Micheline Chu

I started seeing Dr. Chu after my first doctor left the RMA clinic, and I couldn't be happier with my choice to go with her! I have DOR and started seeing Dr. Chu after I had already done 3 egg retrievals with my previous doctor, one of which was through a clinical trial for poor responders, and had 3 euploid embryos banked. Given that we ideally wanted 2 children and only had 3 hard-fought-for embryos, Dr. Chu understood how important it was to try to get each transfer right. My first transfer resulted in successful implantation but ended in miscarriage. I wanted ANSWERS as to what could have gone wrong and what we could try differently next time. Dr. Chu very patiently answered my questions and talked through the pros and cons of different tests we could do and treatment changes we could consider. When I would come to her with a paper I'd found on Google Scholar, she was always aware of the latest research, and honest when there wasn't a solid research consensus yet on a given topic. When I suggested possible tests or treatments for myself, Dr. Chu would give me a thorough explanation of why she did or didn't recommend it for me in my particular case, and I always felt like we came to consensus. I ultimately felt satisfied with every decision we made. Though the result of my first transfer was heartbreaking and the recovery was long, I really felt supported by Dr.Chu throughout. When it came to my second transfer, at the first attempt, conditions were borderline but not quite right (thin lining). I had a gut feeling that something wasn't right and I didn't want to waste a precious embryo on a cycle that didn't feel right. But I also didn't want to waste the cycle (it was semi-medicated, so I had lots of monitoring and 2 good looking follicles). Dr. Chu let me convert it to an IUI cycle at literally the last possible minute so that I could feel like we were trying something productive without wasting a banked embryo. At the next attempt at Transfer #2, we also had borderline but slightly better conditions (lining was still on the thin side, but trilaminar and more stable from one appointment to the next), so we proceeded. I'm holding the baby that resulted from that transfer in my arms right now. Even in my successful pregnancy, I had a lot of anxiety based on my past experiences (I'd had 2 prior pregnancies with no live birth to show for it) and Dr. Chu was extremely kind and thoughtful about allowing me to come in for frequent monitoring until I graduated the clinic. Overall, I can't recommend Dr. Chu highly enough. She is smart, knowledgeable, honest, and communicative. I believe she gave me the best treatment possible in sometimes difficult circumstances. I trust her completely and would absolutely go back to her if I decide to pursue treatment again.

Ask all your questions! She will be happy to answer them thoroughly and thoughtfully.

Dr. Chu gave me the choice between a fully medicated transfer protocol or a semi-medicated ("natural") transfer protocol. She fully laid out the pros and cons of each, but noted that they have similar successful outcome rates, which is why she ultimately left the decision to me. I had a strong preference for semi-medicated/natural because I was still ovulating on my own in predictable cycles, but I didn't trust my body to respond appropriately to estrogen/progesterone (I'd previously ovulated through estradiol medication and menstruated through progesterone medication). Though my first transfer didn't result in live birth, it did result in implantation, so it was an effective transfer protocol. After the first transfer resulted in miscarriage, Dr. Chu helped me do a relatively full workup before trying again. We looked at the secondary PGT-A testing results of uncertain clinical significance; it turned out that (blind to both me and Dr Chu) the embryo we had transferred had been mosaic rather than fully euploid. We also did RPL testing to look for possible immunologic and other factors that could impact success, as well as karyotyping to rule out balanced translocations. We investigated the status of my uterus through a hysteroscopy and SIS. We did an endometrial biopsy to look for endometritis. Some tests we talked through but chose NOT to do were ReceptivaDX and sperm DNA fragmentation testing (both were not indicated by prior history and, if abnormal, still would not have resulted in any changes to my treatment plan; if I were truly concerned about endometriosis, a laparoscopy would be the way to check, but it really wasn't indicated in my case) and endometrial receptivity analysis (also not indicated by my history, as I'd had successful implantation, and the emerging evidence doesn't suggest ERAs improve outcomes at all). For my second transfer, we added Menopur to the semi-medicated protocol to try to stimulate additional estrogen production from my own follicular development. We also used Ganirelix to prevent premature ovulation. We decided to cancel the transfer and convert to IUI when my lining was not cooperating. For my next transfer attempt (which was ultimately successful), I added Benadryl and baby aspirin to my protocol. I also took over the counter supplements of Vitamin E and L-arginine to try to improve my lining.

