Steven Brenner

I feel that Dr. Brenner is a true professional. His experience, knowledge and desire to help those of us who are unable to conceive on their own is a true blessing and gift. During our visit he discussed the clinical results and offered us his professional opinion of our current situation and what we should do if we wanted to continue with treatment. We needed a doctor who was going to be straight forward, making sure all options were explored and explained so we could make a decision on what our next steps should be and/or to be comfortable with the possibility of an "only option".

Trust Dr. Brenner and have faith.

It was explained by Dr. Brenner that donor egg was our only option at this point. When treatment began we did all the necessary blood screenings, physical evaluation and testing, we where evaluated by a psychologist and assigned a RN who monitored our treatment and find us a donor if we could not find one on our own. A year after treatment began, a donor was found whom we were comfortable with and preparation for transfer began. Blood screening was continued, when my last menstrual cycleI began I was put in a protocol of estogen and baby asprin. Eventually I was put on progesterone and oil and had to take Medrol and Doxycycline for 5 days which started pre transfer and ended the after transfer. My husband produce seman specimen to be frozen, just in case the day of he was able to. We had 7 eggs, my husband was able to produce a fresh specimen on the day the eggs were to be thawed and ICSI was used to fertilize the eggs. Only 5 eggs fertilized and on day 3, post fertilization, 2 embryos were transferred. We were told 3 days later that the 3 remaining eggs did not make it to day 5. My medication protocol continued with estrogen, baby asprin and progesterone and oil. Day 10 post transfer we had a positive pregnancy test. The same medication protocol continued and blood screenings to evaluate levels. I was told by Dr. Brenner on my second HcG blood test that the levels were normal but on the low end, but that didn't mean I couldn'thave a normal pregnancy. The same continued on the following HcG test. The first sonogram showed a small embryo, Dr. Brenner said they like to see it bigger, but they would continue monitoring. The next sono was with Dr. Kreiner an associate, he stated the same and added that he could not determine if there was a sack or not. 6+ weeks post transfer sonogram with another associate Dr. Zinger showed no development in the fetus. Dr. Zinger and the RN were very consoling as the devastating news was delivered. Dr. Zinger discusses the options of letting a miscarriage happen on it's own or have a DNC. I said I would like to discuss that with Dr. Brenner, he understood. Dr. Brenner called that evening, offering his condolences, at that point my husband and I had already decided on the DNC because I couldn't put myself through expecting a miscarriage, that would have been to much for me to bare. The DNC was scheduled 2 days later and Dr. Brenner preformed the surgery. The tissue was taking to have genetic testing done. Dr. Brenner had me continue taking the estogen for 2 weeks post surgery, stating it would help build up the lining of my uterus. Now I am waiting for my menstrual cycle to begin. Dr. Brenner stated I could take medicine for it to come, I declined the medication, I rather it happen on own. Genetic testing is in process.

Our medical insurance does not cover IVF treatment, it will only cover treatment prior to treatment and post treatment if pregnancy occurs.

Due to my age, they ( the facility, doctors) only allow up to 2 embryos to be transferred at a single time.

Dr. Brenner is quite dry and gets right to the point, which is not something I mind. While I have only seen him in person 3 times (consultation before starting treatment, once during treatment, and one for an HSG) he has been available via telephone and has personally returned all phone calls I have placed to him. My wife and I did not feel rushed during our appointments with him and we felt that he took time to answer our questions clearly.

Ask the questions you want answered!

So far I have done 4 IUI cycles. The 1st cycle was a natural cycle and the subsequent cycles were with 5mg clomid and Ovidrel to trigger ovulation. I have gone for bloodwork and sonograms to monitor hormone levels and the growth of follicles. Following my 3rd failed IUI Dr. Brenner conducted an HSG to make sure my tubes were open. I was then diagnosed with an arcuate uterus which he explained should not affect my ability to get pregnant. I am currently in the TWW of my 4th IUI cycle, following this cycle Dr. Brenner has suggested moving on to IVF.

Co-pays for various testing, and $100 thawing fee for each IUI cycle.

Dr. Brenner was very informative. His approach is very direct and blunt and could easily be a turn off to people. After our first failed cycle they were very quick to schedule the next one but we wanted to look more closely at all of our labs. They were open to doing so once we asked. Whether or not that made the difference but their second cycle will never now but if we had not asked they probably would not have looked into some of the things we brought up.

Be prepared for a very direct approach.

I cannot remember exactly but we did have to use Lupron, progesterone, and estrogen. The estrogen had to be modified throughout the cycle and they upped it a lot. We ended up having to take three pills a day as well as an injection every other day. Progesterone also went past 12 weeks under their supervision. Because of my irregular hormone levels we were monitored very heavily throughout the first 12 weeks by both of them and my regular OB/GYN.

My insurance covered a lot and anything that we owed them was discussed and planned out for payments

Dr Brenner was the second Doctor we saw at LIIVF. The first doctor took a personal phone call during our consultation and we walked out. During my initial consult and exam with Dr Brenner, I specifically asked what the side effects of the medications were that he was prescribing. I was told "similar to a period" and that was it. After the first IUI failed, an ultrasound revealed several cysts which I had never had before. The nurse told me that cysts were a common side effect of the medication. Dr Brenner never mentioned anything about cysts. He also had me coming in daily for blood work and ultrasounds - something that was deemed superfluous by another doctor. I felt that Dr Brenner's number one priority was to see as many patients as possible without much concern for outcomes.

Find someone else.

Dr Brenner is very kind and upfront. He has a warm effect when you speak with him and is very diligent to explain all procedures and processes. He is honest and let’s yiu know what your facing as does his best to help you understand IVF and how it will work. Every procedure he did with me he was gentle kind and always concerned with my well being. Excellent bedside manner and you really feel he wants to help you achieve the ultimate goal of being a mother

Freeze your eggs as early as possible!

I do not remember

We found Dr. Brenner responsive and easy to talk with.

We had co-payments, but costs were generally manageable. This may be because we only had IUIs and not IVF.

Dr Brenner doesn't have great bedside manner. He can appear cold or awkward. He was very blunt when he told me I was having a miscarriage during what Inthought was a routine sonogram. However, he called me numerous times to check on me over the next few days. He never rushed me out of his office. Blunt but caring.

Be prepared for bluntness

Dr Brenner immediately acquiesced to my request for fertility drugs (Clomid) even without any failed attempts at IUI. He had a plan for further tests and treatments if IUI failed 3 times. He was open to more aggressive treatment when I inquired about it but did not encourage it.

The only cost I had to pay was for donor sperm. Everything else was covered by insurance and Dr Brenner staff took care of all the paperwork

I only saw Dr Brenner three times. Once for the consultation, once for a hysterosalpingogram and once for bleeding after the HSG. The 2 insemination were done by other doctors I had never met before. When I got the negative result, I was called by the nurse and never heard from Dr. Brenner again.

Don't expect more then medical care. I wanted more attention. To me this process should be so much more personalized then it is.

I don't remember perfectly, but I was on Clomid and had minimal follicles.

We paid out of pocket for the IUI, cost was $2,000 plus medications

Dr. Brenner was great. He performed testing such as water sonograms, tube blockage and did the egg retrieval and transferred embryo. But staff did monitoring and nurse practitioner did the IUIs. Dr. Brenner also discussed the next step after IUIs failed and discussed didn’t treatment choices and let us decide.