Hey-Joo Kang

She seemed unprepared for my consultation and was not very positive about my ability to have a successful outcome. She tried to make up for it by being more encouraging later and I decided to proceed with my cycle, but ultimately I did not feel like she personally cared about me or that she was invested in my treatment. After my consultation, I saw her just 3 other times (including my Day 3 transfer) and the rest of time I saw whatever doctor was on call. I was told before my retrieval that I would receive a call from the doctor with my results no later than 3pm the next day and she never called. I followed up twice and finally she returned my call but seemed rushed and unsympathetic, even when we retrieved only 1 egg (versus the 5 she had predicted).

She talks a good talk and is very direct in her feedback and advice, which gives the illusion that what she says is the best possible course of action. However, in retrospect, I feel that she prescribed a high stims cookie-cutter treatment plan for me, without consideration for my older age and diminished ovarian reserve. She also strongly advised a Day 3 transfer and no genetic testing because she didn’t think my embryos would make it but since switching to a different doctor, I have had two cycles where all my embryos made it to blast and genetic testing. It was my first IVF cycle so I was naive and trusting, but my advice for anyone seeing her is to seek outside resources and counsel before taking her advice as fact.

It was a well-oiled machine but felt a bit like a cattle call. Atmosphere was not warm, no music or magazines or any sort of ambiance.

Over $40k! Crazy hidden costs not accounted for in their general breakdown.

Dr. Kang is sometimes warm and smiley, sometimes no nonsense, sometimes appears not invested. She is by the book (doesn't believe the research supports supplements, acupuncture, etc). I completed 1 egg retrieval, had 1 cancelled cycle, and about to begin another egg retrieval.

Come prepared with questions and research.

1. Egg retrieval using an estrogen priming protocol (20 retrieved, 11 mature, 8 fertilized, 4 blastocysts, PGS testing 1 normal). 2. Same protocol for round 2, cycle cancelled due to poor response. 3. Will begin shortly, estrogen priming with microdose lupron flare to see if it controls eggs better.

Most times the wait is over an hour, though recently it has been under 15 minutes. Basically very variable.

Insurance covered but responsible for many copays, some medications.

I was really happy with my experience with Dr. Kang. She is very matter-of-fact; during my initial visit with her to discuss potentially freezing my eggs, she laid out the process itself as well as its upsides and downsides, and was practical about the cost, risks, and tradeoffs of pursuing egg freezing. She's both down-to-business and very kind and encouraging, and definitely inspired confidence and trust as soon as I met her (and even more so over the course of my treatment). She is not a hand-holder, though, and I learned to be proactive/not shy with my questions because there were some times that things came up that I didn't necessarily know to expect -- for example, I had a cyst, and one of the medications had a warning not to use if you have a cyst. Turns out the medication is not supposed to be used with a very specific type of cyst, which was not what I had, but I ended up calling her line to ask them about it and then once we discussed, I felt totally reassured in taking the medication. Obviously Dr. Kang was very cognizant of my cyst and I knew she wouldn't have told me to take it if there were outsized risks, but there were just some things like that where it was helpful for me to speak up and get the full clarity I needed. My retrieval was on a Sunday when she wasn't on call, but she still came in to do it (and a few other patients of hers that day), which I thought was really cool of her. She was clearly invested in my success and excited for me and my journey, which was a great feeling!

Don't be shy about asking questions! The process can feel overwhelming and mysterious, but is so much less stressful when you speak up and get all of the information you need to feel reassured.

I went on birth control for ~2 weeks before my cycle started because my periods hadn't been regular so she induced a period / ovulation. Took out nuvaring and started hormone injections ~2 days later. My hormone injections were only 1x per day the whole time, and then I had two trigger shots at the same time (no further shots the next day).

Monitoring was an efficient and well-oiled machine; scheduling was never an issue, they would ask what time I wanted to come in and put me on the schedule but if I ended up coming in a little earlier or later it always worked out and I never had to wait long at all.

Appointments leading up to cycle were ~$500 each (I probably would've only had one if not for my cyst, so I had two). Lab bills before were about $500 in total. Medications were ~$2,000. Actual retrieval including anesthesia and hospital fees was ~$9,000.

