Advanced Fertility Associates

Dr Ratcliffe strengths are that she is very knowledgeable in IVF and current advancements in IVF procedures. Her weakness would be that she is not very personable. Her interaction might come off as cold, rude or uncaring. I asked her a question and she directed me to the IVF coordinator and said that’s her department. I would like to think that the head Doctor could answer all questions involved.

Be prepared for her non-personable demeanor. Her staff, tends to make up for it and are very nice. Being a smaller clinic, I had less concern of a possible mixup with someone else’s embryos.

We went straight to injectables and IVF. I had 3 failed IUI with kaiser and based on my age, I wanted to go straight to IVF. Dr Ratcliffe agreed. I don’t remember specific names of the shots, but we started with small needles in the tummy while on birth control then went to the big needles in the butt cheeks. After transfer, had vaginal progesterone.

$11,500 for IVF $4500 for IVF Medication $800 for more meds after positive pregnancy.

Of the 4 embryos, only 1 looked like it was solid. The other three looked like they were falling apart. Doctor decide to transfer all 4 assuming the 3 wouldn’t amount to anything, but, just in case. She was correct and we had a singleton pregnancy.

I have put off writing a negative review because I did have success with Dr. Ratcliffe in my first IVF cycle in 2015. She presented as brash and rude but I had been warned about her bedside manner. She was confident in her ability to get us pregnant so we minimized her negative behaviors. During that cycle and subsequent cycles she dismissed my questions and concerns, she literally told me a question I asked was "stupid." She told me my eggs "sucked" and there was nothing we could do to improve egg quality. When I asked her about evidence based suppliments that other clinics were using such as CoQ 10 and DHEA she laughed them off. She did not explain to me that she only does day 3 transfers. When I asked about our embryo grading she told me she doesn't believe in this practice, an embryo is either "good or it isn't." She never gave me a diagnosis. After failed cycles when I asked if we could do things differently she said there was nothing different that could be done. We did not know how many embryos made it to transfer day until the day of transfer while medicated on Valium. We were asked to make decisions about the number of embryos to transfer at that time. While medicated. With her I transferred three, three and four embryos respectively. I had no idea at the time that this was against industry guidelines. Dr. Ratcliffe never called me with results, positive or negative. During each of my embryo transfers and all of my ultrasound appointments she spoke about her personal life, mostly about her cats, sometimes negatively about her daughter and husband. Her mother covers the front desk of the clinic at times, I have watched her yell at her mother and call her stupid. I have witnessed her yell at office staff. She discusses confidential patient/treatment information in the hallway with patients that can be clearly heard in the waiting room. Despite all of these negatives we kept returning to her practice because we had success with her the first time. It wasn't until I began educating myself and working with a fertility coach that I realized it doesn't have to be this way. When I switched clinics I felt a huge amount of relief.

Educate yourself about industry standards and best practices and have your questions ready at the time of consultation. Don't be afraid to challenge her and don't accept her opinion as gospel.

Each cycle was an antagonist protocol. She insisted on using birth control to suppress despite my DOR (A diagnosis she never informed me of, I only learned later when I requested and reviewed my records). No information was provided about treatment strategy or reason for the protocol.

Retrieval and transfer was approximately $14,000 without medications

Dr. Ratcliffe believes strongly in multiple embryo transfer. The only risk of multiple transfer that was explained to me was the possibility of multiple children. This was done while medicated on Valium.

She's a true scientist and very confident in her conclusions about the best course of treatment for her patients. I trusted that she had done thorough research (at least I hoped she had, and saw no reason to think otherwise), but she was completely closed off to discussing alternate treatment options, and also never mentioned risks or side effects of her treatment suggestions. Her demeanor seemed completely inappropriate for patients who are concerned about their fertility and the health of their future children. She joked about accidental twins, made a game of guessing how fertile I was, and often failed to acknowledge my presence until after she had the ultrasound wand inside me. It was bizarre. HOWEVER, she was efficient, reasonably priced, and by far the closest & most convenient clinic for us. If I needed fertility services here in the future, I would probably go back to her, knowing that my patient experience would be impersonal and strange, but that I would get the quickest, cheapest, most efficient services with her.

What helped me most during the time as her patient was to have another fertility advisor/guide with whom I could discuss all my concerns about treatments, thoughts about holistic alternatives, my timeline, etc. I saw Stephanie Albert at Flourish Integrative Health for acupuncture and holistic health advice for fertility. She was a HUGE help. I came to think of her as my fertility doctor and Advanced Fertility Associates as the lab I went to for the procedures after Stephanie and I had decided the best course for me. I would strongly recommend finding a fertility advisor apart from Dr. Ratcliffe if you're wanting to work with her and wanting in depth advice and a variety of options.

