have encouraged us to only place one embryo.

He is knowledgeable and has backup for everything he does. He even will joke with you to make you more at ease. He makes me feel like I have a chance in this journey because he doesn’t sugarcoat anything. He is honest and candid and I want that and appreciate it.

Don’t hesitate at all to give your care to this doctor.

He used medications that I needed based on blood work and history and not just guessing what might possibly help. I appreciated that cause I want to know these things too.

Basic costs of medication and cycles were in line with what other clinics charged per cycle. I appreciate they have a “live birth guarantee” with IVF. This means if you don’t have a life birth you can get a large amount of money back. That helps ease a lot of fears and worries with IVF.

None

Dr Corfman is a fast-talker and very smart, but if I ever got lost he would take the time to explain everything clearly. He walked through each step, explaining why each step was important and what changes we would make if necessary. When we faced a miscarriage he was so compassionate and kind and let us take the time we needed.

Be prepared with what you want to know. Ask lots of questions and trust his judgment. He has purpose behind every decision. It may make it feel like it it is taking forever but the process works!

We started with two months of birth control to reset hormones. He also encourages an HSG for diagnostic purposes initially but for treatment after our first baby. On day 1-3 there is an ultrasound to ensure the health of the lining and uterus. Days 3-10 or so I took letrazole to stimulate the follicles. Around day 10 I had an ultrasound to check the maturity of the follicles. Dr Corfman would decide if more time was needed or if we were ready for the IUI. Two days before the IUI I would do a trigger shot and intercourse was recommended. Two days later my husband went in to give his sample and then I went in a few hours later for the IUI. Two weeks later we did a blood test and if positive two days later another blood test was done. If still positive, we scheduled an ultrasound for two weeks later.

Each IUI was approximately $1000

Dr. Corfman is very intelligent and to the point. He explains things in detail when asked which was very helpful. I feel that he was invested in our treatments and with each failed attempt he grieved with us. He was honest in saying he didn’t know why we weren’t successful and referred us to colleagues for a second opinion. In the end we stayed with him and his clinic because we trusted them and didn’t believe we would have different outcomes somewhere else.

Don’t give up and try to second guess every decision.

I used follistem and menoper for stimulation along with ganerelex. I did not have a successful fresh transfer. With our frozen transfer - we used lupron along with progesterone injections and suppositories and estrogen injections.

Each fresh cycle had a base rate of around 10,000 which did not include meds or monitoring. Each frozen had a base of around 6,000.

Our embryos were rated and we transferred the top 2 each time.

When I first met him ( he was our 1st fertility specialist) he seemed very knowledgeable and gave us hope that his course of action would work with no concerns. We felt very positive when we left that we'd only need one month of medications and we'd get pregnant. He seemed very thorough in our first meeting. However, after we left that appointment I believe I didn't speak to him again until we requested to come back.

Interview around.

We were prescribed to do injectables, 2 sets of ultrasounds/month with timed intercourse.

I believe the medications were expensive (which we expected) and insurance doesn't cover most fertility treatments so we expected that. I'm not sure what the costs were.

It was an amazing experience. I had friends that happened to use him as well. Right from the beginning he was friendly, patient, and attentive to our questions and concerns, no matter how silly they seemed to be. Even though I live 4+ hours away I never felt ignored. I honestly can’t say enough about him and my experience. I’ve had a few friends that are struggling with infertility and I always mention doctor Corfman and my experience.

To trust him ! He knows exactly what tests to run and tries to figure out what the underlying issue may be before jumping straight to IVF.

Cycle 1: I was on bc to get my cycle. We then tried letrozole (adjusting doses) and I was not producing follicles. I then went onto injections (menopur). I did an IUI and unfortunately had an ectopic pregnancy. I had to do the methotrexate shot a couple times. Cycle 2: we went back to the injections of menopur/gonal f/ovidrel .. I had produced follicles but unfortunately I produced TOO many to do IUI so the cycle was canceled Cycle 3: injections again .. egg retrieval.. implanted 2 embryos and 1 took. I got my baby girl in December 2016!!!!

