Illume Fertility (formerly RMA of Connecticut)

Dr. Leondires is a very good communicator, he's approachable and always keen to answer questions. He's very knowledgeable about LGBTQ patients' specific needs and you feel supported in your desire to build a family without judgment. He went through it himself, he's a gay dad and I liked that. He's also quite conservative when talking about IVF (SET vs. twins etc.), and I relate to it.

Ask all the questions, even the ones that sound stupid. He can sometimes get carried away and do all the talking. The clinic he's built seems up to high standards and that will prove very important when making quality embryos.

Going through egg donation and surrogacy, the process has been pretty straight forward: - I got tested for any STI's, got cleared, then gave my sperm specimen. It was analyzed then cryopreserved. - I chose a donor through the clinic bank. Attorneys (outside RMACT) drafted an agreement, which took about one month. - My egg donor followed her treatment for about 10 days then eggs were retrieved, fertilized, PGS testes, then cryopreserved. From 17 eggs retrieved, I ended up with 5 PGS tested high quality ones. (3 embryos didn't pass the genetic test). - I am now waiting to match with a surrogate to continue my journey.

RMACT In-House Egg Donor, Gestational Carrier, Surrogacy Plan: $46.825 including: Donor fees: $16,281 Gestational Carrier Fees: $2,819 Surrogacy plan with PGS: $27,725

Dr. Leondires is a strong advocate for eSET. I am not sure whether he would accept to transfer more than one embryo.

Dr. Mark Leondires and the team at RMA of Connecticut truly made our dreams come true. We had a very difficult case, with so many failures trying to have our children prior to coming to RMA of Connecticut. Dr. Leondires agreed to try to help us and came up with a different protocol specific to our needs. Throughout the process the whole team at RMA was in constant communication, explained everything thoroughly and clearly, and helped us get through our most difficult times. After having 1 child through 15 transfers elsewhere prior to RMA, Dr. Leondires helped us get our 2nd and 3rd children in 1 transfer each, 2 for 2! The lab is second to none, the staff is amazing and supportive, and the results speak for themselves. We are still in awe that it worked both times after so much difficulty, and cannot express our gratitude enough to Dr. Leondires and RMA of Connecticut. They really did make our dreams come true!

Please go see him if you want to be successful in your fertility journey. The results are amazing and we only wish we saw him sooner.

The costs were very manageable and lower than other places we went to.

Dr. Ressler is very kind and very soft spoken. It always felt like she was trying to be compassionate. I just never felt like a true connection formed. I’m also not sure that the protocols she selected were the right path for us.

It’s important to find a doctor you trust and connect with. Not all doctors personalities are a match.

When doing IUI's we started with Clomid for the first cycle and my lining wasn't as thick as she wanted it to be, so when that cycle didn't work we switched to Letrozole. After that for the next 3 cycles no changes were made. And I had 3 more unsuccessful cycles. When doing IVF, I had a pretty successful retrieval, starting with 23 eggs. For our first transfer we did the standard protocol. Which was unsuccessful. Before the second transfer we were told I should do an ERA test which showed that my first shot of progesterone should be 12 hour earlier. I also had a procedure to dilate my Cervix due to a curve in my uterus that was difficult to navigate during transfers. With all of this, my cycle was still unsuccessful.

Monitoring was fine. Again, just felt like I saw someone different every time

Most was covered by insurance, but some things weren't. Overall we've probably paid close to $10k even though so much was covered.

We were told only 1 embryo would ever be transferred given my age.