One IUI cycle with Clomid I took Clomid from Day 3-Day 8 of my cycle, then used OPKs to identify the ovulation day, then had the IUI on day 14. I ovulated 2 eggs. Result - pregnant with one. I'm 12 weeks now :) At one point I asked Dr. Ratcliffe about using Letrozole instead of Clomid and she dismissed my concerns immediately. I wasn't really convinced but I declined to argue the point, and took Clomid.

Initial meeting - $245 I think, paid when you book the appointment, not on arrival SSG - $400 I think? IUI with Clomid - Clomid - ~$50 1st Ultrasound - $260 Sperm wash - $145 IUI - $245 Pregnancy blood test - $40 7 week ultrasound - $260

Dr. Ratcliffe seems to care a lot about her success numbers. In my opinion she does not take chances on having a negative outcome. She did not take a through medical history. I tried to show her a chart of my cycles since they are irregular and she pushed my hand away and said she did not care about that. She refused to do any treatments until my BMI was under 30. It is currently 36. She also stated that she thinks I might carry the "fragile X" gene and if we had a son he would be "Violently Retarted". I was appalled by her word choice. She reluctantly still did my trans-vaginal ultrasound and was very rough and it was painful. I grimaced with pain and said ouch and she didn't notice. My husband was very concerned. I have had past ultrasounds and felt pressure but never pain.

Drive a little further and go anywhere else especially is your BMI is over 30. There are plenty of clinics that will gladly treat you.

She refused any treatment except a diet. She said "I needed to be loosing 10+ pounds a month and shouldn't exercise because it doesn't help weight loss. I need to just change my diet.". She never asked about my diet beforehand.

My consult, which included an ultrasound cost $240 and a semen analysis for my husband cost $150. We cancelled the semen analysis since we won't be receiving care, but it is nonrefundable.

We never got that far.

It has taken me almost a year to write this review. As soon as I got to the car after the visit with her I burst into tears. I had gone to her to see about freezing my eggs. During the ultrasound she said I "didn't have that many eggs." My AFC was 14 on the right and 7 on the left, which I later found out is quite normal for 33.5 years of age. I can deal with bluntness and lack of a warm bedside manner but what happened after the ultrasound was inexcusable. In stead of taking me into her office to have a conversation (which I was paying out of pocket for), she simply stood in the hallway and proceeded to tell me that I needed to schedule the egg freezing soon because I didn't have that many eggs. She said this as another patient was walking by us in the hallway and another patient was at the receptionist's desk in the waiting room. I made eye contact with both patients and they looked away, like they knew they were overhearing things they should not be hearing. I was totally in shock that she would violate my privacy in such a manner. I managed to ask a couple questions, the first asking her to write down what my follicle count was and then I asked her what next steps were and she brushed my off, telling me to contact the patient coordinator. I went and got my bloodwork done downstairs because it had already been ordered but I knew the moment I walked out the door I would never be returning. I am not an overly sensitive person by any means but to tell a woman she has a low egg count is distressing enough but then to do so in front of other patients and not give. private consultation or answer questions is absolutely appalling. I. sincerely debated for weeks about filing a HIPAA violation complaint with HHS. To make matters worse, it took nearly a month to get my blood test results. When I called to inquire, I was told the nurse or patient coordinator was on vacation but when the results came in I would receive a call from the doctor. I called back again a couple weeks later and was again told I would get a call from the doctor. About a week after that I got call from a patient coordinator who said by blood test results "looked good." I never heard from Dr. Ratcliffe. A few weeks later, I received a letter in the mail describing my initial appointment that apparently had been sent to my primary care provider and copied to me without my knowledge or consent! Another HIPAA violation - and to boot, the information in the report was not accurate. After this experience I checked the reviews online, and saw another patient mention the same thing re holding consults within earshot of other patients. Sadly, this appears to be Dr. Ratcliffe's MO. This was such a horrible experience it took me 6 months to get over it and move on to another doctor. Based on her complete lack of disregard for patient privacy I cannot recommend Dr. Ratcliffe to anyone.

Stay away. There are plenty of other physicians in the Bay Area who will respect your privacy and give you the dignity of a private consultation and answer questions.

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$240 for initial consult and ultrasound. I was quoted $7,340 for egg freezing including 5 years of storage (not including approx. $5K for medication).

