Northwestern Fertility & Reproductive Medicine

I recently had the privilege of being treated by Dr. Pavone for a hysteroscopy, HSG, and endometrial biopsy, and I cannot recommend her highly enough. As an African American patient, I’ve often found it challenging to connect with healthcare providers who understand and respect my experiences. Dr. Pavone was a refreshing exception. From my very first consultation, it was evident that Dr. Pavone is not only incredibly skilled but also genuinely compassionate. She took the time to explain each procedure in detail, ensuring I fully understood what to expect. This thorough pre-operative consultation helped to ease my anxiety significantly. I appreciated her patience in answering all my questions and addressing my concerns; it made me feel respected and valued as a patient. During the procedures, Dr. Pavone’s expertise shone through. She conducted everything with professionalism and precision, which gave me a sense of confidence that I was in the best hands possible. What stood out to me was her exceptional bedside manner. She communicated clearly throughout the procedures and made sure I was comfortable, which made a potentially stressful experience much more manageable. Post-operation, Dr. Pavone continued to check in on my recovery, demonstrating her commitment to my well-being. Her warmth and attentiveness made a significant difference, and I felt supported every step of the way. In my experience, Dr. Pavone is severely underrated. She not only combines competence with compassion, but she also fosters an environment where patients feel heard and understood. For anyone seeking a knowledgeable and caring physician, I wholeheartedly recommend Dr. Pavone. Her outstanding care and dedication are truly remarkable, and I am grateful to have had her as my doctor.

Give her a chance! Ask all the questions. She will gracefully answer them.

Dr. Jain was absolutely incredible. I referred him to my sister and had zero hesitations with that. I felt like I received individualized care based on my testing and results of ultrasounds/blood work.

Be vulnerable and honest and come with prepared questions and hesitations. They address them all.

This was my second IVF cycle. The first IVF cycle resulted in a pregnancy at the first embryo transfer and we were so excited that IVF was effective and worked! I unfortunately miscarried but that can happen even with a natural pregnancy. The second IVF cycle involved a series of shots with Follistim (dosages are adjusted based on blood work and how effectively the levels are increasing and how many follicles are growing and being produced), ganirelix, and oral meds letrozole, and then a trigger shot with leuprolide right before retrieval. My body responded very well to all medications and shots. My hormone levels increased appropriately and follicles were growing and produced properly. My first IVF cycle I produced 23 eggs and the second cycle I produced 17 eggs.

My first 3 IUIs totalled about 3K; first round of IVF about 22K but that included about 5K of genetic testing. 2nd round of IVF is currently under 10K, i believe that's because I've hit some deductible maximums with insurance, not sure though.

I only transferred one embryo at a time.

I’ve been with Dr Pavone since miscarriage 2 (I’ve had five) and I continue to feel like I am in the best care. She advocates for me with scheduling and has often added me in her schedule for a procedures when I’ve needed to get in quicker. She knows my history, and knows what I’m going to get stuck on when we talk about next steps. She lets me go deep into the science of what we are doing and I really feel like it’s a partnership that I have full confidence in her care.

Make sure to message and use mycharts when you have questions or need to advocate for yourself. Doctors and clinics can’t read your mind. The schedulers job is to protect doctors schedules, but if you message her she’ll get you in when you ask.

For my one IVF cycle: The cycle before we did priming with estrogen tablets. After monitoring with labs and ultrasound I started on Gonal F and Menopur. I would go in for morning monitoring either every morning or ever few mornings. My dosage would change with what labs told said and I started Ganirelix on day 5/6 (I can’t remember). When it was determined I was ready I was instructed to do trigger! With Novarel and Lupron at a specific time. We got 14 eggs, 13 matured, 11 were fertilized, and 5 embryos and 3 being tested as genetically normal. I also got pregnant under her care without any interventions two other times (and two times before I became her patient)

A round of IVF out of pocket (all monitoring and retrieval) is $11,000 with a transfer it’s $15,000 and I believe an out of pocket transfer is $3,000 or $5,000 I can’t remember. Then medications are on top of that.