Our experience with Dr. Leondires and RMA-CT was a horror show. My 30-year-old sister offered to donate an egg to me and my husband so that we could make a family with genetic linkage to both of us. We live in NYC where there are many great fertility practices, but we chose Dr. Leondires due to the passion he purports to have for gay family building and the desire to use a facility in a state where surrogacy is legal. Dr. Leondires was arrogant and distracted. I am a physician, and I assured my husband, “it doesn’t matter how arrogant he is; if he gets good results, that’s all that matters.” My sister’s stim was a disaster. They could not figure out how to coordinate monitoring closer to her home at Northwell, though they had promised that would not be an issue. They would only even communicate with Northwell after we called multiple times saying that my sister was having trouble getting in. She ended up having to go to RMA-CT for her monitoring, but saw Dr. Leondires zero times. He was apparently monitoring her stim, though did not seem to have a good grasp on it. Initially he thought she would have plenty of eggs, then a few days later feared that she would only get 8. A couple days later at her retrieval, she got 30. After this roller coaster of a stim, ALL OF THE EGGS died at one stage or another. Of the 30, 21 eggs were mature; 15 were fertilized and 6 were put aside for her to keep. Of the fertilized eggs, 13 of 15 died before they reached blast stage. One had abnormal PGS testing and the other was inconclusive. They thawed the second embryo for rebiopsy and it died. He called my sister to tell her and said, “have you heard the diagnosis of PCOS?” She said, “yes I told you I had PCOS in our first consultation.” My sister then offered to let us fertilize the remaining 6 eggs. On thaw, 4 of 6 died. The remaining two fertilized. Neither made it to blast stage. We had to practically beg for communication during this time. RMA-CT would not return emails and Dr. Leondires would be impossible to get on the phone. He gave us his cell phone number to assure us he was invested and then would not text back. When he did call, it would be at 9 pm, of course with bad news. He would robotically tell us about the statistics again: “If you start with 10 eggs, 8 of them might fertilize, right? And then of those 8…” (as if we were supposed to believe that what happened was run of the mill) and we would have to stop him and say, “We KNOW about the statistics. Can you tell us what exactly happened IN THIS CASE?” And he would say, “Well we don’t really know.” Meanwhile, a second opinion suggested that it was a poor stim. Of course, he would not admit that. Then, because of this heavy handed stim, my sister got hyperstimulation syndrome. She had 7 extra lbs of ascites. She called the office to tell them. She was scared and uncomfortable and called me every day saying she was not sure what to do. He returned her call FIVE days later. By then it was already starting to get better. Because of the terrible experience, she is reluctant to cycle again and anxious about her own fertility. Please – save yourself from the heartbreak, the difficulty, the begging for communication, and stay away from this man and this clinic.

Choose a different doctor. There is a great deal of emotion involved in this process: you want someone who gives you realistic expectations and feels trustworthy. Dr. Leondires fulfills neither of these requirements.

We had Dr. Leondires's stim cycles reviewed by two other prominent fertility doctors, and both disagreed with his approach. He seemingly forgot that our donor had PCOS, something he mentioned to her only after.

We were told monitoring appointments could be performed in Brooklyn. Not the case. We ended up making three trips to Connecticut during the nine day stim cycle.

As a gay couple, the cost was largely not covered by insurance and was about the expected cost of an IVF cycle.

Dr. Richlin is a knowledgeable RE. His optimism has been helpful while going through this journey. However, he is inconsistent with email communication and sometimes dosen't follow up on essential procedures.

He speaks fast so take notes and ask questions.

For my IUI cycles I was prescribed Letrozole, Gonal F, and Femara. On my 1st IVF round I was prescribed Gonal F, Menopur, and MD Lupron. Unfortunately I didn't have a good response and I cancelled the cycle. I had a better response on my 2nd IVF round with Femara, Ganirelix, Gonal F, and Menopur.

Before Covid-19 morning monitoring was between 7-8am. Since Covid-19 appointments are given for morning monitoring.

Insurance covered a large portion of my care. However I was incorrectly charged for sperm thawing when my insurance covered this procedure. I had to wait 3 months for a refund.

Dr. Richlin was willing to perform a double embryo transfer since I have DOR.

Dr. Murdock was very thorough in her work up with us and referred me for other appointments as needed (nutrition, additional bloodwork). Every step of the process was explained clearly and she spent a great deal of time in consultation with us making sure we understood all the diagnostics and treatment plan. While she did not shy away from the facts with us, she was always positive and re-assuring. Our egg retrieval went smoothly but our FET is currently on hold due to covid-19.

Ask her a lot of questions! She absolutely wants you to know and understand everything that is going on with regards to your diagnosis and treatment.

I did a luteal start beginning with oral medication (estrace) and moved onto injections consisting of micro dose Lupron, Menopur and Gonal F. I stimmed for about 12 days before the trigger shot. I ended up with 5 eggs retrieved, 4 fertilized and 2 made it to blastocyst. We opted to do PGT testing due to my age and 1 embryo came back genetically normal. The results from my egg retrieval were as expected given my age and diminished ovarian reserve. Our FET is currently on hold due to COVID-19.

It was run very efficiently. I never waited more than 15 minutes

Insurance covered a good portion of our work up and IVF. We did have some out of pocket expenses with genetic testing and some medications

We will be having one embryo transferred

Dr. Richlin was always professional but very caring. He always asked if you had questions, was thorough in explaining things. Always showed visuals and data to show what was happening. He always asked how I felt and how I was doing, made sure if I had any concerns he would discuss them, he always guided me with all options that were available, and would tell me what he thought was best course of action, but always allowed it to be my decision in the end. He supported me with not doing more testing, and understood financial restrictions and would do things within what was feasible.

