Lora Shahine

She seems like a cheerleader initially when you see her online persona and in our first meeting with her. But in reality she was rough with us in some conversations and she knew we had just suffered a horrible tragedy. If we were anxious it was because of our circumstance, and I would hope a doctor would understand a patient’s anxiety in a tragedy and during a pandemic. She showed no such understanding.

The IVF advocate influencer personality she shows online is not what you’ll be getting.

She used birth control to get ahold of my cycle to begin. This resulted in fewer eggs than subsequent cycles with a different doctor. With Dr. Shahine’s cycle we only got 12 eggs and 1 mosaic at the end. My subsequent doctor was able to get 18-21 eggs with several cycles and some normal embryos. Dr. Shahine also told me I had diminished ovarian reserve with extremely low AMH. Subsequent cycles with another doctor showed normal range AMH and no indication of DRI.

We had fertility insurance.

She was kind, but she didn't care from deep, maybe it's just for us. she told us she didn't know the reason, why blood test were all good, we just failed our 2 cycle. First cycle, 14 eggs retrieval，6 matured, with ICSI with 6 fertilized. 1 normal. she said maybe it was a little bit late for the last trigger. Ok, next cycle, 17 eggs retrieval, 9 matured, with ICSI, 4 were fertilized! 50% failed, and none of them were normal. why ?? she didn't know! just told us unfortunately. excuse me, are you kidding me???

Maybe she and her team will take care of you if you were native or not asian people.

2 cycles. 1: 14eggs, 6 matured, 2 for the 5 day, 1 normal. ----transfer, chemical pregnancy, her assistant said that bleeding was normal, and didn't response my email. 2: 17 eggs, 9 matured, 1 for the 5 day. None. We didn't see any report for the updates of embryos or blasts, just their phone call, we didn't know what was going on for the 3 days, or 5 days. Nothing, Nothing was reported.

50k+ for 2 cycles of IVF and a polyp remove operation

single transfer

Dr. Shahine is warm and open, but also very honest and direct. She took time to get to know my husband and I, and what our goals are for our family. I feel that she’s done everything she can to help us bring home a baby, and we have always felt like she was on our side. After each failed cycle, she’s suggested different medications for the next round based off of our previous results. She cites current research to back up her decisions, and collaborates with the entire team of doctors to discuss patient cases, so you really have a team of 5 doctors working for you. She’s made sure that we’re aware of the different fertility methods available, and what our odds are of conceiving with each approach. She gave us a very honest opinion, and has suggested using donor eggs, but she’s been completely supportive of our decision to keep trying with my eggs for now.

If you’re thinking of scheduling with her, call and get on her calendar since she’s often booked a few months out. Once you’re an established patient it’s easier to get an appointment.

1/2018 IVF 1: BCP for two weeks, then Follistim 450 IU, Mini HCG 20 units, Ganirelix around day 7. Retrieved 9 eggs/7 mature/5 fertilized, sent 2 for PGS testing and both had multiple abnormalities 10/2018, 4 IUI cycles: used Letrozole to produce more eggs, pregnant on 4th cycle, embryo had not progressed at 6 week ultrasound and miscarried. 1/2020 IVF 2: No BCP, luteal phase start, same meds as cycle 1. 6 mature eggs, 3 fertilized, all arrested 3/2020 IVF 3: No BCP, luteal phase start, planned to add progesterone after ovulation but ovulated late. Added Clomid to first 5 days of stims, and seemed to have more follicles but only half of the follicles produced eggs. IVF 4 planned 5/2020: planning luteal phase start, adding growth hormone to increase quality/quantity of eggs. progesterone, Clomid 150 mg, Omnitrope 2.9 mg, Follistim 450 IU, Mini HCG 20 units

IUI around $600/cycle IVF retrieval: about $14000 (includes monitoring, ultrasounds, blood draws, retrieval, anesthesia, ICSI, and embryology, 6 mos embryo storage) FET: $4600 PGS testing: $1625 for 1-5 embryos plus $1950 for biopsy

Dr Shahine prefers to transfer 1 embryo, but is open to discussing other options for specific cases

Dr. Shahine has always made us feel cared for and that she is personally invested in our care. When we were not successful after our first transfer, she mourned our loss with us. She has provided additional resources to work alongside our treatments. She has met with us in person multiple times to make sure that we were comfortable with the plan moving forward and that our mental health was well taken care of as well. She has made sure that we feel heard and that our opinions are validated.

