Dr. Bou Nemer took her time to explain our diagnosis with us in detail, as well as the treatment plan. She went through the success rates of every treatment and gave us the option to choose the treatment that we are comfortable with. I never felt rushed and all my questions were always answered...We did not feel rushed at any time and felt comfortable with our decision at the end of the consultation...
The nurses [at IVF Florida] were compassionate and knowledgeable. I saw the same 2 nurses every time I went for my appointments. They are also the ones that answered most of my messages in the portal...It is a very large clinic with a lot of different offices. One of the offices is open on the weekend...The appointments with the doctor are mostly virtual...The doctor was always able to accommodate appointments on a short notice, and I was able to schedule ultrasounds and other procedures for the next day...
How was your experience with Laurice Bou Nemer at IVF Florida (US Fertility Network clinic)?
We heard about the doctor from a friend who had her 2 children with her. At the first visit, she was very kind and informative, and gave us a list of tests to do. We had another appointment after this where we went over the results and we were diagnosed with unexplained infertility. The doctor gave us the choice of either IUI or IVF. She explained both options in detail, and even told us the success rates of each in our specific case. We did not feel pressured into going one way or the other. We chose to start with IUI for 3 cycles and then to move to IVF if IUI is not successful. After three IUIs, we moved on to IVF. The doctor had another virtual appointment with us to discuss IVF in detail. We asked a long list of questions that we had prepared and she answered all the questions. We did not feel rushed at any time and felt comfortable with our decision at the end of the consultation. Thankfully, IVF went as expected and I am currently pregnant with a baby girl!
I did not feel like just another patient. I always felt that the doctor cared about me and was doing what is best for my case.
What's one piece of advice would you give a prospective patient of Laurice Bou Nemer at IVF Florida (US Fertility Network clinic)?
Do not hesitate to ask your questions! I was initially hesitant because I worried that I would be asking "stupid" questions, because I had never done any fertility treatment before. But Dr. Bou Nemer is always open for questions and never makes you feel like you are asking too many questions.
During treatment, were you treated like a number or a human with Laurice Bou Nemer at IVF Florida (US Fertility Network clinic)?
Dr. Bou Nemer took her time to explain our diagnosis with us in detail, as well as the treatment plan. She went through the success rates of every treatment and gave us the option to choose the treatment that we are comfortable with. I never felt rushed and all my questions were always answered.
Describe the protocols Laurice Bou Nemer used in your cycles at IVF Florida (US Fertility Network clinic) and their degree of success.
I used gonal-F, menopur and cetrotide. I had a frozen embryo transfer with estrogen patches and progesterone injections.
Describe your experience with the nursing staff at IVF Florida (US Fertility Network clinic).
The nurses were compassionate and knowledgeable. I saw the same 2 nurses every time I went for my appointments. They are also the ones that answered most of my messages in the portal. They make you feel like part of the team and don't treat you like a number. There are other nurses in the weekend or when you go to another office location.
Describe your experience with IVF Florida (US Fertility Network clinic).
It is a very large clinic with a lot of different offices. One of the offices is open on the weekend, so I went there a few times during my IUI and IVF treatments.
The appointments with the doctor are mostly virtual, which was fine with me. The doctor was always able to accommodate appointments on a short notice, and I was able to schedule ultrasounds and other procedures for the next day.
Describe Laurice Bou Nemer's approach to eSET (elective single embryo transfer) vs. multiple embryo transfer at IVF Florida (US Fertility Network clinic).
They do not offer multiple embryo transfer
What specific things went wrong at IVF Florida (US Fertility Network clinic)?
Failed to call in prescriptions to pharmacy
Lost paperwork
Describe the specific things that went wrong at IVF Florida (US Fertility Network clinic).
The records from my primary doctor never made it by fax to the clinic.
