Marc Kalan

Dr. Kalan is a very empathetic and caring provider. He made my husband and I feel like we were all friends and that we were the only people in his care. He called us from his home when our first transfer ended in miscarriage and was incredibly thorough at the Why Transfer Failed appointment. He spoke as if this effected him as much as it effected us. He immediately changed the course of action for our next transfer and it resulted in a beautiful baby boy. He connected with us after his birth (long after we were out of his care) and his excitement for us was apparent. He always made me feel comfortable with every step and has an incredible bedside manner.

He does speak very quickly, so be ready to take notes, but also don't be nervous to stop him to ask questions or to repeat himself.

The egg retrieval was very straight forward and traditional. I do recall the day I was supposed to trigger he added a week, but he was right because I ended with 33 eggs, 16 fertilized and 7 PGT healthy embryos. The first transfer was also traditional with estrace and PIO. After the chemical pregnancy he advocated for me as a recurrent loss patient and I was able to receive more testing quickly which changed the next protocol to progesterone suppositories and staying on Midrol until 6 weeks pregnant. These changes ended in a successful live birth.

Each ultrasound outside of a retrieval or transfer cycle was $250. Sonohistogram was $500. Endometrial Biopsy was $800. Retreival (anethesia, ICSI, PGS for 8 embryos)= 14,000 Transfer was $5000 (we did two)

Dr. Kalan was charming and always tried to make us feel comfortable and that we were in good hands. A very kind person. He was always calm and often liked to make visits light and enjoyable. However, he was pretty disorganized and the visits would be short and rushed. When answering questions, he would often provide pretty quick answers and a "no worries" approach. He was trying to get to the next patient. He would also not reply to every email/message and seemed under water. His practice needed a monitored patient portal vs just generic email that got buried and ignored. Most importantly, he brushed aside suspected endometriosis when he found endometrial fluid during an egg retrieval. When I asked if I could have this condition, he scoffed, "No! You don't have heavy periods. You don't have endometriosis!" The following transfer I miscarried, again, and he was going to continue sticking in embryos. Fast forward to the future, and turns out I have stage 3/4 endometriosis confirmed via laparoscopy. That is sloppy and scary medicine and it's hard to trust a doctor who is dismissive like that, as nice as he was.

If you suspect you have any kind of complex fertility issue, move on and find another doctor. He was not willing to do all the necessary testing to find out what was causing me to have recurrent losses.

Two egg retrievals, one natural cycle start and one with bcp priming to start. Both used lupron trigger shots. Two frozen embryo transfers. His standard basic protocol of estrogen and progesterone, 4 days of medrol. First one using oral estrogen and second transfer using estrogen patches. He did not add any kind of immune protocol for the second transfer, despite the first resulting in a chemical pregnancy. He did a hysteroscopy and an ERA following that chemical pregnancy.

Single embryo only

When we first arrived to our visit we did not know that our only option would be IVF until after we received test results. He was very compassionate in giving information and took time to answer the many questions I would bring into our appointments. He was candid about options and didn’t take unnecessary risks or steps unless he felt they were warranted. For example, he gave a choice of doing a laparoscopic hysteroscopy prior to my first transfer due to a potential blocked tube. It was an expensive procedure and would have delayed the transfer, so didn’t push to do it as the information at the time didn’t deem it necessary. After the transfer failed we did go ahead with the procedure and have had success each time since then as well as a diagnosis that we didn’t have before.

Bring in questions you have and advocate for yourself.

Dr Kalan took into account my estrogen and hormone levels when giving medications. I never felt overly hormonal or very off as other women described due to the varying hormone injections or pills. I do recall that the progesterone shots that were in sesame oil gave me a reaction and the office was good about switching them to the ethyl oleate kind.

A retrieval cycle with 1 transfer was around $20,000 (in 2019). Meds for this were around $4,000-5,000. A single transfer around $4,000. Meds for single transfer were around $1,500. Laparoscopic hysteroscopy was around $2,000. Yearly embryo storage is $700.