Ask lots of questions, don't be shy, because he will answer everything happily!

My protocols were on the basic side. I took the typical medications prescribed for IVF cycles, menopur estrogen, progesterone suppositories for retrieval and for frozen transfers. If anything needed to be changed, he always adjusted medications for me based on bloodwork and numbers. And he always showed me my numbers and where I need to be. My first fresh transfer was not successful. Then COVID hit and I had to take a break from any transfers. In May we started again and I did 2 frozen transfers in May and July. July was successful, but unfortunately ended in a chemical pregnancy. My 4th frozen transfer, was successful and I transferred my last 2 remaining embryos. And I am currently still pregnant!

Monitoring appointments were really convenient because they occurred early in the morning so it didn't interfere with getting to work, and it was very helpful to go in quick and be out quick and on my way.

Most of my insurance covered the costs, some out of pocket expenses for medications.

With my age being older, my doctor advised me to only do one, but again always left it up to me. My last transfer, it was our last shot, and I said I wanted to do 2 and he agreed with no problem.

Dr. Hurwitz is a great doctor. He's a strategist meaning I know he was going home and thinking about my case and how to produce better results. He was willing to try different things for the end result. He always gave his professional opinion, but I think at times he went along with me at times because I'm extremely strong willed. I think patients that are sensitive wouldn't like his delivery.

He's the real deal. You can tell he truly cares about his patients.

As a sufferer of diminished ovarian reserve we tried a mixture if high dosages and low dosages of meds to see what work best.

Morning monitoring was a well oiled machine. Was able to get in and out and be to work in time.

Approximately 40K not including meds

Can't recommend Dr. Leondires highly enough. His results are fantastic and he's always striving to do better. He is very professional and trustworthy. While he can be blunt (which many doctors are), we appreciated his straightforward presentation and willingness to joke around.

Although Dr. Leondires can seem very sure of himself, you should still feel free to voice any concerns or ask any questions you have. You're your own best advocate!

I do not remember particulars, but we had great results from our egg donor's retrieval, the PGS testing was crucial, our surrogate responded well to the medications to get her ready, and our first transfer (albeit of a high-grade embryo) was successful. No qualms about the strategies or their rationale.

Dr. Leondires is best described as mildly anti-twin. He is realistic about the additional risks posed by a multiple embryo pregnancy. Of course he's willing to transfer multiple embryos, but we did not want to pursue that course, and with results as good as his, it thus made little sense to transfer more than one embryo.

The doctor is both knowledgeable and practical. When we were getting close to transfer time, He presented us with pamphlets on ERA testing, as well as websites we could use to learn more about it. When we told him that we would require a gestational carrier, he provided us guidance on that as well. Stating the pros and cons of going independent v. With an agency. He himself has used a gestational carrier, so we appreciated his insight and support. Through out or process so far, he has remained as objective as possible while presenting us with facts and it genuinely feels as if he has our best interests at heart.

Take the time to research all of the information he provides you with. Some Doctors will make decisions for you or try to lead you in a certain direction. It’s your life, do the legwork!

For our Gestational Carrier, we began with an ERA cycle. During the first attempt at an ERA cycle she began with Estrace 2mgs for a week, increased to 4mgs by week two, then began progesterone in oil injections and prometrium suppositories. Unfortunately, the progesterone in oil caused spotting and her lining was not thick enough for the first biopsy to be done. Second ERA attempt: used estradiol valerate injections instead of estrace pills. Switched out the progesterone oil for an olive oil base for less irritation and incorporated the same suppositories with baby aspirin. This Cycle resulted in a successful biopsy. We are currently in our first transfer attempt cycle. Protocol from the last ERA cycle is being replicated with a slight adjustment on the timing of progesterone injections. The biopsy showed that she was slightly Pre-receptive.

Because we are using a carrier, many payments had to be made out of pocket. (All of the fees associated with her monitor care at her own clinic are not included) $3,819 - Gestational carrier medical Screening $1000 - ERA testing $5,000 - transfer fee

Though we would love twins, the Dr. has a strong stance on SET. He, again, presented us with the data on SET v. DET. And explained the risks associated with multiples. With Multiples, each baby is completing with the other for nutrients. With only one embryo developing in the womb, it is able to keep all of the focus on itself. He also stressed how a woman’s body was made to carry one baby at a time and multiples pregnancy put the carrier at a higher risk as well.

