Shady Grove Fertility Pennsylvania

Dr. Kallen is an incredibly talented, kind, compassionate doctor. He is up-to-date on the latest studies and values his patient's input. He takes the time to educate, inform and listen to all of his patients. He works seamlessly with his nursing and clinical staff, which you can tell through their communication. While he has a very calm and serious demeanor, he is incredibly caring and compassionate. When we received less than great news, he was the one who called us personally to share that news. He listened to all of our concerns and worries and thoughtfully shared his thoughts, while never once pushing us in any direction. I fully trust Dr. Kallen and know that I am in good hands.

Look no further! We came to Dr. Kallen as a second opinion and knew we'd found the right doctor upon our first consultation with him. Bring any and all questions and concerns to him and he will guide you through everything.

Since we had had diagnostic testing done at our previous clinic only a few months prior to coming to Dr. Kallen, we did not have to repeat our genetic blood screening. (I was not a carrier for any conditions the test screened for). My husband repeated his semen analysis and completed an infectious disease blood panel. I also repeated a complete blood work up. Prior to beginning our IVF cycle, I had an HSG done, a saline sonogram, and mock embryo transfer. This was our first IVF cycle, and we followed the Antagonist IVF Protocol. This entailed being on an active birth control pill for 21 days which commenced on the first day of my menstrual cycle. A few days before injections were to start, I came in for a baseline ultrasound and bloodwork. Once they verified that my levels were where they needed to be, 3 days later I started my injectible hormones. I began on 225 IU of Gonal F and 150 IU of Menopur daily. I came in 3 days later for my first monitoring appointment and my dosage of Gonal F was increased to 300 IU per day. Monitoring appointments became more frequent and my dosage of both Gonal F and Menopur increased. Once my follicles were large enough, I began Cetrotide and came in for monitoring almost daily. Then we got the go-ahead and exactly 36 hours before egg retrieval, we used an HCG injection. Egg retrieval was successful and we waited to see how many made it to Day 5 blastocyst. Since we were doing PGS testing, our blastocysts were biopsied and sent to the lab and embryos were frozen. PGS test results took about 2 weeks to come back, and in the meantime I waited for my next menstrual cycle to begin active birth control pills again to begin my frozen embryo transfer cycle. After we received our normal embryo results, I also began Estrace oral pills, three times daily. Then I began progesterone in oil injections five days before our frozen embryo transfer. Once the embryo was transferred, I continued both Estrace and PIO until 10 weeks gestation.

There are global fees for procedures. Global fees for IVF is based on maternal age and they have 3 packages - one cycle, multi-cycle, Shared Risk money-back.

Dr. Kallen prefers eSET, as there are now studies that show that transferring multiples does not increase the chances of success, rather the chances of multiples which is risky. He explained the risk of multiples and the probability of an embryo splitting. Due to our age (25 and 26) and this being our first pregnancy, he highly advised going with an eSET. We were planning on doing an eSET anyway.

I cannot express how amazing Dr. Schumacher is. Starting this process we were between 2 fertility clinics and after meeting her, I knew instantly she was the one. She goes above and beyond for all her patients. Sits down with you to go over what is causing the infertility provides all information with facts and shows how to move forward. I had a tube blocked and she recommended a surgery and if both were bad to remove both, and my percentage would go up for a success ivf transfer, and man was she right!! She also went the extra step to recommend who to see to get this done and now that person is my OBGYN!! She would consistency send emails after every little update and it made me feel like okay I am more than just another patient. She was the one to call me to tell me I am pregnant from my BETA results and we both were yelling on the phone. The personal connections are there with her and she cares about her patients!! SHE IS THE BEST OF THE BEST!

Just be open to anything and be optimistic - I know thats hard but trust me when I say it helps you get through. Each appointment I was making jokes with everyone and getting to know everyone because it helped!

I did IVF! I had a tube blocked and needed to get a surgery to remove the tube. She recommended if both tubes looked bad to my surgeon (who she recommended) then to take both. They ended up taking both. I continued all the plans to come with IVF and had 4 frozen embryos! We transferred one and I told Dr. Schumacher to pick whatever one looks best I don't care about gender and she did that and it was successful! :) She also was the one to do my egg retrieval, and transfer!

I had Progyny insurance with my work.

I have none.

Dr. Sasson and Nurse Nikki are the gold standard for IVF care! I am so incredibly grateful that I found them. I traveled from out-of-state several times to receive my care at SG Chesterbrook, but it was worth it. After a disappointing experience elsewhere, I was afraid to try IVF again but Dr. Sasson won me over with his unparalleled knowledge and attention to detail. He created a protocol that was tailored just for me and made adjustments along the way to make sure we got the best possible outcome. He predicted my exact cycle outcome and it's better than I could have ever hoped for. I struggle with egg quality and in the past had only made a handful of C grade embryos, but Dr. Sasson tried the Lupron Stop Protocol and was able to get multiple A grade embryos for me. I would recommend Dr. Sasson to everyone!