Dr Kalan felt that multiple embryo transfers posed more of a risk, ask pregnancies with multiples and ivf have been viewed as higher risk. I was fine with just transferring a single embryo each time.

Our experience with Dr. Kalan was nothing short of incredible. From our first meeting, there was something special about him that put us at ease. Pursuing IVF can be such a difficult journey, physically, emotionally, and financially, but Dr. Kalan’s confidence in his expertise and his emotional intelligence became two unwavering pillars that kept us afloat in obtaining pregnancy success with our third transfer.

Don't be afraid to ask him questions. He always takes his time in answering questions and makes sure you're clear on the process.

While I don't remember the exact protocol, I do remember appreciating that Dr. Kalan was thoughtful in preventing OHSS during the egg retrieval process. I had a large number of eggs and he made sure to take that into consideration before/during/after retrieval. We also did ICSI and tested all embryos. In the end we had I think 19 PGS-tested "normal" embryos.

We transferred one embryo each on the first and second transfers and then on the third transferred two (and both stuck!). We completely agreed with Dr. Kalans rationale for this approach.

Please, whatever you do, find a different practice — your fertility and ability to build a family is far too important. I’ve been to a lot of different fertility clinics (we’ve moved a lot, and dealt with years of fertility struggles) and have never seen a practice that’s so disorganized, chaotic, and uncaring — working with Dr. Marc Kalan was frustrating but more than that, heartbreaking. For months we worked to find an egg donor, after which we only got one embryo from 24 eggs, and the donor had such a bad experience she decided to never donate again. Trying to stay positive, I chalked that up to bad luck and circumstance. The pandemic hit and so we had to leave LA to go east, but Marc insisted he do the transfer back in LA. While we were gone we interfaced with his staff, who never seemed to know where we where or *who* we were — after paying them upwards of $30k, they’d call me by the wrong name, and instruct me to come into the office when we’d literally spoken the day before about me being on the other coast. It felt like I was interfacing with an Arby’s where they couldn’t get my order right — only this ain’t sandwiches, it’s my fertility. I should have stopped it there but I was trying to remain positive and trust Dr. Kalan. Finally, after months of shots, acupuncture, prayer and preparation we flew to LA during the pandemic for the transfer, where I asked him why he hadn’t performed the saline test he’d mentioned previously. “Whoops!” He said. Whoops? He’d forgotten. Thousands of dollars, travel, injections and stress and he’d forgotten a very basic part of this job. In doing the test that day he learned there was an obstruction in my uterus, so instead of doing the transfer, he said I now needed surgery. Terrified and sad, the next day we came in for a blood draw to prepare for the surgery and, upon arriving at hour hotel, got a call from his staff — they forgot to draw the right amount of blood. And that’s when I was done. Nothing — and I mean nothing — was done correctly at LARC. If they can’t do a basic blood draw, how can I let them put me under anesthesia? I flew home immediately and went to an OBGYN in my hometown… who told me there was no obstruction. So even that was incorrect. I had the embryo sent east and had a lovely experience at a different clinic. Dr. Kalan’s office refused to pay for travel, apologize, or take responsibility for any of their mistakes. Please, go elsewhere. I wish I had. I’ve had a miscarriage before — working with Dr. Marc Kalan was worse.

Find a different doctor

It was like $30k -- not cheap. And the same as a Beverly Hills clinic.

Dr. Kalan is knowledgeable and outgoing. He tries to understand. However, he is frequently pre-occupied, causing him to not explain everything, particularly what will happen in the future. He seems too busy to explain things thoroughly ahead of time, causing him to have to explain after the fact or to correct his staff. We liked his personality but his staff is horrible and he's too busy to overcome the mistakes his staff makes in real time.

Have him explain ahead of time what needs to be done, even it requires multiple, separate consults in person or by phone, so you know what to expect and how to prepare. Before each major stage, i.e. injections, retrieval, fertilization, implantation, make him explain what will happen and how to prepare.