Dr. Richlin is fantastic. He knows his stuff as well as he cares about his patients. I worked with him for 2 years prior to our first RMA baby and we have been at it again for the last 14 months. When my husband and I first met with him, we were eager and optimistic. Dr. Richlin connected with my husband (as well as me) and made us both feel comfortable being in the unfamiliar office, with unfamiliar technology (the vaginal ultrasound wand is no joke!). As we progressed through diagnostic procedures without unveiling answers, I got more frustrated, but Dr. Richlin stayed with me, motivating me and explaining what "unexplained" means. He also gave insight into what we were finding and helped us understand our options. After the required (by insurance) 3 IUI's, we headed into IVF. When we had no embryos on day 5 after our first retrieval, Dr. Richlin called me in shock. Hearing the surprise in his voice made me feel better. I was not a number, I was a future success story, but he was as frustrated as me by our roadblock. After another failed retrieval, he took our chart to "case review" to get his colleague's opinions. I love that he was humble enough to do this and that the others cared enough to help. What is better than 1 amazing brain? 5 of them! We kept tweaking the protocol and ended up with something that worked. When it was time for us to come back for baby #2, he welcomed us with open arms as though we'd never left. When I more recently had a miscarriage, he followed up via phone and email to see how I was doing. Knowing I have his support and that he is walking with me on my journey makes it so much easier to walk back through those doors.

Don't be afraid to ask questions! He will gladly take the time to explain something to you, or work through a scenario with you. He is a great listener and wants to know your concerns.

3 IUI's - standard protocol 1st retrieval - standard protocol, nothing made it to day 5. PROTOCOL: 1/15/15 - baseline ultrasound and bloodwork; 1/17/15 - Dexamethasone 1/2 tablet in AM, Gonal F 300 + Menopur 75 at night; 1/20/15 - ultrasound and bloodwork; 1/21/15 - dexamethasone continues, start Doxycycline 2x daily, Gonal F 300 + Menopur 75 x2 + Ganirelix; 1/22/15 - Ultrasound and bloodwork; 1/24 - ultrasound and bloodwork, 1/25 - ultrasound and bloodwork, last dexamethasone, HCG trigger, Gonal F 300 last time; 1/26/15 - bloodwork; 1/27/15 - retrieval 2nd retrieval - Luteal Estrace/Antagonist. 2 blasts on day 5 (very very low quality) (untested); PROTOCOL: 3/2/15 - bloodwork; 3/2/15 - start estrace 2mg twice daily, start baby aspirin; 3/12/15 0 ultrasound and bloodwork; 3/14/15 - Gonal F 300 + Menopur 75 at night; 3/14/15 - start dexamethasone 0.5mg 1/2 dab orally every am until taking HCG; 3/15/15 - last dose of estrace; 3/17/15 - ultrasound and bloodwork; 3/19 (or around then) start ganirelix (.25 prefilled syringe) and possibly started menopur; take HCG 10,000 units or Ovidrel 250 (mcg) 36 hrs before retrieval; The night of the retrieval take Medrol 16mg for 5 days, also start Doxycycline 100mg 2x/daily for 5 days. Start Estrace 2mg 2x/daily after retrieval and begin Crinone 90mg the morning after retrieval (prep for fresh transfer) 1st transfer (FRESH) resulted in a negative pregnancy test (PROTOCOL - see above) 3rd retrieval - IVF with Luteal Estrace/Antagonist - resulted in 1 embryo on day 6 (untested); PROTOCOL: 4/27/15 bloodwork; 4/27/15 start estrace 2mg 2x daily, start baby Aspirin; 5/11/15 - ultrasound and bloodwork; 5/12/15 - Gonal F 300 + Menopur 150 every evening also Dexamethasone 0.5mg, 1/2 tablet orally every morning until HCG; 5/13/15 - last dose of Estrace; 5/15/15 - ultrasound and bloodwork; 5/17/15 (or around then) - begin Ganirelix and likely Menopur; HCG 10,000 units 36 hrs before retrieval 4th retrieval - Luteal Estrace/Antagonist - resulted in 1 embryo on day 6 (untested) 2nd transfer (frozen, used 2 blasts) resulted in a positive pregnancy test. One fetus was lost at week 7, other is a precious 2 year old :) Used estrace valerate to support my estrogen numbers. --break due to pregnancy and nursing-- 5th retrieval - did luteal phase priming - resulted in 4 high quality embryos on day 5. None were tested. (at this point, I've been on NeoQ10 for almost 5 years, otherwise the result was a surprise) PROTOCOL: 2/19/18 - bloodwork to confirm ovulation; 2/19/18 - start estrace 2mg orally twice daily, start taking baby aspirin; 3/5/18 - return for ultrasound and bloodwork; 3/6/18 - Gonal F 300iu + Menopur 150iu every evening; 3/7/18 - last dose of estrace; 3/9 - ultrasound and bloodwork; 3/11/18 (or around then) started ganirelix and may have increased menopur 3rd transfer (frozen, using 2 blasts)- used estradiol valerate and copied the protocol from transfer #2 - negative pregnancy test. PROTOCOL: 4/10/18 Start Estradiol Valerate (0.2ml (4 mg) injections. One injection every 3 to 4 days so that you are doing them 2x a week. Start baby aspirin daily. 4/20/18 - REturn to office for bloodwork and ultrasound. 4/21/18 - Start Progesterone 50mg (one cc) IM @ 12pm alternating every other day with Crinone one vaginal insert 2x daily. Continue Estradiol Valerate at the same dose and schedule. 4/26/18 - Transfer day. Use Crinone, one insert vaginally in the morning. 5/4/18 - Pregnancy blood test 4th transfer (frozen, using 2 blasts) - used estradiol valerate and copied protocol from transfer #2 - positive pregnancy test, week 6 demise of both pregnancies. I had a heterotopic pregnancy/miscarriage, resulting in a ruptured right tube and a D&C. PROTOCOL: 8/9/18 Start Estradiol Valerate (0.2ml (4 mg) injections. One injection every 3 to 4 days so that you are doing them 2x a week. Start baby aspirin daily. 8/22/18 - REturn to office for bloodwork and ultrasound. 8/25/18 - Start Progesterone 50mg (one cc) IM @ 12pm alternating every other day with Crinone one vaginal insert 2x daily. Continue Estradiol Valerate at the same dose and schedule. 8/30/18 - Transfer day. Use Crinone, one insert vaginally in the morning. 9/7/18 - Pregnancy blood test 6th retrieval - this was rushed due to squeezing it in before the end of our insurance cycle, we didn't want to "leave money on the table" - resulted in no embryos on Day 3 - quite a shock to have none * I also do acupuncture 2x a week when in cycle, whether it be a retrieval cycle or a transfer cycle. I do laser acupuncture before and after the transfer. ** I take a prenatal, DHA supplement, NeoQ10 and folic acid regularly