Don't be afraid to ask all of your questions! Dr. Sasson is very knowledgeable and he will answer each one in great detail.

Lupron Stop Protocol, Gonal F 175-225, MenoPur 75, 3 A-grade Embryos

There was a wide window for monitoring appointments. I think 7 AM - 11 AM. There was usually more than one appointment slot to pick from. I never had to wait too long.

$12K with PGT-A testing; no transfer yet; medications additional

eSET

We loved Dr Schumacher when we first met her. She is very knowledgeable and walked us through everything, allowing time for and answering all questions we had. We rarely saw her and only saw her for our consultation, follow-up, and egg retrieval. We were very happy with her but had we had a different diagnosis/ didn’t have success we probably would have preferred a doctor who was easier to reach- I tried emailing her a few times with no response. But that could possibly not be her fault but the way the clinic is structured- my emails weren’t very dire so I brushed it off. I don’t think she would be the right fit for a person who needs constant communication with their doctor. All in all we were very happy with Dr. Schumacher and would recommend her.

She’s wonderful but don’t expect to see/ hear from her often.

Our case was straight forward- I don’t remember the exact protocols but they seemed pretty standard and appropriate for us.

We did the shared risk program which we think was a fair price. It’s always going to be expensive and we were prepared for that.

Dr. Kallen is a very smart man. He knew from the very beginning what my problem conceiving was. He put me on the perfect protocol and even though I wasn't very sure at first I trusted him and sure enough everything turned out exactly as he expected it to. I felt confident I was under the right care from the very beginning. He is an excellent doctor!

Trust him, he knows what he's doing.

He put me on the antagonist protocol. Started me off on a very low dose of gonal and menopur as he expected my ovaries to react well. They weren't initially responding the way he expected them to so he monitored me very closely and adjusted my doses as needed. I stimmed for about 13 days and ended up with 18 retrieved, 17 mature, 12 fertilized and 9 embryos. He was very confident that even though my ovaries didn't respond the way we initially thought the were going to we would still end up with good embryos (which we did!) I'm very happy I trusted him as we were very happy with the results.

insurance coverage

His stance on single embryo transfers vs multiple embryo transfers is very clear and understandable. One healthy baby is the goal! If single transfers aren't working then he isn't opposed to transferring more than one.