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Dr. Ratcliffe is clearly competent, but I didn't love her bedside manner. She often seemed rushed. I wish we would have gotten clearer explanations about her decision making process. Also,during an examination when she was counting my eggs, she made me feel like it was my fault when the number of eggs was less than we'd hoped for.

It's an emotional roller-coaster. Dr. Ratcliffe is smart, but she's also not going to fully explain her decision-making process. If you have any questions, write them all down ahead of time so you can ask them all during your appointment, and be prepared to feel dismissed.

It was a few months ago now, so I don't really remember everything. Started with birth control pills to regulate my cycle. Then a couple weeks of daily hormone injections to grow my eggs, a booster shot closer to the day of egg retrieval, egg retrieval, 3-day embryo transfer, suppositories and (I think) more shots after transfer, blood tests for pregnancy testing. I don't remember the actual drugs or doses.

It was relatively affordable compared to other clinics. It was approximately $12,000 for the IVF cycle plus approximately $5,000 for all the drugs/hormones.

Because of my age (40), Dr. Ratcliffe chose to transfer all embryos (3 the first time, 4 the second time).

I think Dr. Ratcliffe is a great doctor and is one of the few who keeps up on the current fertility medical research, which is more than a lot of doctors can say. I care more about getting pregnant than having someone listen to my infertility sadness. She did listen carefully when I was talking about medical problems and history. She did really study my charts and tests before and after my appointments and knew my health well. She is thorough, has a high success rate, and keeps costs very low compared to several other clinics we've seen. Her goal is to get you pregnant and she considers that a challenge. I like the fast appointments with the doctor and very little waiting room time. She thinks about all of her clients/patients in a medical sense and analyzes what they need to become pregnant but does not spend a whole lot of time with you. I appreciate that Dr. Ratcliffe found uterine scar tissue during my saline sonogram from past miscarriages and removed it without additional cost. This scar tissue was not seen by other doctors and was not removed after a D&C and ultrasound from another clinic. She spent a good deal of time after the saline sono explaining how this scar tissue could impede pregnancy. She even drew me a picture of it, even though I could see it on the big screen during treatment. Ultimately I think she can get me pregnant and we will keep trying. We used embryos that were slow freeze and only day 3. She said if I want to increase my chances of pregnancy, then we need to use embryos preserved with vitrification and that are 5 day old or use fresh eggs and sperm. She said, "Our clients come to us for a short period of time and then achieve the results they want and we don't usually see them again" (unless they want another). I think this is a great mantra when so many other fertility doctors just want your money and are happy to have you come back many times. The other doctors might empathize more with your infertility emotions, but I doubt they study your condition with all your medical testing and consider how to have success in a short time with a low cost. I read the reviews of how she was blunt and had poor bedside manner. We didn't see this behavior and my husband also thought she was great in spite of past bad reviews. My husband's only wish was that she would have explained how low our chances of pregnancy are with day 3 cleavage embryos from a slow freeze. I still don't think we would have done anything differently.

Ultimately she will go with what you want. However, I would listen to what she suggests because it would have been better for us to go that direction. She has a PhD in addition to her MD and has done all of this before and researched it and seen it done before. I think she will get you pregnant faster than doing it your own way.

I had a saline sonogram with her where she removed a lot of scar tissue. I had a mammogram, pap smear, and blood tests for infectious diseases elsewhere. Her protocol then started out with 1.5/30 birth control, 81mg Aspirin, prescription B vitamins, prenatal vitamin, then Lupron, then estradiol injections, then progesterone injections, then Medrol, and Prometrium. There were 2 ultrasounds a couple weeks and one week before FET to check for the activity of the ovaries.

We had an initial phone consult $240. We purchased embryos for $800. I had a saline sonogram $350. The medications from MDR $1,250. Then the embryo transfer cost of $4,250. The total was like $6,890 plus travel expenses. I had to visit the office three times and we live many hours away so needed a hotel room.

My doctor is correct in that more embryos should be transferred depending on their quality, how old the embryos are, and the means in which they were cryopreserved. I wish she would have explained her reasoning a little more in the beginning rather than so easily let us have our way. Single or double embryo transfer is NOT helpful when you are dealing with day 3 cleavage embryos. My embryos were graded good (7 cells, 0% frag) and fair (6 cells, 10% frag) and I still did not get pregnant.