I would definitely recommend Dr. Kang! I thought she was the right balance of very positive and warm while also appropriately managing expectations. I thought she gave each treatment enough time to work without pushing the next step, but also not letting me continue something futile for no reason. Overall, I did 2 medicated cycles, then 6 IUIs, and then turned to IVF after those cycles only resulted in one chemical pregnancy. My first IVF cycles, we put two day three embryos in, and that resulted in a chemical pregnancy and 1 mosaic embryo. We re-grouped after that and she adjusted the medication. I remember the conversation well - she was very positive about the next cycle, which kept my mood up and kept me low stress. The second cycle went much better - I gave birth to a healthy baby girl after a day five fresh transfer of one embryo and I have several embryos left in the "freezer." Also, there was one bit of a scare after my pregnancy took while I was still in her care (before transferring to obgyn after 8 weeks), and I was really grateful that she let me come in whenever I wanted to check on how my pregnancy was developing rather than making me wait during this high-anxiety time. I came back only two days later and everything was much better and back on track! I was so grateful I didn't have to wait for my weekly check-up to know that everything was OK. Overall, just a great experience during a time that can be very stressful - Dr. Kang is very both knowledgeable and also positive and a wonderful doctor overall.

Don't be overwhelmed by the size of Cornell's clinic. I had a great experience with Dr. Kang and I know many people who had success and great experiences with other doctors there as well. It's a busy clinic for a reason!

They were very upfront about the costs. It is expensive if you don't have good insurance, but I was glad they were upfront from the beginning and thankful they took my insurance (and I believe take most insurances).

Initially I liked Hey-Joo Kang. She had a straightforward attitude and I felt confident in her abilities. However, as time went on, I lost all confidence in her and changed both doctor and Hospital to NYU and it was the best decision I've ever made. When I started this process I was 39, and Dr. Kang was lax about her approach to my getting pregnant. Then one day, she, Gasp, realized I was 40 and made me feel like if I don't move then I will never have a child and told me my egg quality wasn't good, (which you can't test for). From there the pressure mounted and my stress levels were through the roof, not ideal when you are trying to get pregnant, by the way. Unlike others, I had to have a surgery to remove muscle on my uterus, and the surgery was botched and I was in the hospital for 7 hours instead of the 45 minutes like she said it would be. (She did the surgery.) That was the most pain I've ever experienced and for it not being successful...Strike one. Then we did timed sex...well that didn't work. Then we did IUI...twice. That didn't work. But by no surprise, nothing worked because my surgery was unsuccessful. And she put me through all that wasted time and emotions of seeing negative pregnancy tests one after the other, all because the surgery didn't go well and she didn't tell me that until way later down the line. Finally, she tells me we are in the "big leagues" of IVF. Where I was over stimulated, they only retrieved a small number of eggs (I later got over 25 from my new doctor) and none of them were viable. She did suggest another approach. And that I needed to take "xx medicine again", which I had never taken, I realized, she just didn't even know who she was talking to. And I made my decision to leave her and her practice. The best part, is that I never had any embryos transferred and recently got a BILL for "EMBRYO TRANSFER TO UTERUS". That's when I knew I had to write this review. Thanks for charging me for never even creating embryos and then transferring them to my body. This felt like fraud during an already emotional, incredibly difficult, challenging, and hard, time in our lives, when all we saw was failure after failure with Weill Cornell.

I wouldn't recommend going to her if you are older and have special uterine issues. Go for IUI if you think it will be successful.

Timed Sex with Ovidrel shot. IUI in office procedure with time Ovidrel shot. IVF, Gonal F/Menapur/Cetrotide. Egg retrieval. Then because Weill Cornell does fresh embryo transfers I was on intramuscular oil progesterone shots. However, I didn't have any embryos make it, because I was over stimulated during the egg follicle growing stage, so that was pointless.

In retrospect, I didn't need to go in as much as I was told to, based on my later experiences with NYU. It feels as though they want to charge, more than they care about your appointment, even if you didn't have it done at Weill Cornell. And that is off putting.

$20,000 for one cycle. All of my insurance was used up which was a lifetime of $20k and then they charged me for services that were not rendered. Such as Embryo Transfer to Uterus. Maybe they had the wrong person's file. Who knows.

She believes in fresh transfers, which don't allow for genetic testing. And transferring multiple embryos, which will possible result in twins or more babies, when it is a risk for older mothers to carry. When you have a finite number of embryos, you should consider one at a time.