In our initial visit, she made the complex topic of infertility and IVF very clear. She gave me her time, details, and sketched out diagrams, more than the two other fertility centers I had been to previously. With Brianna, I felt I would get the time and care you would expect given the nature and price tag of the treatment. She described how easy it would be to get plenty of healthy embryos with a Shady Grove egg donor. They had excellent and thoroughly evaluated egg donors. Just pick one of their fantastic egg donors and a sperm donor and voila! She was so confident about how easy it was to make healthy embryos with Shady Grove’s expertise and one of their egg donors. I saw very little of Dr. Schumacher after that appointment. I received a long list of items to complete and a few folks that were supposed to walk me through the process. It took me 6 months. I never really understood who to contact for what and at what point the doctor came back into the picture. One of the times I did see her, she said to work with her team, and they would handle everything and make sure I got what I needed. Working with her team felt very impersonal and confusing, and as it turned out, I was never getting all of the information I needed. And being handed off from one person to another with no crossover, essential checks and balances got lost. Ultimately, I lost 30K because of the lack of accurate information and the lack of attention to the process as a whole. Here are the details – I went with a 1:1 egg donor cycle with a 25-year-old Shady Grove egg donor. I had insurance for 2 transfers, and I planned on using it. All in all, it cost ~30K. And Shady Grove received about another 30K from my insurance company. The result: Instead of 18+ eggs retrieved, there were only 9. Only 4 were mature eggs. Those eggs resulted in 2 embryos with chromosomal abnormalities. 1 with Downs syndrome and 1 with Klinefelter’s (XXY). I was told to expect 8-12 mature eggs from a 1:1 pairing. This donor was originally a 1:3 that I asked to be converted to a 1:1. From that, they would expect 4-6 healthy embryos, worst case. Ideally, I could expect 6 or more. Dr. Schumacher was overly excited about the embryo with an AA rating (prior to PGS testing) and wanted me to be excited. She did not tell me the rating of the other one, even though I asked. I was not ready to get excited because most people who can do a simple internet search know that the rating does not correlate to the chromosomal health of the embryo. She should have counseled me to be cautiously optimistic until the results came back. Even in the beginning, she was advising me that I didn't have to do PGT-A testing because there normally weren't any problems with a 25-year old's eggs. I felt that Dr. Schumacher's advice, process, and attitude were reckless. She neglected our discussion that I am 47 years old, maybe had a chance left, and did not have any more money to try again. Had she considered that she would have been involved with the selection of a donor and advised me appropriately. I was never told that a 1:1 pairing “could go wrong.” They sold it to me as a guarantee. Hence, why I chose to spend the 20K for a 1:1. Nor was I told by the financial department or Dr. Schumacher that there is a guarantee with a 1:3 pairing of 4 mature eggs or your money back. When I asked, "So you can pay 10K and end up with nothing?" Heather’s response was, "Yes." This is incorrect. If you don't receive 4 mature eggs, you get your money back. If anything, the financial department’s job is to make sure you completely understand all the financial aspects of the contract. Prior to payment to secure my donor, I had several back and forth emails with Finance about how their documentation was confusing. There is no guarantee with a 1:1 pairing. Shady Grove just said - sorry we were wrong about this donor. It happens sometimes. And they accept no responsibility for requiring you to select from the egg donor list that they have hand-picked and evaluated. Shady Grove told me these details only after things went wrong. It took 2 weeks for Dr. Schumacher to call me with the PGT-A results. For 2 additional weeks, I did what she told me to do – be excited that there were 2 healthy embryos. She sent me an email with multiple exclamation points about how I should go out and enjoy the sun. “I just checked on your embryos and it looks like we have one BEAUTIFUL embryo frozen for you today (AA - the highest grade!). We have 2 more that we are still going to watch for 2 more days. :) Let me know if you have any questions!!!! Otherwise, have a great day! Enjoy this sunshine and warm weather - it's sooo nice out!” Finally, we connected so she could confirm that Shady Grove had set fire to my 30K. There were no healthy embryos. The AA rating embryo was found to have Down’s Syndrome. They have offered that if I pay an additional $38K, we can start over, and Dr. Schumacher will be personally involved this time. To be fair, this does include transfers. However, it means I won’t be able to use my insurance. She will review the donors with me to ensure that we are successful. We will only select from donors that have been used before and have produced healthy results. When I asked Dr. Schumacher why she didn’t review this with me the first time (I am 47, and this was the only 30K I had for treatment. I only had one opportunity with an egg donor.) She said, “ummm to be honest I normally do have this conversation with people .. it’s one of the first conversations we have when it comes down to selecting a donor, um I usually review all the donors and I have patients send them to me so I can go through them specifically, uumm I don’t remember specifically um the conversation that we had and it sounds like we didn’t have that conversation and so I apologize if it wasn’t um you know I mean usually we do have this conversation usually I’m very involved in the donor selection process, I’m not sure what happened um in your case.” In order to come up with that money, it will have to come out of my 401K. Take-Aways • DO NOT use an egg donor that is new and untested. With Shady Grove or any fertility center. Or you could end up in my situation. Choose an egg donor that has already been tested and ask what the results were. Know as many details as possible about the health of the eggs and embryos and living children from that donor. Let someone else play the lottery with a new donor. • Confirm with Finance and your doctor, your understanding of the contract and do it in writing. Make sure they reply back and confirm. • You are just a number with any center that you go to. It's up to you to make sure your doctor and your center are following an appropriate standard of care. • The profit margins on fertility treatment are significant. Do not accept a low standard of care. • Shady Grove is not any different than RMA or Main Line (Tangent – The most wonderful nurses in Dr. Gocial’s office.)

She will make you feel comfortable and explain everything in a way you will understand. She is very engaging and wants to get you excited about how amazing their treatment is and how easy everything will be in their hands. Unfortunately, to the detriment of the truth and reality. Then she will disappear.

We didn’t get that far since the 1:1 egg donor match from Shady Grove was unable to produce any healthy eggs or embryos.

21K for a 1:1 egg donor retrieval, 5K PGTA testing. 5K for storage, surgery and sperm.

Dr. Schumacher will not transfer more than 1 embryo at a time to my knowledge. Regardless of patient request.

I highly recommend Isaac Sasson. He wants to get to the route cause of my infertility and has been very supportive and compassionate through the whole process. He tweaks protocols and walks me through each diagnosis in terms I can understand.

Book soon because it take a little time to see him. Everyone wants him to be their doctor

I started my first several rounds on clomid. Trying to get me to grow a few follicles and ovulate. Clomid effected my lining so we switched to Gonal F. I had the best results with this and it allowed my lining to grow as well. After almost a year, we decided to try IVF. Turns out I have poor egg quality so the protocol will be changing to a lupron, Gonal f, menopur cycle.

For times intercourse cycles the cost was around $1500 a cycle (including meds). For IVF, our shared risk with PGS testing was about $26,000 (not including meds)

Isaac is in the baby making business but also wants to keep mom and baby healthy. He will only transfer a single embryo unless there is a particular reason why the patient is requesting 2.

Dr. Sasson has been wonderfully compassionate, thorough and insightful so far. We absolutely trust his clinical judgment and reccomendations. We will be moving into IVF as soon as we are allowed by the state (treatments are currently paused due to COVID19).

