Maria Costantini-Ferrando

I only saw Dr constantini for consultation and once for an ultrasound. Other than that I didn't interact nor speak to her. I don't think it matters who your doctor at RMA is since you get whoever is on shift during your retrieval anyway.

It doesn't really matter who you choose as a doctor at RMA you won't get to interact with them much

I was given the same dosage throughout my entire cycle.

They worked out mostly fine except for on days they were closed I would have to drive an hour away. One time I got scheduled for a monitoring appointment an hour away when the satellite office was open because the nurse scheduling my appointment didn't know my regular office was open that day. Wasted 2 hours of my life driving back and forth

Thankfully I am covered under insurance. So I only had to pay copays.

RMA only does eSET

Dr. Constantini is very compassionate and comforting. During morning monitoring when I'm close to an end to a cycle, she has me come in to see her so she can personally do my ultrasound. She has a very positive energy that relaxes me during my appointments. After my first failed cycle, she personally called me to check in and see how I was doing. She had a lot of kind words to say and it lifted my spirits and encouraged me to keep going with the process. My husband and I have a unique situation. He has a rare genetic disorder and I have a diminished ovarian reserve. Her treatment plans have had overall good results.

One piece of advice I would give is to not give up. This is a difficult process but I truly believe any patient of Dr. Constantini will receive the highest quality of care.

During one of my cycles, I ovulated early and this resulted in a cancelled cycle. For my next cycle, Dr. Constantini had me on micro-dosed Lupron to help avoid ovulation during a cycle. My next cycle I was able to go through with an egg retrieval.

Morning monitoring is very organized. The only problem is there is a long wait time. During my ultrasound, I never feel rushed. The phlebotomists have an organized process and I'm usually taken in immediately for bloodwork.

With RMA, our insurance covered the first 3 cycles. We were not aware that our Highmark BCBS insurance has a special contract with RMA that allows them to bill as a lump sum which hits our fertility max balance quickly instead of breaking it up by procedure and code. In simpler terms, if I had bloodwork or ultrasound, other clinics would bill this as a medical treatment and not subtract from our IVF balance. This resulted in us having to pay 100% out of pocket for our last cycle which was $15,000.

not applicable. We only have 1 healthy embryo at the moment and we are awaiting our first embryo transfer.

She is very kind and knowledgeable, which is what you want in an infertility doctor. I am a person who likes to know things, and there were certain things I didn’t know to ask until later. I think this is great for patients who don’t want to know all of the information, it keeps patients from worrying. But I wasn’t told that my 9 eggs retrieved was a low number for my age until I asked, I wasn’t told the grading of the embryos until I asked, what protocol I was on for the egg retrieval and why, how many follicles I was growing, etc. If I must do another egg retrieval, I will know to ask these things because I want to know, but for my first retrieval, it was assumed that I didn’t need to know this and perhaps I didn’t. Still, this relationship may be hard for patients who need to know everything and who do their own research. I didn’t see my doctor often, and this seems the norm for RMA. Your nurse is always your go-to person.

Trust her, she knows what she’s doing. Also, ask a lot of questions and do your own research as well.

Unfortunately, I wasn’t told the name of the protocol or why I was on it. I had three shots and it resulted in 9 eggs retrieved, 6 were mature, 6 fertilized, 4 made it to day 6 embryos and 3 were euploid. My first transfer failed. My second transfer, I was on a steroid, Benadryl (half a pill at night because it makes me too sleepy to function and aspirin). I had an allergic reaction to the steroid and stopped it after day 2. My second transfer worked.

Some days I was in and out. Bloodwork is always quick. Sometimes if I needed an ultrasound too, I could wait up to an hour from arrival time to departure.

I have great insurance and everything was covered except for the OGT-A testing. That was $2,700 plus $300 per embryo.

I would love to have twins, but RMA doesn’t do multiple embryo transfers. I was told it was because carrying twins is a high risk pregnancy and that two embryos may compete with each other. Either way, you have a higher chance of taking home a baby if you transfer one at a time.

She was very clinical in looking at our situation and did many things to try to help. Some of the things were difficult for me physically and emotionally. It is taking me a long time to heal from these experiences which it seems can just be part of this road if you push yourself to keeping trying.

Ask a lot of questions. Ask for the pros and cons of different reccommendations.

She suggested genetic testing based on multiple failed transfers. This did not change our result sadly. She suggested fibroid surgery based on location in the uterus. It was a good idea but did not help us. Then, I needed a surgery to remove scar tissue. This was unexpected and very annoying causing a delay that really impacted my mental health and had stressful timing. Not in her control but it really sucked to have so many curveballs to get to our final transfers.