We did IVF to do genetic testing after four miscarriages. Two of which we knew were for genetic abnormalities so it was pretty straight forward that we were looking to transfer a genetically normal embryo.

I was referred to Dr. Feinberg by my Cardiologist, and I couldn't have selected a better provider for myself. From my very initial appointment, Dr. Feinberg made me feel welcome and comfortable; it was as if I'd been her patient for years. She spoke with compassion, and was driven to help my husband and I build our family. She was always very thorough with her explanation of treatment and made me feel at ease throughout the entire process. When results came back not as expected, she was right there with me to talk me through all of our options and next steps. While I have not found a gestational carrier yet, I look forward to continuing our journey to parenthood under Dr. Feinberg's care.

There is nothing to worry about under Dr. Feinberg's care; you are in great hands!

I don't recall the exact costs.

I have not reached the transfer part of my treatment yet.

Dr. Kim has been great to work with thus far. We are still undergoing treatment, so I don't have an ending yet, but in terms of our experience up to this point, we are satisfied with our treatment. She definitely gets straight to the point (which some people may not like), but for me, and especially in our specific situation, I really appreciated that. We are going down what I would consider a very nontraditional route to build our family, but with Dr. Kim's experience and expertise, she made me feel like this is a very normal procedure that many people do. We had a devastating diagnosis, yet she didn't harp on that and just focused on the future. I'm excited to see how the rest of the treatments pan out.

Just be prepared for straight to the point discussion of your treatment, next steps, etc. This doesn't mean rushed or no time for questions, but she is very straightforward.

We are starting with medicated IUI for 3 cycles, then moving to IVF if we do not have success. This includes 50mg Clomid along with an Ovidrel shot. We are currently in our first IUI cycle, and expect to adjust as necessary depending on the results.

It's difficult to answer this right now as we're still in the middle of treatment. We are also very fortunate to have our costs subsidized by insurance.

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Dr. Feinberg impressed me right away with her knowledge of my unique medical history because she had done the homework of not only reading my file but connecting with others on my care team. That made me feel like I could trust her. She also shared her personal story with me which was unnecessary but appreciated. It gave me the feeling that she truly understood what I was going through. Dr. Feinberg is also the perfect combination of kind and gentle yet confident and direct. I’ll always remember her warm smile when she dismissed us from fertility care when we were pregnant with our first child. She said “see you next time” knowing that we’d be back in a few years to grow our family, which we did. The second time around was familiar, comfortable, and relatively stress free because I already knew I was in good hands with Dr. Feinberg.

Ask all of your questions.

My first ever embryo transfer was unsuccessful. Dr. Feinberg said that it could have been for a variety of reasons, but she thought that thickening the lining of my uterus might help in the next attempt. So we worked on that in the second round, which resulted in a successful pregnancy. When I came back for baby number 2, we followed the exact same protocol and that resulted in another successful pregnancy.

Over $5,000

Dr. Feinberg explained very clearly to us why in some cases it makes sense to transfer multiple embryos and why it doesn’t in others, we were the latter. I appreciated that explanation.

Very open, transparent and honest. Let us know all of the outcomes. The good, the bad and how we can adjust depending on how each treatment went. He was compassionate, caring, and very educational as we were going through the process for over 24 months. We couldn't recommend him and a team highly enough.

Be open to learning all of the different options available. Dr. Jain is an excellent doctor and will be sure to inform you of all different ideas and potential options.

Although Dr Pavone is not warm and fuzzy but she's extremely smart, knowledgeable and highly skilled at what she does. Her understanding and knowledge is not just limited to her field of Reproductive Endocrinology but in fact she has very strong general medical knowledge as well. Northwestern's success rate is not as high as some other clinics and one of the reasons is that they see more complex patients who have already been at other clinics in the Chicago area. Overall, they have a great team there, a well oiled machine.

Dont hesitate to ask questions.

I dont remember the details.Its been a while.

efficient, well oiled machine

at least 20 k as it was all out of pocket and not coveerd by my crappy insurance.

She quoted guidelines and evidence based data and recommended eSET.

