Fertility Institute of Virginia (closed)

Dr. Steingold couldn't of been a better fit for us as a physician. He is thorough in his explanation of procedures but also let my wife address all of her questions in a very respectful manner. Our previous clinic was not at all accommodating in that sense. He listens to her inquiries and provides good information as to his plans throughout the cycle. Most of all, he was there for us throughout the whole process after hours. Many questions came up throughout our multiple cycles and he was always responded to us no matter the time of day (even times when he was attending conferences).

If you need a compassionate Doctor that will listen to your concerns then I highly recommend Dr. Steingold.

Antagonist protocol. My wife, I'm sure, has explained this in detail.

We entered into a shared risk program at the clinic. I do not know the specifics of the total costs.

Dr Edelstein is really great. He really seems to know what he's doing and makes sure you understand too. I really enjoy seeing him, and always feel like he has my best interest at heart. I really appreciated that he only gave me all of the info on IVF after I asked for it. It made it feel like he wasn't just after my money.

If you are concerned about any of the fertility meds (like clomid for example) let him know he will gladly give you another medicine.

For my just medicated cycle I took clomid days 3-7 and used opks to time intercourse. For my IUI's I took clomid days 3-7, then had an ultrasound on day 12. They then gave me the trigger shot to take home. I always did the trigger on days 12-14 and we did the IUI 36 hours after my trigger. My husband went in the morning of my IUI to leave his sample.

All office visits are $50. My IUI's including clomid, trigger shot, sperm wash and the IUI cost around $600. If we move on to IVF we will be doing their shared risk program which starts at $20,000 for 6 rounds of IVF. Plus the cost of medications and any testing done.

Dr. Steingold is a good doctor. He is obviously very smart but I found that out communication styles have not meshed that well. I have anxiety and like to know every detail, while he gives much broader statements than I am looking for. I often feel like I have to prod for details. However, you can tell he is very passionate about what he does and he does show compassion for his patients.

At our consultation he ordered bloodwork for me and a Semen Analysis for my husband. Bloodwork was fine, SA came back borderline. We proceeded to start Clomid as I had a short Luteal Phase and he thought this may help. After 2 rounds of this not helping my Luteal Phase he also wanted to recheck my husbands sperm. The results came back much lower and he said IUI was definitely the course of action and we could have a 10-15% chance each time, and he also referred us to a fertility urologist for my husband. He also prescribed an Ovidrel (hcg) shot for me. The day of my IUI my husband gave his sample and the numbers were even lower than the last test. The Ovidrel shot was successful in extending my luteal phase but ultimately the IUI was unsuccessful. We are now waiting to see if we find anything out at the urologist before proceeding with any further treatment.

Clomid is cheap with our insurance, $4 a cycle. The IUI was $500 out of pocket ($300 for the actual IUI and $200 for the sperm wash).

I have had nothing but positive experiences with Dr. Steingold. He was involved in every visit, phone call, and email that I had. He's very patient and listens to concerns. I appreciated the help and reassurance he often gave me when I was struggling in whatever way during the IVF process.

I would recommend that a prospective patient be upfront and honest, just as I have with every step of the way. I felt like I was always heard when I expressed any of my concerns.

I was put on birth control prior to my stimulation cycle began. I got off of the birth control and a few days later I started my stimulation cycle. My cycle included Gonal-F and Menopur injections every night. I added in Cetrocide (sp?) about five days in, in the morning to make sure I did not ovulate. A couple of days before my egg retrieval, I did my trigger shot, which was Pregnyl. This protocol produced 13 eggs on the date of my egg retrieval. 11 were fertilized with ICSI and 7 made it to 5 day embryos.

My monitoring appointments always felt like a well-oiled machine. They were always handled by my doctor and we would always go sit and talk in his office afterward for 5-15 minutes. I never felt rushed.

My husband and I did the shared-risk program (6 tries or a lot of our money back), which cost us about $26,000. This included all of our fees and medications.

My doctor prefers only transferring one embryo at a time because of the risk to both babies and mother if multiple embryos make it as a viable pregnancy.

