Marie Menke

Dr. Menke is honest about your expectations, but she’s not willing to go outside the box. I presented to her research of similar patients in my situation and requested injectables in addition to Clomid. Because my hormones were normal, she’s refused to add them.

Be prepared to see her and actually speak to her only a handful of times. I think she’s thorough when she gets the chance, however I feel that she’s overwhelmed with patients and they get lost in the shuffle.

We started at 50 mg of Clomid which didn’t result in ovulation so we stair-stepped immediately to 100 mg which resulted in a positive ovulation. I took Clomid with timed intercourse for three cycles and then after fighting with the nurses to try to move on to IUI, we did two IUI cycles that failed. I seemed to be the only one who knew my protocol because I constantly got misinformation from the office staff when I’d call on CD-1.

My insurance only covers a $2,000 lifetime max for infertility. I’ve had several bills from blood work and ultrasounds that I still haven’t paid off yet.

Dr Menke is very capable and efficient. I felt that she knew what she was doing and that I was in good hands, even though she is extremely busy. She doesn't have a very warm bedside manner and is definitely not there to hold your hand, but that was perfectly fine for me - I needed her skills and knowledge, not her emotional support. She did a great job of balancing everything for me - I had good results for my age with my retrieval protocol without a very aggressive medication approach. Because I was responding well, she made some last minutes changes and I managed to avoid OHSS. She also supported my request for a modified natural transfer.

IVF can be a very emotional process, but if you can handle a doctor with a scientific and pragmatic approach then I think Dr Menke is fantastic! You will interact much more often with the nurses anyway, and they are all very kind and helpful.

Antagonist protocol with cold start - TD 1: GonalF rFSH 375 iu daily TD 4: Decrease GonalF to 225 iu daily, start Menopur 150 iu TD 7: Continue GonalF, increse Menopur to 225 and start Fyremadel 250 TD 12: Discontinue GonalF, Menopur and Fyremadel, start Lupron trigger and Cabergoline (last minute changed from Ovidrel to Lupron and started Cabergoline to avoid OHSS)

The clinic only does single embryo transfers which I was 100% on board with

Dr. Menke would follow up with the PAs under her regularly and give prompt feedback on results if clarification or more information was needed. I interacted with her PAs more than her, her PAs were quite wonderful though.

She's a great physician and knows how to interpret results and adjust treatment, but due to the amount of patients UPMC RE sees, be prepared to be treated like a number and not a human.

We were in the testing phase and I had to have surgery (performed by another physician). I feel like Dr. Menke has a standard, but conservative process. Start your testing, do IUI for 3 cycles and then see where it takes you.

The majority of my care was covered by my insurance. This was all relating to testing with the exception of the follow up SHG after my hysteroscopy. That, I had to pay $100 towards my deductible for. If/when we move onto IUI, the cost will be roughly $400 for un-monitored, plus the cost of clomid, and roughly $1400 for monitored, plus the cost of clomid and the trigger shot.

I felt like Dr. Menke was kind, compassionate and, really cared about helping her patients to the fullest of her ability. I always felt very welcome and, you could tell she was genuinely upset about your negative pregnancy test as you were.

Make sure you book very far in advance cuz, getting an appointment with her can be hard.

Dr. Menke put me on 2.5 milligrams of letrozole which I took on days 3-7 of my cycle. I was to start having timed intercourse on cd 9 and starting on cd 10 begin testing with ovulation tests. Once a positive test was confirmed I was scheduled for an IUI the following day. Sperm count was good and, I laid flat for 15 mins after the IUI. I then went home and, relaxed for the remainder of the day.

I thought they were very upfront with you about costs of certain tests and procedures they wanted you to have done. On our first consult appointment we got a packet that had all the procedures and tests listed with the cost and the code to check with the insurance to see if certain things are covered or not.

From our very first visit she was very down to earth. It was like sitting there talking to a friend. She was very warm and answered all of our questions. We told her to be as blunt and up front as she can and she did exactly that. She throughly explained the testing process for me, she even came in unexpectedly when one of the tests they were doing were not going well with two of the other PA’s. She made sure I was ok and asked if I was ok to get home/back to work. She’s very considerate and very through and she makes sure you understand the process before leaving her office.

Go with an open mind and heart. She can either beat around the bush and be soft but we asked her to be brutally honest and she was- as an RE should be in my opinion.

I used clomid 100mg from cycle days 3-7. Ovulation kits starting day 9. They had me come in for an ultrasound on day 12 to see how my follicles were. If I had a surge when I tested on day 12 or before I was to come in for bloodwork. Unfortunately I didn’t have a surge the first 2 times so they did Ovidrel on day 12 or 13 and did the IUI 48 hours after that and used progesterone 100mg suppositories until my next period. My 3rd IUI they waited until cycle day 17 ( I surged later in my cycle than most women) but I still had a negative pregnancy test.