We went through the standard injections/IVF treatment but stopped short of implantation due to COVID-19. Our eggs are frozen. Make sure the doctor checks his staff's ordering of medication to make sure you have enough of all the drugs you need.

We can't completely review billing yet. Through work, we have a fertility benefit and the benefit is doled out through a third party that is billed directly by Kalan's office. We've had some snafus so far but not seen the final billing so we reserve judgment. We can say one of the billing coordinators is much more helpful than the other in the office.

We have not implanted yet due to COVID-19.

While I am not pregnant yet, I have every confidence that if my body can do it, Dr. Kalan will find a way. He is always knowledgeable and honest. I appreciate That he doesn’t run unnecessary tests and keeps the overall goal in mind. I’ve done some research on my own and when I bring it to him he always knows about it and tells me why we should or shouldn’t do it. He is also very kind. I believe he wants me to get pregnant as badly as I want to be pregnant, and that is important to me.

You won’t be treated like a number with Dr. Kalan. Your specific case will be looked at and A personalized plan will be put in place.

Since I am older, I only have one ovary, and have endometriosis we went straight to IVF. The first round we got two normal embryos that were frozen and one was later and implanted but never got a heartbeat. After that we thought we would try IUI just to see what happened and it didn’t work. Then we did a bunch of testing including an ERA and then another egg retrieval and then planted a second egg that implanted but didn’t grow. Now we are going to try for a third egg retrieval and then we will try Lupron (to try and reduce the inflammation from the endo) before we implant the next embryo.

I’ve asked around to many friends who are going through the same thing and Dr. Kalan is not the least expensive but he is not the most expensive either. He is somewhere right in the middle!

Dr. Kalan recommends only doing one at a time because of the risk of complications and birth defects.

Dr. Kalan was always available for questions via email and text. When I was nervous about some cramping I had the night after an egg retrieval, he answered his phone at 11:00pm and discussed everything with me and was a huge comfort. He had wonderful emotional intelligence and when we had a setback after our first retrieval, he provided emotional support. He also had excellent ideas for multiple ways to improve our odds, and we had fantastic results for the second retrieval. We switched fertility doctors specifically because our prior was a terrible communicator. I am so glad we switched to Dr. Kalan, who was able to explain everything to us with compassion and patience throughout the experience. He made the egg retrievals as stress free as possible and I felt very safe. He made the transfer experience truly a special experience.

You've found the perfect physician and guide for this difficult life experience! His partner, Dr.Winkler, is also absolutely wonderful. His nurses are extremely helpful and responsive. You will be in great hands at this clinic.

We had a fairly standard protocol for our first egg retrieval, but we did not make many embryos. For the second retrieval, Dr. Kalan added testosterone priming and HGH, and we ended up with 9 embryos--6 of which were genetically normal. I am pregnant after the first transfer.

I only wanted to transfer one so this was not discussed.

Dr Kalan made me and my husband feel confident and comfortable. He was very reassuring and we trusted him completely. We never felt rushed when we went to see him and he took the time to explain everything to us in terms we would understand.

Don’t be afraid to ask questions or to call the clinic or email them. I must’ve sent a thousand emails and called with so many questions during my cycle and each concern was always addressed right away.

I took 2 vials of menopur, 250 our of Gonal f in the evenings for about 10 days. Also was put on Cetrotide. I had an ultrasound every 2-3 days and was closely monitored.

Appointments were always made at my convenience and we never had to wait long

15345 for egg retrieval, icsi, pgs testing

He recommends single, but ultimately it is the couples decision. He takes the time to explain risks and makes sure you understand before moving forward

My husband and I have a special place in our heart for Dr. Kalan. He has given us the best gift ever, and I could never repay him. My husband and I had seen a few fertility specialist over the 5 years of TTC, and right when we met Dr. Kalan I knew we had found our match. He made my husband and I so calm during this emotional process and guided us through each step of IVF. The two hour drive to his office and two hour drive back home was way worth it to us. Dr. Kalan never gave up on us and told us that we would get pregnant. With his expertise, he gave us a protocol that would finally make our frozen transfer work! We now have a beautiful 15 month old boy and are currently working with Dr. Kalan for our next child. I would highly recommend Dr. Kalan to any who is unfortunately dealing with infertility.