Dr. Jain gave good explanations and helped me decide to do the egg retrieval. I honestly didn't interact with him much but when I did it was good. I don't have much else to say - he wasn't a big part of my experience with the egg retrieval.

Find a way to ask the nurses for more input if you want to know what's going on

Day: Date: [Ganirelix], Dose Gonal F, dose novarel/HCG 1: 10/27: 100, 0.06 (estradiol 61) 2: 10/28: 100, 0.06 3: 10/29: 100, 0.06 4: 10/30: 150, 0.06 (estradiol 153) -You have a few follicles measuring less than 10mm 5: 10/31: 150, 0.06 6: 11/1: Gonal-F 225 units, HCG 6 units (estradiol 366) -The largest follicle measuring by ultrasound is 10mm. -You also have smaller follicles measuring less than 10mm 7: 11/2: Ganirelix AM, Gonal-F 225 units, HCG 6 units 8: 11/3: Ganirelix AM, Gonal-F 300 units, HCG 6 units (estradiol 954) -The largest follicle measuring by ultrasound is 13 mm. -You also have 3 smaller follicles measuring between 12 and 13. 9: 11/4: Ganirelix AM, Gonal-F 300 units, HCG 6 units 10: 11/5: Ganirelix AM, Gonal-F 300 units, HCG 6 units 11: 11/6: Ganirelix AM, Gonal-F 300 units, HCG 6 units (estradiol 1408) -Your estrogen level is 1408. You have 5 follicles measuring between 17 mm and 27 mm. 12: 11/7 1am: leupron 13: retrieval (11 follicles, of which 6 were mature) Total meds used: -Gonal-F used: 2250 (required 3 pens) -Ganirelix: 5 doses. -HCG: Plenty of HCG leftover Round 2 Day: Date: [Ganirelix], Dose Gonal F, dose menopur 1: Mon 2/14: Gonal-F 200u, Menopur 75u. (estradiol 60) 2: Tues 2/15: Gonal-F 200u, Menopur 75u. 3: Wed 2/16: Gonal-F 200u, Menopur 75u. 4: Thur 2/17: Gonal-F 200u, Menopur 75u. (est 339) -The largest follicle measuring by ultrasound is 10 mm. -You also have 2 smaller follicles measuring 10 mm. 5: Fri 2/18: AM: Gan. Gonal-F 200u, Men 75u. 6: Sat 2/19: AM: Gan. Gonal-F 200, Men 75u. (est 749) -The largest follicle measuring by ultrasound is 14mm. -You also have 6 smaller follicles measuring between 10 and 13mm. 7: Sun 2/20: AM: Gan. Gonal-F 200, Men 75u. 8: Mon 2/21: AM Gan. Gonal-F 200, Men 75u. (est 922) -The largest follicle measuring by ultrasound is 19 mm. -You also have 12 smaller follicles measuring between 11 and 18 mm. 9: Tues 2/22: AM Gan. Gonal-F 200, Men 75u. (est 1190) -The largest follicle measuring by ultrasound is 20 mm. -You also have 12 smaller follicles measuring between 11 and 17 mm. 10: Wed 2/23: AM Gan. Gonal-F 200, Men 75u. (est 1685) -You have 10 follicles measuring between 15mm and 30mm. 11: Thurs 2/24: 12am Leurpon 80u. am labs 12: Fri 2/25: 12pm retrieval (16 follicles, of which 12 were mature) Total meds used: -Gonal F: 2000u (3 pens) -Menopur: 10 vials -Ganirelix: 6 doses

1500 procedure, 200-300 for meds per round

She was very direct and answered all my questions about IUI in detail, she provided a lot of statistics and didn’t set me up with inaccurate expectations but was also kind and listened well. My partner and I felt heard and comfortable as a queer couple seeking fertility support. She connected us to detailed information of sperm banks, financial information and how she would continue working with us and be available through the process.

Be ready for direct information, she is kind, but ready to get to business.

We started with the initial round of IUI without medications as my labs (TSH, AMH, routine screening labs), ovarian count via ultrasound and fallopian tube were without concern, she said we could discuss use of medications if after 3-6 cycles I was not pregnant but she thought it was quite likely I would get pregnant in that time.