Dr. Steingold is in this to help families. He makes himself available to patients, cares for them, and frequently checks in to make sure you are handling things emotionally. He is also benevolent and frequently writes off services to help when he can. He gives full information and helps his patients have reasonable expectations about their outcomes. He is also comfortable with and encourages active patient participation in the treatment plan. I always felt like he listened to my ideas and concerns and helped to address them in his plan.

Be ready with questions and ideas you may have.

My first IVF was with the antagonist protocol and it didn’t yield the egg numbers we were expecting. For the next cycles we tried the flare protocol and got many more, better quality eggs.

General appointments were a $40 copay. They offer single cycle IVF for roughly $12,000 and a shared risk six cycle program for $22,000. All appointments are included in the IVF cost.

The doctor transferred more embryos that typical in our case due to lower embryo quality.

He has always been present, I see him, if I have questions I text him and he either texts back or calls back. It’s been a good experience so far. Anytime I have a question or concern over something he is willing to talk it through with me and will let us do what we prefer after the consult and pros and cons. I respect his opinion and he respects ours so it’s a great working relationship.

Don’t be afraid to ask questions about the meds or other options. Also don’t feel bad texting him or calling he will always make time to talk to you.

We did a shared program that gives us our money back (the bulk $22000) if we don’t have a live birth. The medicine and anesthesia are not included but you can do as many IVF and FET cycles as the plan allows I think 6 full cycles

He based this on my age and gave us the choice after he told us what his thoughts were.

Dr. Steingold is one of the most compassionate doctors I’ve ever seen. He is a bit “awkward” and my wife and I usually jump right into the conversation to get things going. I recommend having questions written out. He will take all the time you need to answer them. He is also open to trying new things if a patient suggests them.

Be a proactive patient. Have questions ready and if you feel strongly about doing a certain treatment, test, etc. push for it, or ask him to explain why he truly disagrees.

We were very quickly diagnosed with severe male factor infertility. We did TESE sperm retrieval and three full rounds of IVF. The first cycle he put my wife on the antagonist protocol but the egg yeild wasn’t as high as expected. For the following cycles he did the Flare protocol and that led to much better results. For IUIs we did four completely unmedicated cycles. It took two unmedicated cycles to conceive our daughter. After going back to try for baby number 2, we did two more unmedicated cycles followed by one femara/trigger cycle, and one follistim/trigger cycle. We are now looking to do IVF again.

Our insurance doesn’t cover anything, so these prices are self pay. Ultrasound monitoring-$200 Consultation-$150 IUI-$250 HSG-$600 Shared Risk IVF with ICSI-$22,000

I really appreciate that Dr. Steingold looks at each patient as an individual. Due to extremely poor sperm quality, our embryo quality was also poor. Day 5 transfers are standard but he chose to do day 3 transfers for us out of concern that our embryos wouldn’t survive in the lab. He also transferred more embryos that suggested for my wife’s age due to their poor quality and low chances of success

He is extremely good at what he does, very responsive, and honest. His skills are excellent. He is not brusque and has a decent bedside manner. My only complaint, and this is simply due to my own personality and not due to any deficit or issue on his part, is that at times I felt like he was not taking potential concerns I had seriously and didn't explain in enough detail why my concerns were invalid. When I researched potential reasons for my infertility online, he would say that the reason I was interested in was not applicable, but didn't go into any great detail as to why. He was at times willing to dig into the science with me and discuss specifics, but not always. He's also not extremely warm and fuzzy, but he's also not cold or unempathic.

Have your questions written out in advance and know what your goals are. He's very direct.

We started with Clomid as I'd already had other hormonal regulation with my previous RE that had failed. Then we did Clomid with a trigger. Then we did Clomid with an IUI. Then we did IUIs with injectables and a trigger. Then we finally moved to IVF with ICSI, and we did a freeze all of our 5 day blastos so that we could have then biopsies and genetically tested. Our testing showed chromosomal abnormalities on 10 of our 11 blastos and we transferred our one remaining embryo the following month. She is now 5 weeks old.

The entire IVF cost was roughly $15,000 I believe, not including genetic testing done through an outside company but that did include the biopsy to send to the genetic testing. Costs of IUIs were about $500.