I believe you are in good hands! Though we haven't had success just yet, I am very hopeful that we will through IVF.

I have PCOS and am completely anovulatory. Unfortunately, my condition cannot be managed by exercise and diet. We completed 3 cycles using letrazole which were unsuccessful. Unfortunately, the fourth cycle I did not respond to either letrazole or clomid, so we moved onto Gonal F injections. Sadly, we were not successful on that cycle either. Since the cycles have become increasingly difficult for me emotionally, we decided that our best bet is to move forward with IVF.

We have spent an average of $1,800 per cycle since we have a high deductible plan. For IVF, we will spent am additional approximately $26K

We have not gotten to that stage just yet, however, Dr. Sasson did tell us that the chances of pregnancy are the same whether you implant one embryo or two. Therefore, I believe we will just transfer one.

She was very thorough in her explanation at the initial visit, and optimistic and supportive in our decision to go with IUI. Everyone who would call to discuss things was well informed of our chart/history/plan. She did our final US before graduating from the practice and explained everything well, answered any questions we had, encouraged us to send pictures of my growing belly and baby as the pregnancy progresses.

She had reviewed my chart from my previous doctor, and felt my body responded well to clomid so we did cycles of clomid and ovidrel with IUI. My initial month, I over produced and had 11 follicles so she canceled for too high a risk of multiples. The second month she lowered my dose to where i had 4, and we had a successful first IUI treatment.

Our IUI was 100% covered by our insurance

Dr. Sasson took on our case after a very bad experience at a previous clinic. He walked us through our lab results and the plan he has created. Throughout our care there have been some complications. Dr. Sasson was there on the phone calling checking in, and taking care of every detail. We feel so lucky to be in his care and know one day he will be the reason we have a child. He is truly a blessing and a very kindhearted intelligent individual who we have full confidence in!

Wait to get a consult with him!! You will walk out feeling at ease that you are in HIS excellent care!

Dr. Sasson knew right away that I was very sensitive to any injectable meds. that I was on. He was cautious and told me that my risks for hyperstim. during my egg retrieval process was likely. He educated me on the signs and when it did happen he gladly saw me on. a Saturday afternoon and checked on my the next day reassuring me that it will pass. Dr. Sasson understands and puts first the wellbeing of his patience- I am small and he will not risk the transfer of two embryos due to potential complications for the babies and me. Overall Dr. Sasson is a very thoughtful physician.

Our insurances did not cover any of the costs. We chose the shared risk program that costs 20,000 up front plus cost of all meds. This allowed us 6 retrievals and unlimited transfers. We did not qualify for financial aid and did not finance due to high interest rates through clinic program.

I liked Dr. Sasson because all our our treatment was customized to us. I didn’t feel like he just threw the same medications/ treatment at everyone. He worked with me when I ended up needed a second hysteroscopy for a septum. He was able to get it scheduled even though the clinic was overbooked with retrievals and transfers. We tried to be the one to preform all procedures as well and did both of our transfers. I liked that when we needed to make a decision about treatment he would give us the options, his opinion, and then let us make the final decision. Once the decision was made he fully supported whatever we wanted to do.

The first step was a hysteroscopy to correct a septum in my uterus. This surgery did not remove the full septum however. We were going to do IUI next but insurance wanted us to move right into IVF. We did IVF and frozen everything, then did another hysteroscopy for my septum. We did a frozen transfer of one embryo that failed followed immediately by a frozen transfer of two embryos that led to a successful singleton pregnancy. I was on Gonal F, Menopur, and cetrotide. I triggered with Lupron. For stims we started on low dose meds because I had a lot of follicles and did the lupron trigger for the same reason. This was successful in preventing OHSS. For frozen transfers I did del estrogen injections every 3 says and progesterone in oil injections daily until 10 weeks pregnant.

I was extremely lucky to have insurance coverage. I had to pay my deductible up front before treatment. Embryo freezing wasn’t covered and that was $1,800.

At first he preferred we transfer one. When that failed he gave us the choice to transfer one or two. We chose two.

Dr Isaac gave it to my straight. He didn’t water things down for me and I totally appreciate that because I’ve been to another doctor who gave me complete false hope and I feel I wasted lots of money with him and I could’ve used it else where. He told me things like the percentages and changes we had. He also explained how every treatment worked and what he thought would be best for me and my husband. Every time I spoke with him things got easier and understood more and more. He explained to me that these things can be very expensive and taxing on our mental health so we should take our time in making each decision and consider all out comes.

Don’t expect to anything but the truth and facts. But with consideration and understanding.

The IUI process. He told us step by step. Before, during, and after he reviewed what we did. From clomid to the injectable hormones, the scans and the intercourse times. He always gave us holistic things to do to increase the odds such as Foods, proper rest, and supplements to take.