Dr. Bou Nemer's bedside manner is adequately warm, but I barely saw her or spoke to her. When I did speak to her, she reassured me that my treatment was going to be successful because she was confident nothing greater than my diminishing reserve was going on. Unfortunately, I was misdiagnosed by Dr. Bou Nemer and treated for diminished reserve when I actually had PCOS. My new doctor says that they don't quite understand how Dr. Bou Nemer looked at my bloodwork and missed these major markers.
This clinic [IVF Florida] scheduled everyone at the same time, so you can imagine that this was a cattle call...The nursing staff does the best they can with the short staffing of their offices. They are very nice people and I have had lovely conversations with them all. The front office staff truly kept me sane. Unfortunately, they did not have enough pieces of the puzzle provided by my doctor to make the right decisions for me.
How was your experience with Laurice Bou Nemer at IVF Florida (US Fertility Network clinic)?
For my IVF, we followed standard protocol. I took birth control for a month and then went in to measure my antral follicles on day four only to find that I only had about four viable follicles between both my ovaries. I expressed extreme apprehension about going forward with my cycle and repeatedly mentioned this to my sonogram technician as well as the nurses. My doctor reassured me by telling me that four follicles was good for someone with diminished reserve (which I was shocked to find out she thought I had). I trusted my doctor despite the fact that the first time I had gone into the clinic and every subsequent month, the tech had measured between 10-13 antral follicles. I should have known this was a red flag. At every single apprehensive statement, I was given the same IVF mantra “it only takes one” and sent right out the door once more. Upon retrieval, they extracted seven follicles, four were mature, and only 3 fertilized with ICSI. All three embryos did not make it past day three.
During my post IVF consultation, my doctor told me that my ovaries were in worse shape than she imagined. She claimed that my embryo quality put me at an ovarian age of a 38 year old woman. Basically, the consultation ended with hopelessly blaming me for the sudden attrition of the embryos. She proceeded to tell me that she could try tweaking the medicines, but that she could not be confident we would retrieve anything worthwhile. I was the most devastated I have ever been, but I agreed to try again in November of 2021.
In October of 2021, I scheduled a second opinion consultation with another South Florida clinic. This was where things really got crazy. The clinic sent me to an endocrinologist who overturned every single medical decision that IVF Florida had ever made in the effort of my treatment. Not only was I not a diminished reserve patient, my AMH was misread by their laborator and was actually at 3.08. The endocrinologist believed that I had been dealing with undiagnosed PCOS and that this was the reason my treatment did not work (since I had been pumped full of maximum dosage menopur and gonal f to treat my supposed diminished reserve).
What's one piece of advice would you give a prospective patient of Laurice Bou Nemer at IVF Florida (US Fertility Network clinic)?
You have to be clearer about your own treatment than your doctor. Know your body and do not trust everything at face value
During treatment, were you treated like a number or a human with Laurice Bou Nemer at IVF Florida (US Fertility Network clinic)?
Dr. Bou Nemer's bedside manner is adequately warm, but I barely saw her or spoke to her. When I did speak to her, she reassured me that my treatment was going to be successful because she was confident nothing greater than my diminishing reserve was going on. Unfortunately, I was misdiagnosed by Dr. Bou Nemer and treated for diminished reserve when I actually had PCOS. My new doctor says that they don't quite understand how Dr. Bou Nemer looked at my bloodwork and missed these major markers.
Describe the protocols Laurice Bou Nemer used in your cycles at IVF Florida (US Fertility Network clinic) and their degree of success.
In November of 2020 I requested a consultation at IVFFlorida. They were referred by my OB as the result of a conversation about trying to get pregnant. I am in a same sex relationship and I had few known health issues. When I went to my consultation at IVF Florida, we ran through my health history and I was sent off to bloodwork. The bloodwork came back and my doctor (L. Bou Nemer) said that the only concerning number was my AMH (1.86 at 31 y.o.). We proceeded to try three unmedicated IUI cycles and three medicated IUI cycles with varying amounts of Letrozole (2.5, 5, 7.5). When all of these treatments failed, my doctor suggested that I jump into IVF. She claimed that because of my age and relatively good health, I would more than likely graduate with only one IVF cycle.