Majority covered by insurance, about 20% out of pocket, this was informed to me upfront prior to any treatments.

Dr Jain invests deeply in the care of his patients. Although my journey was complicated, Dr Jain never gave up on me. After each appointment, we would change the treatment protocol and explore additional testing if needed. I did a lot of research myself and felt very comfortable asking him questions to share my wants and needs. Dr Jain had no problem adjusting the treatment plan to what I felt most comfortable with. During each appointment, I never felt rushed. He would also send MyChart messages very late at night as he is catching up on his charting. It showed that I was not just a number to him, and that he genuinely cared about me as his patient.

Come prepared to ask questions! If you’re up for it (or in the healthcare field), do your own research and ask Dr Jain what he thinks about certain tests, labs, or procedures. Knowledge is power, so take your time during the appointment to make sure all questions are answered.

IUI - letrozole alone, and letrozole with clomid. Unfortunately all were unsuccessful. IVF - low doses of GonalF and Menopur since I made a lot of eggs. He monitored me closely to make sure I didn’t develop OHSS. We ended up with 29 eggs and 13 embryos from that one cycle! FET - due to my risk of OHSS, all of my transfers were frozen. First transfer was a medicated transfer with estradiol and IM progesterone - which failed. I ended up fainting with the IM progesterone once, so we avoided it for the next transfers. Second transfer was a modified natural cycle with letrozole and Ovidrel - but unfortunately ended in an ectopic. Third transfer was another modified natural cycle and currently pregnant! (We did genetic testing of embryos and ERA test prior to the third transfer)

My insurance thankfully covered IVF, so I just had to pay my out of pocket max for the year which was $3500. I never had any issues with the billing department. Embryo testing was not covered, so that was an additional $5000. Also, the ERA and ReceptivaDx testing is not covered by any insurance, so that was an extra $1500 out of pocket. In total: $10,000

Always starts with one tested/untested embryo. If first transfer fails, will consider 2 untested embryos if patient understands the risks. If embryos are tested, then single embryo transfers only.

Her strength is asking all the right questions for symptoms and life progression in fertility. Her weakness was not communicating after a tragic miscarriage which made me so sad. I did not know what to expect in a miscarriage and how it was going to make me feel emotionally. I would have liked that warm feeling of support and compassion because this is a sensitive topic and life process.

Please ask as many questions as you possibly can and tell the doctor how your relationship between you and your husband want with her on this journey in making a family.

I just took fertility shots

Medication cost me

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He has always been supportive of my interest in trying supplementary treatment outside of just the RE world (i.e. supplements, Naturopath, acupuncture). He has been very flexible with doing things on our timeline and not his or the clinics. He has given us his honest medical opinion for treatment based on our clinical presentation. I have never felt like he was forcing us into doing certain treatments (i.e. going right to IVF after my miscarriage). He has been clear and direct with us and explained all the medical language he was using. One issue I had was when I was 3 days after my D&C when I was in significant pain due to additional clots passing. Another doctor in the clinic performed my surgery so she was the one who I saw when I went into the clinic to figure out what was going on. After, it all subsided and i passed all the tissue I heard from my nurse who I work with but I did not hear from Dr. Jain himself about the issues after my surgery.

Come in with questions. If you do your research before you will be able to get even more out of your appointment than you have to begin with.