Each cycle was about 1,300. A visit with her was only 40.00 (my copay) And my preliminary testing was not covered by my insurance, which I had to pay my deductible (1,200)

Dr. Marie Menke was caring and compassionate. She was also professional, she offered hope but didn't offer false hope. She always remained professional. Dr. Menke was easy to talk to and have difficult conversations with.

I would advise them to go in with an open mind. Dr. Menke doesn't sugar coat odds, however she does give you hope.

I had various blood work and ultrasounds, including a sonohystergram in January 2018. All bloodwork and US's came back normal, providing no answers to why we are not able to conceive on our own. We decided to move forward with IUI/Clomid cycles. After each IUI I also used vaginal progesterone. During my second round of IUI I got severe headaches from the Clomid, the headaches were solid all day for over a month. For the third and fourth cycles I was switched to letrozole. After 4 failed IUI cycles, we re-evaluated and decided to move forward with IVF. After deciding to move forward with IVF we switched Dr's.

My insurance covered office appointments and some testing/diagnostics. It did not cover the IUI rounds themselves, which were $485 each.

Although we discussed moving forward with IVF with Dr. Menke, we did not discuss in details the IVF procedure.

Dr. Menke has a very pleasant bedside manner. She was very open with what her expectations were. She listened to our questions and answered appropriately. The only negative thing I can say is she was not very open when I suggested other options. I questioned possibly adding a new medication to the regime multiple times after researching success with other patients in our situation. She quickly shut it down and told us it wouldn't work.

Stand your ground. You need to sometimes be your own advocate.

I have tried Clomid unsuccessfully for many cycles with a previous doctor. Due to that, Dr. Menke decided that we should try 7.5mg of Letrozole to bring on ovulation. After roughly 4 cycles she suggested adding an Ovidrel trigger shot along with the 7.5mg of Letrozole. That cycle, I ovulated on my own without the trigger shot resulting in negative pregnancy test. We have unsuccessfully done two more cycles with 7.5mg of Letrozole alone. Dr. Menke suggests going to IUI next. I asked her to add Metformin to the regime, she refused. She stated that my levels were fine. When explaining the research I had found showing the success with women who have PCOS, she said that my case was different than those women.

Charged roughly $500 per ultrasound in a treatment cycle. Cost of Ovidrel through special pharmacy was approximately $100 without insurance.

I met her once. I know that all of my care was communicated to her through her nurse. After my first iui I never seen her again. I thought we would have had more communication face to face concerning my care so my experience with her was distant, meaning no connection. I just didn't feel like I received or was able to establish a patient and RE bond with her.

At consult let her know your expectations.

Femara CD 3-7 to induce ovulation and increase mature follicle count. Femara worked but once a follicle became mature I had to trigger because she don't want multiple mature follicles. Clomid cd 3-7produced less follicles but gave me several mature. I asked about injectables to better my chances and she declined stating that I was doing well on oral medications.

Copays collected at registration, insurance covered 80/20 after my deductible.

When I first saw the doctor she was willing to move forward. She was not giving me a run around and was willing to help. I was ready to move forward and she was with me the whole time. She explained the process were going to try with the IUI and what to expect each time. She is very easy to talk to and I don't feel rushed during my appointments. I'm hoping the second IUI will be a success!

If you are ready to move forward so is she! She is willing to help you get to where you want to be!

My treatment was insemination with my husbands semin. To inject the semin with a cathador to help the sperm arrive close to an egg. I was told to take a pregnancy test the first day of my period to make sure I was not pregnant. They would call in Clomid and take for five days. I was told to have intercourse every other day starting day 9 of my cycle. I was told to use the ovulation predictor kits day 11 and when a positve ovulation test appeared I would have an IUI the next day. After my IUI they had me use Prometrium after until 15 days past insemination. Day 15 check pregnancy and report results to the nurse. If negative stop Prometrium and your cycle should start within a few days and start the procedure all over again. She was clear as to what each medication was for and why I need to take it.

My copays to meet with Doctor Menke were $50. It didn't matter if I was there for 5 minutes or an hour. I feel she could have emailed the information one time for a five minute conversation. My blood work I never had a copayment but received bills in the mail. My IUI is covered under insurance but was billed later for I believe $247.00 but it may be all the payments for bloodwork that they didn't know for my insurance.

Dr. Menke is fantastic! She is attentive and compassionate. She is one of the only reasons we've stayed with the clinic. She explains things thoroughly and is also very aware of the expense of fertility treatments and does her best to minimize them.

Beware of the rest of the staff.

Dr. Menke utilized a very specific estrogen protocol to reduce fluid build up in my lining. She was very thorough in making sure we had a successful transfer

30k

She followed current guidelines with a preference for a more conservative approach.