The screening was around $2000 and every visit with the doctor was $90 and the iui was closer to $3000

Well he explained to use because of my endometriosis he only felt comfortable doing single egg transfer because that would but me at a higher risk for complications during pregnancy

Dr. Sasson was incredibly warm and caring during the whole process. He made everything seamless for a donor egg cycle after 5 long years of IVF troubles - even coordinating most of the monitoring for me in New York. I wouldn’t be holding my son now without him! I am forever grateful and highly recommend him - both for his expertise and gentle manner in dealing with his patients.

He is very impressive. I had been too various fertility specialists, but finally with Dr. Sasson I felt that he was prepared, listened to me, and had a game plan with very specific details as to what I could expect. He is the first doctor who actually really delved into and reviewed my entire very long medical record before I got to the appt with him - previously, I felt each doctor did not bother to (even after all my work of gathering it). The uncertainty of dealing with infertility is a lot of the frustration - he and his staff take that away. Don't be afraid because he is organized and knows what he is doing. I say that with confidence as I was relatively calm having a donor cycle done in PA while I was being seen in NY; he inspires confidence.

I had a donor egg cycle split with another couple. I used the long Lupron cycle. I had very poor egg quality in prior attempts using my own eggs so this was the best approach. The Lupron cycle was fine for me, and I also was watched carefully as I had previously ovulated prematurely before an egg retrieval. He synced up everyone's cycles to have a transfer when expected.

I was monitored in NY while my egg donor had her appointments in Chestbrook. I was always abreast of her status and I felt completely involved. My paperwork for appointments for myself in NY were handled well as well.

The costs were reasonable in comparison to NY IVF clinic prices. i utilized the shared donor egg program and my insurance, which covered a good portion of costs exclusive of the donor eggs themselves. The staff were very helpful in assessing options for me.

As I have said in previous chances, Dr. Martin MD as a clinician is far more than I could ever expect from my doctor. I wish more doctors were like him. Whenever he saw that I was getting down in the process he will try to make sure to get me to laugh or smile and remind me that keeping a positive mindset is a big part of the process. He seem to always be involved in my care even after I was realeased from the clinic after my pregnancy. From the very first consultation when I met him and he sat down and drew a diagram out of what my care plan would look like to make sure that I understood everything that was going to happen to me I had a great feeling about him. Even after my husband’s job has relocate from Pennsylvania to New York three hours away I went to consultations with other doctors and did not find anyone that I felt transferring my care too and now decide to drive three hours each way to see him because I believe that much in him.

Do not be afraid to ask questions. He will answer every question and to him none are stupid questions. Give him the chance to allow you to feel comfortable

For my first egg retrieval Dr. Martin placed me on an antagonist protocol. The reason we needed to seek IVF help was my husband suffers from male factor in fertility. Otherwise I have three healthy children from my previous marriage and no history of any issues conceiving. He explained to me that we would have to use IVF with ICSI because my current husband‘s sperm had to be surgically retrieved . During my first egg retrieval we used an hCG trigger however it caused me to overstimulate so now in my second egg retrieval cycle we are using lupron instead. After our miscarriage when we weren’t sure if we should proceed with IVF Dr. Martin explained that he felt we still had a chance because my body has proven that knows what to do in regard to my uterus, we just need a good embryo to implant. He said he felt as though the sperm was not a huge issue because we were able to get 3 embryos to blastocyst stage and highly recommended that this next cycle we utilize PGS testing to give ourselves the best cancelled of implanting a good embryo.

When I lived in Pennsylvania morning monitoring appointments when that hard for me. Once I move to New York however monitoring between 7 and 9 AM was a little more difficult to get to considering I was driving three hours each way to get the air. One time I arrived after 10 AM but I was able to drive to the Chesterbrook facility and still see my doctor as he was there that afternoon. They understood my trip and we’re more than willing to help accommodate.

I don’t recall as my insurance covered everything except genetic testing. PGS testing is $3400

For my first transfer we only transfer the one embryo. My second transfer was two embryos because we only had to laugh and Dr. Martin MD is open to discussing this with me. I told him that my insurance only allows us three chances and I would rather him play at two and still have one more chance laughed to go through another egg retrieval. He helped me weigh all the options and was open to my feelings and agreed to transfer two embryos in the second transfer. I love that we came to that decision together

Dr. Kallen does not have good communication skills and struggles giving individualized protocols and recommendations (especially for DOR). He does not stay up to date on infertility research and studies. As his background is in Academia, he likes to lecture about topics he feels comfortable with. If you ask questions (especially about IVF) he does not respond to them directly. It took him two weeks to answer very standard questions about the quality of the lab and even then his answers were very vague (I had been a patiend of his for 4 months at this point). During my time being treated by him, I felt I was just a number. At one point during a medicated cycle, he recommended I trigger 4 days earlier than I had in the previous cycle (the follicle sizes were the same as the previous cycle) which would mean I would only trigger with one mature follicle. I challenged his recommendation and triggered a few days later to give the other three follicles a chance to mature (that cycle resulted in pregnancy). When I asked why he had decided on the random date for the trigger, he did not have a good reason and told me it's ok to trigger later. It seems like he just didn't care when I triggered. After speaking with other women and seeing other doctors, I now know that my treatment by Dr. Kallenn was subpar.