Ran smoothly, could have used more staff at times when very busy, sometimes hardly any seats left in waiting room

The biggest was the genetic testing not covered by insurance for $4,000. It did not help our situation and now feels like a waste of money.

no comments

I love being a patient of Dr. Costantini. She was a great doctor during both of my times doing IVF. Because of her and her team, I have an 18month old baby girl and a boy on the way. She takes the time to listen to you and explain everything in detail and in a manner that you will understand. She is very caring and polite and I never had any discomfort while seeing her. Additionally, her enthusiasm is contagious.

If you live in the area and are able to see Dr. Costantini, go for it. You will not regret it. During a difficult time like this, you want a doctor that cares for her patients. You need someone that will listen to you and all your concern, someone that will answer your concern and make you feel at ease. You want someone that will brighten your mood. She is that person

I don't remember the medication or all the steps but here is what I remember. My first treatment was put on estri, then I started some of the hormonal shots (2 per day). I had to go about 3 times a week for morning monitoring (blood work and ultrasounds). Once my body was ready for retrieval, I was given something but can't recall. I had my first retrieval (12 eggs). However of the 12, only 6 were matured eggs, only 4 were fertilized, and after the genetic testing, only 3 were good and frozen (2 boys and 1 girl). Since I wanted to have a girl, Dr. Costantini recommended I do another retrieval to have another girl egg as sometimes the first egg might not take so to be on the safe side, we should have at least 2 eggs. I did the process again and on the second retrieval, I had 19 eggs; however, only 8 were mature eggs, 4 were fertilized and after the genetic testing only 1 (girl egg) was good and then frozen. I don't recall the process again for the transfer, i believe it had estri again and then the progesterone shots. When I did the transfer, instead of choosing, we had them use the best egg grade and when they implanted, she ask if we wanted to know the sex, and it was a girl. I continued my monitoring morning visits with her, which resulted in a positive pregnancy and I saw her all the way until I was released back to my GYN (just when I was about to be 3 months). A year after giving birth, we started the transfer again and now I'm pregnant with a boy due February 2022. Both transfer time were successful.

morning monitoring was from the hours of 6 am-8:30 am. Although at times it was packed, I didn't have to wait long because they are very efficient with time. Only once and that was the second time around during covid I waited a while. I recall they were having technology issues, no music, and less staff so it was an offset day for them that day

I'm lucky to say that I work for Planned Parenthood and their insurance is great. It covers the majority of the cost except for the copayment and genetic testing (I believed it was 4200 for 10eggs). Most of the medicine were also cover but for a few I had to pay a littleless than $20

No, I prefer the single embryo as its less risky

Dr Costantini is not the physician you want as a partner on your fertility journey. She is unavailable for questions during treatment and if you do get her to actually do your u/s don't expect more than three words from her "it's still early". You will get to know her nurse very well and it will be made clear to you, that she is not available for direct communication.

Do not invest with Dr. emotionally or financially, especially if you have low chances of IVF success based on your circumstances. We knew that our chances for success were low due to low ovarian reserve, but it did not help my stress level to have no contact with my physician about my care.

I remember them, but I don't feel that it matters in the context of this review. I am writing this review because this Dr. will not provide quality care in terms of treating you as a human being that is trusting her to care about your emotional well being during your cycle.

Including meds +/-$20K

Doctor over medicated me and barely varied the protocol from the first to second cycles. Would not provide me with pain meds for after each retrieval and I wound up having to visit my primary doctor twice in the middle of the pandemic for pain meds. Had to beg to speak with her and after the second procedure she refused to do anything else but a donor. I think the doctor also gave me the wrong trigger time twice because they were always 12 hrs. before the procedure. Went to a new clinic and they said that was incorrect.

Don't bother with this clinic unless you want to feel like a number. They tell different patients different things. I know older patients who were given supplements to take. I asked them numerous times and they would not give me anything to take. I wound up taking some on the advice of an outside dietician.

Cycle 1: Estrogen, Gonal F, hcg, Ganarelex, Cetrotide Cycle 2: Estrogen, Gonal F, hcg, Ganarelex, Cetrotide, Clomid

Monitoring is a zoo. No chance to schedule appointments. Several phlebotomists have no idea what they are doing. I still have nerve pain from December 2019 ( it is November 2020 now) from one blood draw.

I think they overcharged. Used up my lifetime of $20k insurance in 1.5 cycles.

Did not have any embryos to transfer.

