Laurel Stadtmauer

Dr. Stadtmauer is a very compassionate person and scientist. She took great pains to make sure that I understood what was going to happen and what she wasn't going to be able to tell me with certainty. I remember her meeting me in recovery after the 2nd egg retrieval that I should think about freezing embryos. I wasn't at that point given my hopes of finding a husband and she was very careful with her suggestion. I have never forgotten that moment and her knowledge that was far beyond what I could manage with every step that unfolded. Years later when I returned to transfer embryos and didn't get pregnant Dr. S made the call. She was the kindest person at that terrible moment and made getting that news as good as possible. She listened to me cry and then pull it together and ask for a plan to start again. She didn't tell me to take my time or think about something else, rather she said we could start again and would get working on our next plan. About 18 months later and after plenty of changes to my expectations and plans -- Dr. Stadtmauer called my out of a huge meeting at work. She said simply -- you are pregnant and I was looking for some numbers around 80-100 and yours are 488. I asked what that meant and she said we will test you again in two days and then schedule an ultrasound. Two weeks later I was on that ultrasound table for a minute or two and Dr. Stadtmauer said beaming, "It's two!" I was stunned, thrilled, and didn't notice that she and the team of nurses and other doctors had left to go into the hall to sign a card congratulating me! I will never forget her kindness and honesty through my twin pregnancy and the singleton that came from those embryos 3 years later.

Be honest with her about your goals and then listen to what she has to say every step of the way. She won't sugar coat things but she will listen and try to find the solutions that will help you along the way. She will be your biggest cheerleader and source of strength when you are most vulnerable.

The one thing I remember that made a huge difference ultimately was the use of progesterone shots before and after transfers for 12 weeks.

I felt like the monitoring appointments went very smoothly. The teams were efficient and very private. It took me a day or two to sort out where to go and how the two holding rooms worked. A very kind nurse saw my deer in the headlights look and said, "Let me show you how this works..." To my relief, I never walked in the wrong door and knew what to do from that day forward.

My costs ranged a bit from the start to the finish line. I was able to negotiate my fees down with ongoing procedures. I would encourage everyone to speak with your team about fees as they were very willing to work with me.

Given my age, a single transfer was not really an option. We spoke at length about my willingness to have multiples and I was totally fine with that outcome.

I felt like I really had to advocate for myself in terms of what I wanted for a treatment plan. I like to understand everything that is going on and the reasons why we are approaching things in a certain way and I felt like I had to really ask a lot of questions to get that information

Come in with your questions written down so that you don't get rushed out without everything you asked being answered

We started with 7.5 mg of letrozole combined with ovidrel injection. We eventually switched to clomid and did that in conjunction with gonal-f injections and the ovidrel injection.

ultrasounds and most medications were covered by insurance. IUI was not covered by insurance and was $250 for the procedure and $55 for the sperm sample use. The cryopreservation of my husband's sperm was $450 total

n/a

When we first started with Dr. Stadmauer, we started by covering the basics, such as ovulation, uterine lining and sperm count. Unfortunately after 12 months it never progressed from there. After 2 failed IUIs and no explanation to why nothing was working, we never investigated possible diagnosis. Every time that I had an appointment, all we did was to review everything we had done. The doctor listened when I asked to change medication and my monitoring showed that I responded well to the new medication, but at some point one of the fellow doctors said that I was in high risk of having multiples and I believed him. When that didn't happen, nobody cared to try to find out why. I remained under a low dose of Metformin for a whole 12 months. Nobody ever suggested changing it. Under the care of a new doctor I know I have multiple cysts, a possible polyp, and that I should be under a much higher dose of Metformin. Dr. Stadmauer missed all of that.

Jones Institute is a very respectful clinic, but you will probably be successful only if you don't have any underlining conditions, and your problem is easy to resolve. I never met a doctor or fellow doctor at the clinic willing to investigate why I was not getting pregnant after 12 months of treatment.

When I started treatment, I was put on Metformin because I may or may not have had PCOS. I was asked to do the HSG test, that came back clean. My husband had a semen analysis, which came back as low number. No medication was suggested beside a zync supplement. I went for two IUI cycles with Letrozole. I produced only one follicle with Letrozole, which was what I already produced naturally. No change of medication was suggested until I asked for it. After about 8 months we pressed for answers about the low sperm count and the doctor mentioned Clomid for men. The clinic, even though is a fertility clinic, won't prescribe that for their male patients, so my husband had to go to an Urologist. I produced a much higher number of follicles with Clomid and decided for timed intercourse only. After 3 unsuccessful cycles I had another appointment with the doctor and she started the consultation with "let's see.... wow, you've been trying for quite a while!". I asked for a new blood panel, since I've been going there for 12 months. Up until then, I didn't even know my AMH level. It felt like she never remembered me.

