Lana Lipkin

She was polite and has good maners, and sometimes even friendly. But still many times we could tell that everything was about the money. In this kind of treatment, when you're almost hopeless and a completely ignorant, I guess the human part is very important. You have to fully trust that your doctor cares, that she understand that what you're about to do is the biggest thing in life. Yes, we know it cost money. We know it is a company... but there's a difference between a company and a factory. And then your doctor doesn't see you anymore after you reject a test because of a money issue (which was embarrasing to confess), neither before the transfer, neither 8 weeks after it... You feel like she only cared about your wallet.

I would explain my whole experience.

In general, they were all before eggs retrieval. Only after I had cysts in both ovaries, she try to put me on a very strong treatment to make them dissapear, whitout any explanation. Just got an email saying "take this". Didn't even explain for what. So I looked for it on internet, and after reading about the side effects that it could have, I rejected it. At that moment, we decided to try the first transfer, hoping that my own and natural hormones would help with the cysts, since the medication she told me to take was full of it.

So far so easy. Nurses were amazing!

I guess we have spent around $30.000 in 3 egg retrievals (one didn't work) and one transfer. Plus genetic test, a water sonogram and many other things.

She agreed with me that, because my age and my height and weight, I should go only with one per time.

She is LGBTQ friendly and culturally competent. She is patient and a good listener. She considers my desires and opinions when creating her management plan. She clearly communicates her plan and strategy and is happy to answer all of my questions in detail.

Don't hesitate to tell her what is important to you because she will listen and take your priorities into consideration.

I have only completed 2 cycles with Dr. Lipkin. The first cycle she used Letrizole to gently stimulate my ovaries. I produced 4 follicles. After and ovidril trigger, all four were retrieved. Only two were immediately mature enough to have ICSI. The remaining 2 were cultured until they were mature enough and also had ICSI. Only one made it to blastocyst (rated: 312). That single blastocyst was transferred and did not end in pregnancy. The second cycle was again with Letrizole stimulation. I only produced 2 follicles and began to have an LH surge on my own. She monitored my LH (but did not trigger me). They were able to retrieve both eggs and only one reached blastocyst (rated: 411). This blastocyst we decided to freeze due to the stress of Covid-19 (I am an essential worker) and in order give my ovaries a break before attempting to stimulate them again in 1mo in hopes of getting another blastocyst for transfer.

Well oiled machine. They offer early hours which allowed me to monitor without missing any work. They move people through in a timely and respectful manner.

Our insurance doesn't cover our fertility treatments but New Hope has significantly reduced prices for patients paying out of pocket. We have been pleasantly surprised by the cost and expected it to be almost twice the cost.

Dr. Lipkin and I both decided that it would be best to only transfer one embryo at a time. I typically am unable to produce more than one egg that reaches blastocyst anyway.

Dr. Lipkin has a very straightforward way of talking, but more so like someone who knows what she's talking about a not a blunt, rude person. Talking with her instantly makes me feel better because she's so smart and clever, even. She's one of those people who's nodding in understanding before I'm done bumbling through my half-formed questions. She listens as well as she advises, which is awesome. She's a very busy person, but she finds time to call back or meet in person, whichever is most convenient. I'm glad I chose her.

You won't see her all the time, so take advantage of your meetings and calls with her. Have all your questions prepared. She knows her stuff.

First cycle: birth control pills for a week, 300 units of Gonal-F per shot until they later reduce, Clomid, Letrozole, and Cetrotide taken in separated parts. Second cycle: the same, but the Gonal-F units were smaller.

The monitoring happens at every visit or appointment. Your name will come up next to its own monitoring room number on the television, so pay attention!

Roughly 10k, give or take. Much cheaper than the competition.