I don’t have infertility coverage. So each ultrasound leading up to pregnancy was about $254 out of pocket, I had to have HSG(out of pocket), each cycle my injections cost approx $5000. The retrieva/transfer was about $15000

Dr. Corfman was very to the point but was never unkind or rude. He was very knowledgeable about our case in particular from the first visit and is actually the one who diagnosed me with PCOS. I had 6 IUIs with my OB doctor and he never diagnosed me with PCOS, when I asked he would say I don't fit the profile. Dr. Corfman was able to tell from my ultrasounds alone that I had PCOS. He drew many diagrams to help explain the process for what they would do in my situation. When I told him we were in a time crunch and wanted to proceed with IVF instead of trying some other things first, as we were getting ready to move in a few months and the insurance I had at the time covered part of IVF, he said they would get me in before we moved, and they did. My husband even liked Dr. Corfman, and he doesn't like any doctors.

I read some of the other reviews who said that he was somewhat blunt, but keep in mind the reason you are seeing him is that you want a baby. Dr. Corfman is very good at what he does. His success rates are well over the national average.

We had a down payment of around $11,000. Meds did not cost us anything since my insurance at the time paid for all of the meds. My insurance covered some of the IVF, so we got some money refunded to us and ended up paying about $9,000 out of pocket. Probably would have been close to $20,000 if we didn't have insurance.

After my consult, we never heard from Dr. Corfman again outside of him stepping in briefly to conduct an endometrial scratch. Even then, the nurses had everything ready so he was in the room for less than a few minutes without much dialogue. He seems to have a reputation for a quick diagnosis of PCOS and suggested donor eggs instead of listening to the patient. (Other clinics have confirmed this.) He is quick to remind everyone of his "busy schedule" at other clinics. He is not available during the summer and very dismissive of much, if any, support on weekends. I found his attitude to be cocky. My husband did find his graphs and charts helpful as he tried to explain our options, but it was obvious he didn't know our case well given the options he gave.

Look into other clinics in the Twin Cities. If you do see him, bring questions. He won't like to answer them but stay on track and be persistent. Remember YOU are paying HIM for service, not the other way around.

A basic femara protocol with ovulation trigger shot. When cycles produced too many or too little eggs, it was me that suggested to the nurses they talk to him about adjusting my medication (which they did). I don't think without my advocacy for myself, my cycles would have been remotely promising.

Relatively average. Charged per ultrasound and vial of blood drawn. He would bill his time very specifically to the minute, and tended to get off tangent (and was hard to redirect).

From our first phone consult to the time we met Dr. Corfman we felt he was very knowledgeable. He was blunt, but presented the information in a compassionate way. We had to travel to see him, so we did not even meet Dr. Corfman until we did our egg retrieval. We still felt that he took an interest in our case and did not bow off our concerns.

He is blunt and does not sugar coat things. We prefer this approach so it worked for us. The clinic is a small one and we liked that.

After multiple failed IUIs we moved on to IVF with Dr. Corfman. We did IVF in 2012 and I think it was a pretty standard protocol. The side effects were not terrible for me. I did get pretty uncomfortable just before the egg retrieval. I did like that I was awake for the retrieval so I was able to see what was going on. Unfortunately we only got 5 eggs from all the follicles I produced. Dr. Corfman was not concerned about this and all 5 embryos made it to day 3.

Our monitoring appointments were done at a satellite clinic near our home. The results were then sent to Dr. Corfman. We did not do anything at the clinic until our egg retrieval and transfer. This was convenient for us.

I do not remember what we ended up paying. We were lucky that our insurance covered a part of the IVF.

He was thorough and explained everything he was doing/planned to do. He was up front about our chances to conceive. He also gave tips on how to improve fertility while preparing for cycle (i.e. weight loss, vitamins to take to prepare for pregnancy, tips for male fertility, etc.)

Dr. Corfman is very upfront and straightforward. Sometimes that can be hard news but you can feel confident in the answers he provides you and your chances of conceiving.