Ultrasounds are $190 IUI: $250 for he procedure and $255 for sperm wash HSG: about $600-$700 with no insurance

If you are looking for a very intelligent doctor who has lots of experience, she is it. She diagnosed me in seconds of testing and got right to the details and course. If you don’t want blunt info, she is not for you. She got right to the point, has been down this road with thousands of couples, and had a very scientific way about going things. Not totally nurturing and motherly if you are looking for that. She does know her stuff though!

Make sure you break through the statistics and knowledge she has to show who you are as a human/woman.

I went to this doctor for initial discussion and testing which included pelvic ultrasound, HCG test, and blood work. Then we set up the plan from there.

In no fault to them (my insurance) I had to pay out of pocket for my fertility drugs and will have to pay for IVF. Other than that it was covered and I only payed around 20% of the costs

Unknown. Didn’t get that far

Dr Stadtmauer is very knowledge however when first meeting her, she was very hard to read and it was a little hard to keep the conversation going. She’s very question/answer not elaborative. I found that it was best to write down my questions when meeting with her regarding treatment and next steps.

Write down everything that comes to mind and go into her office with it. It’s easy to get overwhelmed with all of the information and you can go down one trail of discussion and completely forget to get it all out before leaving the office.

We were identified as unexplained, therefore, the game plan was to just try IUIs with femara, ovidrel and then follow up with progesterone. We did this three times under the treatment of Stadtmauer which resulted in no positive pregancies.

Strengths - very smart, patiently answers all questions, is direct and no-nonsense and explains everything very well. Weaknesses - she's not the hand-holding, warm and fuzzy type of doctor. But I did not need that at all since this was my third cycle and I felt pretty good about what to expect at that point.

She's no nonsense.

We qualified for a "buy two cycles, get your third for free - or receive half your money back" program and that put my mind at ease!

I only had one embryo to use so this does not apply.

I loved Dr. Stadtmauer and her communication. She never lets me speak negatively and is always assuring me there are new medications and treatments to try. She reminds me my diagnosis is common, I am young, and she has more positive outcomes than negative outcomes in my case and is always excited to see me and start another round. She makes me excited to come and see her and not dread another failed cycle like I have in the past.

Be open! She is there to communicate with and she will not be able to fully express her medical advice and expertise if you don't explain all the problems. She is VERY knowledgeable and very willing to take the next step to ensure her patients are happy and comfortable.

So far, I have used Letrozole and Clomid to help release mature follicles before IUI. Because I have PCOS, I do not ovulate on my own and have to take Progesterone to bring on my cycle. Because of this, I can go months with no cycle, resulting in very heavy cycles once I take the Progesterone. Dr. Stadtmauer was able to help track my follicle growth and measurements of my lining to ensure proper timing of ovulation, as heavy cycles resulted in longer cycles and threw of normal schedules. Unfortunately, after three cycles of Letrozole, she was unable to find mature follicles to be released by the trigger shot so we are going to repeat this process with Clomid next month.

The office visits with Dr. Stadtmauer were covered by my insurance, with just a copay being patient responsibility. The ultrasound appointments were covered and billed correctly, which was a relief, as some in the past have been billed as experimental and not covered. All lab tests have been covered as well. Dr. Stadtmauer's billing team has done a fantastic job making sure billing procedure codes are properly done to ensure coverage is effective. I have gotten a break down of costs up front before vists and ultrasounds with the price in case my insurance was to deny or not cover the services so I am aware of the costs before the services are rendered.

This has not been an option in my care yet.

She’s not phased by surprises or needs to make adjustments to plans, which really helps to keep me calm. When I didnt respond fast enough to the first round of IVF stimulation, she quickly changed course, adjusted meds, and moved forward. She also provided me with natural supplements (at my request) instead of more pills when I wanted to deal with blood sugar issues. Her confidence and experience make everyone feel safe and cared for.

Trust her experience and don’t be afraid to ask questions.