Morning monitoring is not awesome, but the waiting room is well-stocked with coffee, tea, TV and on the weekends, bagels. It is first come, first served, but we sit waiting for our name to be called in a very comfortable place. Once your name is called, you go do bloodwork and from there they take you to an exam room. About 15% of the time, the exam rooms are all full and you go back to the waiting room and have your name called again for the exam room. The exam rooms are pleasantly decorated in peaceful tones, but are otherwise exam rooms. The primary facility (where I go) was opened in 2015, so it still feels fresh, clean and new.

We are very fortunate to have had many of our procedures covered by insurance. I believe we paid a total of about $30,000 out of pocket for our first child ($20,000 was covered by insurance). We've now paid approximately $10,000 (in deductibles) for our second go-round.

Yes. I did not know what to do and felt very comfortable asking him to make that decision. Transfer #1 - fresh transfer, 2 embryos very low quality - it wasn't discussed too much. I think the doctors knew there was a slim chance either would work. Transfer #2 - I was mentally exhausted and questioning whether I should even do the transfer. I wanted to only transfer 1 and possibly have the second for a second baby, but I also barely had it in me to go through one transfer cycle. Dr. Richlin talked to me about the consequences of transferring 2, and then said he thought I should do 2 based on my mental state. I needed to get on with things (we were talking egg donor if it didn't work). My husband and I discussed the possibility of having twins and we were excited about it. I was 35 at the time. Transfer #3 - I was 37 and we discussed it, but transferring 2 seemed like the right thing to do. Transfer #4 - There was a brief discussion, but we were comfortable transferring 2. **After the miscarriages from transfer #4, we will now get any embryos tested and only transfer 1.

Dr. Ritchlin always a has such a positive attitude. It is very clear that his end goal is to get us pregnant. It is evident that he is passionate about our goals and is our biggest cheerleader. He wants success for us and that is evident.

Make sure to ask questions specific to outcomes so that he can further explain the rationale and reasonings.