Dr. Constantini has a very comforting demeanor. She is humble but definitely knows what she is talking about. Her knowledge is evident when she speaks and truly makes you feel like you’re in good hands. Because it is such a large clinic with multiple locations, Dr. C does not perform all of her patients IUIs, which is unfortunate. However, she does perform the IVF procedures and is always available for communication. One more than one occasion we have been able to request in person and telephone visits and seen her within 24-48 hours!

Be open minded! Dr. Constantini cares about each of her patients and tries to obtain pregnancies without compromising your health. The medication cycles aren’t as aggressive as other doctors, however the goal is the same.

IUI 1 and 2 Letrozole & Trigger - NEG IUI 3 - Follistim & Trigger - POS but Chem IUI 4 - Follistim & Trigger - NEG IUI 5 - TBD

My IUIs were covered under my insurance so I paid copays of $50 per visit. IVF treatment at this facility is pricey at roughly $38 K so that is a negative for me.

Dr. C truly has my best interests at heart and really takes my opinions into consideration. She is compassionate and empathetic. I trust her opinion in what treatment options she suggests. I know she works her hardest for me to have the best possible outcome.

At first she can seem blunt about the success rate, but she will do everything she can to get you a baby

My first cycle I did a micro-flare protocol. I was on 40 units of lupron daily with 450 gonal F. I was a poor responder and only retrieved one egg. It did become a blast though. My second cycle i was on 300 gonal F and 75 menopur. I retrieved 2 eggs and one made it to blast. My third cycle I am doing the same menopur cycle.

Monitoring hours are between six and 7:30 AM. I suggest getting there right at six as it does fill up quickly and it’s first come first serve

I am not entirely sure because I have insurance.

I haven’t gotten to transfer yet bur I know she favors one embryo due to possible complications with multiple

Dr. C has an excellent bedside manner; she’s compassionate and obviously cares a lot about her patients, but she also doesn’t blow smoke up your ass! She’s been very blunt about her opinions regarding our treatment outcome, and didn’t hesitate to say she wasn’t sure about some things. She also didn’t oversell RMA’s capabilities vs our old clinic, which made me trust her even more.

Come prepared with your questions, and what you want out your appointment. She can hold your hand, but you’ll get more out of her time and expertise if you come to the table with expectations and questions.

The first thing she said to us (after seeing our disastrous-for-my-age IVF results) was: why are you still using this donor? He’s not your husband! Love the bluntness. We did indeed switch donors, and did an antagonist protocol (instead of MDLF); the rationale was that I’m not a poor responder, but we had a mysteriously awful blastocyst rate — she thought the Lupron and/or long stim time could be compromising egg quality. There was also a possibility that the donor sperm was not good. She also immediately tested my thyroid, because my day 3 values were weird — and I was hypothyroid, so she put me on synthroid. We tested my fasting insulin on a whim, and discovered I had severe insulin resistance (no PCOS), so she started me on metformin. My most recent egg retrieval was fewer eggs than prior, but from 12 eggs we tested 4 embryos (PGS and PGD) and have 3 PGS normal unaffected!

We commute in from NY, and then work in NYC — so it was a pleasant surprise that RMA had extra early monitoring hours! It didn’t mess with our schedules except that we had to leave the house earlier (it’s a 45 minute drive). The wait times weren’t excessive, and we generally saw the same NP for ultrasound (sometimes Dr. C was there instead!)

We have insurance coverage and have already met our OOP maximum, but I believe our insurance cost is about 10k

Dr Costantini has some of the best bedside manner that i have ever seen in a physician. She never made me feel that she didn’t have my best interests in mind. She brought peace and positivity at an otherwise trying time.

Trust her and her recommendations thoroughly, she has the same end goal in mind that you do

Morning monitoring was from 5:45am-7:30am at patient convenience. It was first come, first serve. However, it would get very busy and wait times could be up to 90 minutes.

I had excellent insurance throughout my treatment. My IVF cost use about 2,000. dollars.

The clinic would only transfer one embryo due to the completion of PGD testing

I have had a wonderful experience with Dr. Costantini thus far. She’s extremely thorough, knowledgeable, and patient. My husband and i had a lot of questions and she never made us feel rushed and was very patient even when we may have repeated ourselves. I admire her confidence when telling us what approach she believe would be best for us. She doesn’t sugar coat things but at the same time has excellent bedside manner. I truly believe that she is the best at what she does.

Make sure you ask her to outline every possible option for you. She explained all the procedures to me at length.

Dr. Costantini was very honest in her advice for us. IVF would be our best option. My husband and I weren’t ready to do that right away as our insurance does not cover any cost. She was extremely understanding and patient. We decided to try clomid and TI in the meantime but are now ready to move on to IVF with her help.