I have done 6 IUI's up to this date. Dr. Jain's rationale for performing IUI's was because my main issue with irregular cycles due to mild PCOS. I had no other abnormal test results that indicated a more severe treatment was needed (i.e. IVF). He also had me immediately start taking 25 mcg of Synthroid to balance out my thyroid. For the IUI's, I took 5 mg of letrozole and then used the ovidrel trigger shot for each cycle. On the second IUI, my uterine lining wasn't thickening as it should have been so they put me on 10 mg of Estradiol. This was the cycle I got pregnant! I had an early miscarriage for unknown cause (genetic test showed the baby was chromosomal normal). For the following 3 IUI's, Dr. Jain had me taking 20 mg progesterone suppositories following the IUI to help assist with implantation. Throughout this process I have had to increase my Synthroid dose. After my 5th IUI (4th failed), we decided to take a break from treatments and see a Naturopath doctor. After a few months of diet change and additional testing/treatments suggested by the Naturopath we returned to Dr. Jain to discuss next treatment options. He went talked us through what IVF would look like and the pros and cons for our situation. He also talked about the pros and cons of continuing with IUI's. He was very supportive and willing to continue with IUI's because we had success. After that appointment, we decided to try more IUI's. We had our 6th IUI in March 2020 with the same treatment protocol listed above. We had set a plan with Dr. Jain for what we would do different if I got a positive pregnancy test. This included taking blood thinners to help maintain the pregnancy. Unfortunately, I did not get pregnant from that cycle. We are currently in a holding pattern right now due to COVID-19 and have not been able to start another IUI. Our plan is to try two more IUI's and see if either is successful before discussing other options.

Our insurance did not cover any procedures. It is $709 per IUI. My Ovidrel injections cost $92. We paid co-pays per our insurance for all other appointments.

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Dr. Goldman has been amazing during our infertility journey. We met her for a consultation the day after my 40th birthday. She has been informative, comforting, and encouraging. She has been thorough in presenting us with all our options, making sure we understand next steps and available to answer questions that arise along the way. Most recently after our stimulation process did not produce the results we were hoping for, she scheduled a telehealth appointment (due to COVID-19) to check-in with us to ensure we were okay. She gives us hope that they process will eventually work!

Any prospective patient would be in great hands with Dr. Goldman. I would recommend scheduling in advance as she is often booked.

We completed two IUI cycles. I was prescribed Clomid for 5 days and then an Ovidrel injection. Neither IUI cycle resulted in pregnancy. We have gone through one round of egg stimulation and retrieval thus far. We have not been able to do another cycle of stimulation nor transfer due to the COVID 19 emergency. Due to my age, I was prescribed high doses of stimulation medications to retrieve as many eggs as possible. ( Gonal F 300 units/day; Menopur 150 units/day; Ganirelix 250 mg; Ovidrel 250 mg as the trigger shot). The egg stimulation resulted in 12 eggs retrieved. 10 of the eggs fertilized and we had 4 embryos created. Due to my age, genetic testing was recommended. After the genetic testing was complete, we have 1 healthy embryo for eventual transfer.

The monitoring appointments were convenient and occurred before work hours. The process was efficient and smoothly ran.

My insurance coverage for fertility medications is a $10,000 lifetime allotment and 10% out of pocket copay. I went through this allotment very fast and the copay amount was pretty high. The Northwestern Medicine Specialty Pharmacy was willing to work with me and my insurance to maximize the most insurance coverage and less the out of pocket expense. The clinic has a $2,095 payment for embryo storage that is due before the stimulation process can begin. We spent just over $3500 for medication copays, medications, and genetic testing. Thus in total our out of pocket cost for the egg stimulation/retrieval is over $5,600. We will have to pay out of pocket for any further medication associated with the embryo transfer and if we would like to pursue another round of egg stimulation/retrieval. Unfortunately, we were informed that there is no financial assistance available for us during this process through Northwester Medicine nor EMD Serrano as we do not qualify financially :(

Dr. Goldman recommended a single embryo transfer to ensure the likelihood of a successful, healthy pregnancy.

Compassionate, knowledgeable, experienced. Able to assess situation and offer course of action, adapt it as needed, and offer recommended courses of action. She was recommended by multiple friends from different circles, all of whom also happen to be in the medical field. Highly recommend Dr. Kim and her team.

She’s very willing to answer questions, so ask all the questions you have. If you have exhausted your questions ask what else she thinks you should know.

Wish I could be more specific but it all blurs together. We did multiple rounds of IVF. The dosages of the shots, and supplements were adjusted during various cycles. We also did genetic testing. We’re still in the process but so far highly recommend them.

This will be case specific based on someone’s insurance coverage, so for this one contact the clinic and ask their finance counselors to check your insurance coverage and let you know your specifics.

This will be patient and situation specific, but in our situation, especially since we were doing genetic testing and freezing Dr. Kim suggested eSET.