It is always scary to start this emotional process but having Dr. Kalan on your side will give you the comfort and strength you need to go through this journey.

I used Bravell and Menopur to increase follicle size. I got 5 frozen embryos using ICSI and we genetically tested them. The first two IVF frozen transfers (1 embryo each time) came out negative. Before IVF, I was having recurring miscarriages and Dr. Kalan wanted some answers to why. He had a few test done that revealed that I have antiphospholipid syndrome and that I am heterozygous for the mthfr gene mutation. After the findings of this information, Dr. Kalan came out with a plan to get us pregnant. The next IVF cycle, we added lovenox shots and intralipid infusion. We did the intralipid infusion an hour before transfer. This third frozen transfer was a success, and I know have a beautiful 16 month boy.

$18,000 for the first round of IVF and transfer. $4,000 Each additional frozen transfer.

Dr. Kalan encouraged single embryo transfer but was open to two embryo transfers. In my case, my embryos were tested and normal, so he encouraged one embryo and I agreed.

I did appreciate Dr. Kalan being available for each visit. And when I asked, he did review details with me and help explain results. He also did try to work with my budget and to see if there was any way to work with disappointing results, which I appreciated. I didn't necessarily feel like he really empathized with our setbacks, which I had heard was a strong trait. I often did not hear back from him in a timely manner, especially important when we were waiting on results and corresponding medication instructions. I do feel like he was up on the latest technology and willing to think outside of the box, which I liked.

I have said this in my other reviews, you have to be your own advocate. I did have to ask many questions and follow up with the doctor and staff several times for clarification. Also, don't be afraid to mention alternatives if you feel strongly about them. Luckily, Dr. Kalan is pretty open there. I would say you do have to have a pretty flexible schedule, the plus and minus of seeing Dr. Kalan at each appointment.

I appreciated Dr. Kalan's suggestion of using milder stimulants, which I wanted to try given my situation. I was on the standard protocol utilizing Menopur and Gonal F, and later Cetrotide. As mentioned, we started out with fantastic results, many eggs retrieved/fertilized/sent for genetic testing. But unfortunately, we ended up with negative results. I do feel like Dr. Kalan tried to consider all avenues. We are considering next steps.

Dr. Kalan did try to work with our budget. I was a grant recipient and he offered an additional discount. I felt like he was mindful of our finances when suggesting options.

Dr. Kalan's policy is to do eSET. I am fine with that decision.

I believe that Dr. Kalan is smart and has the experience to have successful outcomes. He is open to my ideas and feelings about various treatment plans. He doesn't like to do the same type of protocol over and over again. He has changed my protocol with every round. Most importantly, I know that he cares for my well-being and genuinely wants me to have a baby in the end. I've had four miscarriages since I started treatments with him, but I look at it like he is the one that has helped to get pregnant in the first place, after a year and a half of trying. I respect his opinion and I have faith that he will do his best to give me the best outcome possible. I'm not sure if this is important, but my husband likes him just as much as I do.

I would tell them that he is smart, listens and wants to help them. Just stay on top of billing and nurses when they order meds.

HSG Clomid- one month, but had to stop due to blurry vision. Got pregnant, then miscarried, had to have a D&C- result Chromosomal issue. Letrozol- nothing Letrozol- following cyclye- had to stop due to cyst. Pregnant the following month. Used Misoprostol. IUI w/ Letrozol, ectopic. Took Methtrexate. IVF #1- 7 eggs retrieved, 2 sent to PGS, none passed IVF#2- 6 eggs retrieved, 2 sent to PGS, none passed IVF#3- 7 eggs retrieved, 3 sent to PGS, 1 passed Transfer- pregnant, beta levels dropped, chemical IVF#4- 11 eggs retrieved, 5 sent to PGS, 1 normal. HSG #2 to detect growths of fibroids Hysterscopy scheduled this week. Transfer next cycle - hopefully

can't remember exactly pgs 7k ivf-14k biopsy for pgs 1000 pgs $250/ add'l embryo after 8 embryos tested transfer 3k

He likes to do PGS for older patients and will only transfer a single embryo that has been tested. He did say that if we did an untested cycle, he'd be willing to transfer one more, but like to only transfer singles.