At our first consult she layed out all the facts and bluntly advised us of our treatment plan and potential need for IVF later on. We waited a year before coming back so we met for a mini-consult to see if treatment plan needed to be changed. It did, so we adjusted and started right away.. We are now waiting the results of our 3rd cycle and have another plan to adjust trestment if this one doesnt work. At first, I felt Dr.Ratcliffe was cold and shut-off to her patients. Until recently when I had many questions and since her visits are fast I knew I wouldnt have a chance to ask them all. The clinic had given me a flyer with my new patient folder to email with any questions, so I did. Dr. Ratcliffe responded within 1 day, she had answered my questions and clarified my concerns and reitterated the next steps in our plan. Although she lacks the bedside manor and empathy I would like my RE to have, she does answer questions when asked (via email) and gives me the most important/sensitive information directly.

Every patient experience is different and what I may need for my care, another person will have their own wants and needs. I had read bad reviews mainly about her manors before seeing her as a patient. She is intense and that can be offputting and scary when dealing with such a volnerable situation. Especially since I'm so young. But I really do appreciate the directness and her willing to answer my questions.

Our first consult included an extensive ultrasound where Dr.Ratcliffe concluded the likely cause of my infertility. She requested diagnostic lab work and S/A .Once confirmed that our cause was not Male factor infertility, she then performed a sonosalpingogram to see if the tubes were damaged with scar tissue from having surgery as an infant and/or an appendectomy in my teens. After the test showed they were ok, she then narrowed the issue to my potential poor egg quality and low follicle counts. Started on me 100mg clomid D3-7 to increase the chances I could release a "good" egg and recommended we start with IUI. Dr.Ratcliffe checked the results the clomid had on my follicle count by ultrasound on CD10-12 that showed I had 2 large follicles 23mm/18mm. She ordered for me to have a "trigger shot" of HCG to ensure timing of ovulation. The Medical assistants instructed me on how and when to administer the injection.We scheduled the IUI 36 hours after the Hcg shot. We showed up and gave the specimen to the nurse who then performed a sperm wash of the sample. When ready, we went to the exam room where Dr.Ratcliffe performed the IUI. I was given a blood test order to check for pregnancy 2 weeks later. RESULTS: 1s Cycle(no Hcg shot): failed 2nd Cycle:failed 3rd Cycle: a waiting results. If this one fails we plan to stop clomid and start Constrolled Ovarian Hyperstimulation Injection medication with 1 last IUI...and last resort is IVF.

Consult: $260 Diagnostic labs: $1200 Seven analysis: $30 Medication-hcg shot-ultrasound-sperm wash-IUI: $800ea.

Dr Ratcliffe was very thorough in her explanation of the embryo attaching to the uterus. In the interview process prior to selecting me for a surrogate She was very clear about the possible emotions I might go through and my rights as a surrogate. I thought that was very nice of her to do that. She communicated what she was doing during the embryo transfer. She was funny but may seem brisk.

If you are a very emotional person and need any emotional connection to the doctor, I don't recommend Dr Ratcliffe!

folic acid, vitamin d, estradiol, lupron, progesterone, a muscle relaxer the day off transfer, baby Tylenol.

It was paid by the intended parents

It felt like Dr Ratcliffe left the choice up to the intended parents and I.

Jennifer Ratcliffe is a very good doctor. She is smart and knows what she is doing and is good at it. But, she's not the nicest and does not have good bedside manner. I left appointments with her many times in tears. I was seeing another Fertility doctor but moved away so needed to see her. She talked bad about everything my prior doctor had done for me. She is very cocky and is rude to her staff. Many times I felt uncomfortable being in the room and hearing how she treated her staff. I would go to her again because she did get me pregnant but I just have to try and ignore her personality and not let her get to me.

Don't expect her to be sympathetic at all to you and what you are going through. She is a good doctor and knows what she is doing.

I have PCOS and I usually produce way too many eggs and they aren't very good quality. She decided to lower my dose of meds to try and not make so many follicles. She wanted less so that hopefully the quality of the eggs would be better. I do think it was a good decision and I did produce the best quality eggs that I had ever done before.

I think we ended up spending around 10,000 including all the meds for a full cycle. For the frozen cycle it was around 5,000.

I don't have a comment on this subject.

We are very happy with our experience with Dr.Ratcliffe - she is a knowledgeable Reproductive Specialist who got us pregnant on our first iui. Before her, we had eight IVFs with clomid or natural cycle with doctors in Europe and in SoCal and 3 miscarriages. She changed our treatment, as the clomid seems to work against you at a certain age (another doctor also confirmed it). She changed our protocol, and we were successful - I’m now 14 weeks along. She is extremely precise, although you will find out that it’s a small office and very busy. We are so grateful we found Dr Ratcliffe.

She is very honest and direct.