Dr. Jain gave the biggest gift he could possibly give us, our miracle baby boy. I was getting treatment at FCI prior to seeing Dr. Jain and I felt like I was just treated like a number and not a person. When I started seeing Dr. Jain in January 2020 after a recommendation by my sister n law who was in her 40s and had a very successful 1st cycle of IVF by Dr. Jain, I was blown away at the difference in care with him. Dr. Jain has the best amazing bedside manner. He is a good listener and is very compassionate. You can tell that he is rooting for you. He makes you feel like you are his only patient. Anytime I had questions, it was always very easy to set up a consultation with him. I felt very involved in my care and he was very receptive to my ideas as well. He would change my protocol as needed with each round. I already knew that we have a male factor issue and a poor egg quality issue and even with the odds against us, he made my dream come true. We are having our baby boy in July 2021 and it is all because of Dr. Jain. You would be foolish to look elsewhere. I have recommended him to some of my co-workers and they now pregnant too. Look no further than Dr. Jain for your fertility needs. He is a miracle worker.

nothing, please stay exactly the same. I can't wait to start my next round of IVF with him in January 2022.

micro dose lupron protocol with follistim is the protocol that got me pregnant

not sure, insurance covered everything

Dr. Boots was welcoming from the first appointment and very comfortable, I didn't feel rushed in my decision like my two previous doctors, she was very compassionate and made my husband feel included also. My husband has mentioned that he feels very happy with her and feels like we can come out with a baby of our own at the end of our journey. Dr. Boots suggest numerous options and explained every single step and recommended us for grants and she also is great at following up. For a military family always getting stationed in different places, I highly recommend Dr. Boots so far throughout our journey. I'll even go as far as after we have our child and in a few year if we are stationed somewhere else, we will come back to her as she is the most efficient and professional doctor we had so far.

I would tell my friends or anybody looking to start a family with help that you will feel welcomed and don't worry about being rushed with your appointment like most doctors will. She will explain everything even draw out diagrams to help further explain various examples and/or situations. She looks at all angles and will assist you in coming up with a plan. As a military family, we appreciate her so much as our schedule is never routine. She will work around your schedule.

Dr. Boots first went through our situation, took time to understand our story, as we seen clinics in Guam and San Diego with no success, then she explained and present diagrams of all options, after getting an HSG test and a sonohysterogram, I was diagnosed with tube blockage and will have surgery to get my tube removed and with that Dr. Boots explained IVF will be one of the only options left. So she explained the procedure and set us up with a financial counselor to explain the process. Within, our first two visits we had a game plan with the route we were going to go without the financial plan yet. We are still waiting on the results.

Since we are in the military, Tricare allows us to see her and get certain services completed but does not cover IVF or IUI so she recommended various grants and yet the visits, bloodwork, and other procedures were covered by insurance.

Dr. Boots explained the cost and differences between the single and multiple embryo process. She went step by step and explained the different processes.

Dr. Bernardi made us feel instantly at ease. She explained things thoroughly and answered our millions of questions with kindness and expertise. She was happy to try new things and was willing to work with my Reproductive Immunologist.

Do your research and be your own advocate. If you have multiple losses, seek out a reputable Reproductive Immunologist to work with Dr. Bernardi. If you have unexplained infertility, insist upon the ReceptivaDX to test for the biomarker for endometriosis.

Dr. Bernardi did every test (except for ones related to immunology). Based on my AMH, it was determined that have diminished ovarian reserve. Therefore she did not want to over suppress my ovaries. My standard treatment for medicated cycles was: 350 Gonal F Trigger: 250 Ovidrel When that didn't produce more than 2 follicles, we tried Menopur and Estrogen priming but got poorer results.

Thankfully, our insurance covered everything except the ReceptivaDX test. NW does have an onsite financial advisor who is extremely helpful when dealing with insurance and payment.

She is kind, considerate and caring. She has always taken my opinions and requests into consideration while forming my treatment. I have a lot of worries, and every time I speak to her I feel much better! I’ve seen 2 other RE’s and she is by far the best RE I’ve ever seen by a long shot!

