Steven Nakajima

Dr. Nakajima's strengths: very knowledgeable, supportive, responsive to questions, encouraging, honest, Dr. Nakajima's weaknesses: always in a hurry and gets straight to the point (which is both good and bad) but it can feel like you are being pushed at times.

Come to your appointment with your questions prepared.

The Stanford experience has been overall positive. The negatives are related to the volume of patients they see: they give you a pager to take around the clinic so they know where you are. I've had to wait for a long time and appointments with the doctor have felt rushed. And when we had to fill out our consent forms, Dr. Nakajima really rushed us through that and told us what to agree to without much explanation. On the other hand, they have been responsive to my questions. The doctors have been attentive. The nursing staff is amazing and I have been treated with respect.

I was diagnosed with low ovarian reserve based on a low OAR and AMH. I am 37years old. The clinic and Dr. Nakajima were able to see me within a reasonable timeframe and explained the need for IVF based on these results. We did 2 egg retrieval rounds and fertilized with my partner's sperm immediately after the retrievals. In the first round I was given Follistim, Menopur and Lupron Microdose. With that round I produced 8 eggs, and we ended up with 2 euploid chromasomally normal embryos. In the second round we did the same protocol, but added on HGH (because studies showed this could help improve egg quality). From that round we ended up with 13 eggs and 4 euploid chromasomally normal embryos. We are currently debating whether or not to do a third round.

They are very patient and compassionate. I sometimes trust their opinion more than the doctor's because they are down to earth and very friendly!

Clinic strengths: the staff are very nice and work really hard to meet your needs. Being at a prestigious research facility is also comforting. You know the physicians are high quality because of the Stanford reputation Clinic weaknesses: it's a huge patient population and it can be hard to get a hold of someone if you have an emergency or a question

I have incredible insurance through my work that covered the majority of my IVF costs (sooooo lucky!), so I don't have much info to add here

When we do a transfer we will only be transferring a single embryo

I started the treatment very hopeful as this doctor looks great on paper and Stanford has a great reputation. However, Dr. Nakajima would constantly forget about my condition and I would have to remind him of it. He also never expalined the results of the treatment or had the initiative to design an alternate protocol for me. He never explained how could I improve my success rates and failed to explain the course of the treatment. For example, at the end on my first retrieval, I though I was going to have an embryo transfer in my next cycle. When I called the clinic they told me that the clinic would be closed for the Holidays. I had canceled all my travel plans at that point, thinking I had to stay at home during the holidays for the transfer. Nobody at the clinic was able to explain to me the reason to which I wasn't going to do the transfer. I had to argue on the phone and demand for a phone consultation with the doctor. He then called and said I couldn't do the transfer because my body had to recover for a longer time?! He then also said that the outcome was poor and I shoudl try and bank more embryos before doing the transfer. Well, that would have been a good information to tell me in the beggining of the treatment. Also because I could decide to do the treatment with a clinic that does bundle packages. Now I am on my second cycle and I haven't seen him once. I have emailed him about 10 times and he never responded to my messages. In a nutshell, I am treated like some woman who is doing IVF in the clinic that he works. He knows nothing about me, how I feel about the treatment and where I stand right now. By far the worst doctor I have ever had.

Find another doctor, because this one will not treat you with the dignity and respect that you deserve.

Dr. Nakajima never listen to me. He never gave me an explanation for why we need IVF or any other treatment. He never addressed any of my concerns and would only answer my questions after I have asked sternly.

IVF cycle 1 - 225IU Follistin, 150 Menopour. Follistin increased to 300IU at day 5 of stimulation, trigger with ovidrel and lupron. I have severe reaction after the retrieval. Retrieve 18 eggs, 10 mature and fertilized, 4 made it to blastocyst IVF cycle 2 - 300Follistin, 150 menopour, trigger with novarel and fsh 400IU. Retrival is in two days.

Nursing staff is very incompetent. Mixed instructions, delay in returning emails/calls, long wait times at the clinic. It is extremely hard to communicate with them.

This clinic has no strengths for woman like me who are looking for an outstanding medical practice that will produce success. The clinic is always packed and you can wait between 5 to 45min for your appointment. The front desk can't even give you a receipt. For example, I paid my cycle in November and was told at the day that the printer wasn't working so they couldn't print a receipt. I called many times and asked different people about the receipt, today, 3 months later they were able to give me the receipt! Another example, las Tuesday I had an appointment at 11:45am. I arrived on time and waited for 45 min. I had to return to work. They called me and asked me to return at 4pm. So I did. AS I checked in the receptionist wanted to charge me for the copay again?!

Line around the corner every time.

12000 per IVF Cyle

His words "you are petite, so it is safe to transfer 1 embryo". Sounds like he had to go through a lot of work to decide that. By the way, I am petite by American standards. In my country, I am "regular".