Be honest and ask all the questions you have. She is happy to answer questions and values your thoughts and opinions.

Dr. Shahine used several different protocols throughout our cycles. We have used injections, pills, suppositories and patches. With each cycle, dosages have been adjusted or type of delivery has been changed to increase effectiveness. For example, the estrogen patches did not produce the levels that we wanted so for the next cycles, we were switched to injections. They were much more effective and yielded better results than the patches.

The total cost was approximately $33,000 for one full IVF cycle, including egg retrieval, one embryo transfer, medications, blood work, monitoring appointments.

We only wanted to transfer one single embryo at one time, which Dr. Shahine agreed with was the best approach.

She was very kind and helpful, from initial meeting she was looking out for our best interests and fully explained the process we were about to embark on. Her team always got back to me promptly and created safe plan of actions with her. I would recommend Dr Shahine to friends/ family.

Ask questions! Have a list of questions for your first appointment and don’t be afraid to follow up.

I initially did bloodwork and the HSG grate and then started with medicated cycles and IUI. I took letrezole in the beginning plus the HCG trigger shot before ovulation. after a few months and one anovulation cycle later we doubled the dose. The last month I did IUI, I was on letrezole beginning of my cycle, took the HCG trigger shot and also started progesterone after ovulation. I got a positive pregnancy test and then with blood work a few times after, my levels were declining. We did multiple blood draws over the next month to track this pregnancy to 0 HCG. This was the last IUI before IVF. Now with the clinics closed due to coronavirus, we wait 😌

Each appointment, procedure and test has a cost. For IUI, each ultrasound was $190 (usually 3 per cycle so $570) + blood work. Medication like letrezole was covered by insurance but HCG shots were $150 each month. Each IUI was $282 so each month it was ~ $1,050. Now as we prepare for IVF, there is blood work required, medications and we dont have the individual cost but were told its starts at $25k and to estimate more for things like genetic testing.

It’s very situational but from what i have learned a he believes in single embryo transfer for healthy women under 35. It’s situational but i have a few other friends who have seen her and she also recommended single embryo transfer. Doesn’t want to risk multiple embryos if you only have a few good ones.

I have only met with Dr. Shahine for an initial IVF consult. In the time I spent with her I found her to be very kind and compassionate. She was equally concerned about my emotional well being as getting to the end result of having a healthy pregnancy/baby. She was very informative and provided many resources. I felt that she wasn't just trying to get me to do IVF, she wanted to explore other options first and make sure my health was in good shape before moving forward. I appreciate her honesty and care in discussing such sensitive topics.

Have an open mind and be ready that IVF isn't the first coarse of action to take.

She currently has me working with a nutritionist who specializes in fertility and PCOS. Additionally she is having me lose weight and continue trying naturally at home until my weight is at a safer space for IVF treatment.

Just the initial consult was covered by insurance

Dr Shahine had read through my chart thoroughly before our consult. She was aware of my entire case, and my chart is a thick one. She went over extra details she had questions about and we discussed those. She then made her recommendations based on research and sited those studies. She stressed that we had done nothing to cause our many miscarriages, failed transfers and were doing everything we could. However, she did make two changes and suggestions for our doctor here in town. I can say that I am now pregnant after our third transfer, and I truly feel that it's Dr. Shahine's suggestions made all the difference. I would highly recommend her to anyone. Especially those who have had recurrent miscarriage. We need more providers with the care and compassion that she has!