We added human growth hormone to my first and second round of stimulation because I wasn’t responding fast enough to standard meds. This helped a lot. We also waited an extra day for the last stimulation before retrieval because she knew it took my body more time to develop the right size eggs.

We were very lucky to have IVF covered by our United HealthCare plan, so none of the services were painfully expensive except the medications (around $8K per round) and anesthesia, around $2K at first, but then cheaper once I hit my insurance deductible.

Dr. Stadtmauer is the best doctor to go to. She is very knowledgeable about infertility and treatments. She will work with you on a course of action that you agrree with and give education on things you are unsure of. She will call you after procedures and treatments to see how you are ing. Outstanding physician.

Be honest and open with her. Let her know all of your issues and don't be afraid to ask questions or ask for a different treatment if you are not comfortable.

For the retrieval I used Gonal F, menopur and cetrotide. Not sure of the doses, but I used it for about 10 days before retrieval. I went to the doctor every other day to twst blood levels after a few days they start ultrasounds to check follicle size. The retrieval day, I came 2 hours early and once I went back they gave me anesthesia so I was out of it. Before I went back my husband gave his sample. So after I woke up we were told his sperm count and how many eggs were retrieved. 3 days after they called and told me how many made it to day 3 and day 4 they called and updated the number for transfer the next day. 1st and 2nd transfer were hard, full bladder and they had a hard time transferring. 1st ended in a chemical, 2nd negative test, 3rd Dr. Stadtmauer was there for and used a sydney transfer for my tilted uterus. Miscarried at 10 weeks. 2nd and 3rd transfer prep were estrogen patches and pills and progesterone shots

Sperm testing $120 Ultrasound $240 Pregnancy test $10 Transfer $3,895 Physician $75 -$85 Retrieval $11,240 Fertility meds $~$5,000

They always transfer two unless you ask for one or only have one. Three can be transferred after a certain number of tries and/or age.

Overall, my experience with Dr. Stadtmauer was a great one. I really felt like she was on our side and she listened to all my concerns. After 4 years of trying to conceive and failed treatments, she understood that I knew my body and she didn't try to talk us into or out of anything we didn't feel 100% comfortable with. As a self-pay patient, we were interested in the share-risk program and I believe she was a big advocate in helping us get approved for it. I do wish I was able to see her more through out my treatment, but with us living 2 hours away, the schedule didn't always work in our favor. However, all the doctors I saw in between very kind and made sure to answer all my questions if they arose. When it came time to hear the results of my beta, Dr. Stadtmauer called me personally and I could tell the genuine excitement in her voice. Although this was only my first round of IVF, I felt like we had been on this journey with her for longer and she was so happy for us. Overall, I would recommend working with Dr. Stadtmauer!

Make sure you are explicit about your goals, concerns, and expectations. When we had our consultation, she listened to our history and our past experiences and she adjusted our treatment based on that.

We did the shared risk program which included 2 fresh IVF cycles, frozen cycles until the embryos from the last retrieval were used up, ICSI, and cryopreservation which totaled $19,000. This did not include medication.

Dr. Stadtmauer listened to us and knew that we were comfortable with the transfer of two embryos if we had them. Two embryos were transferred and one took!

She reminds me of a female Einstein. She is extremely knowledgeable. At our first meeting, I thought she wasn't really paying attention to me, but then I realized it was because she was thinking about all of my background history and a plan of action. I was able to leave my very first appointment much more confident, and with a clear idea of what our game plan was.

Don't give up! I went through a miscarriage, crazy hormones from the pills, and painful injections. It is all totally worth it when you finally get to hold your precious little one in your arms!

I have been on Clomid for eight months. My first month with her, she had me stop Clomid for an entire month to check to see if I would ovulate on my own. After finding out that my ovulation was good, she went ahead and started with a new drug, which ended up not working for me... didn't like all of the bad side effects. We switched back to Clomid, stomach injection, and timed intercourse. When that didn't work, we did clomid at a higher dose, the stomach injection, and then our IUI. At a certain point later that month, I began progesterone hip injections daily. Once I found out I was pregnant from the IUI, I continued the progesterone injections through the first 10 weeks.

My insurance covered any ultrasounds and bloodwork that were performed. All medications were out of pocket, but I used Avella pharmacy, and they were fantastic. For the IUI why procedure, I believe the part we had to pay after insurance was approximately $500.

I appreciate her explaining to me how important it was to get off all medication for the first month I was under her care. Even though I was eager to get pregnant, she thoroughly explained why it was important to research all possible reasons why I was having trouble getting pregnant.