It has been too long to remember specific drugs used, but I know I had quite a few of them. There were drugs to prevent ovulation prior to the egg retrieval, drugs to increase the number of eggs produced, drugs to improve the lining, and an antibiotic for day of retrieval to prevent infection. I also had to take progesterone to support the (potential) pregnancies. Suppositories the first time and both suppositories and injectable progesterone on subsequent transfers. I tried metformin to help with the PCOS but I had a side effect of swollen corneas and could not continue.

They were at my local clinic rather than the fertility clinic.

It was about $17,000 for the fresh cycle but that excluded all monitoring because it was done locally and insurance covered it. The frozen transfers were about $3000 each.

Initially we were really impressed with the care and the clinic. They spent a lot of time with us answering questions and concerns. Around the time and after transfer, though, they were more condescending and paternalistic. Our results were great though; we brought home our baby :)

Don't expect a lot of information around and after the time of transfer

We did donor egg here. We did bring home our baby after one cycle.

I don't remember the details, but it was less than we were quoted. We were told, however, that we could pay by credit card, but not warned that they would charge an extra fee (something like 5%)

We feel grateful the process worked so far for us - however we lost one of the twins at 9 weeks, and are now at risk of delivering too early at 20 weeks. Dr Corfman and his nurses are very empathetic and made us feel very comfortable at all appointments and procedures. However i would have liked more information on why certain protocols were being used and especially during the time between retrieval and transfer on the number of eggs fertilized.

Dont question his protocols - if it works for you the first time around, go for it. But if the first round fails, most people try another Dr who is willing to try other options.

Started w Follistim, added Menopur three days later, and then Ganirelex. Total 10 or 11 days of stims. Triggered with Lupron & Pregnyl.

Over $20k, also anything ivf related including ultrasounds are only billed out of network to insurance

Gave us the option of 1 or 2, we transferred both. Froze the remaining.

As an out of state patient, my first time meeting Dr. Corfman was the day of my retrieval. He came in and talked with my husband and I as regular people; suggested places to visit or eat before even discussing the procedure ahead. He was so down to earth and genuine.

Just trust him. I wish I would have let my guard down sooner and trusted that he had my best interest in mind. I would have saved myself a lot of stress.

My monitoring appointments were done with my local Family Nurse Practitioner. Her office would then send result to the Mid-West Center.

Approximately $12,000 prepayment for retrieval and transfer Approximately $4,000-$6,000 for medications Approximately $1,000-$3,000 for unforeseen costs (ie. thawing of back up semen, etc)

Provided you are healthy and have a strong support system, Dr. Corfman is an advocate for transferring 2 embryos. His comment to us was, “you’d rather go home with two than with none” and we agreed.

He delved right into the facts of infertility. Likes to draw as he talks. Doesn’t give much time for interruption or questions until the end. Was fine for me, educational and explained things in detail.

Expect a more factual visit... not warm and fuzzy. Talks in general terms at initial visit. Will be seeing him soon a second time to start IVF.

Said I could continue using letrozole with Ovidrel to try and get pregnant if I wanted. Just depended on how many times I wanted to go through a miscarriage (had 4 by this time). Suggestion from him was 4-6 times with Ovidrel. Went on OCP for a month which seemed to help it work better, but after 4 more failed attempts (no pregnancy) decided to move onto IVF.

Unsure at this time... waiting to start IVF

His strength is in letting patients know their diagnosis in a completely understandable way - in laymen’s terms. He also was very encouraging & positive. Some negatives are that he was maybe a bit too positive that his methods would work for me & they didn’t. That was disappointing since he basically guaranteed they would.

Take everything he says with hope & gratefulness but also remember that he could be wrong & may not know your diagnosis as well as he thinks.

I was taking letrozole to produce eggs & had to give myself a shot every month to induce ovulation. I also took progesterone & estradiol to help balance my hormones & to ensure that any potential pregnancies would stick.

Thorough, detail oriented and clearly very experienced and knowledgeable. We had worked with multiple REs, and he was the best at describing treatment risks/benefits and giving a full explanation of all options. Realistic statistics and accurate description of evidence based were cited on conversation

Don’t hesitate to make another appointment if struggling with a decision regarding treatment.

He gave us both options with a thorough explanation of risks/benefits of both.