I thought Dr. Chu's and RMA's approach to elective single embryo transfer made a lot of sense. Given that my first transfer resulted in an embryo split (i.e., would have been identical twins had the pregnancy succeeded) thank goodness I didn't transfer more embryos than that! Now that I've been faced with a twin pregnancy, I'm a lot more cognizant of the risks to both mother AND to the pregnancy itself (vanishing twin is very common and very heartbreaking). Even if you're not focused on avoiding multiples, I think about it like this: a multiple embryo transfer might increase your chances of success for THAT transfer, but a single embryo transfer maximizes your chances of success per embryo. Given that it's harder and more expensive to create embryos for most people than to transfer them, maximizing success per embryo is almost always the smart way to go!

Dr. Chu was empathetic and listened to my needs and wants, but she also didn’t hesitate to set the right expectations even when it wasn’t necessarily what I wanted to hear. I can trust her to be realistic and informative. She lets me make my own decisions and supports me in them but first she ensures I’m fully educated and provides her own recommendations

Be completely open and honest about your circumstances and what you want. Talk about all your concerns. Dr Chu will not judge you

I did IUI and I had to use a trigger shot to trigger ovulation. That’s all I remember

I have insurance coverage but still ended up paying a few things out of pocket in addition to copays. My HSG was over $1000. I think I spent at least $3000, maybe more

Dr. Chu did not want to do multiple embryo transfer

I felt Dr. Chu was very personable. I didn't feel rushed to hurry my appointment. As questions came to mind, she took the time to research for me and explain my options. She explained what I should expect next and potential complications that could arise. I was able to walk away with a ton of information to look into.

If you have questions, write them down. It's best to have all concerns listed to get as much information during your visits.

I was diagnosed with endometriosis in my early 20's which resulted in the removal of an ovary. I had a lot of fear and pressure about my age and trying to have a child. She talked me through the process of checking my ovarian reserve, was transparent about my results, and explained the next steps with which treatment would be the best for me.

Yes, nothing about my sexuality or situation gave me the impression that she was uncomfortable or that I should seek help somewhere else.

I haven't gotten to the expensive part yet.

Im not at that stage in my journey yet.

Dr. Chu was extremely personable and kind when we went to our initial visit. I do recommend her, but I very rarely spoke to or saw her after the initial consultation. 90% of my interactions were with the nurses and my IUIs, egg retrieval, and monitoring appointments were all with other doctors. I am not done with my IVF cycle, so I cannot say whether I had success with her or not, but so far I am happy with results since my egg retrieval did result in healthy embryos.

Don't be afraid to reach out to the nurse with questions. Keep in mind that you will likely not interact with Dr. Chu much throughout the process. The upside is that RMA is a very well-oiled machine and the appointments are quick and at convenient times.

Both IUIs were unsuccessful - letrozole + ovidel trigger. My egg retrieval was an antagonist protocol with hcg trigger since my estrogen levels were very high.

Morning monitoring was convenient and generally pretty quick (30 min). On a few occasions, it was very busy but still only about 1 hour total at the office.

I had excellent IUI/IVF coverage. IUI was only copays. IVF I paid for embryo biopsy and embryo genetic testing out of pocket for a total of approximately $7k. This was optional.

eSET is standard at RMA

The very short answer is Dr. Chu is smart and friendly, IF and when you get to speak with her. But don't count on the warm and fuzzies or feeling like someone cares about you. She has great schooling and credentials. I didn't feel a sincere concern from her. I don't want to be mean but she was very detached from my care. I didn't feel she was creative and curtailing therapy specifically to me. I felt RMANJ had therapy protocols and I fell into one bucket and was prescribed the meds for that bucket. She didn't take genuine interest in me as an individual and curtailing therapy to me specifically. I was a number. I felt a little bit of care after a few failed cycles but I honestly don't know if it was "me" as an individual that she cared about or that she was disappointed she wasn't successful in her care.

Challenge her. Do your research and be your own advocate. Ask her for different treatment options and her opinion on them. She won't think outside the box for your care so you have to seek it yourself and maybe she will agree on your thoughts and implement it. Set appointments and have her speak with you. Schedule the time otherwise she will be in a rush to get off the phone. I can't stress enough to ask questions and be your own advocate for creative care and testing otherwise you will fall into a protocol bucket and be successful or not.

My first protocol I don't remember the name of but I will say that I did not get a whole lot of big follicles. Rather than cancel the protocol I was pushed through. Knowing what I know now I think that round should have been cancelled. We could have cancelled and tried again with another round of medications to see if the follicles would have come out bigger. I didn't and the cycle was a bit of a dud. The following two retrievals I pushed for different medications and I had much better success than the first. The second cycle I was on a microflare protocol and the third on a microflare protocol with clomid. I had the best cycle with the third.