My IVF cycle was an abysmal failure. I only retrieved 7 eggs, 4 mature, and 3 fertilized. All three arrested and died on the third day. This was later explained to me as a mistake in protocol from the clinic and clinician by another clinic.
Describe your experience with your nurse at IVF Florida (US Fertility Network clinic). (Assigned nurse: Vanessa)
The nursing staff does the best they can with the short staffing of their offices. They are very nice people and I have had lovely conversations with them all. The front office staff truly kept me sane. Unfortunately, they did not have enough pieces of the puzzle provided by my doctor to make the right decisions for me.
Describe your experience with IVF Florida (US Fertility Network clinic).
The clinic is always packed full of women coming in for bloodwork or ultrasounds, which means that they are almost always running late. They do their best to accommodate you, but they forgot my appointment and the fact that I was in the waiting room more than once. Their communication happens strictly over their portal and sometimes they just copy and paste instructions, which means that they send you generic instructions when they sometimes contradict what they have told you in the clinic. This caused one of my IUIs to be canceled since I did not take the trigger shot on time.
Describe your experience with your monitoring appointments at IVF Florida (US Fertility Network clinic).
This clinic scheduled everyone at the same time, so you can imagine that this was a cattle call.
Describe the costs associated with your care under Laurice Bou Nemer at IVF Florida (US Fertility Network clinic).
I paid about 2k for each IUI cycle (including sperm donor semen) all out of pocket. Everything I paid for was out of pocket with some help from the clinic billing certain procedures to my insurance if they could. Still, the IVF procedure was very costly and all upfront.
What specific things went wrong at IVF Florida (US Fertility Network clinic)?
Failed to call in prescriptions to pharmacy
Lost paperwork
Lost appointments
Failed to call with results
Failed to order appropriate test
Failed to send your chart to another clinic
Failed to inform you of changes in protocol
Provided conflicting information
Failed to convey critical information
Describe the specific things that went wrong at IVF Florida (US Fertility Network clinic).
In November of 2020 I requested a consultation at IVFFlorida. They were referred by my OB as the result of a conversation about trying to get pregnant. I am in a same sex relationship and I had few known health issues. When I went to my consultation at IVF Florida, we ran through my health history and I was sent off to bloodwork. The bloodwork came back and my doctor (L. Bou Nemer) said that the only concerning number was my AMH (1.86 at 31 y.o.). We proceeded to try three unmedicated IUI cycles and three medicated IUI cycles with varying amounts of Letrozole (2.5, 5, 7.5). When all of these treatments failed, my doctor suggested that I jump into IVF. She claimed that because of my age and relatively good health, I would more than likely graduate with only one IVF cycle.
For my IVF, we followed standard protocol. I took birth control for a month and then went in to measure my antral follicles on day four only to find that I only had about four viable follicles between both my ovaries. I expressed extreme apprehension about going forward with my cycle and repeatedly mentioned this to my sonogram technician as well as the nurses. My doctor reassured me by telling me that four follicles was good for someone with diminished reserve (which I was shocked to find out she thought I had). I trusted my doctor despite the fact that the first time I had gone into the clinic and every subsequent month, the tech had measured between 10-13 antral follicles. I should have known this was a red flag. At every single apprehensive statement, I was given the same IVF mantra “it only takes one” and sent right out the door once more. Upon retrieval, they extracted seven follicles, four were mature, and only 3 fertilized with ICSI. All three embryos did not make it past day three.
During my post IVF consultation, my doctor told me that my ovaries were in worse shape than she imagined. She claimed that my embryo quality put me at an ovarian age of a 38 year old woman. Basically, the consultation ended with hopelessly blaming me for the sudden attrition of the embryos. She proceeded to tell me that she could try tweaking the medicines, but that she could not be confident we would retrieve anything worthwhile. I was the most devastated I have ever been, but I agreed to try again in November of 2021.