In spite of several unsuccessful IUIs to start, I always left Dr. Kang’s office feeling reassured and better than when I walked in. She was always clear about my treatment plan, made every effort to answer questions to the best of her ability, and was open to my feedback. I deferred to her judgement and had a very smooth and successful egg retrieval and transfer with no complications, but I have no doubt that if I had raised concerns about my medication protocol or anything else, she would have been open to addressing them. I saw her for every ultrasound during my (lengthy) IUI process, and she performed most of them, which I understand is somewhat unusual for Cornell, but I didn’t see her quite as often during my IVF monitoring, and more often met with the other on-call physicians. I felt consistently supported by Dr. Kang and her level of expertise and professionalism. She hit the perfect balance for me of candid delivery and positive reassurances.

Come prepared with questions, but don’t be afraid to ask.

We used an antagonist protocol for IVF, with Menopur and what I understand was a fairly low dose of Follastim. I’m on the smaller side, so Dr. Kang expressed that we needed to be extra cautious of ovarian hyper stimulation. I had very limited drug side effects. The goal initially was to retrieve hopefully 10-12 eggs, proceed to ICSI (my partner had previously been diagnosed with low sperm motility), fresh transfer one embryo, and test/freeze the remaining. In the end, we retrieved 20 eggs, 18 were able to be fertilized, and ten were frozen and tested.

Monitoring hours are managed well but wait times could be long. This was my biggest frustration, but in the grand scheme of the treatment I received, it was well worth any hassle.

Our entire IVF cycle was covered by insurance, but we had to pay our $3500 deductible for medications.

I felt like she was on time, to the point, and really well spoken. I felt very comfortable with her. She really is a no nonsense doctor and does not give false hope, yet, gives you all options available.

She’s very to the point. She does not waste your time. She will give you options from the start and proceed with treatment quickly.

Due to my diagnosis of POF, Dr. Kang started me off immediately with trying to level my hormones. She put me on a low-dose 0.05 mg of estradiol to help with hot flashes. I was given thyroid medication 0.05 mg to help my thyroid. I was given progesterone during my first IUI.

Cost for the first IUI was $800. All medications up to and throughout the first are you why were approximately $200.

I went with Dr Kang knowing she had helped a few people I know conceive babies. Every visit she made me feel so comfortable, after every negative test she assured me it would happen. And it did. We believed in the process because of her. After I got pregnant via IVF I was having terrible pain at 6 weeks pregnant all day and finally I decide to drive myself into the city to see her - mind you it was already 5 pm and she was supposed to be done for the day. She waited until I got there to make sure everything was okay. It was 630 by the time I had gotten into the city. She checked me out and everything was fine, she wanted to be the one to check me out to make sure I was okay. That’s the kind of dr she is.

I just loved everything about her, she was to the point and told you everything that would happen with each part of our fertility journey. Would recommend her to anybody

Dr Kang had wanted us to try to conceive naturally for 1/2 rounds we had a negative result. We then did a few 2/3 rounds of Clomid with trying to conceive naturally. We then did medicated IUIs 2 of them. After all failed we went to IVF, we did one round and got pregnant the first time.

I had a slight issue with the monitoring hours, but I was able to come at the tail end of them. Also being on Long Island and having to go into the city sometimes for them was a little bit of a hassle but I would do it all over again for the same result.

Most of our fertility treatment was covered under our insurance - until we go to IVF and had maxed out our insurance. Then it was all out of pocket.

We had only 2 eggs that were viable for transfer and she advised us to do one fresh transfer at day 5 but my husband And I decided to do 2 eggs on day 3 and she told us all the risks with transferring two eggs.

Dr Kang is easily the best doctor I’ve ever been to. She is unbelievably smart, friendly, and professional. She was able to diagnose my issue right away and get me the proper course of action. When I had a failed pregnancy, she diagnosed it early on, was very straightforward about a course of action and gave me no false hope. She helped me move on from that and get me pregnant again Soon after with a healthy pregnancy. Her office staff is unbelievably organized. Diana or a nurse typically called back within 30-60 minutes of leaving a message with even the smallest question. This included days when the office was closed. Test results were always given promptly on the same day and the process of bloodwork and ultrasound was completed quickly no matter how many people were ahead of me. I can not recommend Dr Kang and this office enough. If you are considering or on the fence 100% absolutely use her!

Just be patient!!!! Not everything will happen in your first round but she knows what she is doing!

Having irregular cycles, I started with a few rounds of clomid with timed inter course. I had 1 success but it was ultimately an early MC due to an implantation issue. She caught it right away. We moved on to IUI with clomid for first round second round (successful) gonal F shots with IUI.

