How was your experience with Robert Skaf at South Jersey Fertility Center?
This review pertains more generally to South Jersey Fertility since you are not given a specific doctor as a patient but instead expected to see whoever happens to be available that day. By the time I came to SJ fertility I had just left another RE where I had a poor experience and after 3 cycles, decided to more on. I had also been through 6 cycles with another doctor years prior and successfully conceived my daughter. I feel like if I had not known a good deal about what my treatments would involved form experience, I would have felt very lost, lonely, and hopeless here. I was able to advocate for myself based on that experience but it fell on deaf ears. They were not very aggressive or proactive and although they knew we were out of pocket for everything and that IVF was not an option financially, seemed to think everyone can just go IVF if other treatment didn't work. No one ever had a conversation with me about my failed cycles , how my labs looked, what could be going wrong - nothing unless prompted and even then we're very brief answers. I don't feel any of the doctors I encountered were invested in their patients. I have very high expectations following an amazing experience with my first RE (in another state), but I did not find this experience acceptable.
What's one piece of advice would you give a prospective patient of Robert Skaf at South Jersey Fertility Center?
Advocate for yourself. Push and get answers otherwise they will not be given. Talk to others who have been or are going through treatment so you know what to ask and what to expect and when things are not right. Just because IVF exists is "an" option (though not really an option for some like us) that doesn't mean other treatment is not worth pursuing aggressively.
During treatment, were you treated like a number or a human with Robert Skaf at South Jersey Fertility Center?
Following my initial consult where I explained our past treatment and my concerns, I left feeling somewhat positive although I know I was told exactly what I wanted to her and it wasn't very thorough. That doctor/nurse left the practice a week later and no other doctor every had a conversation with me about our treatment, my concerns, or our plans moving forward after each failed cycle. You saw a different doctor each visit and each time I had to repeat the things I wanted known and no one seemed to know exactly what took place prior. We continued the same plans with no changes until I prompted them (having had experience with infertility treatment in the past). Either I got lost in the shuffle or this is just how they operate. When I mentioned these feelings, nothing changed.
Describe the protocols Robert Skaf used in your cycles at South Jersey Fertility Center and their degree of success.
There was little change to my protocol over the course of 5 cycles which did not make sense to me considering we were getting the same results each time. They did not look further into potential problems affecting my fertility because I had already been diagnosed with several conditions (manageable) prior and had a living daughter. I feel more investigation should have been done.
Describe your experience with the nursing staff at South Jersey Fertility Center.
The nursing staff was fine - not overly friendly or personable. I never sensed a level of compassion or was ever even engaged in conversation.
Describe your experience with South Jersey Fertility Center.
I think having a "point" doctor is important, even if you do sometimes see other doctors in the practice. I never knew who to go to with questions and when I did speak up, I had to back track and explain everything from day 1 in order to understand the present because no one ever knew your individual case. I did not feel anyone had responsibility for my care.
Describe the costs associated with your care under Robert Skaf at South Jersey Fertility Center.
We were told the appointments would be covered but not procedures or medications. We paid of out of pocket for that and are just now finding out, after 5 cycles over 6 months of treatment that insurance is looking to deny any coverage.
What specific things went wrong at South Jersey Fertility Center?
- Failed to convey critical information