Randle Corfman

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.

Dr. Corfman and his staff are phenomenal. Throughout the entire process, I NEVER felt like a number. Dr. Corfman, his nurses, and his front desk staff knew us by name and treated us warmly and with kindness during every visit. After our failed transfer, we received a handwritten note from one of the nurses. I could go on and on with the ways Dr. Corfman and his entire staff helped us to feel human and respected during this process.

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

The nursing staff at Dr. Corfman's clinic are amazing. They knew us by name and treated us as such. I have a fear of needles, and they often brought in their "best" needle nurse to perform my blood draws. They held my hand, cared for me when the egg retrieval drugs made me sick, and sent a handwritten note when our transfer failed. The nurses are also incredibly organized. A nurse spoke with me for an hour to introduce me to the process. Another nurse spent an hour with my husband and I during to teach injections (just us - no other couples). Nurses called after every blood draw to review next steps. They were available for emergency calls and never made us feel our questions were unreasonable or a bother. There were ZERO mistakes made by the nursing staff during our entire process. Or at least none that weren't fixed! We've since moved on to a different clinic, and we miss the nurses from Dr. Corfman's office. They are SO on top of their game and the best we've worked with throughout our infertility treatments.

Dr. Corfman, his nurses, and his front desk staff provide organized, knowledgeable care with excellent bedside manner. If your particular fertility circumstances fit Dr. Corfman's methods of treatment, this is the place to go. Unfortunately, our circumstances did not result in a successful transfer, and Dr. Corfman felt we had limited chances with our own eggs and sperm. As a result, we consulted with another clinic and are in the middle of a second round with another doctor.

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.

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.

Dr. Corfman has a great bedside manner. He is excellent at explaining the ins and outs of IVF.

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.

Nursing staff was wonderful. Timely responses always. Very patient with me when I would call with all kinds of questions. Very knowledgeable nurses.

I really wish the clinic would have an email or messaging system. It is inconvenient to use only telephone communication especially with my full time job. I am rarely able to get to my cell phone at work and I feel messaging would work much better. They do set a personal voicemail system up for nurses to call with progress updates and medication instructions which is nice.

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.

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 thoroughly looked over my chart and finally diagnosed me with PCOS after 2 years of treatment with my OBGYN and a miscarriage. He knew everything about me and my history and came in with a thorough plan and the information to back it up. He made personal connections to me by really getting to know who I was as a person. I left feeling finally heard and understood after two very long, lonely and painful years of infertility.

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.

Even when I would come in for a blood sample they knew everything about my cycle and my chart. They always called me back ASAP when I left a message.

Strength is always answering and calling me back immediately. The front desk staff are friendly and warm. They open really early in the morning so you don’t have to take time away from your work day. Weakness is sometimes it takes months to get an initial appointment.

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 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 spent 3 years trying to become pregnant with treatments from Dr. Corfman. We had 3 failed attempts and Dr. Corfman and staff were very supportive. When we finally had a positive result, Dr. Corfman shared tears of joy with us.

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.

The staff were all very compassionate. The skill level varied from nurse to nurse but overall they were all very knowledgeable in what they were doing.

The clinic runs like a well oiled machine. They keep you updated on new appointments and what is the next step in the process. They worked with my schedule for ultrasounds which included coming before the clinic was officially open. The nurses are easy to get a hold of and return calls quickly. Everyone was friendly and approachable. We had one lab charged which was not performed and I kept receiving bills for it. It took a few calls before it was resolved completely. They also only do retrievals and tranfers a few times a year so you may have to wait to start treatment depending on the date.

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.

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.

Dr. Corfman's office definitely had a set protocol that they followed, but they always reviewed my lab results and my ultrasounds and tailored my protocol to me.

Always returned my calls the same day (or the next day if I called late in the afternoon). We did all my monitoring via a satellite clinic, so the nurse had to give me all my instructions over the phone, and she was very detailed and precise and answered all my questions. It was a lot of information and she explained it very well.

Like I said previously, we did all our monitoring at a satellite clinic, but when we went to see Dr. Corfman for the egg retrieval and then the transfer, we were called back quickly, there were no other people in the waiting room, or in the clinic from what I could see, so it didn't feel like I was in an assembly line and we had some amount of privacy in the waiting room. Everyone was kind and professional.

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.

Dr. Corfman constantly had to review to our chart when addressing us by name in consults. He constantly brought up the fact that there were people waiting after us. Outside of 2 consults - an initial and one after a miscarriage - we never saw him, heard from him, or spoke to him. I cried during a consult, which was very unlike me, and instead of showing compassion, he seemed exasperated.

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.

It was clear they have turnover and it seemed like many of the nurses were new to the lingo or didn't always understand the questions I was asking. The ones that have been there a while were great and super compassionate. They were hopeful for us and kind.

In terms of technology compared to other Twin City clinics, this is outdated and minimal. There aren't many bells and whistles - everything from your blood draws to your ultrasounds to your IUI's to your endometrial scratches are conducted in the same room. Their office hours are shorter than most, closing at 3:30 and it can be hard to connect with a nurse after 2:00 for same day questions. Strengths would be that the rooms for males is set apart from the clinic activity and offers privacy upon leaving.

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.

We were always treated like human beings and not numbers. They did a good job of scheduling and making sure we did not see anyone else in the office at the same time. This made us feel like the attention was on us and we did not feel rushed.

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.

The nursing staff at the clinic was amazing. We had a phone messaging system that was used. We saw a nurse practitioner at a satellite clinic for the majority of our treatment. She was amazing and we continue to see her.

The number one thing we liked about the clinic is that it is small. There was only one time that we saw another couple. We also liked that we were able to stay in our community and go to a satellite clinic for a lot of the care. When we did get to Maple Grove the staff knew who we were and had never met us before, this made us a little more relaxed.