I have great insurance so I only had to pay lab fees and co pays when pregnant.

Dr. Kang listened and answered my many questions during each visit. She always asked me if I was okay with changing or adding a new step to the procedure. When I voiced my concerns she made changes to suit my needs. She genuinely cares about each patient and wishes them success.

Communicate any issues or pains you have, especially if she has no way of knowing what you're going through. I had a unique case and was allergic to the sperm wash being used. The other doctor who administered the first 3 IUI's told me my pain was just the cramping thats expected from the catheter insertion. During the 3rd IUI the pain intensified and felt like boiling water was being poured inside me. I explained the burning sensation to Dr. Kang and switched washes and made sure she did my next IUI, which was a success.

Tracking ovulation, ovidrel and IUI's.

Insurance covered most of the costs aside from co-pays and sperm wash.

Not Applicable.

I appreciate that she is straightforward and she showed compassion for our unique medical hurdles that made genetic testing necessary. She might come across as blunt and by the book to some patients. Out of three failed cycles, with very high dose medication, she lowered it only once.

I think she is a very smart doctor, she is very straightforward, maybe too blunt for the liking of some people. I feel like she does not deviate from Cornell's playbook.

Roughly wahat I can interpret from my records: Cycle #1- 450 Follistim, 150 Menopur- 13 days to yield 5 eggs, 5 mature and none made it to Day 5 Cycle #2- 150/225 Follistim, 75/150 Menopur- 16 days to yield 11 eggs, 8 mature and none made it to Day 5 Cycle #3- 225/300 Follistim/75/150 Menopur- 18 days to yield 5 eggs, 4 mature-- only 1 viable for Day 3 transfer.

Monitoring hours was a well-run cattle call although sometimes waiting for an ultrasound could take a while.

Dr. Kang has been great thus far - I appreciated that she did not immediately push us to IVF and instead took a more pragmatic approach of trying IUI. She did my first IUI, and then the 2nd cycle I asked to do a double IUI, both of which were performed by nurse practitioners. One thing I will say is I feel like the timing of the IUIs may not have been ideal. First cycle was only 22 hours post trigger (which seemed early), and 2nd cycle had IUIs at 26 & 51 hours (2nd seemed really late). I would prefer they teach you how to administer the trigger shot at home on your own so you can get the timing closer to 36 hours (my IUIs were all in the morning about 9:30-11). We're still awaiting results of 2nd cycle, but if it didn't work I'm going to push for that.

The clinic is busy and they talk fast. Be prepared with questions for each visit with her, or you can call & talk to her assistant (Diana) or the nursing staff. Especially when it's your first cycle I feel like you need to do this or you may wish later on you'd done things differently (it's expensive you want to maximize your odds of success each round).

First cycle, I went in for baseline bloodwork & ultrasound on Day 2, then took 100 mg Clomid/day for Days 2-6, monitoring bloodwork & ultrasound Days 12, 13 & 15, and trigger shot on Day 15 with IUI next morning (22 hours after trigger; 2.25 hours post collection). Had 3 mature follicles (16, 20, & 21) on day of trigger. Did not work and Dr. Kang said afterward that clomid had resulted in thinning of the uterine lining (endometrial stripe was 6.8 when triggered), so we would try letrozole/femara next round. Second cycle did baseline bloodwork & ultrasound on Day 4, with 5 mg letrozole/day for Days 4-8, monitoring bloodwork & ultrasound Days 11 & 15, and trigger shot on Day 15 with double IUI next 2 mornings (26 hours after trigger, 1.5 hours post collection, & 51 hours after trigger, 2 hours post collection). Had only 2 mature follicles (21 & 14) on letrozole but better uterine lining (9.4), but given my age if this cycle doesn't work she recommended going back to clomid to increase our odds with more follicles.