I was at New Hope for 2 months before switching doctors (from Lipkin to Dr Olcha…did a review for him too). I had a consultation with her and she seemed cold, robotic, very factual which is fine, answering questions with a smirk (ego type of laugh)…I felt like I was just one more for her. It was our 1st meeting & not even 5 minutes in she said “You know….you don’t have to take so many notes…we are the experts, you need to trust”. I explained that I do that anywhere for future reference in case I forget. When asking about retrieval & if she would do all my procedures she laughed and said “no there is a group of doctors here & depends who is assigned for it that day. But don’t worry (insert laugh)…’it’s a very easy procedure – anyone can do it” (thought it was very unprofessional & didn’t like fact she thought this was a joke. For someone who’s never done this, it’s a pretty big deal specially the 1st time. She did not give me that comfort security feeling at all. On our 2nd meeting (which I scheduled since after 2 months I hadn’t seen her yet since our original consultation), I had a list of questions. I felt rushed & was trying to get as much in since I could feel her being annoyed. One of my questions was “why where we doing “mini ivf vs. regular ivf?”. Her response was “because we cant create something out of nothing”…after this I froze, felt shocked & realized no point in asking more questions. I felt like crying. I realized then that she did not care for me. She did not believe she could get me pregnant. I was just one more…one more body. I asked what was my ovarian reserve & she said it should be 4-5 follicles per ovary so yours is low even for your age”. I asked my new doctor the same question a month later & he said it was consistent with my age (2-3 total). Our 2nd meeting was also when I found out by a nurse I was pregnant but when talking to Dr Lipkin 5 mins later as she explained “well you are ..except you are not”…she had no compassion when telling me, just told me I had a chemical pregnancy and happens to a lot of women. I left the clinic and had to google what a chemical pregnancy was since still wasn’t very clear. I had a trigger shot & came next day to confirm retrieval. It turned out I had ovulated so missed the chance. The doctor that came in to explain is the one who became my new doctor (Dr Olcha – did review for him here too). She never called me or emailed me. After 2-3 weeks post that event & not hearing from her plus all reasons above, I decided to switch to Dr Olcha & Im soooooo glad I did. The experience has been night & day. Anytime I talked to friends who had gone thru this process they would ask me questions & I could not answer. I had lists of questions for my doctor yet felt like I was just one more, going for blood work & sonogram but no real doctor connection, a doc looking out for me & really watching/customizing my case. The clinic is super efficient but her bedside manners are not the best. A friend of mine who had her wife pregnant there said the same thing…bedside manners are lacking. Dr Lipkin – THUMBS DOWN big time. Big disappointment, big waste of time. Dr Olcha (separate review) – THE BEST! So happy I made the switch. They are night & day & he is pure LIGHT

She has no bedside manners, not compassionate. if you care to have someone who has your best interests, actually cares, is compassionate - I would NOT go with her. Advice - schedule consultations once a month or whenever you need them since she wont....she relies on nurses to send email with recommendations but not much personal touch/interaction from her side.

trigger shot $100 never got to retrieval since I ovulated. before my next cycle/retrieval I switched to Dr Olcha thank God!

Dr. Lipkin is no nonsense. She’s not the most “touchy feely” but is compassionate nonetheless. I feel like I’m in very competent hands with her. She is patient and answers all my questions. She has also been good about not pushing us to do a retrieval during cycles that didn’t have many follicles. She doesn’t seem stuck on the clinic’s numbers but instead is focused on helping us get the outcome we want.

You need to advocate for yourself at New Hope in general. If you have questions or want to meet with Dr. Lipkin, ask. It was not offered as often as I would prefer but whenever I requested to meet, I was able to do so fairly quickly.

My first cycle and my current cycle have both been with a mini-IVF (low dose) protocol. This cycle, in response to issues from the last, Dr. Lipkin made several changes including lowering the dose of the injection and (planning to) leave a full 36 hours between trigger and retrieval instead of the 34 hours that was done last time.

Generally, monitoring is smooth and runs like a well oiled machine. Occasionally, it will take a bit longer on busy mornings. I have noticed a range of thoroughness among the ultrasound technicians. Several times the people didn’t seem to look very carefully or thoroughly for follicles, but others are more methodical.

We are currently under insurance (2 cycles) so it has just been co-pays plus about $500 for mini IVF medications.

I have not made it to transfer yet, but New Hope in general and Dr. Lipkin specifically are highly supportive of a single embryo transfer as the default as far as I can tell.

She was very compassionate. I trusted that she was able to review past treatment files and understood why I might have changed facilities. I trusted the facility as it was referred to me by a friend but I also appreciated that they worked with woman over forty.

Be completely open and honest about what you want and what her expectation for you are based on how you present.

She wanted to go about with a mini IVF cycle- she told me that she preferred to get less eggs upon retrieval but with a better chance to get healthier eggs.

They accepted my insurance

I just found her honest, but hopeful approach work for me. As an older hopeful mother to be she has made these cycle easier to take with better results then my previous doctor. It was about egg quality and not quantity.

Ask your questions. She is honest and works with you.

She uses leas medication and more natural cycle cues. She beloved in quality versus quantity.

It was efficient and went fairly smoothly.

Prices were al Le carte. Which at times were a benefit.