I love Northwestern because it runs in a “team” patient care model — meaning, you have an entire team, not just one doctor. However, that also means you may not see your doctor all the time or very often. My advice is to simply ASK for an appointment with your RE whenever you want one — either in person or TeleHealth appointments — and you can get one! Don’t expect to see your doctor during all of your MANY ultrasound and lab appointments.

I am lucky to live in Illinois, which has a fertility insurance mandate, so I have very good insurance coverage for fertility / IVF. I paid $8200 a year max for everything with my insurance — up to 6 retrieval’s a year and unlimited transfers. My insurance covered all medications after that $8200 max out of pocket. Northwestern has been GREAT about coming up with a payment plan to pay that $8200 a year where we pay monthly.

Dr. Bernardi is excellent when it comes to evaluating transfer determinations based on the individual patient. I was very turned off by RE’s I’ve consulted with who had one protocol (ie, usually transferring only 1 or 2 max, even if low quality embryos) that they used for EVERY patient. Dr. Bernardi and my entire Northwestern team doesn’t do this at all. They are flexible and decide on how many transfers depending on the individual patient and their specific circumstances. This is a HUGE plus in an RE!

My husband and I are people that like to just get to the point, Dr. Robins was always incredibly informative and was to the point without seeming like he was insensitive to our situation. He had confidence in what he was doing that gave us peace of mind.

Trust the process, knowing that you are in good hands.

We have only had a plethora of testing done at this point, we have not yet moved forward with IVF cycles at this point.

All I can remember is IVF is approximately 10,000 out of pocket- not including medications.

He firmly believes in only transferring one embryo to avoid complications.

I think that Dr. Pavone so far has been professional and came with a good plan. The waiting for appointments were short and easily we got our tests back within few days. The nurses are good as well. We still didn’t start our fertility treatment due to Covid. The tests so far were done in a proper manner.

Ask as many questions and do search at home to what to expect

We have been prescribed some vitamins for my hubby to increase his sperm motility and concentration. Meanwhile I have been prescribed clomid and a shot when I will start the IUI process

Around 1k after our insurance

She is very knowledgeable and caring . Every appointment with Dr. Boots was very informative. She has a calming nature to her that helped us feel comfortable when she diagnosed me. She likes to draw pictures to help explain the diagnosis as well as the treatment options. I always left appointments with her feeling very hopeful.

The treatments and protocols are very straightforward and all researched based

The high cost has nothing to do with the clinic but the lack of insurance coverage.

The doctor and clinic together have a policy to prefer single embryo transfer depending on the situation

We were initially introduced to Dr. Jain during our third embryo transfer. He was kind and careful during that procedure. I ended up becoming pregnant but lost the baby nine weeks later. As an aside, it turns out that the baby had a severe case of down syndrome. In between the embryo transfer and our miscarriage, our doctor had retired and it was recommended that we meet with Dr. Jain for our follow-up appointment. Despite being a large clinic, Dr. Jain remembered performing our embryo transfer and gave his condolences several times given that we lost the baby from that transfer. We decided to move forward with Dr. Jain for our third, and hopefully last, IVF cycle. We just had our egg retrieval two day’s ago, but so far Dr. Jain has been extremely sympathetic to our situation, needs and wishes and has done whatever was in his ability to set us up for a good outcome. Most importantly, he listens to what we have to say.

I would tell a perspective patient that they most likely won’t see Dr. Jain often but know that he is working behind the scenes and will monitor your case and implement your wishes however he can. So please speak up. Dr. Jain is there to listen and craft a plan with your assistance.

I am prone to OHSS. After my second retrieval, in which they harvested 29 eggs, my husband and I told Dr. Jain that we didn’t want to go that route again. Dr. Jain said that more eggs out better but felt for us and did what he could so that I wouldn’t produce an over abundance of eggs. He put me on 75 units of Menopur and 125 units of Follistim. After five days, he reduced my Follistim dose to 100 units and we discontinued my stims after 8 days. The doctor who performed my egg retrieval, Dr. Boots, ended up getting 16 eggs of which 11 fertilized. We are much happier with this modest amount.