Our insurance has a $30K lifetime max for infertility treatment so I've been tracking costs of everything really carefully. Would recommend putting it in a spreadsheet right away because there will be A LOT of insurance claims and it can get very confusing. Here's how it breaks down thus far (total for both husband & myself): o Diagnosis (physician consult, bloodwork/ultrasound, semen analysis & HSG test) = Billed charges ~$5,700; after discounts our insurance paid ~ $3,200; our cost sharing (deductible & coinsurance) ~ $900. o Genetic Testing (through Mt. Sinai Genomics/Sema4) = Billed charges ~$20,500; after discounts our insurance paid ~ $1,400; our cost sharing ~ $500 ** I think the billing staff at CRM said if the genetic testing was not covered by insurance it would only cost a few hundred dollars each, so was completely shocked by the enormous amount billed to our insurance. Wish they would have told us about that in advance (and fortunately our insurance confirmed genetic testing would not go toward our $30K lifetime maximum).** o IUI cycle #1 (medical) = Billed charges ~$4,600; after discounts our insurance paid ~ $3,300; our cost sharing ~ $300; o IUI cycle #1 (Rx-clomid & ovidrel) = after discounts our insurance paid ~ $70; our cost sharing ~ $130 o IUI cycle #2 (medical-estimate) = Billed charges ~$4,700; after discounts our insurance paid ~ $3,500; our cost sharing ~ $400; o IUI cycle #2 (Rx-letrozole & ovidrel) = after discounts our insurance paid ~ $50; our cost sharing ~ $120

N/A - have not discussed since we are only doing IUI so far.

Dr. Kang was very honest and direct. She discussed all options and their potential risks. My husband often accompanied me to my appointments and she included him in the conversation (my previous doctor spoke down to my husband). She was warm and caring when we were struggling, and kept our optimism alive when we needed it most. Because there are so many patients at WC, there are times when other doctors cover the routine visits, but you mostly see Dr. Kang. I highly recommend her.

Be very clear with your intentions and hopes. When things get tough, know that Dr. Kang is very good at adjusting the protocol to get the desired results.

An IVF treatment, retrieval and transfer (sans medication) cost approximately $18,000

We didn't have a choice in our first transfer because only on egg made it to day 5. Dr. Kang recommend transferring 3 embroys for our second transfer. This was due to my age and underlying health conditions. It gave us the best possible chance and ended up in the birth of our son.

She is very knowledgeable about her field. She is pleasant and takes her time to speak with you especially when you might feel emotional and stress about the process. Even when you do not get to speak with her directly, her staff always call back. I have gone to another provider for fertility treatment and my experience with her makes me want to complete this treatment. I a m having a very good experience.

Stay on top of your treatment. No such thing as stupid questions. The good thing is Dr. Kang and her team are quick to answer all questions.

Coming from a bad experience, I just feel refresh with her and I understand my options better than the last experience. One thing I will never forget that she said to me was "have confidence in your body". By the time I saw her, I had given up on my body's ability to produce anything. Now my view of my body is so positive.

My insurance does not cover my treatment, so I will be responsible to the bill. Blood work and regular visits are covered. I will be responsible to pay between $11000-$15000

She was compassionate and understanding. She gave us hope again after not having success at the other clinic. When something didn’t work, she adjusted the protocol. She had a great bedside manner and she was honest. I was able to get in touch with her if i had any questions, which was huge for me.

With any doctor or procedure, do your research first and advocate for the things that you want. I went into IVF thinking that it would be the answer and just automatically work. In retrospect, i would have asked for more testing for myself.

I don’t really remember all of the drug names, but we did 2 IUIs with injectables which was a step up from the other clinic. There was a lot more bloodwork monitoring to make sure that we hit ovulation just right. The first IVF was a pretty standard protocol. My body had responded to the injections from the IUI beautifully, so it seemed like that was what was going to work. I produced and they retrieved a good amount of eggs, but the quality turned out to be the issue. She adjusted my meds for the second protocol, which was the same deal. I produced and they retrieved a good amount of eggs, but the quality was still not great. Though the quality wasn’t great, that was the only cycle that I had a 5 day blast that we have frozen. Before the third cycle, i had a laparoscopy and they found mild endometriosis. For the 3rd IVF cycle, she lengthened the amount of time that I was on meds to let my follicles grow. I did get a positive pregnancy with low numbers, but they started to double and then they dropped. It was a chemical. She said that as we progressed through IVF, my egg quality improved with each treatment. Unfortunately, we had run out of money and Dr. Kang stood by the fact that we could get pregnant naturally, it would just take a lot longer than normal. I haven’t had a positive pregnancy test since.

They had monitoring hours, i learned that going a little bit later on the island, you wouldn’t have to wait to long. Going into the city, i would get there right before they opened, because that was bigger operation and there were more people. I really can’t complain about monitoring. It was very efficient.

