Verified
This patient has provided documentation of treatment at this clinic.
2022 - 2023, Unknown Success
Review of
Dr.Adams was consistently annoyed by my questions...When explaining her plan for our care she never gave us options, it was just dictated without explanation...I don't think she knows anything about me even though I've been working with her clinic for over 6 months. When talking to me she'd say we'd do one thing for my protocol, then a nurse would email me and tell me there was a mistake and make a change to the protocol...Everytime I had questions or concerns, I was just told by nursing, "this is your doctors recommendation"...
making appointments [at Kindbody] was often done by someone at corporate office and they wouldn't tell me an appointment had been scheduled, so I'd keep trying to reach someone to make an appointment that had already been made...reaching someone would often take multiple attempts...There are two NPs that work at the clinic who did a majority of the scans and gave to face time. They were both very compassionate and great at answering my questions. If I could've only dealt with them, my experience would've been better...
How was your experience with Shannel Adams at Kindbody - Portland?
Dr. Adams is clearly a very intelligent doc. She seems more focused on her new clinics numbers than patients concerns and values. When explaining her plan for our care she never gave us options, it was just dictated without explanation. This happened with ICSI vs conventional insemination and one vs two embryo transfer. It wouldn't be until I got the contract that I realized how many options there were. Everytime I had questions or concerns, I was just told by nursing, "this is your doctors recommendation". She wouldn't take the time to explain or consider my concerns. I'm a healthcare professional and read research to help me understand this process and what to expect. She was always very dismissive and gave anecdotal responses when her car plan differed from what I was reading. Dr.Adams was consistently annoyed by my questions. After 4 losses, you have a lot of anxiety, her refusing to answer my questions made the process so much more stressful and really eroded my trust in her. It felt like she was taking my questions personally, instead of seeing it as my way of managing my anxiety- which I tried to explain. With my second egg retrieval, even though we had 7 embryos, only one made it to PGT, the others arrested. I asked her about this and she very bluntly blamed this on our decision to opt for conventional insemination even though we were very successful with this method the first round. I avoid talking to her at this point because it's more stressful than helpful and I typically leave the conversation feeling worse than I did going into it.
What's one piece of advice would you give a prospective patient of Shannel Adams at Kindbody - Portland?
If you're at the start of your journey this is a good clinic to start at. She's direct and eager for you to get pregnant. Also, if you just want a competent doctor to make all of the decisions for you, this could be a good fit. If you've experienced a lot of trauma and have been at this awhile and need a doctor to be able to explain in detail all of the options, her style is anxiety provoking.
During treatment, were you treated like a number or a human with Shannel Adams at Kindbody - Portland?
On numerous occasions Dr. Adams didn't appear to know my medical history. I would have to repeat information multiple times. I don't think she knows anything about me even though I've been working with her clinic for over 6 months. When talking to me she'd say we'd do one thing for my protocol, then a nurse would email me and tell me there was a mistake and make a change to the protocol.
Describe the protocols Shannel Adams used in your cycles at Kindbody - Portland and their degree of success.
The first egg retrieval used an antagonist protocol, using Follistim and Menopur. We got 9 mature eggs, and after PGT ended up with 3 great embryos. Because of my age, and us hoping for 2 babies, we were recommended to do a second egg retrieval. I don't recall much rational behind changing up the protocol other than hoping for better results, I thought the first retrieval went great. The second round was an agonist protocol. Very similar but added lupron. We got 11 mature eggs, 6 fertilized but only one made it to PGT stage.
Describe your experience with the nursing staff at Kindbody - Portland.
There are two NPs that work at the clinic who did a majority of the scans and gave to face time. They were both very compassionate and great at answering my questions. If I could've only dealt with them, my experience would've been better. I think I had a couple of nurse coordinators but I never saw them, they may have even worked out of state for all I know. They couldn't answer any of my questions and instead would relay Dr.Adams answers which were typically along the lines of, these are your doctors orders, with no further explanation.
Describe your experience with Kindbody - Portland.
It's the only fertility clinic in SW Washington. So the location is very helpful in doing monitoring appointments as traffic to and from Portland, where all of the other fertility clinics are, can be horrendous. Because it's a new clinic, they offered a phenomenal introductory price for the first egg retrieval and embryo transfer. The second egg retrieval was also reasonably priced compared to other clinics in the area. These two factors are really the biggest reasons I would recommend them to someone starting to recieve fertility treatments. In the 9 months I have had contact with this clinic, they have had 3 different receptionists but a majority of the time they had none. This makes it hard to do simple things like pay bills and schedule appointments because you talk to their corporate office in Chicago.
Describe the costs associated with your care under Shannel Adams at Kindbody - Portland.
$3500 introductory pricing for the new clinic (I'm not sure if this is still offered) for 1 egg retrieval and one FET. Including monitoring but not drugs and genetic testing. $13000 for the second egg retrieval. They were also great at forwarding the prescriptions to another pharmacy for me to compare prices so I could get the best deal possible.
Describe Shannel Adams's approach to eSET (elective single embryo transfer) vs. multiple embryo transfer at Kindbody - Portland.
We did a single embryo transfer. It was never discussed with us as to why this was chosen. In reading the explanations given by other doctors to other patients, I think it's because the embryos were high quality.
What specific things went wrong at Kindbody - Portland?
- Failed to call in prescriptions to pharmacy
- Failed to inform you of changes in protocol
- Provided conflicting information
- Failed to convey critical information
Describe the specific things that went wrong at Kindbody - Portland.
For a clinic running without someone actually managing it, they're doing great. However they frequently needed prompting to follow up with things. For example, making appointments was often done by someone at corporate office and they wouldn't tell me an appointment had been scheduled, so I'd keep trying to reach someone to make an appointment that had already been made. Once you could reach someone, they were very helpful and could get things resolved quickly- but reaching someone would often take multiple attempts. For example, I wasn't getting the genetic results for my embryos in the timeline promised. I'd reach out to the clinic and they told me it was likely due to a holiday (that was after the date they gave for when to expect results). When I still hadn't recieved the results a week later, I messaged them pretty upset and frustrated. I'd called the genetic testing company they use multiple times but hadn't recieved a response. They finally helped me get it worked out- the testing company had somehow lost my consent paperwork. I just wish they'd followed up with the lab earlier, I don't think they ever would have if I hadn't pushed for it.
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