I liked Dr. Menke’s bluntness and straightforwardness because she is also caring. I was getting frustrated with lack of success and she scheduled a phone appointment with me during a busy time for me at work. She listened and explained why our course of treatment was the best.

Don’t expect her to sugar coat! But she is so kind and caring.

We need to use donor sperm. First cycle was 50mg Clomid and IUI. I had 5 follicles but still was not successful. The next cycle was Femara but I only had one giant follicle that took forever to grow. She was able to walk me through when to test with ovulation strips since we weren’t sure when the ultrasounds should be. The next cycle I did 25 mg Clomid but only got a few slow growing follicles yet again. The final cycle she (at my insistence) put me back on 50 mg Clomid and we’re successful. We did an ovidrel trigger shot with every cycle.

We were extremely fortunate to have insurance coverage for everything except donor sperm, which was approximately $900 per cycle. Visits with Dr Menke were a $50 copay.

She was wonderful. She laid out a clear plan and adjusted when necessary. She was very honest with us during each step of the process and gave us the ability to make decisions based on all information available, not just her recommendations.

She's wonderful and even though you might not see her every time, she knows exactly what is going on and is always happy to give you a call and talk about it

Our first cycle together was planned by another doctor, so she followed through with the previously designed protocol. However our second cycle we did an long cycle with Lupron priming followed by 4 vials of menopur, two times a day (8 total) for stimulation. For my donor cycle, we did a uterine scratch the month before.

All monitoring appointments were done between when the clinic opened at 6:30 in the morning until 9:30 in the morning. This way doctors could discuss results at noon conference and call the patients with the results and update their plan of care if necessary. I never felt like a cattle call, it never felt rushed. It was great that the appointments were able to be scheduled before working hours so that it did not eat into my work day in any way, shape, or form

All of our procedures were covered by insurance however I did have a $10,000 deductible for medication that was met early on. I think we ended up spending an additional $12,000 on medication between all three cycles out of pocket

All transfers were recommended as one embry. Because I was under 35 and all embryos were excellent quality

Dr. Menke was the first fertility doctor I saw during my fertility journey. I didn't have an expectation or even know what to expect, but having been seen by another doctor, at a different clinic I can reflect on my visits as rushed, not thorough. I also felt like just another number, more money in their pocket. I also felt like there was nothing genuine about my interactions with her on what was the beginning of a very difficult journey.

Get to know your patients, take your time with them, have a general interests in their struggles, and help them understand their diagnosis and what will or can happen next. Also provide your patients with accurate cost information

After my first visit and initial blood work, I was put on 50 mg of Clomid for 6 months unmonitored. Keep in my I already ovulate on my own. Then we moved to monitored clomid with IUI. After my first ultrasound, i had too many mature follicules. Therefore the first IUI was canceled and I was proscribed 25 mg of clomid. That dose allowed for an IUI but no pregnancy. I did one more cycle with Dr. Menke of 25 mg of clomid and IUI which resulted in no pregnancy

Nope, of fact she gave me the wrong code sheet to check with our insurance for IUI. I never met with a fianial advisor. This is the beginning of many financial issues

Dr. Menke did two laparoscopies on me, multiple medicated cycles, IUIs, and eventually IVF. My first IVF cycle was cancelled before we ever made it to retrieval because I only had 3 mature eggs when expectations were for a lot more. She took the time to call and go over all of the details, talk about next steps and what we would do differently. I had been so upset that I really didn't absorb everything and had a lot more questions the next day - she called me back and went over everything again and answered all of my questions. She helped prepare me for the next cycle and was encouraging that we could get much better results with a different protocol, knowing how my body has reacted to medications in the past and with injectables. The new protocol (estrogen priming) worked much better! We made it to retrieval, transfer, and even have 5 embryos that are frozen! I am cautiously expecting right now and Dr. Menke is following that until I can be released from their office. I really feel she went above and beyond my expectations - she seemed to anticipate my needs (emotionally and otherwise) and tailored her treatment to my specific case. I will be glad when I don't *have* to see her anymore but will miss her and the excellent care she provided me!

Don't be afraid to ask questions or to have her explain things to you! She will, and she'll ensure that you understand.

My successful IVF cycle used the estrogen priming protocol. She chose that for me as my previous IVF cycle (and previous medicated cycles) never produced more than 3 follicles. Since my antral follicle count suggested I should get many more she suspected that I may have premature ovarian aging. She didn't want to risk over suppression by using birth control pills or lupron, and so estrogen priming it was. That would allow receptors in the follicles to open up and basically "wake up" my sleepy ovaries so that they'd accept the hormones and actually grow. My follicles grew slower (which was a good thing!) and I required more medication at higher doses, but in the end it was very effective and I ended up with good quality embryos. Out of 11 mature, 9 fertilized, we transferred the best looking one on day 3, and 5 made it to day 5 to freeze. We are cautiously expecting our first child now.