She is incredibly thoughtful, knows all the current studies, is humble and is just all around an incredible doctor. Highly recommend.

She recommended trying metformin starting before our next transfer. I am lean PCOS and have never had issues with my blood glucose so I hadn't ever tried it. She cited the study by Dr. Zev Williams suggesting benefits in PCOS with metformin. I have felt incredible since taking it. She also recommended lovenox as an immunmodulator. I did this as well a low dose of 40 mg. So far my pregnancy has been on the right track. So thankful for these suggestions.

It was a second opinion consult so it was not much. I am thankful for that!

She strongly encouraged us to only transfer one embryo. We took her advice and continued with only one.

From our initial meeting through our IVF treatments, Dr. Shahine was kind, informative, and compassionate, all traits that my husband and I valued while going through an emotional time in our fertility journey. I felt very listened to, and any concerns or topics I asked about were addressed and discussed with respect and honesty. I liked that we saw her every visit and that she always made time to ask how I was feeling. She coordinated the care that I needed to receive very smoothly.

Ask any question that you may have around any and all parts of your treatment. No question is too big, or too small, and Doctor Shahine was very receptive, open, and honest to any questions we brought forward.

My initial protocol involved testing to properly diagnose the reasoning for infertility, including a Hysterosalpingography, Saline sonogram, bloodwork to check such levels as FsH, estradiol, TSH, Anti mullerian hormone level, and progesterone. When my husband and I decided to do IVF, Dr. Shahine set up a FET protocol for my IVF cycle, due to the potential of ovarian overstimulation. This included birth control pills, Ganirelix, Gonal F, minced dose HCG, and Progesterone in Oil injections.

Monitoring was scheduled when convenient with my schedule during the week. The appts on the weekend are scheduled in time order, which makes it less convenient, but not beyond reason.

Costs were given upfront and conveyed very clearly. There were no hidden costs.

Dr Shahine recommended a single embryo transfer, which we agreed with. We also appreciated her recommendation to do PGS testing on our day 5 embryos to essentially up our odds of success with the single embryo transfer approach.

Dr. Shahine was so kind throughout the process. My initial meeting with her was great, she quickly coordinated the care that I needed to receive. When she sensed my hesitancy when we were discussing surgery, she assured me she wouldn’t do anything that she didn’t need to to, and that’s she wasn’t a surgical cowboy. This meant a lot to me because I’ve had anxiety regarding recovery time. When my surgery had to be cancelled last minute (day of surgery), she personally called me to discuss why and apologize, and offered to write a letter for work and got me rescheduled ASAP.

I would simply tell them to pick Dr. Shahine.

Dr. Shahine recommenced a 3D ultrasound to evaluate the shape of my uterus and check for a septum. When the results came back inconclusive she recommended a hysteroscopy to get a direct look and to diagnose/treat any abnormalities that may be causing my recurrent pregnancy loss.

All of my care was covered under my insurance as pre-conception screening or screening for abnormalities. I did not have any “infertility” related billing. The clinic was upfront with costs associated with things if you didn’t have insurance coverage and provided cost sheets when requested for hysteroscopy, IVF, IUI, etc.

Not applicable

Dr Shahine was always prepared for our meetings. What sets her apart from other physicians, is that she engaged both my husband and I in the conversation. This helped her to gauge our individual personalities, emotions, and learning styles in order to know how to best present information to us which often meant in 2 various styles - 1 that worked better for my husband, and one that worked better for me. Dr Shahine quickly read that I needed to process information in an evidence based method. She presented me with the most incredible resource (a book she authored on miscarriage and repeat pregnancy loss) and was able to factually support her decision making process. I have had repeat pregnancy loses and was seen by more provider than I can count. Other providers would dance around my questions regarding miscarriage whereas Dr Shahine was genuinely empathetic but provided me with evidence based research for what things may be linked to miscarriage. This helped my brain process information and felt like I had some control. The control to me was knowledge. I am the person that needs to know the "but why", and she always delivered the answers.