Everything all in, it was around $70,000. We didn’t have coverage for any of the procedures. The ultrasounds and bloodwork were covered. We had help from my parents.

I didn’t have any issues with that. Due to the quality of my eggs, more than one embryo was transferred.

I was referred to Dr. Kang by my regular OB whom I trust completely. When I first met Dr. Kang, I felt she was confident with her abilities to address my issues and I had no reason no to trust her. She first gauged my expectations, and I was okay with a more moderate approach (starting with Clomid and TI before moving to Clomid + IUIs, then injectables + IUIs, and finally IVF), since we weren't sure what exactly was keeping me from getting pregnant. Each cycle was adjusted to see how my body would respond. In the end, we found that I respond better to lower dosages of meds than higher ones. I think that Dr. Kang made the correct calls regarding my protocol.

Don't expect for her to spend a lot of time with you if you have no questions or concerns. However, if you do have questions or concerns she will make time for you and make sure you're comfortable with the information/procedures. I was a more "go with the flow" type of patient and didn't ask too many questions.

When Clomid + TI didn't work, we moved to Clomid + IUI. We found that when I was on Clomid 100mg, I produced the same number of eggs as when I was on Clomid 50mg. For my 3rd IUI cycle, I was taking 150 Gonal-f injectables, which was also unsuccessful. My first IVF cycle, I was taking 300 Gonal-f + 150 menopur, which resulted in only 2 follicles and a canceled IVF. We ended up doing another IUI instead, which was also unsuccessful. For my second IVF cycle, my dosage was reduced to 225 Gonal-F, and 75 menopur, later adding cetrotide before retrieval. I produced 4 follicles, 3 mature, 1 immature, with 2 fertilizing, but only 1 making it to transfer.

I would describe monitoring hours like a well-oiled machine. There was only one instance when there was a line for check-in, and the office should better explain how to use the kiosk to check in without cards. Once you are checked in, however, you don't wait more than 15 mins to get blood drawn and another 15 before your U/S.

My insurance covers 70% of infertility services, up to a certain amount. Infertility medications were also covered, up to a certain amount. I did have to pay for 30% of each blood test, ultrasound, and whatever balance was left from my IVF cycle + ICSI after my insurance allowance ran out.

Depends on your age. We would have liked to transfer 2, but I only have 1 viable to transfer on Day 3.

Dr. Kang is forward with information if asked and will always include me in the decisions. For example, when making a decision about how many embryos to transfer. Dr. Kang is caring and I feel like I'm more than just a number.

Be ready to hear the whole truth--good or bad.

My first transfer I took all the meds as prescribed (progesterone injections and vivelle patches) and had a negative beta. The second transfer, I was advised to take a baby aspirin and I received a positive beta. Now, I'm being referred to a hematologist before another transfer as Dr. Kang feels there may be an issue with adequate blood flow to the developing fetus. I feel as though each step gets me closer to a successful pregnancy.

So far one DER and two transfer puts us around $35,000. We do have some insurance coverage and are hoping this overall cost is much less. However, billing through insurance takes a very long time so I am unclear right now of the exact totals.

Dr. Kang advised just one embryo at a time for me due to the percentages and risks associated with multiples. I trust in Dr. Kang's professional advice.

Dr. Kang is very warm and does take the time to answer my questions when I have them. My appointments are usually very short since they are mostly monitoring and there are always a lot of people so it is easy to feel rushed. I had a few HSGs with her, which were painful for me and she was always very understanding and encouraging. She was also able to spend more time with me when I had an appointment as opposed to the monitoring visits. I do wish I had more time to spend with Dr. Kang, but she did encourage me with my personal situation from the get-go.

Don't expect to have long appointments with her.

I started with natural IUIs because I have regular cycles and had good ovarian reserve etc. My "advanced" age is a factor we considered throughout as well as being single. I tried IUIs three times and all failed. I used donor sperm so my egg quality was seen as a factor. I had a blocked Fallopian tube as well, but after repeating the test, it eventually opened. To help with egg quality, she recommended I try CoQ10. We were going to try a medicated IUI, but based on my attempts, my age and egg quality, we went to IVF after failed IUI #3. I am just starting that cycle but it is much more complicated.

My insurance covered most of my IUI appointments so I just had to pay co-pays.