The clinic down monitoring within a two hour window each morning during the early hours (6:45 to 7:45, I believe). While this doesn’t always jive with our schedule, especially with a little one at home that needs to be dropped off at daycare, once we get to the clinic, monitoring appointments usually run very smoothly. I am usually in and out within twenty minutes.

We are lucky in that our insurance covers the procedures related to IVF. We only have to pay for medications and genetic testing. That being said, we asked Dr. Jain to send in the request for medications in December even though we weren’t doing IVF until February because we had already spent our deductible in 2018 and the medications would be free (we’ll take our small wins where we can). Dr. Jain complied but failed to order enough Follistim to cover a minimum of 8 days. What we had only covered 7 days. We had to purchase more Follistim in February because we were 75 units short and it cost us $1.5k. We will also have to pay for genetic testing, which will likely cost around $5k.

The fertility clinic as a whole has a very strict one embryo transfer policy. I’m not sure what circumstances would make the doctors change this protocol. Perhaps if the patient is over 40 and did not test their embryos they would be more willing to transfer more than one.

Dr. Kim was honest and candid about our options. She explained the results of our infertility evaluation in detail. When IUI did not work and we decided to go forward with IVF, she spent a large amount of time answering all our questions and reviewing the steps, risks in detail. She was very knowledgeable, drawing from medical literature/data, and transparent about our options and chances. The only thing that made me unsettled (and perhaps this is a reflection of my current stress/anxiety as we are still undergoing fertility treatment) is that I felt that we should have discussed IVF as a more serious option earlier when I had a better chance of success (I.e. was younger). Even though it was a span of a year, I felt that my chances of fertility success declined over that period based on my repeat testing/evaluations and that doing IUI first was a waste of time.

Don't be afraid to voice your concerns and opinions up front.

For my IUIs, we used 100 mg of Clomid for 5 days, triggered with Ovidrel. I did produce 2 follicles each time. For my first IVF cycle, we started with Follistim at 300 mg and Menopur at 75 units for 3 days which is the standard start IVF regimen for the clinic from what I understand. I was then increased to Menopur 150 units along with the same dose of Follistim for 5 days. Despite the increase, my cycle ended up getting converted to IUI because of poor response (only 2 follicles).

I have fertility benefits which covered my IUIs and medications thus far. I do have a copay for labs, US, office visits which have equaled out to about $500-$800 thus far.

We have yet to make it to transfer. But our plan is for PGS testing and transfer of 1 embryo.

Dr. Boots was so wonderful. She made me feel comfortable from the beginning. She answered all my questions, even when I came with long typed out lists. She was compassionate even when I was kist starting out and only doing the ovulation induction meds. I always felt like she cared about me, at each stage. She walked me through every step of the process every time I met with her and explained things until I felt comfortable. My body threw us a lot of curveballs and she had multiple ideas and solutions every time. We always discussed the pros, cons and risks of each option and she wanted me to feel good about our decisions. I trust her completely and always felt like she was doing and recommending what she believed was best for me. We had a rough road, but are finally pregnant. We are incredibly grateful for Dr. Boots and her care. We wouldn’t be here without her!!! My experience wasn’t easy but she made it as positive as it could have been.

Ask a lot of questions and come prepared to your appointments! Don’t be afraid to keep asking about something if you don’t understand it. Even if you read about something online or heard about it from a friend, she will help explain and never makes you feel silly for asking.

Letrozole & Clomid for timed intercourse/IUI. GonalF Menopur Ganirelix Omnitrope Estrogen Progesterone Lovenox for IVF. For frozen embryo transfers, we tried estrogen pills, then patches and then injections and on our last round we stimmed my ovaries with GonalF and Menopur to create my own estrogen and mimic a fresh cycle.

Efficient machine, first come first serve. Some days busier than others but that was to be expected. Most of the time it was quick.

Insurance covered.

Recommended single due to my young age and no history of miscarriage. After 2 unsuccessful transfers we discussed transferring two embryos. She was very open to it but discussed potential risks with me. She supported my decision completely. We ended up going with two.