Again, he is very warm, friendly, kind and overall he seems like a great guy. He treated my wife and I with the up most respect. Additionally, he is equally professional, methodical and very thorough. He is also up to date with science. He patiently explains every detail and answers all questions never leaving you feeling rushed. He has gone above and beyond what my wife and I expected from a doctor. We are very grateful to him.

Be prepared to be well taken care of. Marc Kalan is an exceptional doctor.

We used a total of 4 medications not including the trigger shot. Because I have PCOS, we decided early on to use medications that would be conducive to someone with PCOS. Example, the trigger shot is pure lupron allowing for ovulation to occur without promoting further growth of the follicles. This reduces the risk of hyper stimulation. We also decided that we are using a frozen embryo transfer in place of fresh. Marc has seen better results this way. In my research, I agree with this approach. We also are using a human growth hormone to minimize fragmentation of embryos. In past, my embryos while not severely fragmented has some fragmentation. This is an entirely new approach from all other doctors I have seen. I'm mid cycle now and have about 40 possible eggs to retrieve however Marc and I decided it best not to push to get 40. Our goal is to get 15-20 not compromising quality for quantity.

Dr. Kalan offered us a discount as we have been through a total of 9 IVFs between my wife and I, not counting the IUI's and donor sperm. I believe in total our treatment for 1 IVF cycle is adding up to be $18,000 including PGD. We used a non-profit to cover the cost of our medications.

Dr Kalan is warm and energizing, yet also calming. He joked with me, was delicate when giving bad news and allowed us to ask billions of questions. He never rushed us out of the appointments and was a positive force.

Write everything down - he talks fast and sometimes I’d forget what he said so I was unable to follow up

Menopur, gonal-f, cetrotide. A trigger shot (unknown name) was also prescribed but a last minute change was made to Lupron. Problem was a)already spent a billion dollars on 1st trigger that is not useless in my fridge. And b) the lupron was specialized and came from a compound pharmacy so we had to wait for the pharmacy to mix it and pay out of pocket. Md office told us it’d be ~$150 total but it was $450 total. The last minute change was because md was worried about hyper stimulating the ovaries.

I was very pleased with Dr. Kalan and his entire staff. They were friendly, knowledgeable and caring. As a travel patient, I had to plan my trips precisely and I was always informed of the next steps. I appreciate their care and kindness.

Be sure to bring your list of questions! This journey can be overwhelming, Scary and unknown. Dr. Kalan is very kind and you are in good hands.

I don’t remember the exact medications, but I know I used Clomid. I was montored frequently and Dr. Kalan knew when to trigger for IUI. I loved my experience with him!

For IUI, it was around $4-5,000. I didn’t move on to IVF, but if I remember, it was around $20-26,000.

Dr Kalan is a very compassionate and kind doctor. He was thorough and patient with us and explained things well. My only concern was he was vague about the particular situation I had in terms of his experience treating this condition and typical success rates and outcomes. He also forgot one important detail about my story during one conversation (recurrent miscarriage), and I feel like he could have been more thorough about what testing I need and could have explained that better. Overall he is kind and patient and I appreciate that and seems to know his stuff for the most part. He is also very available

Try to get a better understanding of his success rates with your issue

Clomid, D&c, HSG, MRI To test for fibroids and other uterine problems

Pretty average and some things more affordable than other clinics

He has been incredibly kind, considerate, available and attentive. He truly cares about you and your journey and wants the best for you. He is always accessible, including by text and will often check on you.

Trust him and the process. Know that he will present all options and be honest with you.