Dr. Kang was recommended to me by a friend. She has good bedside manner. She always knew my medical history when I saw her. She throughly explained her recommendations. She was optimistic, perhaps overly so. She responded to my results with changes in protocol. Each round was more successful than the one before. Although we did not have success, we stuck with her because we felt the continuity of treatment was important. A kind and familiar face, Dr. Kang was a comfort during a challenging and stressful period of my life.

Ask questions, especially about cost.

She felt that my first cycle was too long. She shortened the second cycle. After I reacted poorly to the second cycle as well, she put me on a low dose protocol. On a low dose protocol, I had 13 eggs retrieved. 7 were mature. 4 fertilized. 3 were good quality. They transferred 3 embryos on day 3, each of the three cycles. Each cycle was better than the preceding cycle, in terms of egg quality. Apparently, the meds were damaging the eggs. According to Dr. Kang this is due to poor egg quality. None of my remaining embryos made it to freezing. None of the transfers resulted in pregnancy.

There were always tons of people in the waiting room. However, monitoring was a very efficient process.

Based on embryo quality and my medical history, she transferred 3 embryos each cycle. I felt this approach was appropriate.

Dr. Kang is warm, caring, and honest. She is straightforward in presenting recommendations and tries to set realistic expectations. She makes an effort to do all of the transfers herself. I have found her to be very approachable, supportive, and thoughtful in planning out next steps along this journey.

My advice is not to be afraid to ask questions. She is very willing to answer them, and you are paying a lot, so you should ask whatever you need to in order to feel like you understand everything.

I used an agonist/antagonist protocol for all of my cycles. I did a fresh transfer on all three during which I was trying to conceive. I got pregnant each time, although I unfortunately miscarried all of them, one of which we know was genetically normal.

I primarily went to the Garden City office which was small. The waits were generally ~ 10 min, and I always saw the same staff, so it felt quite friendly.

~14,000-18,000/cycle (includes anesthesia, ICSI, clinic visits, egg retrieval, and transfer)

I did two day three transfers where I transferred three embryos. I also did one day 5 embryo where I transferred two embryos.

She was extremely helpful every treatment and cycle. Always took the time to explain everything and answervall my questions and never rushed me. She was compassionate and understanding and made us feel very comfortable. She didn’t overwhelm us and wasn’t rude or harsh, she spoke to us with respect and care. I couldn’t say enough good things.

We did clomid and iui for 3 cycles and planned to do gonal-f injections if those cycles didn’t work. They didn’t so we did one cycle of the injections and got pregnant, we heard a heartbeat but then at 8 weeks it was gone. We ended up doing a d&c. We decided to go straight to IVF after that being our 3rd loss.

Monitoring is done early in the morning and you sign in. Everyone is called according to when the signed in. It goes by very quickly, there are a bunch of nurses on staff to help it go quickly and amoothly so you wait at most a half an hour.

They take most insurances but mine only covered a few cycles.

She was hesitant about transferring multiple embryos due to the higher risk for multiple babies. We wanted to transfer 2 and she agreed knowing our history ofblosses. She made sure to explain all the risks and such but she was open to what we wanted.

She definitely knows what she's doing and has all the protocols down that she uses and can troubleshoot as the cycle progresses to get you where you need to be. She's very professional and quick when she needs to be during those morning appts when there are so many women waiting for their bloodwork, ultrasounds, etc. You can feel rushed when you're with her but that's not totally her fault if the clinic takes on so many patients. I realize she's very busy but sometimes I would have preferred to talk to her directly instead of the nurse when they'd call with results and the instructions for the upcoming days.

Relax and go with the flow, realizing the clinic is very busy and can seem overwhelming while you wait each morning in the waiting room.

For the first 2 cycles with IUI, I think because of my advanced age I was on injectable fertility drugs vs oral. The first cycle was one IUI but the second cycle I did back to back day IUIs with 2 different sperm donors. Dr Kang recommended trying this in case there was an issue with the sperm, kind of a "why not" to cover all bases, though if it worked I wouldn't know who was the donor. If I remember correctly I took birth control pills for a little while to reset my ovaries before starting the next cycle. Had about a month off I think before starting injectables again for the IVF. With that cycle also gave daily progesterone injections after the transfer and for several weeks once I knew I was pregnant. I only had 4 embryos make it to day 3 so didn't have options of testing/sexing them. Utilized ICSI and transferred all 4. I think I was given <10% chance of getting pregnant, and of that <10%, <10% chance of having twins. I delivered fraternal b/g twins Nov 2016.