The light at the end of the tunnel -------------------------------------------------- After trying to conceive naturally and via IVF and after facing many hurdles, we finally turned to Dr Nakajima when we thought all was lost. He was very patient with us and gave us detailed options. He never pushed us into making quick decisions unlike a few other fertility specialists we had tried. He allowed us to take our time in thinking over the various choices calmly without any deadlines. We spent months pondering our choices and improving our health. When we finally decided to try IUI with him, it worked the very first time and we are expecting a child now. Dr Nakajima is serene and his calmness was very comforting when we were going through many emotional roller coasters. He listens carefully and compassionately and offers constructive suggestions. The facilities used by Dr.Nakajima's team are top notch and better than anything else we had seen (and we had seen quite a few before). Most importantly the entire atmosphere there was positive and encouraging.

Trust him

We used IUI after trying clomid for a while

Along with Nakajima we are grateful to his entire team. The IUI process was very organized and we were given all the information, costs and process details up-front. Everyone in the team starting from the receptionists, nurses and many doctors in his team with whom we interacted were thoroughly professional, understanding and considerate. They took care to make the entire sensitive process as stress-free and dignified as possible. We are especially grateful to the many nurses in the team who responded to our various concerns and worries in the early days of the pregnancy as well as during the IUI process itself.

Clean, modern and comfortable. Most importantly the people are compassionate and caring. They give 24 hour support and answer all calls during critical times. Waiting times are usually around 10 minutes.

less than $500 for entire IUI out of pocket

I appreciated Dr N's frankness and honesty. I always felt like I could ask any question even when I knew it must sound silly to him. He was our teammate thru the entire process for both of our children. I was initially concerned that there could be a communication issue, but he's a born and raised American and my worry was unrealized. I'm a huge fan and am grateful for all of his help.

He's the head of the clinic (or was when I was a patient) so he's busy and it took a while for my first appointment. It was worth the wait. It's also a teaching facility so you speak with the fellow then Dr N and that can seem repetitive and annoying initially. You will see/speak with the other RE's in the clinic based on their schedules but Dr N always knew what was happening with me.

Dr Nakajima was always patient and kind. He was the head physician over RE students so I had to answer most things multiple times which was annoying at first but was a good learning tool for all of us.

I have PCOS and top line insurance at the time so we skipped multiple IUI procedures since IVF was covered by my insurance. I don't remember specifics now. We were unsuccessful with 6 cycles of Femara and the single IUI round. However, the first IVF round we transferred 2 grade AB embryos. One stuck and I had our oldest son. We froze 3 embryos. Upon thawing, 1 embryo did not make it. The other 2 were transferred. Both stuck, and I miscarried 1 at 10 weeks. The 2nd was fine and I had our younger son. We were given the option to present an argument to transfer 3 embryos the first time, but we're comfortable with 2.

Angie was amazing. In fact, we still keep in touch today. She cried with me at negatives and cried with me at the positive tests.

The clinic moved facilities when I was a patient. In fact, I was the first IVF at the new facility. It's nice and provided much more space. As this is a university clinic, there's another side that deals with ob patients. It was very hard for me to see kids (12-15 yrs old) and pregnant in the same office. Most of the time the RE patients aren't on that side, but it does happen occasionally.

They offered IVF financing but I was very lucky and it was covered by my insurance. My fresh cycle procedures (egg retrieval and transfer) was $15,800. Frozen embryo storage fees were $250 a year. My frozen cycle procedure fees were $11,900. I think the IUI was $125.

Strengths: Very scientific, which I appreciated. Very experienced. Did NOT sugar coat anything, which I also appreciated. Explained everything thoroughly, went through my charts and even made observations on my treatment from previous doctor. Weaknesses: At the time, he was new, and seemed to be getting settled, did not remember I did not get a period second time we met... Made a negative comment about my previous treatment during our first meeting (they apparently mis-timed my cycle)

He will tell you the way it is. He will not comfort you if that is OK with you. He is positive in general, but will not give false hope. Ask questions, he will spend as much time answering as needed.

I did not respond to the meds (gonatropin + menapur) so my cycle was extended and more meds were given for a longer period of time. Dr. Hakajima did not want to increase meds too much.

Returns calls/text promptly, even on weekends. Very organized in coordinating my surrogate's trip out west.

They were in the process of renovating... may be better in the future

Fantastic bedside manner. Very warm and friendly to both me and my husband. Genuinely excited for our success. Never rushed through any appointment. Always available.

Hire him!

he always took his time to explain all steps in the process. he was inclusive of my husband as well. he had a warm bedside manner and was empathetic.

I already had three frozen embryos so he only had me do a saline water test to make sure no damage in the uterus from a past birth, blood work to make sure no new issues had surfaced such as thyroid, the implant, the follow-up visits.