Kaitlyn Wald

I never felt like I was in control of my own care when I worked with Dr. Wald and, in fact, was often vilified in conversations with her for simple asks that I know other clinics honor. For example, we are dealing with MFI and I only wanted to do a single retrieval. Because of this, I told her I only wanted to fertilize half of the retrieved eggs so we can focus on lifestyle changes with my partner in the event his sperm were not working out on the first fertilization. When I requested this, she required I set up an appointment with her just to say she refuses to do it and I would be stupid if I went forward with it. It was a pretty expensive and inconsiderate way to say no, given I had to pay out of pocket for the appointment just for her to tell me to my face that she refused to let me make choices in my own medical care and fertility journey. I made it perfectly clear that I understand the pro’s and con’s and she still refused my request. Separately, after my retrieval, one of my embryos came back as inconclusive on the PGT-A testing (meaning no data was gathered due something being wrong or incomplete with the sample). I did tons of research, talked to the genetic testing lab, and made the decision with my partner that we wouldn’t feel comfortable using the embryo unless it was tested. In our case, it made sense to re-test because otherwise we would never use the embryo and it would sit there indefinitely. When I told Dr. Wald my decision, she berated me for being irresponsible and making a dumb decision. She even went as far as to say she has never experienced the re-testing being done and she thinks that I was making a huge mistake. I later found out that the clinic eats the cost of the re-testing when an embryo comes back inconclusive, so I have a strong suspicion that she just didn’t want to cost SRM any extra money. And even if she didn’t, her response was highly unprofessional, demeaning, and left me feeling horrible about myself. When the re-testing came back, it was healthy with no abnormalities so we likely would have let a perfectly healthy embryo wither if we didn’t push against her. Again, she made me set up an appointment with her to talk this through when I already communicated my decision to the nurse and made her aware that I was aware of the trade-offs and consequences of my decisions (mainly that there may be ~5% lower chance of the embryo surviving into a live birth). Even just on the logistics side, I never felt like Dr. Wald was listening to me or fully doing her job. I committed to doing IVF at ~6 months before I was actually scheduled for my cycle and at the time communicated to Dr. Wald that I would need the embryos to go through FDA screening as there’s a strong possibility we may need to use a surrogate. She clearly noted it in the system because I paid for the testing BUT she never shared it with the nursing team. This meant we had to scramble literally days before my retrieval to complete all of the testing and they weren’t event sure if we would be able to make it in on time. We were lucky that the timing worked out, but my partner had to put his job at risk taking a last minute appointment that overlapped with a critical meeting, I had to travel 2 hours out of my way to go to mine, and I was told at the time there’d be a chance that we’d have to do a second cycle if we wanted it FDA screed because of the timing. Which not only went against my clear wishes of only wanting to do a single cycle, but also would have been an enormous financial burden because I would’ve needed to re-buy all of the injection medication. In the face of all of this, they hardly even said sorry. To rub salt in the wound, when I talked to Dr. Wald about this situation, she tried to blame ME despite me never being told anything about what the process for the screening was or that there were separate appointments with stringent timelines that I would need to be aware of. I truly thought it was some bloodwork that was taken on the day of the retrieval and that was it. When I tried to explain that it was not my responsibility, she brushed me off like I was being crazy.

Don’t work with her. There are, from all I can tell, some truly wonderful doctors at SRM. But Dr. Wald simply is not one of them. I was not given information about all of the side effects I could expect from my injections (namely one that made me feel like I was on the edge of passing out for a full 48 hours), was not listened to, was actively gaslit, and made to feel like I was unimportant and dumb every step of the way. The one thing I will say is that my retrieval went really well. While it took me quite a while to recover after, the procedure itself was painless and the staff in the surgery center were lovely. That said, Dr. Wald is NOT the person who performed my surgery, I was assigned someone else who was working that day. The doctor who did the surgery was kind, a great listener, and great at communicating and listening to my needs. I feel eternally grateful that Dr. Wald was not the person there on retrieval day.

With mediations, FDA screening, egg retrieval, embryo creation, and PGT-A testing, the total as roughly $31k.