Write down all your questions in advance of your meeting with her. She will notice your list of questions and allow you time to ask every question you have.

Dr Lora Shahine took over my care after other physicians left the practice thus I was already on a regimented protocol that she agreed with so we did not need to make any adjustments. At that time I was taking Femera on days 3-7 of my cycle, with ultrasound monitoring appointments to ensure the mature eggs where on the side in which my Fallopian tube was not blocked to ensure best change at success, when the follicle measured the correct size I would have a trigger injection with IUI within 36 hours. Due to DOR, age, family goals, and history of repeat pregnancy loses she gave us timeline of ~6 months to try this intervention if we had the energy for it and then suggested we move onto IVF. IVF would allow us best chance of success and also allow us to test for chromosomal abnormalities to dec risk of repeat miscarriage.

My insurance does cover some expenses however many things, especially medications are cash pay only despite insurance saying they cover fertility benefits.

We have not yet fully discussed this with MD thus can not provide information on this at this time.

Dr. Shahine is a very active person in the field of fertility medicine. She is very active on her social media Instagram to help raise awareness for infertility including available grants and support groups. She is also a specialist for recurrent pregnancy loss and an author. The reason why I seeked her out for a second opinion on my recurrent pregnancy loss was to gain some new insights on why I've miscarried two babies already in the last two and a half years. So far, I'm not sure I've learned anything new, that I haven't heard from my previous RE. To be honest, I did not expect her to have the magic pill that would fix RPL, but maybe we'll learn more as our treatment at this new clinic moves forward.

Dr. Shahine is good about making sure you have your questions answered. She is also reassuring and encouraging. I say this about any Dr or situation, to be your own advocate and bring those hard questions to them.

After reviewing and discussing our last IUI treatments with our first RE, she noticed the dosage of the fertility meds and some complications I had. She suggested we change the dosage on some meds due to those complications. This clinic also times the IUIs differently than my last clinic to be anytime on the day after trigger shot instead of a set 36hrs after trigger like my previous clinic's IUIs.

Medications for a hybrid oral/injection cycle ran about $440 and the IUI and sperm prep were covered at 80% by our insurance.

Doctor Shahine is really good at giving you all the options and staying neutral to allow you to make the best decision for you. However if you ask her “what would you do if you were in my situation?” She will give you an honest answer and list the reasons why. Which I appreciate. Doctor Shahine is really good at explaining treatment procedures and keeping you informed of what needs to happen.

You can never ask too many questions. Do some research on each treatment beforehand and come in with some questions written down.

In my case I have a “balanced translocation” a condition with my chromosomes that can be passed down to my eggs that lead to miscarriages. Since a large number of my eggs would not result in a viable pregnancy, Doctor Shahine told me we would be more aggressive with the egg retrieval medication. That way we’d have better odds of getting a “good egg.” The results were effective as we ended up with one embryo to transfer.

A large portion of our treatment was covered by insurance. Treatment costs included egg retrieval, kearotype testing, fertility medication, PGD and PGS testing.

Dr. Shahine has a sweet demeanor, has great bedside manor and is very to the point. She is great at listening and answering every question I present. I began seeing her after my previous RE retired within the practice. The transition was seemless and I am so pleased with the attention to detail and protocol she has put in place for me.

Initially starting with a fertility consult can be very scary and intimidating and although she wasn’t my initial Dr on this journey I had to start over with a new protocol with her and I was immediately heard and cared for. She is relatable and incredibly knowledgeable. She is every active in the community, an author and advocate. Overall a great physician!

Dr. Shahine has set up a FET protocol for my which included birth control pills, a saline sonogram, Lupron, Estrogen patches and Progesterone in Oil injections. Lupron was part of my protocol due to the suspicion of endometriosis.

I did get a sheet with the 2018 FET cost estimate. I don’t have the specifics on hand but with meds it was around $6,000 per transfer.