He would have recommended transferring two embryos since my infertility was unexplained, but left it up to us. In the end, we only had 1 to transfer.

Dr. Steingold is very thoughtful and considers every option. I feel that when he is treating me, it's like he's playing a challenging game of chess. Slow and steady, every move decisive. He is very compassionate, and out of every doctor I've ever been to, he's the only one who makes me feel like a person, and not a diagnoses.

Be open minded and patient. He's a quiet man, but there's a lot going on it that brain that's willing to make your dreams of parenthood happen.

At first we did Clomid, at first a 50 dose for 5 days, then 100 for 5 days next two cycles, then 150 for 8 days following two cycles. During the Clomid rounds, we would do one ultrasound to check my eggs or follow up with progesterone blood work. My first ultrasound showed that I have several follicles waiting, thus all of our treatments are cautionary. Fun part when we started injections. First cycle on Follistim was 75, 125, 175 over the course of 37 days, follow-up with IUI and progesterone suppositories and a HPT. Cycle failed, one follicle grew. Second cycle, Follistim 125, 175, 200 over the course of 14 days with IUI ending it and HPT and progesterone suppositories. Cycle failed with 4 follicles. Currently on my third Follistim cycle, I started 150, up to 200, then 225, and today with an ultrasound showing 10 follicles struggling to take off (between 10 and 13 in size), we're reducing dose back to 150 for two days. If this cycle isn't canceled, I will do the IUI again. My case is unique in that each cycle I've responded completely differently, and I'm crazy resistant to the medications. The IUI is due to that, my husband's sperm is almost perfect.

Costs so far have been affordable. For 10 months of seeing him with 5 months of at least 7 appointments in a month, my balance has come to under $4000. They have agreements with pharmacies to be able to provide medication at a lower, affordable cost. For example, through my insurance, Follsitim would be $650, but with their partnership, I can get it for $260.

N/A

It was a very stressful time for me but I truly think that Se Edelstein felt bad that my treatments weren't working. He always seemed very positive at each visit and each time something failed he would remind me that we were getting a win: I was ovulating. Of course there would be times that I would get frustrated and feel like he wasn't listening but after I got up the courage to tell him exactly what I needed/wanted, he understood.

To be very blunt about your expectations and to set limits for how many times you do a specific procedure.

I took three doses of letrozole. Confirmed egg growth with ultrasounds and confirmed ovulation (once) with blood work. Two rounds of injectables, Gonal f. Had to increase dose because eggs stopped growing, confirmed egg growth with ultrasound and did trigger shot. Confirmed ovulation with blood work.

I don't really remember the costs. It would be a copay and then usually $100-200 or visit out of pocket. All our injectables were out of pocket and not covered by insurance at all.

Have not done.

I am so grateful to have worked with him. While he wasn't successful in my IVFs or IUIs, likely because my eggs were too old, he monitored my treatments with an out-of-town doctor (my donors live elsewhere). He did so with professionalism, total generosity, and kindness. He's also a totally honest guy, kind, and thoughtful. I was grateful and lucky to have him on my side.

Choose him!

I have been working with him so long that I don't remember specifics from early treatment, but I appreciated that he was relatively conservative with medication, and seemed to have a lot of trust in my body to do its work, which encouraged my trust in it as well. He was very straightforward about research on different options, and even my own chances for success - reasonable about how it may not work, but also explaining that one never knows how things may go. It helped me to be reasonable and hopeful.

Dr. Steingold was a very kind and compassionate man. During the IVF process he clearly outlined the steps of everything that I needed to do with days and times and was very specific. He was very optimistic for a positive outcome. I sometimes felt that I was just a number in his office because at times during our meetings he was not familiar with my case or history and would refer back to my file. At times information from my file was misplaced and not always available when needed. After my second failed egg retrieval he told me honestly that he wasn't sure where/ how to proceed with my case and needed to consult other doctors. I also don't feel like he provided information to me without me asking the right questions.

You need to be prepared with detailed questions to ask him ahead of time as he does not always provide the details without being asked.