We first started in April 2018 with clomid and timed intercourse. That did not work. We then went into doing 2 cycles of IUI which neither worked. It was our choice to proceed with an IVF cycle instead of waiting one more round of IUI. IVF started in August with stims and a retrieval followed by 3 frozen transfers: September, October, December. We are currently prepping for our second IVF cycle.

I have always had a super short wait period for bloodwork and morning monitoring. I have never waited more than 5-7 minutes.

So far, we have paid roughly $25,000 - $30,000 for our cycles and medications. This also includes roughly $1,000 for acupuncture appointments, $175 mental health appointment and the rest is what insurance did not cover.

Dr. Ritchlin shared the concerns about doing multiple embryo transfers and we agreed that single embryo transfers were the best option for our cycles.

Dr. Williams provides a lot of information, and tends to stay on the more positive side of statistics. Whenever a treatment didn't work, the next time I saw him, he always made sure to ask if I was ok. He also seemed very concerned with things we were concerned about.

Ask questions. Keep in mind, he tells you the most positive statistics he can, and even if everything is perfect, it can still be difficult to conceive.

I did three IUI cycles with 100mg Clomid, which worked about as good as could be expected. The IUIs did not take. After that, he suggested injectables or Letrazole, but my wife and I decided we would rather try reciprocal IVF instead,since she is about 6 years younger, and we could not know for sure why IUI wasn't working. We are going through that process now.

The out of pocket rate for IUI was 1200 per cycle with no medication included (medication costed about $120 total for Clomid and Ovidrel). Testing was covered by my insurance for the most part. Genetic test was $250. If you did a 3 pack it was $6000 and included 2 injectable cycles if needed. For Reciprocal IVF, I'm pretty sure we will hit our out of pocket max, and our insurance will cover the rest.

He was very reluctant to even consider transferring two embryos. I am positive though, it is because we have a very high chance of success. He said there would be 60 percent chance of multiples of we transferred 2 embryos.

He is amazing. I wish all my doctors were like him. He treats me like he would his own family member. He has been there for us every step of the way, during all the ups and downs that come with infertility. He remains positive we will get the outcome we desire.

Don't think twice about if you should see him. I only wish I had heard of him sooner and started working with him earlier in our journey towards having a family.

His primary concern was that we have a healthy pregnancy which resulted in a live birth of a healthy baby and mother. He always leaned towards a single embryo transfer but was supportive of our choice to put 2 back.

He is very helpful and caring. He gives good detailed explainations of everything that is going on, but in a simplified condensed manner that really brings the most important things to light while allievating fears.

Ask which office he is currently rotating at to ensure you can see more of him!

Did a birth control start into a Lupron microflair protocol with gonal f and Menopur and a hsg trigger. This was due to my age factor. Next protocol will be similar but with an estrace priming due to low number of mature eggs in last round.

Morning monitoring was from 7-8am and this generally worked out well. As long as you got there near 8 they would still see you. There was a wait at times for bloodwork depending on how many people there were but it was usually fairly quick to be seen.

Insurance was denied so out of pocket Opportunity Plan was $20,000 for PGS and one round of IVF with 10 days of medications included. We paid for one additional day of meds for $500. Diagnostics and genetics testing were covered under insurance since we got our max out of pocket.

He is compassionate and kind and took his time with us. He once called me on his weekend off because the nurse told him I was upset. He made me feel like he had our best interests in mind. He was very up front about our chances of success.

His office is quite far from where we live and he does not usually have office hours closer.

We did 6 IUI cycles - 2 with Clomid, 2 or 3 with combined Clomid and injectables and 1 or 2 with injectables alone. I believe he told us he would have moved on to IVF sooner, but our insurance covered 6 IUI cycles and no IVF so he wanted to exhaust the covered services before subjecting us to a fully self-pay service. We finally did one IVF cycle and transferred 2 of 14 embryos and froze 4 more. We had 1 full term singleton birth from the first IVF cycle. The remaining embryos were genetically tested but 3 of the 4 didn't survive the thaw. We later attempted 2 FET cycles with the last remaining embryo (delayed for more than a year due to complications, need for further testing and travel to a Zika zone). The first was cancelled before transfer for unfavorable uterine lining. The second resulted in an early miscarriage.

Usually very quick and organized. On weekdays, I could go to any of the 4 offices for monitoring. Even on weekends when all patients were at the same office, it was never too long of a wait, nor did the practitioners seem rushed

About $30000 total for copays & deductibles, IVF, genetic testing of embryos and FET

He briefly mentioned eSET for our 2nd cycle but it became irrelevant when 3 of the 4 frozen embryos were lost

Strengths include a calm, relaxing demeanor. If you're an anxious patient you would do well with him. But he's very impersonal and I felt like just a number. I am a single mom to be and did not feel well taken care of on an emotional level.