All of the physicians with in the clinic agree that 1 healthy pregnancy at a time is best. Best for Mom and baby as a pregnancy with multiples run a higher chance of encountering risks. However, they will consider transferring 2 on a case by case basis.

She does her homework about you prior so you don’t have to explain your story over and over. She is competent in her job, kind, compassionate, and direct. She really was amazing. She is willing to do what you want to do, or get you to the right people that you need. She works with outside facilities if you live outside the Seattle area.

You will love her. She is so kind, so caring. She is educated, direct and compassionate. She is prepared for your visit and treats you with respect and explains everything fully.

She gave us the option of trying to do IVF with our own eggs but our chances of having a quality egg would be very low. If our end game was a healthy child she suggested we use donor eggs. But she wanted to make sure whatever choice we made she would go 100% toward that choice and do everything she could to make our dream come true

We got quotes for both and outside monitor IVF with and with PGS and quotes for outside monitoring donor cycles. Costs ranged from 22,000ish to 40,000 ish with and without medications

I understand the single versus multiple egg transfer. Dr Shahine’s clinic promoted single egg high quality transfer. The thought of multiples scared us so that eased our minds.

Dr. Lora Shahine came highly recommended to me from several friends. I was initially impressed by her, but as my husband and I started coming more often to PNW Fertility, we realized that we only saw her the one time we initially met her. All my IUIs and scans were done by other practitioners. When I voiced concern and wanted to meet with her, we were scheduled for an hour appointment with her to discuss starting IVF. My husband and I took the day off work, and Dr. Shahine was about 50 minutes late and we felt very rushed in our meeting with her. It was very hard to get a hold of her even once we had started IVF, and we basically felt connected to our IVF coordinator but not Dr. Shahine so much. As time has gone on, I feel like Dr. Shahine has been more involved with our care, and we've formed a decent relationship. All in all, it just seems to us as though she is very busy, and we are not important enough.

One piece of advice I'd give a prospective patient is to meet with multiple providers, and then go to the one with whom you feel the best connection. I went with recommendations of friends but I feel like maybe it just wasn't the right fit for us, as we prefer very involved practitioners.

We underwent 3 IUI treatments, with a trigger HCG shot. They were extremely painful and bloody, apparently I have a "tricky cervix". Then we underwent IVF, using birth control pills, Lupron subcutaneous injections, estrogen patches, progesterone intramuscular injections. I think it was the pretty standard set of drugs with usual doses.

The costs for the IUI treatments was around $3000 or $4000, the whole process for IVF was about $58,000.

I think Dr. Shahine is not a fan of multiple embryo transfers for anyone, but especially for people with kidney or heart problems.

Dr Shahine has always been absolutely amazing and cares about me as a person, is always asking how I am doing and how I am feeling. The only thing I haven’t liked in recent visits is the nurse that calls me in, she always seems in a bad mood, always pronounces my name wrong and just seems like she doesn’t like her job, even my husband noticed and said something. I look past this because Dr Shahine is so wonderful but definitely doesn’t match how the rest of the staff is.

Just be prepared that it’s a journey, and it will not happen overnight but Dr. Shahine will always keep you updated and give every option available and then let you make the decision that’s right for you. She will give you the good and the bad but always remains positive that there is always another option to start a family and to never loose hope!

We used a normal IVF protocol for egg retrieval and have had two rounds of frozen embryo transfer that involved lupron, birth control pills and then estrogen patches and progesterone in oil shots

I believe it was 18,000 for the egg retrieval and then 5,000 for each transfer, plus the cost of medication

She explained both and gave her opinion on what she thought was best for us but then left the final decision up to us.

Lora Shahine is a caring individual. She always has a smile on her face and cares for her patients deeply. She has been a light in our darkest hours and I am grateful for her. Even in the hard times she shows hope for us.

Know that you aren't just working with a doctor. You will be working with a friend.