I'm certainly a fan of Dr. S! She's very smart, and very open to have a conversation about your treatment options, which is important to me. She's professional, and will call you if you need to discuss some aspect of your treatment with her.

No one is a miracle worker. But Dr. S will definitely do her best to achieve your family goals.

I have severe infertility but because I was so young (early 20's), some doctors didn't take me seriously and told me and my husband to "keep trying on our own". We had been trying for 3 years before seeing Dr Stadtmauer. She took my infertility very seriously. She didn't waste our time, she got us pregnant. She allowed me to be involved in my treatment plan. She was willing to give us more advanced treatment to help my egg quality which resulted in my first healthy pregnancy and baby. For that, I will be forever grateful. I honestly don't think I could ask for a better doctor.

She's very open and listens to your wants and concerns, don't be afraid to tell her.

For my first round of IVF, I was on Lupron, Menopur, and Gonal-F (can't remember dosage). Because I am young, my body responded really well to stims so they had to keep my dose low. They retrieved 29 eggs, resulting in 5 embryos. The quality was not great so they had to do a 3 day transfer. They transferred 2 embryos (can't remember the grade) and the rest did not make it to freeze on Day 5. That round of IVF resulted in a twin pregnancy but I unfortunately miscarried at 9 weeks. For my second round of IVF, they did LOTS of genetic testing beforehand. All results were normal. My egg quality was thought to be the culprit of my miscarriages. So they put me on HGH Omnitropin (can't remember the dosage), Gonal-F, and Cetrotide. Since they knew exactly how my body responded to stims, they got my dosage perfect. I believe they retrieved 20 eggs that time. It resulted in 5 embryos. They were better quality than last round but not good enough to make it to Day 5 which was a bummer because we had hoped to do PGS and to freeze some. We had to do a Day 3 transfer. They transferred two grade 3, 8 cell embryos. Like I said, the other 3 embryos did not make it to freeze. That round resulted in one amazingly healthy singleton pregnancy. I gave birth to a healthy baby girl 2 days before her due date.

I began seeing dr stadtmauer in 2016 for fibroids and she has been managing my care since then. There have been a few instances where it seemed she wasnt aware of everything that was going on but overall she has been a great dr

Ask lots of questions, don't wait to be told

300 units of gonal f and 150 units of menopur nightly. Cetrotide each morning. It was not explained to me why this protocol was best.

My employer covers ivf 100% for three cycles. Because I had not met deductibles I had to pay out of pocket for my 1st round of meds.

She is very knowledgeable in every aspect of infertility. She may be a bit hard to communicate with but when it comes down to it I trust her ability to point me in the right direction. She takes every question I have and gives me the honest answers that I would expect while going through infertility.

Have patience.

Including a clinical IVF trial about $10,000 not including medication.

Dr. Stadtmauer was amazing and very optimistic when I felt unsure. She gave me options and left if up to me to decide without pressure. Her staff is amazing and personable. Everytime I visited I walked away feeling assured that I was being taken care of.

Have a list a questions ready

Once I was assessed by the nursing staff I went straight to ultrasound, very little waiting

I paid between 10-13k for IVF

She is pleasant but seems confused or not up to date on what's going on with me. We chose her because she had the first availability but now we regret the decision.

Stay on top of things. She is very smart as a clinician but she is not as organized as we would like. We want someone who takes the time to at least know where we left off last time.

I got pregnant once with iui treatment but had one miscarriage. In the process of trying again. The doctor was willing to try other options and listen to my concerns. The only disadvantage was she wasn't at the office that much so I had to see a couple different doctors.

To be prepared for a lot of tests from you and your partner

I have had a very good experience with dr. Stadtmauer. She has answered every question I have and helped me in whatever I needed. It has been a great experience. My only complaint is really with the office. They try to get back but when it comes to the coordinators it is sometimes like pulling teeth....

Be your own advocate. I did have to ask for some specific tests to be done but she's always willing to listen and hear you out.

I was very happy on how caring she was in the process of ivf and how long it will take to recover after egg retrieval in April and that with Covid-19 I have waited until I can come bto do my frozen transfer when I could do it again.

That Laurel stadtmauer would be a good doctor to help them through everything.

Gonnal-F pen, ganirelex, and the protocols and how to do the shots and wasn't that hard to do.

My health insurance covered most of it

Doing a frozen embryo was better because of quilty.