If you need a calm, reassuring demeanor, you'll like him. If you want a doctor that treats you as a person with a life and feelings you might want to go with someone else.

No "infertility" issues per say. Just a single female that wants a baby. So started with a clomid/trigger IUI. 2nd IUI clomid was upped and follistim added. Resulted in a chemical pregnancy. 3rd IUI was follistim and trigger and was negative. Just had my first egg retrieval for IVF #1 and used follistim, menopur, ganirelix and hCG trigger. Resulted in 20 eggs retrieved.

They were pretty organized as long as you got there at 7 am on the dot. The closest office is about 30 minutes away and in order to get seen and get out and get to work on time I needed to be there the minute they opened.

After 3 IUIs using donor sperm I've charged about $7,000 for sperm, deductibles, and meds.

Doctor originally recommended transferring 2 due to my age (38). After retrieval, he stated that my embryo development was above average for someone my age and he now recommends 1. So I'm confused and overwhelmed at the decision.

My experience with Dr. Richlin was very positive. The first time I met with him, I met with him on my own and he was very reassuring and helpful. Each staff member that I encountered was friendly and welcoming and made sure I was comfortable. Questions were always answered promptly if I was unable to get in contact with someone right away.

He is very reassuring, almost to the point that I felt there was no way my treatments wouldn't work. Unfortunately, I have not gotten pregnant yet and felt very disappointed each time, which is to be expected. The advice I would give is to remember that nothing is guaranteed, a doctor can't possibly know for sure if something will work for you so...I would say be cautiously optimistic.

Dr. Richlin recommended I try timed intercourse with Clomid. The first dose of clomid was too little and follicles did not grow large enough for the trigger shot. He gave me a higher dose of clomid immediately, which did the trick as my follicles were large enough for a trigger shot. I gave myself the trigger shot as directed, ovulated, and had timed intercourse as directed. I went in for a blood test about two weeks later and it was negative. I then began my next cycle with the larger dose of Clomid and did the whole thing all over again the same way with the same results. For the third round it was recommended that I switch to letrozole, but I declined to go for another round because there was some factors in my life that caused me to need to put things on hold.

My insurance covered everything.

N/A

Dr Hurwitz made a great first impression. He also called us personally before and after the first IVF cycle to say he thought things looked great. It was nice to get that personal touch but we didn't hear from him much during our second round. i actually feel more connected to one of the other doctors who I see for about 95% of my monitoring appointments and who did my retrieval and transfer for this last cycle.

Don't take it personally if you never hear from or see him after your initial consult.

For our first round of IVF, the protocol was similar if not identical to the one we had done at another clinic. When that cycle only resulted in one good embryo, Dr Hurwitz completely changed the protocol in hopes of yielding more. The new protocol seemed much longer but it did give us 9 embryos (4 of which were normal).

I go for monitoring at their Trumbull office which only has two ultrasound rooms. I've found that if I'm not one of the first ones there at 7am, I could be waiting for an hour if not longer to get into a room.

Thankfully our insurance fully covered all of our treatments except the PGD testing which was just under $4,000. We are responsible for meeting our deductible and coinsurance

We only did an eSET because we only had one embryo at the time.

Dr Richlin was, from the beginning, extremely open, honest, compassionate, and took a deep interest in our situation. Unfortunately, our first pregnancy ended in a loss due to chromosomal issues. Dr. Richlin called me personally to extend his sympathies and stress that he and the team were there for us whenever we were ready to move forward. He never hesitates to check in, answer questions, go into more detail, and make sure that we're comfortable with where we are and the next steps. He takes the time to point out everything he's looking at during ultrasounds and explain what he sees. He's so thorough and caring in everything he does.

He's chatty! I like that, because I'm chatty as well, but if you're looking for a doctor who just presents the facts with nothing else, Dr. Richlin isn't the one for you. But if you want a doctor who is more than willing to go into tiny details and talk about anything with you, he's the one!

I have annovulatory PCOS, but no other fertility issues, so we started with Femara and a trigger shot for ovulation induction and a timed intercourse cycle. Our first cycle was successful in that we conceived, but we lost that pregnancy at 15 weeks due to chromosomal abnormalities. Our second cycle we followed the same protocol and were successful as well. We are awaiting genetic testing on this pregnancy. Usually patients start with Clomid, but due to my history of depression as well as the risks of non-ideal cercival mucus and uterine linings, plus the slightly higher risk of multiples, I asked if Femara would be an option. He was immediately on board. I liked that he was willing to brainstorm different possibilities with me.