So far, everything has been covered. IUI and IVF are not though and it will be about $4,000 for IUI and $28,000 for IVF

I very much admire the fact that she prefers eSET. I understand the risks of multiples and the strain it could have on my body and trust her completely.

Talking to and working with Dr. Costantini made us feel like we were finally heading in the right direction! The knowledge and obvious experience, as well as the bed side manner, was such a relief. Especially after seeing another doctor who did not have a similar approach. I always liked to know exactly what was going on-levels, numbers, the result each medication would achieve, etc. I think it helped me to feel partially in control of a situation that we had no control over. She was empathetic to that, and that made me feel most comfortable. You can tell she's a mom in her caring approach!

That you may not see your doctor very frequently, particularly when it comes to the mundane frequent monitoring.

We were fortunate to just have one IVF retrieval that yielded great results. When our first transfer failed, we did an "all in" approach, adding steroid, anti-histamine, aspirin etc. She also did a biopsy and a scratch, which made me feel like we were doing everything we possibly could to achieve the pregnancy.

First come, first served. Monday and Friday are particularly bad days, but other times you could be in and out fairly quickly. I'd try to get there early, but sometimes it wouldn't make a difference. Totally worth it if you know that you'll be seeing your doctor that day-I think they have scheduled morning monitoring days.

Shotty insurance coverage for IUIs left us with owing around 3k. Neither one of us have IVF coverage, so we had to take out a loan via lending club for the cycle, and paid for meds out of pocket.

She is warm and personable as well as knowledgeable. Unfortunately after our first appointment I didn’t feel like we had an opportunity to talk strategy and most of the information I got seemed be on a “need to know” basis or I came with questions but the process is complicated and could use some more detailed explaining along the way.

Come prepared with your questions.

We used estradiol first. Then low-dose hCG, Cetrotide, and Gonal F. For the trigger it was Lupron and Pregnyl. I responded well to most. Gonal F gave me terrible headaches.

Monitoring hours are between six and 730 in the morning. It’s always crowded, but the blood work typically goes very quickly. Then you’ll go back out to the waiting room and wait for the ultrasound. Sometimes it takes a little longer for the doctor to make it into the room. But generally speaking your in and out within 30-45 minutes.

For an IVF cycle, insurance was charged $9500. I paid approximately $3000 out-of-pocket which covered the cryopreservation and the coinsurance portion.

Pro: she has background as a therapist, so she's very compassionate. Con: we rarely see her - and when we do, visits feel a bit rushed. Also when they make observations during ultrasound, they speak to the nurse/technician using jargon, and not as much to me. Then they say, "come back in two days for bloodwork" without much explanation.

It will take a long time. Everything will take longer than you think. I just reached a full year of treatment and have only had one retrieval, one attempted embryo transfer (failed) and only one viable embryo remaining. And because of insurance issues (that were muddied in part due to ineffective advice from the finance department), no hope of doing another retrieval unless I get new insurance.

IVF with CCS, because I was diagnosed with a balanced translocation of chromosomes 11 and 18. Frozen cycles to allow for testing. After failed embryo transfer, Dr. recommended endometrial biopsy. Results negative. Presence of cyst delayed transfer, so an endometrial disruption was scheduled. Waiting for day one of cycle to start frozen transfer cycle.

Monitoring hours are conveniently scheduled in the morning. However even arriving at 5:45 there is a line out the door. It is first come first serve, and the system works, but there are just too many people at this clinic served by too few phlebotomists. Also, while I appreciate that only doctors do ultrasounds, there are only 2 doctors, so this slows things down enormously. I pretty much expect to be there for a half hour in the best case scenario, and sometimes for an hour or more.

Maxed out my $30,000 lifetime infertility benefits after one retrieval cycle. Spent over $10,000 out of pocket.

The doctor was great. Her office has a great eLearning tool that really helps with the education part of the process. Only issue for us is that we started the introduction in April/May but didn't go forward until November because of financial constraints. When we started back up in October the doctor kept referring to our April/May conversation like it was supposed to be fresh in our minds. As a result it was a rocky start for us and it was frustrating until we found our cadence with the process.

Come ready with questions on your first intro meeting. Its the most amount of time you'll spend with her in one sitting

I have a blocked tube that could have been treated through other methods but the doctor suggested to go forward directly with IVF given my limited insurance allowance. I'm still in the middle of the process but hoping for positive results.

Was hit or miss in the waiting room but went fairly quickly

About $12k for egg retrieval and FET.

Sometimes it was difficult to be in touch with my provider and I didn’t always feel like there was someone giving me feedback during my monitoring. When I was able to speak with her she was wonderful and did a great job at putting me at ease while also making sure I had completely realistic expectations.