Dr Kalan tried IUI with chlomid as well as a trigger shot. He then tried IUI with some injectables to help me save money. When not successful, he encouraged IVF, which was his favored option from the start. I simply struggled with the cost. He also conducted various tests prior to treatment to ensure there were no complications.

I felt that the clinic was cold and no one cared. There were barely anyone at the front desk monitoring the area. It did not seem like a warm place. Overall, I did not feel comfortable there. I wanted to spend more time with the doctor but he seemed in a hurry to go.

Be more compassionate

I did not begin treatment with this doctor. I searched for other doctors after seeing him. I searched for over 10 doctors. Spoke to a few and met one more ferti

I believe it was around $10,000 per round.

Dr. Kalan went above and beyond while we were in his care. He treated me as if I was his only patient. So caring and patient with us. I wish I could recommend him to everyone who is struggling. He was amazing.

You’re in good hands.

For my first cycle of IVF we paid $20,000

Dr. Kalan is very kind and knowledgeable. He had excellent bedside manner and we were never made to feel like any questions we had were "stupid". He did an excellent job of explaining processes and setting expectations.

Do your part and do research so you can get the most out of your experience. Dr. Kalan is a great doctor and a wealth of knowledge.

Dr. Kalan comes off as very personable. He explains everything, but its so fast and in no detail to fully understand the process. After we talked, I was handed off to a nurse at ever visit. Some visits, I did not speak to Dr. Kalan. All my questions were answered by a nurse. Dr. Kalan does make you feel comfortable during a procedure but his time with patients are very slim. He is a good person, but I would not go back to this clinic.

Make sure to do your own research as well. Know what youre dealing with because details may be left out or not thoroughly explained.

I was quickly recommended to do a natural IUI with donor sperm. The process was fairly quick. Bloodwork was done the same day as the consult. Once I started my period, I was told to come in on day 7. HSG was scheduled and done. Donor sperm was selected but without bloodwork results back. Fortunately, my bloodwork came back and donor sperm was not affected by anything. I had only a few days to get the donor sperm delivered for insemination date. Everything was very fast, too fast. There were too many unknowns that seemed to be “okay” with the clinic. I felt like they just wanted my money.

Unfortunately, I did not know the costs before anything was done. At the consult, my blood was taken which I thought was included in the consult but I ended up having to pay for it.

Embryo transfer was not even talked about

Dr Kalan was always friendly and kind. He always made time for my questions and was available to contact at anytime. After having gone through a miscarriage from my IUI treatment with him my best example to give is after my 2nd IVF FET transfer when I was 6 weeks pregnant I started bleeding. My local doctors told me I had miscarried but when I called Dr Kalan and gave him the report he had me drive down to see him and gave me hope. My daughter is now 2 years old and I constantly recommend Dr Kalan to anyone I know having trouble and looking for an RE (we don’t have any where we live).

Don’t give up.

We started with IUI with injections with resulted in a pregnancy and 10 week miscarriage. I had 4 follicles but only one took. After recovering from the miscarriage and an ovarian cyst I went to have an IUI again but due to my ovaries mass producing follicles we had to switch to IVf. I don’t remember the exact medications but I do know after the first failed transfer we switched to PIO instead of the vaginal progesterone.

My fertility treatment was mostly covered by my inssurence. I believe my out of pocket portion was around $2K not including drugs. The drugs were not covered and cost me around $5k after everything

Never said

Dr. Kalan always comes into the room knowing exactly where we are in the treatment and confidently walks me thru next steps. If I have questions, he answers them and I never feel rushed even though they are quite busy. My only regret is not going straight to IVF like he recommended.

Ask questions if you have them. He’s moving very fast because there are a lot of patients, but if you need more info - just ask and he will take the time to answer.

First IUI was clomid. Second we tried injectables after clomid wasn’t working and that trigger follicle growth. IVF he gave me the option of medicated or I medicated cycle and I opted for medicated because my cycles are sometimes of.

IVF was around $28,000 including genetic testing