I'm not sure the treatment plan for my first egg retrieval but I was on Gonal F 300 and 1 vial of menopur daily for approx. a week and a half. Before taking ganaerelix and then an HSG trigger. Produced 11 eggs, 10 mature, 8 fertilized, 4 made it to blasts; results of PGD/PGS were all 4 abnormal. The second cycle was a lupron flare twice a day with Gonal F and menopur for two weeks. The idea was to produce more eggs. The second retrieval resulted in 10 eggs, 10 mature, 8 fertilized, 4 made it to blasts, PGD/PGS tested, all 4 abnormal. None of the 8 total embryos had the same pattern or abnormality. No patterns were apparent. Dr. Steingold said he was very surprised by the results both times and did not have an explanation for it. He consulted with other doctors to determine the best way to proceed further third egg retrieval/IVF attempt or proceeding with egg donor IVF.

Each IUI procedure was about$250-$300. My IUIs were with clomid. We used a multi-cycle IVF package that was around $20,000 for the two egg retrievals which did not result in any transfers or embryos to freeze for later use. We also used ICSI with both retrievals which was about $1200 each retrieval. We did PGD/PGS testing with both rounds that was around $800-900 each time. Medications for both retrievals was around $5000-$6000 each time. Doctor fees for the retrievals was around $5000.

N/A-- never made it to transfer

Dr. Steingold has a great sense of humor when needed and is also a terrific listener. He follows what you want to do, within what he is able to do. He always wrote us a to-do list at the end of each appointment. He gives plenty of opportunities to ask questions in his office after your ultrasound, etc.

Come prepared with questions, and expect very direct answers. He is very realistic, but you will need to be comfortable with asking questions and prompting change in protocol when you're ready to.

We tried 2 IUIs, but stopped the 2nd time after finding a blocked tube and I was only producing follicles on the blocked side. We also had to switch from a fresh IVF transfer to a frozen because of my levels and I was close to getting OHSS. I was disappointed at first, but know he made the best call for me and our future attempts.

28000

He is the most patient doctor I have ever had. I have a problem with blood draws and when he saw that I was getting stressed, he stepped in and did it himself!! Every time I said I was uncomfortable, he apologized. He kept things light and jokey when I needed it and serious and subdued when I needed that. He is great at reading people. You can tell he loves what he does.

Be honest, be up front and ask questions even if you think they are stupid. He had to repeat a lot of info to me and never once seemed frustrated. He wants everyone to be clear about everything that is happening.

Originally we thought the issues were all female related but we had issues on both sides. We started with IUI becuase it was the least invasive but we had morphology issues on my husbands side so we decided to go to IVF with ICSI after 2 rounds of IUI. We used the ICSI because of the morphology issues. We went in the egg retrieval with the plan to use the embryos asap but due to unexpected bleeding issues (of course my period decided to come on that week!), we did a freeze all and opted to do the transfer the next month. Generally he likes to wait 2 months with a freeze all but we wanted it done before the end of the year. My husband and I decided to implant 2 embryos the first try. Dr. E suggested 1 but agreed to 2 after my husband and I discussed our options. Egg retrieval in November, embryo transfer in December. We got a little boy in September from that decision.

We were in the shared success program for 23000 i think meds were not included with that. Embryo storage fees are currently $480/year after the shared success program ends

For women my age-under 35, he prefers to do a single but we sat down and had a rational conversation with him as to why we would prefer to use 2, and he agreed. It is my understanding from our conversation that he generally does not use more than 2 at a time.

Dr. Steingold strikes me as a deceptively quiet guy who is a huge hit at parties. He does this thing where he sits back at his desk and gives you a piercing look as he's getting his thoughts together, and you're not sure whether to stare right back at him, start making stilted conversation, or just play with the random fidget objects he has on his desk. I think some might find his bedside manner to be a little awkward, but my husband and I are awkward people, too, so we all got along really well. He didn't bat an eye at our first appointment when I handed him a history of our previous treatment, which included the statement "Sh*ttiest Christmas Present Ever" regarding the results of a failed December IUI. (I spelled the whole word out on the paper I gave him.) When we arrived at his clinic, we had already done a year of unsuccessful infertility treatments at VCU and were reasonably well-informed patients. I was afraid he would make us start all over to see whether his approach to treatment had better results, and was incredibly relieved when he didn't make us repeat any needless tests (HSG, etc). We picked back up from where we left off with VCU. We did four IUIs, all of which failed, and then one cycle of IVF, which worked. As cheesy as it sounds, he grieved with us in the failures, and rejoiced in the successes. He provided clear explanations throughout each of the treatment cycles, and made me feel like an involved, integral member of a team instead of someone who was just along for what amounts to a really, really crummy ride. Also, he keeps a bobblehead figurine of Stewie from Family Guy in his office. This earned him a ton of bonus points from me.