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.

He would provide follow-up calls, if necessary, himself. He also took the time to answer any questions you had.

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 also good at explaining everything that was going on. You felt that they genuinely wanted you to succeed in achieving a pregnancy. With my first pregnancy they called back with the HCG results and you could hear her excitement in the levels. They made sure I was comfortable during all procedures. They also did a great job coordinating with my local clinic for basic testing and training monitoring of cycles.

The clinic did not allow children out of consideration for others. It also allowed for a quieter, more calm environment. It was about an hour away so we liked doing testing and monitoring at our local clinic and only actual retrieval and transfer at the fertility clinic.

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

Initially we were really impressed with the care and the clinic. We had the feeling Dr Corfman and his staff really cared about our well-being. Around the time and after transfer, though, when we had questions and concerns, they were more condescending and paternalistic. They were less willing to provide requested information.

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

Julie Johnson was really fabulous. So were the rest of the nursing and support staff. But when a couple issues arose, I got the impression they were being directed to be less than forthcoming.

Their results are really good. Which ultimately is what we wanted :) We really liked Dr Corfman and the staff, but were disappointed in the attitude around and after transfer. The attitude really seemed paternalistic and dismissive. Prior to that time we had not experienced that, except around some financial issues that had not been clear to us (we may have misunderstood). Ultimately the cycle ended up being less costly than we were quoted though.

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%)

Dr. Randle Corfman was very nice and professional. He knows his stuff and explains it all pretty well so regular people can understand all of it. He does seem kind of rushed though but maybe he was just running behind when we saw him.

Write down all of your questions ahead of time so you have a plan and know what you need to ask. Make sure you take notes on everything he is saying and get direct contact information for him or a nurse so that you can reach out again if needed.

I feel neutral on this. He read our charts and our lab reports but still asked a lot of questions like he didn't know the answers to them. It was our first time going through this and getting diagnosed so a little more information would have been nice.

They all seemed very nice. Some were definitely more knowledgeable than others.

Professional and clean building and office space. Easy to find location. Staff seems to be organized and they stay fairly on time with their appointments. Timely returning of calls and emails. Make sure you contact your insurance and get price quotes ahead of time.

Dr. Corfman is amazing. He is caring and really makes you feel comfortable. He explains everything in great detail including drawing diagrams at each appointment to help you to really understand your upcoming treatment.

Dr. Corfman and his staff are extremely personable and caring.

We did 5 cycles where I was taking letrozole. Each of these cycles was unsuccessful. I have done monitoring outside of his clinic at a clinic that is closer to my home. I felt that Dr. Corfman was sure to run necessary tests and mibitorbme closely throughout these cycles. Most recently we completed a cycle of invitro. There were 18 eggs retrieved and 10 of those were mature. Of those 10, 6 fertilized using ICSI and 2 embryos made it to a day 5 fresh transfer. Currently, we are waiting for the results of this cycle.

All of the nurses are so personable and they really care. They genuinely hope for the best for you so it always feels good after you talk with them.

Overall, the clinic is great! It's location is pretty far from our home, but we are willing to travel to get the best care possible.

We completed our monitoring appointments at a clinic closer to our home.

He is super informative and always explained things so I could understand. His one downfall is he can’t be everywhere. So he’s not at every appointment. But I was ok with that for my situation. Also I do think he is a little old school in some of his practices, ie not putting the patient under for egg retrieval, however in my case it worked. Even though it was very very painful.

He tells it like it is. So be ready for blunt answers. He will tell you like it is.

He was very warm and always explained things so I could understand.

We did ivf with icsi. We decided on icsi because while doing our iui’s for some reason the eggs weren’t fertilizing. It was a fresh transfer on day 5.

Very sweet. Always informative and never made you feel stupid when asking questions.

Strengths are the well knowledges staff. They were able to squeeze me in for our cycle last minute which was great. And they did everything in their power to make that happen. Also they were good with any questions I had and always called me back promptly.

Our cycle itself was around $14,000 I think. Medications were about $6,000

At first he recommending transferring two embryos. Then when it came down to it he gave us the choice. We ultimately chose two.

Dr. Corfman is very candid and honest. He told us what we needed to hear and didn't sugar coat anything. I personally felt like he had our best interests in mind and honestly did what he could for us in our situation.

Be prepared to be told the honest truth. If you're overweight (or a smoker), Dr. Corfman requires all patients to be at or under a BMI of 30.

Dr. Corfman and his staff were wonderful and very helpful. They took the time to listen and answer our questions and concerns. I appreciated his very candid and honest explanations. I didn't want anything sugar coated as it wasn't going to help us meet our end goal.

Wonderful, knowledgeable, incredibly caring, and made the process less terrifying. I worked with the nurses 90% of the time and they really are all incredible ladies.

Their main clinic was nice. I did all but our IVF transfer at our local hospital/clinic. Dr. Corfman provides services to multiple satalite clinics.

Blunt, which I appreciated. Our first visit was educational. He discussed our issues (PCOS/Anovulation/Male factor due to varocosele) and treatment options..emphasis on IVF. We had already tried 5 IUI cycles at this point, so the next time we met was just before retrieval. I live in Bismarck ND, so his nurse here handled the pre-IVF visit to go over drugs. All of my scans were sent to him for review and I used the phone system to check medication instructions daily. The clinic was nice, procedures quick, staff warm and comforting. Dr Corfman was to the point from what I remember before & after procedures, but still took time to joke with my hubby a bit :-) In the end, we were blessed with a beautiful son, Oliver.

Don't be put off by his demeanor. He's very kind and concerned.

Asked me several times if I was warm enough... when we had a question 2d post retrieval, she was really quick to respond. Mostly she was kind and smiling and that's what I needed.