In October of 2021, I scheduled a second opinion consultation with another South Florida clinic. This was where things really got crazy. The clinic sent me to an endocrinologist who overturned every single medical decision that IVF Florida had ever made in the effort of my treatment. Not only was I not a diminished reserve patient, my AMH was misread by their laborator and was actually at 3.08. The endocrinologist believed that I had been dealing with undiagnosed PCOS and that this was the reason my treatment did not work (since I had been pumped full of maximum dosage menopur and gonal f to treat my supposed diminished reserve).
Now I am fighting to let other women know how dangerous and reckless this clinic is and how little they care to treat patients with human decency. They want your money and they will give you the lowest quality of care in order to get it and then attempt to collect again.
Whenever I met with her [Dr. Laurice Bou Nemer], she was up-to-date on our past treatments and what was working and what wasn't working. She was clear in her communication what was wrong and how we would treat the infertility. I was lucky enough to have her do both my retrieval and also my transfer, and for both procedures, she gave a clear description of what would happen, what we could expect, etc. I just felt like she knew us and she knew our story.
I was going to this clinic [IVF Florida] for about a year, and you go so often sometimes, that you really get to know the staff. After my 3 failed IUIs, with my successful IVF transfer, everyone seemed so genuinely happy for me and so invested in my journey. It's a beautiful thing to feel like you have a team working alongside with you on this difficult journey, and I definitely felt like I had that with this team.
How was your experience with Laurice Bou Nemer at IVF Florida (US Fertility Network clinic)?
Dr. Bou Nemer was referred to me by my OBGYN because she thought I would get along with her and would like the practice and she was 100% right. I felt our fertility treatment was safe with Dr. Bou Nemer. While we had setbacks with 3 failed IUIs, from the beginning, based on our initial screening results, Dr. Bou Nemer had always said we try 3 and then we can talk IVF. And after the 3 failed IUIs, we tried IVF and were successful. I liked knowing a plan up-front of what to do if it worked and if it failed, with something so out of our control it was nice to feel control over a plan. She answered all questions I had and gave me plenty of details, which I appreciated because it again made me feel like I had control over our plan and the information we used to make decisions. I also felt like our plan was tailored to us. Also, Dr. Bou Nemer personally calls after IVF to let you know if it was successful or not - it's the personal touches that make it special. It's a tough journey to go through so it's nice when you have people like Dr. Bou Nemer that you can tell genuinely care and have the same end goal as you.
During treatment, were you treated like a number or a human with Laurice Bou Nemer at IVF Florida (US Fertility Network clinic)?
Whenever I met with her, she was up-to-date on our past treatments and what was working and what wasn't working. She was clear in her communication what was wrong and how we would treat the infertility. I was lucky enough to have her do both my retrieval and also my transfer, and for both procedures, she gave a clear description of what would happen, what we could expect, etc. I just felt like she knew us and she knew our story.
Describe the protocols Laurice Bou Nemer used in your cycles at IVF Florida (US Fertility Network clinic) and their degree of success.