We used estrogen patches and Lupron first cycle but it affected my lining negatively so we went with estrogen and estrace and no Lupron and it helped! Once we transferred I was on estrogen, progesterone, estrace and aspirin. This ended in a Chemical pregnancy

Monitoring appointments were great for us. We live over an hour and a half a way and we had back to back appointments during the winter and they always would either see us earlier or get us in right on time because they understood our travel.

So far for our whole experience we have spent a grand total of 30,000.00 including retrieval and transfer. Meds we have spent around 15,000.00 through our pharmacy.

I trust our doctor and what she says will be best for my body.

I absolutely loved doctor shahine! She was patient and through with her information and very current with her knowledge. She was also Very compassionate. The only criticism I would have is that her schedule is very busy and doesn't always coincide with dates for procedures - but for me she was available 90% of the time.

I would go into the whole process with a open mind and a positive attitude - and I felt doctor shahine was good at fostering these.

We did an embryo donation. From the start there were many hoops to jump through - a very through psych evaluation for myself and my family and a very through physical evaluation to confirm that we were st the best possible starting place to Give the most ultimum results. I had to have a Procedure to remove scar tissue which pushed back the transfer procedure but in the long run this was a great preventive step to avoid miscarriage.

The ebryo transfer with medications was about 5k and then the procedure to remove scar tissue was about 1500$ after insurance.

I liked the fact that they promote single transfer - doctor Shahine's rational for it was that the risk didn't out weight the small chance of benefit. I being an older mom the risk of caring multiples to a full healthy term didn't justify the small percent bump of likely hood of implantation that you might get from transferring two.

Dr. Shahine is the best doctor I've ever worked with. She is competent, experienced, honest, compassionate and open minded. We came to her clinic because of male factor issues and after a terrible experience at another fertility clinic that left me hospitalized for 8 days with severe OHSS. After throughly reviewing my history, Dr. Shahine developed a treatment plan that would minimize my risk of hyperstimulating again while still recruiting plenty of eggs. Her plan worked, we had a great retrieval and my discomfort was very minimal. She and her team checked in on me frequently after my retrieval to make sure my recovery was going well. We have not yet had success with any of our frozen transfers, but I only attribute this to us just being on the wrong side of luck so far and I'm confident things will work out soon. Through all of the ups and down, Dr. Shahine and the staff of Pacific Northwest Fertility have been attentive, compassionate and encouraging. Dr. Shahine has even called me personally on many occasions to answer my questions and reassure me that we are moving forward in the right direction. She is hopeful, yet honest; frank yet sensitive and I would recommend her to anyone seeking help in their fertility journey.

If things don't work out right away, don't despair, stay the course. The infertility journey is often longer than any of us would hope or imagine but you are in good hands with Dr. Shahine and the staff of Pacific Northwest Fertility.

She explained the process and diagnosis thoroughly. She made recommendations along the way and was honest with expectations. She was compassionate and thorough. When I overstimulated with 41 eggs on retrieval she recommended a freeze all so my body could adjust first even though I was disappointed. It was the best thing for me. I'm glad she had my back.

Choose a doctor that is a good fit for you. Dr Shahine was amazing and I felt truly blessed to have her on my journey.

After 4 failed IUI's with another clinic I came to Pacific NW Fertility and met with Dr Shahine because I had a recommendation. She redid all my tests and then suggested IVF with ICSI to save time and money and take away all the factors of unexplained infertility that she couldn't diagnose. We did a low dose medication cycle that my body responded well too and got 16 amazing quality embryos. 1st transfer of 1 embryo resulted in pregnancy. 4 years later we used another frozen embryo from same cycle and were successful.

About $15k for first cycle with ICSI plus meds and $4k for second frozen cycle

It was our decision and she said it was up to us. My husband wasn't on board for twins so we did one

Dr. Shahine was always completely open and honest with me and my partner. She welcomed us into her care, and was a huge advocate and supporter of our desire to have a family. She gave us the facts, and prepared us for the road we had ahead of us.