I was fortunate that my insurance covered the cost of all diagnostics and IUIs. Medications were not covered, and everything associated with IVF was out of pocket. They provided a list of what everything would cost up front, some things were optional, so we were aware of what we were getting into with IVF.

She's warm and welcoming, but doesn't give a false sense of hope, and that is extremely important to me. Coming into something as complex and emotional as IVF, my husband and I wanted to find a doctor who was caring and compassionate but who also was honest and upfront with the realities of our situation. And Dr. Menke is that person. The ONLY downside is that while she is always available via phone or email, she generally only sees scheduled patients one day a week. But even with that, when I was in a cycle, I heard from her regularly and she was at key ultrasounds.

Don't be discouraged if it takes a bit to get an appointment with her, it's worth the wait.

My first cycle was designed by my previous doctor, Dr. Menke followed the protocols that she had laid out, I have diminished ovarian reserve, so they maxed me out on Menapur and Gonal F. My second cycle was designed by Dr. Menke. I was maxed out on Menapure and Gonal F in my first cycle and was only able to get 2 eggs. She suggested an experimental priming protocol. This time, she was hoping to increase my egg count (I was told it wouldn't be a miracle, that maybe we could get from 2 to 3 or 4) and slowly bring me up. She thought that maybe one follicle showed it was dominate and that stopped all others from growing. This second cycle was a long cycle, 10 days after I ovulated, I took estrogen for three days and then added cetrotide for another three days, then when I got my period, I began the stim medication on day two (I took menapur twice a day). My eggs did increase, they were able to get three

Insurance covered all of the procedures, however we maxed out on our drug coverage, so most of the medications during the second cycle were out of pocket.

Dr. Menke is very realistic and explains everything very well. She let's you know up front if she thinks it will be hard for you to conceive. She is also calm which kept me calm. The only thing that is hard is that she is very busy so it is sometimes difficult to reach her. I think this is true of all physicians though.

Have you're questions ready ahead of time.

I actually wish she explained the protocols a little better to me. I didn't really understand what protocol she was using and her rationale all the time.

The first cycle was ~8k including meds. The second cycle (my insurance didn't pay as much) was ~13k. Everyone is different though.

Dr. Menke didn’t do my IUI’s, so I didn’t see her as often as I would’ve chosen. But the consultations I had with her were helpful. I wish Magee didn’t have the BMI limit it does for IVF, but I don’t believe that’s her call.

Speak up. Ask questions. Be proactive.

I have PCOS, so we used Femara with ultrasound monitoring of my follicles, and ovidrel trigger shot, IUI, then vaginal progesterone supplementation.

I had insurance coverage for IUI, but some of the monitoring and meds weren’t covered by my insurance. I probably spent about $250 per IUI cycle. In addition, my first tests and diagnostics cost me about $400.

I appreciated Dr Menke because when one of my tests got canceled she personally performed the procedure herself. She did not blame me for the cancellation and was very accommodating. She also offered to do phone consultations for follow up. This was very helpful because I did not need to drive to the hospital and I was not charged for the phone call.

Ask lots of questions and bring someone with you to listen to the answers

I did 3 IUIs with 25mg Clomid, 12 day ultrasound and Ovidrel.

Ultrasounds were around $300. My initial consultation was $400.

I’ve only met her once, because we usually see a PA in the office. But I loved her when I met her and I feel like she really wants to do everything to help us conceive. The office feels like a team working toward a goal.

It may take a while to be seen initially, but then it moves fast.

We are in the middle of an iui cycle with letrozole and progesterone support. We have unexplained infertility so we are trying to give everything the best chance possible.

So far we have paid twice for a copay, my husband’s SA, and some of my initial testing. The medications weren’t a lot, and we are waiting for the bill from the IuI but we are expecting about $400

Dr. Menke was great, she is limited by the setup of the clinic. She did listen to us and our cycle had a great outcome despite starting poorly. She was compassionate. I think she's quite smart. We overall were very happy with her as a doctor

the clinic is very RN run, and not in a good way

I paid completely out of pocket for treatment. I did have coverage for my initial diagnosis but all IVF/PGS treatment was out of pocket. Which made our experience with staff all the more intolerable.

Dr menke is very straightforward, she gives you the facts but she does it in a respectable and compassionate way. She comes across as a caring doctor. When I have an appointment with her it is in her office and not in an exam room where I have to see a med srudent while waiting for her. She thoroughly looked into my chart and followed up with what she said she was going to. She actually called me 5 minutes after I left her office to update me on insurance coverage

Come prepared with questions

I only had treatment with dr menke for one iui. She kindly gave me letrozole instead of clomid because I had such a bad experience with clomid in the past

Specialist copay for office visits and deductible for iui