He may not immediately come off as being warm and fuzzy, but he is. A friend referred me to him, and one of the things she spoke so highly of was his compassion as she and her husband went through the process of infertility. We absolutely saw that compassion during our treatment.

We never had a clear diagnosis. The closest we got was unexplained infertility, along with possible PCOS, and a defective luteal phase. My husband's sperm had major motility issues (<5%), however, his counts were off the charts, which was why we were never officially diagnosed with MFI. We did increasing dosages of Gonal-F for all of our IUIs, along with the trigger shot, and ultrasound monitoring. Our last two cycles also included Crinone from the time of the IUI until the BFP/BFN (they were all BFN). Our last IUI was a back-to-back one, at our suggestion, in hopes that it might boost our chances (it didn't). I can't remember the specific drugs for our IVF cycle, but based on what others have described, it was fairly standard protocol (birth control followed by hormones, hormones, and more hormones -- also baby aspirin [this was my idea based on stuff I read online; Dr. Steingold said it couldn't hurt], Valium for the day of the transfer, short term dose of prednisone, and an antibiotic). They retrieved 20 eggs, 13 of which fertilized using ICSI, and 7 of which made to 5-6 day embryos. (The recommendation for ICSI surprised us, as we hadn't been diagnosed with MFI. When I asked why, Dr. Steingold shared that they recommend ICSI for all of their patients simply out of an abundance of caution, but that ultimately it was our decision. It meant more money, but we decided to go ahead with it because we didn't want to hurt our chances of success.) We opted to transfer two embryos; when we discussed it with Dr. Steingold, he said that statistically transferring two versus one gave us "a little bit of an edge." We were desperate and thought twins sounded like a great idea. One of those embryos stuck, and our daughter was born 9 months later. We went back two months ago to do a frozen transfer. Dr. Steingold's approach was to duplicate everything we could from the fresh transfer, although I admittedly forgot to do the baby Aspirin. The protocol for it was Endometrin and Estrace, and repeating the Valium, prednisone, and antibiotic that we did for the fresh transfer. The only difference was that we chose to transfer one versus two embryos. Dr. Steingold agreed with this decision. We were in a different spot than we had been two years before, and didn't need that "little bit of an edge" -- we could more easily come to terms with a failed cycle, and had four remaining embryos. I'm currently 8 weeks pregnant with one baby. I'm going to stay on the Estrace and Endometrin through the end of week 13, assuming we get there.

This is complicated question to answer. We had some infertility coverage through the majority of our treatment, but it still resulted in significant out-of-pocket expenses. They were in line with, or below national averages for IUI and IVF.

We loved Dr. Kenneth Steingold as our doctor! He was very up front and honest and tried to make sure that all medications and test were in our price range!! Dr. Steingold has wonderful bedside manor. I wished we could have continued our journey with him, but unfortunately their donor egg bank wasn’t broad enough for us.

I have actually referred one of my co-workers to him. I explained to her how compassionate he is and up front and how great he is at making sure you understand every step.

We did all of our regular testing to find the diagnosis for the infertility. When we started the IUI cycles we jumped right into the injection medication instead of clomid since i had done that twice before with my OB-GYN. I had monitoring apts to watch the size of the follicles. I never produced for than 3 follicles in 1 cycle and maybe one of those made it to the right size. After more blood work he told me I have premature ovarian failure and went over my chances at IVF and told me that my chances were higher with donor egg

Most of the things I did a his office was I had some type of insurance coverage for except the IUI procedure it itself. I did have a surgical procedure as well, so I’d estimate we paid about 5000-7000 over the years of seeing Dr. Steingold.