I would tell other patients to trust her plan

The initial recommendation was to go straight to IVf, as I have diminished ovarian reserve and low quality eggs. We knew iui was unlikely to work, and Dr Shahine warned that we would likely get tired and overly stressed from all the failed treatments. Due to insurance, we opted to start IuI, even if it failed, just to move on to IVF. Dr Shahine was supportive of this decision, regardless. I was on femara, and then did 3 rounds of IUIs. 2 were unsuccessful, 1 resulted in a pregnancy, but I miscarried around 5.5 weeks. From there, we began the preparations for ivf. I was on birth control for a couple of weeks, and once we did a suppression check, I moved on to the follositim and mini hcg injections. I responded much better to treatment than anticipated- and when we got to egg retrieval, we had 11 eggs. 6 fertilized, and 2 made it to day 5 blast. Since my estrogen was high, we did not do a fresh transfer - we froze both. We scheduled the first transfer about a month+ from frozen date. The first transfer went well, and I got a positive beta blood test - but unfortunately, it did not last. We did the second transfer a couple of weeks later, and it has worked! Currently pregnant, in my second trimester.

We were lucky to have insurance - All in, we ended up spending about $10k

N/a

Strengths: Caring, knowledgeable and compassionate. Optimistic and positive. Open to alternative therapies to support fertility treatments. Clearly explains procedures and makes you feel at ease. Has used fertility treatments herself, so she understands what you are going through emotionally and physically. Weaknesses: Too positive sometimes.

My advice is the same for all fertility patients, regardless of doctor: Be prepared with questions and don't be afraid to ask the "silly" question. Be your own advocate - you know your body, and if you don't feel like a course of treatment is working, say so. Ask for other options or changes you can make to improve your outcomes.

IVF, egg retrieval: 9 days of mini-HCG and Follistem; added Ganirellex on day 5 FET #1, programmed cycle: Delestrogen every three days (estrogen patches were recommended, but we were trying to save money). Delestrogen dosage decreased after initial check because levels too high. Progesterone-in-oil (ethyl oleate) five days before transfer. Diazapam for embryo transfer. Negative pregnancy test. FET #2, natural cycle: Tried two natural FET cycles but both were canceled because estrogen levels failed to get high enough and follicles stopped growing. FET #2, programmed cycle: At Dr. Shahine's recommendation, returned to the programmed cycle and used estrogen patches instead of delestrogen injections. Patches resulted in more consistent estrogen levels that rose gradually and within acceptable parameters. Progesterone-in-oil changed to sesame oil base because ethyl oleate base was irritating and causing lumps; sesame oil more comfortable for me. Diazapam for transfer. Negative pregnancy test. FET #3, programmed cycle: Same medicines and protocol for this transfer. Major change was switching to a prenatal with methylfolate instead of folic acid. Positive pregnancy test.

IVF and one FET: About $16,000 + medications (about $4,000) + genetics screening (about $5,000) FET #2 and #2: About $5,000 + medications (about $2,000)

Since we elected to have all embryos screened through PGS, Dr. Shahine recommended only transferring one embryo at a time. Her rationale was that transferring two screened embryos did not increase the success rate, only the chance of multiples. And she recommended we try to avoid multiples if possible because it's more stressful to both the mother and babies.

Dr Shahine was the best and made going through the IVF process as easy and stress free as possible. She spent time going over each step in detail and explaining why things wet done and any risks and benefits involved. She was able to answer all of our questions effectively and in terms we could understand. She was compassionate and encouraging but also gave us realistic expectations.

Infertility sucks and it is a scary process but Dr Shahine makes it as easy as possible and you are in great hands with her.