Lupron down regulation with gonadotropins

$400 per visit, approximately $2000 for IUi plus $1200 in meds

Dr. Ratcliffe is a scientist. She was the first person who told my husband that it wasn't his fault we weren't getting pregnant. She is quirky. She tells you like it is. She was always prompt, on time. She explained everything in a manner-of-fact way. She is very particular in her ways. Everything is very organized.

Take her with a grain of salt. She has a reputation of not having a great bedside manner but she is a scientist who gets people pregnant.

NA - I can't remember the specifics. It was too long ago.

IUI was around $500, IVF was $12,000 (meds not included)

Dr. Ratcliffe would only transfer 2 embryos maximum.

Dr. Ratcliffe was not able to get us pregnant, but we were an usual case. I have no doubt that she did all that was in her power to educate herself on our situation and advise accordingly. She was clear, informative, and always left the decision making up to us. She probably could have sold us on all kinds of treatments to try and improve our situation, but did not. In the end we were not successful with pregnancy, but also had a pretty minimal financial investment.

She's not warm and fuzzy and talks fast, so be sure to listen, not take it personally, and ask her to repeat things if necessary.

A round of IVF goes for about $12K, Meds another $3.5K

During our initial consult, I was giving her my medical history and mentioned three very early miscarriages. She waved her hand and said, "Oh, those don't count." If she doesn't believe they're important to my fertility struggles, I trust her, but I was just trying to give her the complete picture and her careless attitude really turned me off. She never encouraged and was always annoyed by me educating myself outside of her office. I became scared of even sending her emails asking questions because she would tell me to "stop reading out-of-date articles on the Internet." I was always asking about things that other current fertility patients I was in touch with were going through, so my information wasn't out of date. These questions could have been handled with more tact and care to say the least.

Don't expect a warm bedside manner.

Definitely on the expensive side compared with patients at other clinics I spoke with.

Very blunt. Funny. Prefers easier cases that won't hurt her numbers. Good communicator if she thinks you are worth her time.

Don't take the bluntness personally and if you don't get pregnant quickly, find a bigger clinic.

When your struggling with infertility your extremely sensitive and once your in cycle times that by 10! This woman never showed empathy or good bed side manner. Very short with us. Seemed annoyed when questions were asked. I always felt uncomfortable but we felt stuck since she was the only local fertility doctor. My husband and I couldn't afford a commute. She made our experience so much worse then it needed to me. Certain interactions I remember with her still make my stomach churn.

Please don't give this Doctor your money. She treats her patients so badly. There are other choices in S.F.

She is very straight forward, doesn't sugar coat. She also pressured us to try treatments we had no interest in, at which point she seemed to lose interest in helping us. She offered to help vet egg donor candidates, but when it came time, she blew us off.

She is good if you have simple issues, otherwise, go elsewhere.

Dr. Ratcliffe was very confident in her version of the contributing factors of my infertility (e.g. advanced maternal age and low BMI) but she did not listen to me and she recommended IUI and IVF before considering my history of early losses and a possible endometriosis diagnosis, which was later confirmed by another fertility doctor. Also, she does not believe that egg quality can be improved. A positive was that she was personally available by phone and email and she was present at every appointment.

If you do not have immunological or other complicating factors (e.g. male factor only) I imagine you may have greater success with Dr. Ratcliffe but I would not recommend her for a more complex infertility situation like mine. Advocate for yourself (eg. I wish I had known to ask her to perform a repeat pregnancy loss panel and to test for endometriosis).

I did a medicated IUI cycle with Dr. Ratcliffe, using follistim and menopur as stim meds. I then did the Pregnyl trigger shot and took PIO shots and inserted progesterone capsules after the inseminantion.

I can’t quite remember but it was about $4000, including meds, out of pocket.

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We knew my diagnosis going into the appointment for the most part. Hoping we may possibly still be able to use my eggs was what we did not know. She very kindly explained to us the situation we were facing. She was genuinely understanding and sympathetic towards us. She explained detailed information so we understood. We never felt rushed or hurried, we felt like she acted like we were her only patients with all the tine to answer any questions we had. That was so important.

Go in with your questions written out and lots of blank space to write more information down. She will cover everything!

We have not yet gotten to that point yet

i do not have that information at the moment

She stated she would only transfer two embryos and she follows all guidelines. She stated she receives reports on them and adheres to them strictly

She is honest and thorough. She has watched over my care and changed direction when needed. She called me day or night and answered all my questions. She is also so understanding and compassionate. Her whole staff are amazing!

She is blunt, but its a good thing in our situation.

She saw I was misdiagnosed and changed treatment from what my last doctor did. For the IUI she did fsh injections which gave me more mature follicles than I ever have before.

Ivf $17,500 Iui$3,000 Initial visit $260