Ovulation induction was covered under our regular health benefits, with the exception of the trigger shot which came out of our fertility benefits. We had very few out of pocket costs other than the prescriptions and some copays for office visits.

Dr. L seemed nice enough at first. This was my first fertility doctor and I didn't really know what to expect. He originally diagnosed me with unexplained. Then after tests came back he said I had DOR. He was still confident we had a 66% chance of success and was confident that we would be parents. After my first retrieval I only had one viable egg to transfer. He changed the protocol for my 2nd attempt and I got 3 eggs but none were viable. After that he gave me the donor egg speech. I was totally shocked since he had shown me all these fancy charts that said I at first had and 85% chance and then 66% chance. Then he just gave up so I left.

ask his familiarity with your condition

IVF 1-Antagonist protocol IVF 2- Estrogen priming with microdose lupron

I would say mix between cattle call and well oiled machine. Large group of people waiting but usually in and out within 30 minutes

I had insurance coverage so copay only.

Multiple for greater chance

Dr Williams was very compassionate throughout the entire process. He explains in detail what is going on. He works closely with the other doctors on the team and they seem to communicate well with each other as I often saw his partners at the morning appointments, but he was always up to date on what happened.

Understand that you will see other members of the practice for procedures and appointments depending on times and locations you choose to go to.

Dr Williams had me do the 3 IUIs and when those weren't successful move to IVF. One cycle produced a viable embryo that passed chromosome testing but when implanted stopped growing. The second cycle the embryos stopped developing after day 3, Dr Williams was very up front with me about his reservations with doing another IVF with my own eggs. He suggested I could do another IUI if I really wanted to keep trying with my own eggs to reduce costs since I wasn't getting a lot of eggs at retrieval anyways. I did this but was unsuccessful so moved to donor eggs which resulted in a baby!

Monitoring was 7-8 every morning. The early you got there the faster it was to get in and out so I was usually the first one there and never had to wait. The nurses drawing blood were great, all kept your spirits up. Then went to ultra sound room to wait for doctor, sometimes this could be a while if issues with a patient.

Have opportunity plans for a lump sum payment if your insurance doesn't cover, this was around 10k for IVF cycle. Donor eggs were 22k for 2 lots.

Only supported single transfer with my own eggs. By time I got to donor eggs he allowed 2 in the transfer but only 1 took.

Dr. Hurwitz, was very good about making me feel comfortable. We happen to had a friend in common and at no point I felt uncomfortable with him keeping my information confidential. He explained the whole process in a simple and clear way and was very honest. I did IUI and after a few negative results he recommend IVF. I was nervous about it but he made me feel confident. I always remember how he made sure he was the doctor to do our last ultrasound at the clinic. To our surprise he gave us the news that we were having identical twins. He congratulated us and reminded us that multiples are not a walked in the park staring with the pregnancy. They are now 3 and he was right!

Trust him and have patience

He always suggested the less invasive procedure first, he is looking for the best option.

Insurance cover most of it

He was open to our plan get 2 embryo transfer, at the end only one took and split!

I had a good experience with him. He was quite knowledgeable, and treated me with respect. I felt like he understood me. Explain the details of the treatment, and even a bit of the science behind it when I asked. I also felt like I had a good bit of personal attention from him, and even though they had many setbacks along the way, I was always satisfied with the quality of my treatment.

I don't remember the details anymore, I produced a lot of eggs, and had a very high fertilization rate, but the quality the embryos was poor. We went through four cycles with Dr. Hurwitz, and he tried different strategies. He always explained his reasoning, and he was always willing to answer my questions.

I think the morning monitoring was run efficiently. The doctors rotated, so I got to meet the other doctors at the practice. Even when I didn't see my primary doctor for morning monitoring, I always felt that the other doctors were knowledgeable about my case, and they always answered my questions.

He was kind, patient, cooperative, good bedside manner, knowledgeable regarding recent research, a good listener, worked to understand your individual goals, took a vested interest in your success. Offered strong guidance but also respected your autonomy in making clinical decisions.

Utilize his knowledge in making clinical decisions and take the time to review the data.

10k after insurance.

I only had one euploid embryo to transfer, I now wish I took advantage of my time and did embryo banking.