I appreciate that I’ve been able to see Dr. Steingold at every visit. I appreciate his willingness to talk for as long as I need to during our appointments. As a patient, I need to understand everything and be very involved and Dr. Steingold has been understanding and accommodating.

Plan to advocate for yourself. Do your own research and ask questions. Dr. Steingold is very agreeable to incorporating his patients’ desires into treatment.

For all three retrievals, I was on a standard antagonist protocol with the same dosages.

I’m an out of pocket patient so without the benefits of health insurance, we’ve paid a lot for our treatments.

Dr. Steingold pushes for single transfers.

Strengths - Extensive knowledge base in the field. The ultrasound and HSG was pleasant experience as well. He also explained everything during those procedures which was nice. He was very nice and understanding doctor when talking about our story and what we had been through at that point. Weaknesses - He did not test my husband and we later found out we have MFI as well. In my gut feeling I felt we had immune issues related to miscarriages but he did not support that and called our case by chance. After going to another doctor and having extensive testing done, we found out we had MFI and other immune issues that needed a specialized treatment.

Ask questions and listen to your gut.

HSG - open tubes for me. It was a good experience with this doctor and he explained everything.

We had diagnostic testing that majority was covered by insurance

I love working with Dr. Edelstein. He is a kind and compassionate Doctor. I love that I can leave a message for him with someone in his office in the morning and by that afternoon he calls me back directly himself. When he cant personally call back one of his nurses will but in the same day as well. Some doctors are hard to reach so I love that Dr. Edelstein makes himself available to him patients.

Always feel free to ask him questions and if you still dont understand he is really good about writing things down or drawing a visual for you.

We did 4 IUI's. 3 with clomid and 1 with injections and letrozole. Our first IUI (with clomid) resulted in a pregnancy, but our son was stillborn at 29weeks 6 days. The other 3 iui's resulted in negative pregnancy tests.

$430 for 1 iui cycle doesnt include medications

The biggest strength is that he is optimistic and willing to try whatever he can. One weakness he has is not thoroughly reading my chart/latest updates before each visit. I found that I had to go over things with him a couple of times, reminding him where we were in the process.

Come to your appointments with specific questions.

I believe each IUI total, with medications, was around $900

Dr. Edelstein was always on time. I rarely had to wait more than 5-10 to see him. He was explained everything in detail and even wrote everything out so I wouldn’t forget the exact times and dates what needed to be done. I never felt rushed and he answered whatever questions I had.

Don’t be afraid to ask questions. He wants to to ask if you are not sure in any part of the treatment.

We did a shared IVF treatment cost was $22,000. One fresh transfer was about $12,000. IUI was about $1000.

He explained everything to us as far as what to expect and what our next steps would be going forward. He is very patient and understanding. He made sure to answer any questions we had. We felt very comfortable talking with him.

He is very thorough in explaining everything so you will leave with alot of information.

I took fertility medication days 3-7. I would have to track my ovulation and when I got a positive test I had to call in to have an iui done the next day. I would then have to wait to see if I started my period or if I was pregnant. Unfortunately I had started my period and had to start it all over again. Of course we had to go through it twice and pregnacy never occured. We were told the next step would be ivf.

He's very knowledgeable and thorough. He takes his time and even answered all of the questions my husband had. Immediately after my first IUI, I got sick, throwing and almost passed out. Although it was a rare occurrence to him, he did as much research as possible to see why this happened and what could be prevented next time.

Ask plenty of questions.

HSG -$450, IUI-$1000, Consultation-$200

Incredibly compassionate. He never gave up and encouraged me at every visit.

He's got a great success rate and will work with you every step of the way.

I used clomid for 3 cycles. The 3rd cycle I used clomid and progesterone and that's when I got pregnant.

Can't remember exactly but know that my insurance didn't cover a lot of it. I talked to their accounting person and she was able to let me know ahead of time the costs associated with the tests that were being run. She was amazing!

I have no complaints at all. I was a patient for 4 years and it took alot of tests, surgery, and various treatments to get pregnant, but the whole time he was very caring and informative. The whole staff was wonderful!