I do not recommend this doctor

We did 3 medicated cycles with clomid and Gonal F with timed intercourse. We had wanted to do IVF right away but we had a bad experience w/ Dr. Kallen, so we moved fertility clinics.

My insurance covered most but I needed to meet my deductible. I've spent about 3k on testing, 3 medicated cycles monitorring and the medications

If PGS testing, Dr. Kallen recommends just one embryo transferred.

Dr. Sasson went above and beyond to keep us educated about the process. His communication was excellent. (He even called to discuss treatment with me when my body wasn’t responding to certain medications to explain the next steps.) I was confident in his treatment decisions and felt that I was in safe hands. He explained everything from start to finish. I never left an appointment feeling unsure what the next step would be.

Trust the process!

I have PCOS and have quite a few follicles. We started with IUIs. First round- 100mg clomid followed by Gonal F shot and ovidrel trigger. Negative Second Round- 100mg clomid, 150 mg clomid, letrazole with injections. My body wasn’t responding well to the meds. (Too many follicles! They were just eating up the meds with no response!) Negative. Third Round- Clomid and Gonal ans Ovidrel. Negative. IVF embryo retrieval: Gonal F and Menopur. Cetrotide added. Lupron trigger. (Haven’t done transfer yet.)

Shared risk program. ~26k. Covers six rounds (not including meds or certain things) but if all round fail, receive refund of money. Cost included PGS testing.

Dr Sasson recommended one embryo transfer based on my age and situation.

As I shared previously, I came to Dr. Sasson after many years of poor experiences with Doctors due to severe pelvic pain and pelvic floor issues. I had pretty much given up hope even after spending several years in pelvic floor PT. I had tried to reach out to another fertility clinic prior to Shady Grove, and felt immediately like they couldn't be sensitive to my health issues. However, that was not the case with Dr. Sasson. From the first moment we met him, he listened to us and treated us like individuals. He was very careful and sensitive about making sure I felt comfortable at all times. When we experienced devastating setbacks (miscarriages) he grieved with us but didn't let us give up hope. He helped us come up with a plan to diagnose what was going wrong and helped us execute that plan with positive support and empathy. I am now 15 weeks pregnant with a healthy baby and things are going well. It was hard to leave Dr. Sasson as he took such good care of us. He's a loving, kind and wonderful Doctor.

Trust him fully. At the end of the day, we know our own bodies and we need to be our own advocates but we are not the Doctor. When and if setbacks occur, trust that he is going to help you figure out where you go from here. When a plan is given, have the courage to follow it to completion. It's the only reason why we are now expecting our son.

As a patient with severe pelvic floor problems, I really was not a good candidate for IUI so we went immediately to IVF. We learned quickly that although I had a normal follicle count on my ultrasounds, my follicles did not respond as well to the stimulation drugs. My first cycle, we only retrieved 5 eggs. A dominant follicle had sucked up a lot of the medication on the one side. Out of those 5 eggs, we wound up with 1 normal PGS tested embryo. The transfer was canceled one week prior to the procedure because we found that I ovulated through the delestrogen. I was then put on a different protocol for the next month wherein I had to take Lupron injections first to avoid the ovulation again. This was difficult but we fought through it. The transfer was successful and I became pregnant. We had a healthy heartbeat at 6 and 7 weeks; however, I then started to bleed and we sadly lost the baby shortly thereafter. At the Doctor's suggestion, I went through with a D&C procedure to ensure I would not get an infection. We went through our second egg retrieval a few months later after I healed from the miscarriage. This time, Dr. Sasson chose to start me on an estrogen patch to help prevent a dominant follicle like the time before. He also increased my dosages on the medication in the hope that we could get a few more quality eggs this time. This protocol worked and I had 9 more mature eggs retrieved at the retrieval surgery. Of those 9 mature eggs, 7 of them made it to 5 day blasts. Of those 7, 3 of them tested normal through PGS. We transferred the first of those embroyos (from the second batch) following the same transfer protocol as my first pregnancy. (Lupron injections to prevent ovulation.) Then we started on the del estrogen and the progesterone injections. Unfortunately, this pregnancy also resulted in a very early miscarriage (a chemical) after a positive pregnancy test at home. At this point, Dr. Sasson suggested that I go through the recurrent miscarriage bloodwork so that we could identify why I had now miscarried two PGS tested normal embryos in a row. He also suggested that I schedule a surgery at a local hospital so that we could do a full hysteroscopy and make sure there weren't any other lingering issues with my uterus that might be causing the problem. I went through with this procedure and we learned that, despite my years of pelvic pain, there did not appear to be anything in my uterus that was causing the miscarriages. The endo that was causing my pelvic pain was very deep in my pelvis, likely not a candidate to be ablated and not something that they should likely try to touch. Additionally, at Sasson's suggestion, I went through with the ERA (Endometrial receptivity test) in order to gage if there was an issue with the timing of my transfers. The ERA showed that I was considered "pre-receptive" and Dr. Sasson then adjusted the timing of my next transfer accordingly. Finally, my miscarriage panel bloodworked showed that I tested positive for one of the antibody clotting disorders and I was put in a daily baby aspirin to try and treat it. The panel also showed that I had elevated prolactin that might be contributing to my problems and I was put on Dostinex to attempt to treat this as well prior to transfer. My 3rd transfer (2nd embryo from the second retrieval) occurred after the results of my ERA and after I started the aspirin and Dostinex protocol. I did a lowered Lupron protocol this time to prevent ovulation and then started on my delestrogen injections per usual. We then adjusted the timing of my progesterone injections to match the results of the ERA. This transfer was a success and resulted in a healthy pregnancy. I was released from Shady Grove's care after 10 weeks and I am now under the care of a high risk OB that came highly recommended. I am now 15 weeks pregnant and all is going well.

