Kara Goldman

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

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

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

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

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

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

Dr. Goldman is amazing. She cares deeply for her patients, and really makes you feel like you are on this journey together. She is positive, but doesn't sugar coat the situation you are in dealing with infertility but she provides you with hope. I feel safe in her care and I trust her to take care of me throughout this journey.

Ask as many questions as you want, and if you don't understand something ask for clarification. Dr. Goldman never made me feel rushed or embarrassed to ask questions, she understands this is a sensitive journey and she wants you to be as comfortable as possible.

I had two IUIs with clomid and tigger shot, one ending in a miscarriage at 8 weeks. She got me in the very next day the day before Thanksgiving for a D&C. Then, we tried two more IUIs with Clomid and trigger shot, both ending in a negative pregnancy. We are going to start IVF as soon as the coronoavirus settles down.

She believes you should only transfer one embryo because it's the safest option for me, and I trust this and want this as well!

Dr. Goldman is smart and patient. She walks me thru every step and every outcome. She is direct but kind, and in my case has been cautiously optimistic, which is just what I need to push thru the IUI efforts. When I have asked for additional testing, she and her team provided it as well as analysis of the results. She also hears me when I am weighing the costs of IVF vs continuing to do IUIs, and never pressures me about IVF. She is wonderfully steady, warm, upbeat and quick to laugh - every single attribute I personally need on this journey.

Be honest with her. Tell her all of your concerns and the circumstances that are affecting your life in the process, as they relate to the process. For example I had a myomectomy 12 months ago and have a major concern for the medications to increase the return of uterine fibroids. She and her team have been monitoring my fibroids along the way and been thoughtful about my medications. Since I am single and pursuing this on my own, I was also upfront about the costs that I can bear and those that I can't. While she is direct with me about the best possible outcomes I NEVER feel bullied into procedures that I cannot afford. She is truly wonderful.

1) Testing everything: all bloods, genetic testing, mammogram, cancer genetic testing, donor counseling (SO IMPORTANT), Hysteogram (spelling?, but the fallopian tube test), sperm donor genetic testing. Once everything was good, then IUIs. 2) First attempt: 100 mg of Clomid, day 3 of cycle to day 7. Then u/s and bloods, three follicles (19, 20 and 22mm), trigger shot. Return next day for IUI. Negative pregnancy. Second attempt: 100 mg of Clomid, day 3 of cycle to day 7. Then u/s and bloods, three follicles (17, 23, 24mm), trigger shot Ovidrel. Bloods one week later to test progesterone, result "as perfect as can be." Return next day for IUI. Negative pregnancy. Third attempt: will follow protocol, after a one cycle break.

labs are about $150 each, IUI about $600, u/s $250, specimen handling fee $75, I believe.

kara was one of the best doctors I have ever interacted with. She was compassionate and realistic. She advised where required and told us when a decision had to be ours. She was patient with us and always willing to answer questions and spend the necessary time. She made a difficult situation as comfortable as possible.

Feel free to ask as many questions as possible. Note however that there is always a lot of information, but you will have multiple opportunities to go over everything at each step.

She skipped IUI and went directly to retrieval. The issue we had was a shortage of eggs, so she was realistic and didnt want to waste our time and money. During the second retrieval she changed one of the meds and our result was not as good, so she quickly changed course for the third retrieval and our result was better. She also advised to do a frozen transfer as the technology was such that it would increase the genetic screening and increase our chances for an ultimate live birth. She also said she highly recommended only a single transfer as we did a frozen transfer and there was no need to to do multiples as we already know the embryo is viable, rather than the 40-50% chance of a viable embryo transfer.

It was somewhere in between. It can get very busy and take a lot of time. Once we learned to "game" the system and show up early or late it was better.

About $20,000 -25,000 per retrieval all in (including meds) and $5,000 for the transfer. This is probably too simplistic as it was a very complicated process.

She definitely pushed for eSET as we did a frozen transfer and the embryo was already tested and viable. It got us out of the 40-50% viability with a fresh transfer. Also we were very clear we did not want twins.

Dr. Goldman should have told me more about the painful procedure to diagnose a polyp and what it entailed given my sexual abuse history. She also should have told me about the egg donor option given that my time for egg retrieval was limited due to cancer treatment. Finally, I lost four eggs due to attrition because she did not time the retrieval properly.

She should be more concerned about their well being rather than having them pay for costly treatments that may not be helpful. She should also be more candid about the risks and benefits of all procedures and provide all options at the outset. Finally, if she is not going to perform retrievals she should ensure the staff doing so are well trained and highly qualified.

It felt like a cattlecall most times.

Dr. Goldman knew all the details of our file/case. She had confidence in our ability to become pregnant, she was always positive and looking for new methods or tweaks to our plan. She performed almost all of my treatments, including surgery for an ectopic pregnancy.

Give Dr. Goldman all details of your situation from financial to medical to personal.

I used clomid to stimulate egg production, estrogen and progesterone shots for my IVF cycles. They all produced a good amount of eggs and we transferred 4 under her care.

Morning monitoring took place from 7am-9am. Could be seen before work. There were a lot of women waiting but it was organized.

$17,000 from start to finish including ICSI + meds. $4000 for embryo transfer.

Dr. Goldman and our clinic's policy was to transfer one single embryo.

I thought Kara Goldman did a great job. she was forth coming and explained everything in full detail. she would explains things multiple times if needed. she always seemed to care about her job and the patient.

trust her

not everything goes as planned. i needed to adjust the hormones and trust that Dr Goldman was tweaking the medications in order to get better results each time. i had to take a month off between the 2nd and 3rd retrieval.

all in i spent around $85,000 -$90,000 including medication and acupuncture

i didnt want multiples and Dr Goldman felt that transferring one embryo was more safe than transferring 2