There were set hours every morning that you would show up, first come first served so some days took longer than others. You'd sit in a large waiting area that was most of the time full, sometimes with limited seating. It was convenient because the hours were so early before I had to be at work.

For every dr appt or monitoring appt there was a copay coinsurance to pay, plus copay/coinsurance for blood work, andrology services. For the IVF there was a set fee that was pretty inclusive for the cycle.

My doctor stuck with the recommendation for my age which was 4 since I only had 4 anyway. She was hoping I'd have more than 4 so I could freeze some embyros. I have a feeling she may have transferred more if I had them and I consented since she really wanted this to work for me.

Dr. Kang was very well-meaning, but she completely missed the mark in diagnosing my case with her cut-and-dry approach to my two late first-trimester losses. She concludes, based on my losses, thar my egg quality was more poor than my age of 32 would suggest, and chalked it up to genetics. What she failed to discover was that I do indeed have a mild case of PCOS. She was aware that my younger sister had a strong case of PCOS and never bothered to run any additional diagnostic blood work (testosterone levels, hemoglobin a1c), which are suggestive that I have it. If she had not been so dismissive, my issues might have been treated simply with metformin. Instead, I had 5 unsuccessful cycles with her over the course of a year. Complete waste of time. In addition, when it came to my thyroid, which was slightly elevated, she started me off on too high of a dose. When we later dialed it back, my body had become resistant to the lower dose. She should have been more measured in treating this condition. Similarly, with her dosage suggestion on my first injectable cycle, my estrogen skyrocketed and I was at risk of hyperstimulation. She never cautioned me not to exercise and should definitely have kept me on a more conservative dose.

If yours is a very clear-cut case, you'll be okay. If there's the slightest ambiguity, however, you would be better served by a different RE.

As a means to address what she decided was poor egg quality, my treatments aimed to produce superovulation, thus increasing the possibility of releasing a healthy egg. I released multiple eggs with each treatment, and only had one pregnancy--a chemical pregnancy--resulting on the 5th cycle of treatment. This, after having gotten pregnant naturally relatively easily prior to seeing her.

I mistakenly paid out of pocket for two cycles which were actually covered by my insurance. This was later credited back to me after I spotted the error and complained.

She makes up things (for example: my ovaries are "too small") to manipulate a patient to do the AMH blood test to push a 36 year old to do IVF after only 1 failed IUI. In a HSG, she's too rough and doesn't succeed in threading the catheter into my uterus so instead she uses a pliar-like device that causes a lot of pain and damage/blood loss to the cervix. She instructs me to do an IUI 48 hours after the HCG trigger shot, even her nurse told me the timing was wrong.

Try other doctors at Cornell. Avoid Dr. Kang.

She talked about doing IVF at each meeting. She wouldn't give IUI a chance even when there was no medical basis for assuming IUIs would fail and IVFs would succeed. All my IUIs and IVFs with her failed, even though she told me I had a 50% chance for a take-home baby with my IVFs. She was amazed at the number of eggs retrieved and the visual quality of the embryos, and yet did not bother to explain or phone with a theory as to why my IVFs failed. She doesn't feel accountable or responsible to the patient after pushing me to do IVF for so long, to have good prospects, and then no pregnancy / very early miscarriage.

My insurance paid for blood work and ultrasounds but not for IUIs and IVFs.

My primary doctor was Dr. Kang. I really liked her. She called me at important points of our cycle. Dr. Kliegman performed one of my ultrasounds and then my egg retrieval and I felt he was a little rough and did not have a warm bedside manner. When Dr. Kang called me the evening of my retrieval, she apologized for him. She was at another location on the day of my planned transfer and went out of her way to see me after her clinic and perform the transfer herself. She also trained/residency with my local ob-gyn, so maybe she felt like she needed to go out of the way to be more personable

Expect to interact with multiple doctors in addition to Dr. Kang

antagonist protocol (?) Follistim, Menopur, Ganirelix. 2 weeks of suppression with OCPs.

I had traveled for this cycle, so I was at the will of the clinic regardless of wait times. I would typically check in early and be done by 9 am. there were always a ton of women in the waiting room and all seemed to move pretty quickly.

~$11K for the cycle (not meds) and ~$2k for ICSI. $14K for micro-TESE and a surgeon stand by fee. Out of pocket for meds was about ~$5k Egg retrieval performed in an OR, so anesthesiologist and facility fee also required. Maybe covered by insurance if local.