We were lucky to be part of the shared risk program for IVF. At the time, I believe the cost for the shared risk portion of the treatment (not including medications or PGS testing) was $21,000. However, if we were going through this treatment now, the cost would be even lower as Shady Grove recently lowered their rates for shared risk.

I believe that had I asked to transfer 2 embryos, Dr. Sasson would have respected my wishes; however, this was not something that I considered doing.

Dr. Sasson is very personable, knowledgeable & honest. He personally called to give updates on our embryos as well as emailed us when we received our PGS results (which was 3 days before Christmas) He also took the time to call us the following day (the Sat. before Christmas) to discuss PGS results & when we would proceed with our FET. We can’t thank him enough for everything he did for us on our journey to become parents.

Trust in him completely.

Our first retrieval with Dr. Sasson was actually our 6th retrieval. He decided to do a Lupron stop protocol (which I had never done before) during my stim period I was injecting FSH 325 in the AM & Menopur 325 in the PM. I stimmed for 12 days & had retrieval on day 14. We got 11 eggs, 9 were mature, 7 fertilized & we ended up with 5 day 5 blastocysts & 1 day 6 blastocyst. This was double the amount of blastocysts we had gotten from any of our previous cycles. We did PGS & ended up with 4 PGS normal embryos!!! We were beyond excited with our results at Shady Grove with Dr. Sasson!

We were lucky enough to have some insurance coverage so we spent about $1800 for our FET since our deductible just renewed. PGS cost $3400 & our meds cost roughly $6000 for the whole cycle.

Dr. Sasson recommended that we transfer one embryo for best results & we got a positive pregnancy test 6 days after our FET!

At our first appointment I thought that Dr. Kallen pushed doing IVF a little too hard, but once I explained I wasn't ready for that he was immediately okay with trying another IUI. He explained the process he wanted to try and what results he expected. When things didn't work out as planned, he reassured me that things could still work out, and if they didn't, we could change our course for the next cycle without moving onto IVF right away. He was personable and honest and I appreciated the fact that he did all of my ultrasounds and the actual IUI.

Tell him what you're comfortable doing. Be honest.

My first cycle with Dr. Kallen for my IUI I took Clomid 100mg CD 3-7 and a 75mg follistim injection on CD 7. I started estrace vaginally twice a day on CD 8 because my last cycle with Clomid it thinned my lining and the follistim and estrace were to make sure my lining was where it needed to be. I ended up having only one follicle but it was a big one. I used ovidrel and 2 days later had my IUI. I'm still in the TWW.

I have a $70 copay every time I walk in the door except for bloodwork. I'm unsure of the actual cost of the IUI because I haven't been billed for it yet. They provided my follistim injection for free as long as I used their pharmacy for the ovidrel.

Dr. Sasson goes the extra mile. He makes sure that we feel comfortable and ready for the next steps. He coordinates our daily lives with our treatments and adjusts everything to make it work for us. He's kind, patient and overall WONDERFUL!! I wouldn't have want to go through all of this with anyone else. He's been there for us every single step of the way and I wouldn't change anything!!

You'll be in the BEST hands!

We started with clomid and IUI's, when that didn't give the results we were expecting, Dr. Sasson called us for a meeting in the office and explained that we had many things to try before taking a step towards IVF, since we were nervous about that. We then started letrozole and more IUI's, every single failed IUI that we had, Dr. Sasson would take the time to call and let us know the results and make sure that we were ok. When the third or fourth IUI with letrozole didn't work, we sat in his office and he explained how IVF works and told us our plan of treatment. He was very through and explained in a manner that made us feel comfortable and sure that we understood every step of the way.