Started B/C pills and took them for about three weeks. Had a baseline ultrasound and blood work done. My injectable drugs to start were Follistim and HCG. After a couple ultrasound and blood work monitoring appointments, Ganirelix was added. I used injectable progesterone and estrogen patches. We had 18 eggs retrieved, 15 mature, 9 fertilized with ICSI, 3 that made it to 5-day blastocysts. We transferred two embryos and have one frozen. We got pregnant with one baby, had a great pregnancy and he was born healthy 9 months later!

Initial visit was around $250 Total cost of all IVF treatments (ultrasounds, bloodwork, egg retrieval, ICSI fertilization, embryo transfer, post-transfer ultrasounds etc) almost $16,000. Medications from MDR pharmacy (our insurance covered some) was about $2500.

I had a million questions for Dr. Shahine, and she was wonderfully patient with us. I was learning as much as I could from her but also from internet support groups; I was bringing that information back to her. Unsurprisingly the information I was getting from the support groups was not inaccurate but not necessarily applicable to me or otherwise was not the course that Dr. Shahine recommended for me; each time she was incredibly patient in explaining to us her view on the given approach or procedure while remaining open to our choices. As a result we felt like we were getting a carefully thought out practical approach that reflected the best of what's available in this industry for our particular situation. She also showed us so much compassion throughout the rollercoaster that is infertility and repeat pregnancy loss, both in our lows but also in our highs.

Don't be afraid to ask questions, even if you are worried your questions aren't relevant. She will be patient and thoughtful and not rush you.

We sought Dr. Shahine due to her specialization in recurring pregnancy loss. We first completed RPL genetic testing to try to identify a specific cause. The screening did not indicate a specific reason for the losses, supporting the conclusion (and Dr. Shahine's suspicion) that the recurrent losses were due to chromosomal abnormalities. We followed an antagonist protocol (suppressed using birth control pills, followed by stimming with Folistim and mini-HCG, followed by Ganirelix). In the first round of IVF we retrieved 15 eggs; 11 were mature and 10 fertilized. Fertilization was done using ICSI (required because we were doing PGS testing). Of those 10 embryos, 6 made it to 5-day blastocyst, were biopsied for PGS testing and then frozen. Only one of those was found to be chromosomally "normal." A frozen transfer was necessary because of the timing of PGS results from the third party lab. Because I am sensitive to medication and prefer to minimize it, Dr. Shahine offered (and we opted for) a natural FET (birth control pills and progesterone were the only medications). We transferred the one "normal" embryo but had a negative pregnancy test. With no additional "normal" embryos, we decided to do a second IVF cycle. Because we obtained the results were were looking for in terms of retrieval in the first cycle, Dr. Shahine recommended the same protocol for the next cycle. We retrieved 17 eggs; 15 were mature, 8 fertilized, and 6 made it to blastocyst (5 on day 5 and one on day 6). Of those, 2 were chromosomally "normal." We transferred a single "normal" embryo, which led to a successful pregnancy (singleton birth). We had the option to know the sex before transfer but opted to wait until after we had a positive pregnancy test.

We were lucky to have insurance cover a large portion of our costs (approx. $30K was covered by insurance) and we were out of pocket maybe $10K in total (for meds, two retrievals, PGS testing of 12 blastocysts, and two transfers).

Dr. Shahine was thoughtful and honest. The most professional, evidence based fertility clinic in the PNW. We had a long process and every step of the way PNWF took care of us. Even when we had some horrible news and had to make tough decisions. They explained the facts, were kind and compassionate and got us in when we needed to be. All of the physicians and ARNPs are wonderful but we are particular fans of Dr. Shahine. She is Stanford trained, wickedly smart and direct, yet she considers the couple and what they need. She also thinks about the whole person and what a toll infertility treatment can take on the person and the couple. We cannot speak highly enough of PNWF.

Tell her where you are physically, mentally and emotionally and be really honest about your concerns / fears. She knows her stuff.

IUI was with letrozole. The last one (Where I got pregnant w/ my twins) was injectables + a trigger. It was a while ago so I don't remember the IVF protocols. One used lupin and it was my worst response.