Speak up to her about your needs and questions during the consult as you might not get to speak with her again for a while as you’ll see a variety of doctors during your monitoring and then speak with your nurse later.

I responded well to the lowest dose of clomid so we went that route along with an ovidrel trigger and double insemination.

My IUIs were covered so I only had co-pays of $25

She was very supportive along the whole process. Making sure I was ready and all my questions was answered. Also her performing my transfer procedure was extra special because she had been part of the journey and she was there for the completion.

My insurance had a lifetime cap for procedures and prescriptions. I maxed out my prescriptions and the genetic testing before and of the embryos were not covered. I would estimate we spent $6k out of pocket for 1 IUI and 1 IVF procedure.

Dr. Constantini is caring and compassionate with me. She is very knowledgeable and straightforward as well. She showed such immense care with my recent loss and showed such encouragement with my most recent FET .

She has amazing bedside manner. She is very knowkedgeable, sweet and a hand-holder.

She did my last 2 FET's the same protocol using estrogen and progesterone with medrol and doxycycline. I have responded great both times. Though the last ended badly she did achieve pg with that protocol. Im currently awaiting beta from my last FET.

We have been out of pocket 100% for each cycle. 2008, 2011... 2016 in addition to cost of termination and then ccs testing, and another cycle in 2017. 2008- aprox 30k with meds Retrival fresh transfer 2011- Fet transfer aprox 15k 2016-$3875 Abortion $600 CCS testing $4500 2017- Fet aprox 2k

We had only wanted a single embryo transfer due to a twin miscarriage in 2011 ( resulting in a singleton).

Honestly, we loved her. We trusted her with our health, future babies, and more. She knew exactly what to do and when.

Be prepared to feel comfortable with the entire process. She will make you feel that this is such a natural and normal thing.

We used 2 egg stimulants for the retrieval then a drug to stop me from ovulating too early, then the trigger shot. Then once we transfered an egg i was to take progesterone shots to the butt.

Well oiled machine. Never waited too long.

I paid normal copays. Our insurance covered everything except egg freezing and storage. We pay appx $1k/yr for that.

Dr. Ferrando educated my husband and me during our consulation and set our expectations very clearly. She is very understanding and compassionate and took extra care in montoring my progress closely. Even making time to see me at a different facility for monitoring when she was there for other procedures. She has a great sense of humor and has excellent bedside manner.

Be clear with your expectations and review all options.

Stimulation with Follistim, Meopur & Ganirelix

They are efficient, but busy. When it's your turn, it is like a cattle call.

About $18,000 for treatment plus about $3,800 in medication

She has been very friendly and answered all our questions patiently, but we got the idea she was trying to dissuade us from trying multiple cycles of IUI before moving to IVF despite the fact that IVF is not covered by our insurance.

Go into it knowing she push for IVF ASAP.

She has prescribed three rounds of IUI so far, each with Clomid and a trigger shot.

My IUI cycles have been covered by my insurance. With medications, with insurance, the total cost has been about $500 for the two cycles.

Dr Constantini was warm and supportive during a time that I was hesitant and worried about an outcome from a previous pregnancy. I truly felt that she would give me the best care and support me through out treatment.

Be honest about your worries and concerns. She will listen to you and explain answers to questions and worries you have.

The lines started out the door before they opened. It was always packed but they did a good job most times of keeping it moving.

There was an out of network fertility deductible but it cost around 8,000

I had requested to go straight to IVF because of an unfortunate circumstance from a previous IUI. She listened to my reasons and was completely supportive.

Very nurturing and helped ease my anxiety. She didn’t sugarcoat things and always made sure I was aware of the treatment process. I think she is a wonderful doctor and really went above and beyond to help us figure out why we were having so many setbacks in the process.

Ask lots of questions.

Wanted us to start with IUI since we looked good on paper. I did have success with the first medicated one but miscarried. Did a few more and then moved on to ivf. First transfer failed and second ended in miscarriage. Currently awaiting results of 3rd transfer.

Didn’t discuss this

I thought she was very knowledgeable. I remember going in for my saline sonagram and it was painful, I was overwhelmed with emotion, and she took a moment, to comfort me and make sure I was ok before she left.

Keep and open mind, listen, and be patient

We had male factor infertility, so with that she recommended an excellent urologist, who along with Dr. Constanini Ferrando really got us when we had to be

A lot was cover under our insurance

I was 27 at the time and a great candidate for IVF, she was open to transferring 2 eybros ( which is what we wanted) but did warn us that it could result in a high risk pregnancy of multiples