Treatment is very expensive but that's what we expected when we first walked in. Dr. Sasson explained to us and assigned us to a financial counselor who in depth explained the cost of every single treatment we were going through at each time and also explained what was covered or not under our insurance.

I think Dr. Sasson is very conservative and I really appreciate that because he gives us the re-assurance that we need. He is able to assure us that nothing bad will happen to us and I feel safe with his recommendations and opinions.

I truly would recommend Dr Sasson to my best friends and family. I always felt like he cared, he made sure I understood every step of the process, plus- everything was successful while in his care! He wasn’t at every single appointment or procedure, but only due to scheduling and I was still in good care with the other doctors.

Make your appointment as soon as you can. I can not recommend him enough.

Since no test my husband and I took was definitive, we never had a specific issue to treat. That said, getting pregnant on our own still wasn’t working. Dr Sasson recommended starting with IUI, but only doing 1-3 tries because it wouldn’t increase our odds much over doing it on our own. When the first IUI didn’t work, we moved straight to IVF. My ovary stimulation was so successful (I ended up with 21 mature eggs) that my hormone levels weren’t good for a fresh transfer. I ended up having to wait longer for my frozen transfer, but we transferred one embryo (of 17 that survived to day 5 and froze successfully) and it took! I had a daughter from that one transfer. When we were for a second, I went back to Dr Sasson and made a plan to prepare for another embryo transfer. We transferred only one embryo again, and it stuck again. I’m now due with #2 next week! (I do not remember the names of the drugs or dosage I took)

Shady Grove offers a “shared risk” program to pay one fee that covered I think up to 6 IVF cycles and unlimited embryo transfers. Then if it didn’t work or at any point I wanted to back out, I could and get my money back. I believe the fee was $26k. Then the frozen transfer for my second pregnancy was about $4,600.

My doctor explained clearly that given my specific situation/age/etc, the likelihood that I became pregnant with one embryo was about the same as if two embryos were transferred- only then I’d be pregnant with twins! I was confident in his recommendation to transfer one embryo at a time.

Dr. Munabi was gentle, but very candid in what we could expect. We paid for a multi cycle discount, and due to my diagnosis, he argued with the clinic to allow us to cycle a second time before transferring (despite our contract not allowing this.)

Know in advance that he a very thick accent! The nurses are great at reiterating what he says—but don’t be afraid to ask him to repeat himself!

Cycle 1: Antagonist Protocal. 450iu of Gonal F, 225iu Menopur, Ganirelix. 5 retrieved, 3 mature, 3 fertilized, 2 embryos, 1 PGS normal, 1 live birth. Cycle 2: Lupron Stop Protocol. 3 weeks Lupron, Gonal F 450iu, Menopur 150iu. 7 retrieved, 7 mature, 5 fertilized, 2 embryos, 1 PGS normal. Currently frozen.

$21,000 for two IVF cycles. $7500 for medication (purchased from Israel, would have been $13,000 domestically) $3000 for PGS testing

I was inclined to transfer both embryos. My doctor recommended a single FET because the embryos were PGS tested.

I transferred to Dr. Schumacher after a year+ with another doctor from another practice. Best move ever. Dr. Schumacher was absolutely wonderful from day 1. She explained everything so well and answered all questions. She was so involved in my care and instead of just following a routine, kept switching and improving treatment based on results. She was so involved, would do ultrasounds and tries to perform all her patient procedures, despite there being a schedule for doctors rotating. Would highly recommend Dr. Schumacher, I have my baby girl because of her.

Go to her! She is a great provider

SGF offered a multi cycle discount program, was not offered at my other clinics. SGF was more affordable

Dr. Sasson was awesome. We learned exactly what to expect and next steps and how to proceed with treatments. We were confident that the decisions we were making were well thought out and executed. I felt safe and trusted him with our care and the expansion of our family

Trust him! He’s amazing! And bring someone with you to the HSG scan

We used clomid 75 mg because I had significant follicles in each ovary. I had a monitored cycle and then administered a trigger shot and did timed intercourse. I got pregnant with our beautiful daughter during that cycle

We spent about 3000 dollars from start to finish worth our daughter

Dr. Schumacher is very personable, professional and clear with what to expect. She takes time to explain all procedures, options, benefits and risks in a way that is truly helpful. She reaches out to communicate directly and has been a very caring professional.

Can't say I have any advice, she did everything I'd expect a caring doctor to do.

We're using oral estrogen and PIO injections to prepare for a frozen embryo transfer via donor embryo.

We're doing a frozen embryo transfer via donor embryo program. The fees in total should be under $8k. Extremely reasonable.

SGF says their standard is almost always a single transfer to reduce the risk of multiples. As a former preemie parent, I recognize the importance of reducing the risk of multiples given the increased risk of prematurity. However, they still evaluate each case to be sure eSET is best given the circumstances. In our case, both embryos we have are healthy and theres no reason to justify trying multiple transfer and risking multiples.