We were diagnosed with male factor infertility, with low motility and irregular shape, with my hormones and results appearing normal. We started with 3 rounds of IUIs. Each round, they were able to wash out a decent amount of sperm and we did 2 IUIs each round (back-to-back days). Dr. Bou Nemer mentioned that it's not necessary to do 2 days but could increase chance, so we did. After the 3rd IUI, I scheduled a call with her just to understand our next steps in case it didn't work. We walked through the entire IVF process and how that would work for us. With our IVF protocol, I started birth control for one month to regulate my cycle. I then started my egg retrieval medication - this included Gonal F and then low-dose HCG (nation-wide shortage of Menoupur at the time, which is what was originally prescribed) to help stimulate egg growth and then eventually Cetrotide to ensure no early ovulation. I did those for about 2 weeks and was able to grow 23 follicles. Right before the egg retrieval, I took a lupron trigger shot (similar to the IUI shot) to prep for the retrieval. Of the 23 follicles, 19 were mature, 12 were fertilized and 8 were ultimately frozen. For the fertilization of the eggs, Dr. Bou Nemer utilized ICSI given the low motility and irregular shape of the sperm. We did not do any genetic testing on the embryos prior to freezing as Dr. Bou Nemer was not concerned for us - I am 30 and neither of our genetic reporting came back with any findings. I then started another round of birth control and then my stim medications to prep for the frozen egg transfer. I also had to start estrogen patches (.1 ml - 2 patches every 2 days with increasing frequency leading up to the transfer). I also started the progesterone in oil shots shortly before the transfer to begin to prep my body - 1ml a day in the mornings. I then had my transfer with Dr. Bou Nemer - we only transferred one embryo as advised. Since we didn't do genetic testing, their embryologist selected the healthiest embryo based on growth patterns/splitting. 10 days after my transfer I returned for my first bloodwork to check HCG levels. After that appointment, based on my results, Dr. Bou Nemer called me to congratulate me that I was pregnant with a successful IVF round. I then went back 4 days later to check for increased HCG levels. With both of the levels coming back strong (first at 501 and then at 3175), I continued with my progesterone in oil shot and estrogen patches and returned for my first ultrasound at 6 weeks and then again at 8 weeks. I "graduated" from the clinic at 8 weeks and was then sent off to my "normal" OBGYN to continue pre-natal care.
Describe your experience with your nurse at IVF Florida (US Fertility Network clinic). (Assigned nurse: Mackenzie and Joana)
AMAZING. I loved Mackenzie and Joana. Ultimately, you end up seeing your nurses and the phlebotomist (Neisha for me) and the ultrasound tech (Naomi for me) more than Dr. Bou Nemer so it was so great that the entire team is beyond helpful and nice. There are some weeks I was going every other day or every day for monitoring - you really get to know your team. Naomi, for example, would always tell me how the ultrasound looked and gave me details that would help calm my anxiety. I had an open line of communication with the nurses via their portal which they almost always answered same day during the weekdays, unless I sent a message late in the day. They taught me exactly what to do with the shots, even when I had to stop by because I thought I was doing the PIO shots wrong. It's also so clear that they genuinely care about their patients. I was going to this clinic for about a year, and you go so often sometimes, that you really get to know the staff. After my 3 failed IUIs, with my successful IVF transfer, everyone seemed so genuinely happy for me and so invested in my journey. It's a beautiful thing to feel like you have a team working alongside with you on this difficult journey, and I definitely felt like I had that with this team.
Describe your experience with IVF Florida (US Fertility Network clinic).
Coral Gables Office - While I loved the doctor and the staff, I feel like the clinic is a bit small for the number of patients it sees, specifically for bloodwork and ultrasounds. They do blood draws with the first appointment at 7:45am through 10am, but it felt like many times the appointment slots were double/triple booked so the appointments were always running late, unless you just got lucky on that day or got a later appointment since many people want to be done before work it seems. I understand it must be hard to schedule since really everyone going through all the treatments has to go for monitoring (blood and ultrasound), but sometimes I spent over an hour there for blood test and ultrasound. I would recommend getting another phlebotomist and ultrasound tech/room just like Margate to help keep things moving faster.
Describe the costs associated with your care under Laurice Bou Nemer at IVF Florida (US Fertility Network clinic).
I ran everything through my insurance. In total for my IUIs, about $250 - 3 rounds of IUI. Then for my IVF, about $1,400. This is not including the cost of the medication but rather just what I paid for services provided by Dr. Bou Nemer.
Describe Laurice Bou Nemer's approach to eSET (elective single embryo transfer) vs. multiple embryo transfer at IVF Florida (US Fertility Network clinic).
We were advised to do a single embryo transfer. Dr. Bou Nemer explained that I was young, with healthy eggs and that I shouldn't need any more than one. She explained the risks of a multiple pregnancy. We did not argue or push back on this.