I trust Dr. Walds judgement and appreciate that she is up to date on the latest research. Her approach is more direct that may bother some people. I have found that since communicating my needs, she has adapted her approach. She has been very informative during every discussion and has called me when I have follow up questions about different procedures. She has respected my opinion throughout the process and do feel like I can openly communicate my concerns without judgment.

Make sure that you make your needs and wants known. If you don't like something, tell her.

IVF egg retrieval medicated cycle using Gonal F. certridide. and menopus, trigger shot, with fresh transfer, with Endometrin post.Got 3 good quality embryos that were all unsuccessful. Had surgery to remove what we thought was blocked tube. Frozen transfer nautral cycle with Endometrin and trigger shot. 2nd frozen transfer medicated cycle oral Estrace, progesterone in oil, and Endometrin

The costs are high since we pay out of pocket. 20,000 for egg retrieval and fresh transfer. 5,000 each for 2 frozen transfer. Can't remember all of the testing and IUi cost. Near 40,000 out of pocket

We did 1 embryo transfer each time and was educated along the way

I like how Kaitlyn gave us all the information we would need to make as best mind and heart choices thus far. We only can afford two cycles, my only wish would to have been a possible change in treatment post first retrieval only having one viable embryo. Also have higher BP, and I spent 5 weeks going back and forth trying to get help from doctors and no additional advice or support form Kaitlyn as she requested I solve this issue. I’m this moment I felt like a number not a human. And I was highly disappointed. Overall I would still suggest my doctor.

Nothing comes to mind

Both cycles I did 300 IU of Follistim, 150 IU of menopur, Ganirelix on day 6 (first cycle) and Ganirelix on day 5 (2nd cycle) my trigger shot on cycle one was Lueporode, cycle two was Pregnayl. My first cycle I did 12 days of injections had to order additional medication, second cycle I did 9 days and have medication left over.

We’ve paid $60,000 this far, we do not have any medical benefits coverage.

We only have one embryo

I felt that Dr. Wald was very knowledgeable and gave us the information we needed. I did not feel a huge amount of support through the process. She answered our questions and asked that we understood her explanations. Emotionally I felt very little support. It was especially hard because we didn’t have consistent contact with any specific provider and it was difficult to get in touch with our provider at times. I don’t feel that we were fully prepared for our round of IVF to be unsuccessful which made the process a lot more difficult when our expectations were not met.

Do your best to hope for the best, but be realistic about your expectations and the chances that it will not turn out how you would have hoped.

We had a pretty straightforward protocol for IVF. I was on 10 days of menopur and gonal-f, along with 5 days of cetrotide. Our diagnosis was male factor infertility. We did an egg retrieval followed by ICSI. I started progesterone the next day and we did a fresh transfer with a day 5 embryo.

The costs were fairly standard for an IVF cycle and fertility work up. We did have surprise bills that we received about 8 months after our cycle was completed.

We only produced a single embryo so there was not a decision to be made there.

I only met with her a couple of times. I mainly interacted with the nursing staff and other support staff. The doctor I saw before her, the IUI technically worked but resulted in an ectopic pregnancy requiring emergency surgery. When I informed the Everett clinic, I immediately heard from the RN overseeing my care, but nothing from the Doctor. Not until I decided to try again, almost a year later. At that first appt, she shared her sympathy for what had happened, but it was not genuine. At least not to me.

Just know that she will be setting in place the overall plan for treatment, but it’s the rest of the support staff you will get to know, work with and trust.

Due to my age and me wanting to go the most natural route possible. Dr. Wald suggested Clomid with a trigger shot right before the IUI procedure.

It wasn’t cheap, but I did choose the cheapest option. I just wish they did better with providing itemized statements because you didn’t pay for each appointment at the time of arrival.

I didn’t have this procedure

My expectations were exceeded and I felt very comfortable during the entire treatment process. She was very informative and easy to work with. I felt confident in her abilities and experience for a positive outcome.

In general, not to be frustrated at setbacks. Success may not happen on the first try but is still achievable.

Medications prescribed were (1) oral estrace, (2) endometrin vaginal inserts, (3) progesterone in oil injections.

I had 2 IVF cycles, total was approximately $27,000 including medications and 1 batch of donor eggs.

I was given the option for single or double embryo transfer. It was recommended to do a single embryo due to potential complications. I had 2 procedures for single embryo transfer.