Monitoring is done at certain times in the morning. Everyone shows up and the office runs through the cattle call. To be honest they are efficient and organized and it doesn't take too long. The nurses are friendly. The ultrasound may be a doctor or a PA. But it all goes quickly and efficiently.

I paid cash and it's not cheap.

Chu doesn't like transfering multiple embryos, at least for my age group. She said there is more risk.

Dr. Chu could’ve told me to eat dog poop and I would’ve done it. She is hands down the most intelligent doctor I’ve ever met. She thoroughly understands all of the ins and outs of infertility and will design a protocol specifically formulated for you. I don’t think she takes this job lightly and it truly feels like she puts her soul into her patients treatment. She always remembered what we had discussed at previous appointments and would even discuss findings she noticed on ultrasounds from weeks prior. I read a lot of reviews that said she was cold but I didn’t have that experience with her at all. She was always very sweet and gave me all the confidence in the world that this was going to work and she was right. It worked! After years of struggling with infertility she was able to finally get me pregnant. She was the only infertility doctor I’ve ever gone to and will continue to go to. Hands down the best infertility doctor in NJ and quite possibly the world.

Ask all of your questions and go over your concerns. Even if they seem trivial or you feel silly asking them, she will give you an honest answer and most likely it will be correct.

Follistim (whatever the max dose is) menopur, lupron, ganarellix, estrogen & PIO.

Go right when they open and you will be in and out. The lines can get pretty crazy especially at Basking Ridge on weekends as they’re the only office open for weekends/holidays.

eSET. If a doctor is willing to transfer multiple - run.

I would recommend Dr. Chu 10/10 if she were in a small practice. I struggled with the lack of face time and personal communication at RMA. Dr. Chu is smart, empathetic and great to work with. I really enjoyed the consults that we had any appointment that I had when she was on call. I only wish I had seen her more!

She’s wonderful and knows what she’s doing!

I am 43 and conceived my daughter naturally at 40, delivering at 41. I have a diminished Ovarian reserve, but otherwise unexplained secondary infertility. Because I conceived naturally on my own, we didn’t jump right into IVF. We did 4 IUI cycles with full stims. The first 2 were straight IUIs. The second 2 were option to convert to IVF if I produced 3 or more follicles. I never produced more than 1-2 so all 4 were IUI. All 4 didn’t take. Dr. Chu didn’t recommend moving to IVF with so few follicles because chances were so slim that we would get as far as implantation.

Hooooo boy. We had no insurance coverage. IUI cycles were about $6,000 plus meds additional. Very pricey.

She’s super nice and funny. She’s very thorough and happy to answer all questions. I didn’t get that experience from another doctor I consulted with at another clinic at all. I’ve always had full trust in Dr. Chu and her decisions during the IVF process.

Just trust her. She knows what she’s doing.

I did an antagonist protocol with max doses of each medication. We did this because my ovarian reserve is diminishing rapidly. We also did ICSI because my husband has a very low sperm count.

They were quick and efficient overall. There’s a lot of people there, but it’s not that bad. I was always out in less than 30 minutes.

First cycle was covered by insurance aside from deductible. Our insurance changed and they did not cover our second egg retrieval cycle. It was around $20,000 out of pocket for everything. Transfer will be around $5,000.

Initially, I wanted to transfer 2 embryos at a time. Dr. Chu talked us out of this because of all the potential complications. I’m very young and healthy so it’s not worth the risk.

Dr Chu ultimately recommended that I have my fibroid surgically removed before doing any embryo transfer. She does not perform this surgery herself, so she referred me to another provider for this. I did not feel comfortable undergoing this surgery therefore I decided to get a second opinion.

Be prepared for her to speak very quickly and give you a lot of information. Bring a notepad and write things down since there is too much to remember at once. If she (or anyone else) recommends surgery, get a second opinion to be sure.

She recommended doing a cycle of IVF for egg retrieval and PGS testing first to make sure I even have good embryos first, then proceeding with fibroid removal prior to doing any transfers. Because I was very hesitant to have fibroid removal surgery, she did give me an alternate option to do egg retrieval and transfer one embryo to try, but told me that if it fails she would not recommend doing any additional transfers until the fibroid is removed. I choose not to proceed with Dr Chu and went elsewhere.

There was no fee for the consultation. I paid several hundred dollars for the HSG procedure to evaluate for tubal blockage (which indeed there was). The bloodwork was covered by insurance so I only paid the co-pay for that part.

I did not get this far, but she told me she does eSET.

Dr Chu was very informative but not always the most compassionate. After my 1st failed IUI with her (3rd failed overall at that point) I asked about changing medications or protocols and she did not find it necessary. After my next IUI with her failed, I again asked from a change or if we could do some more diagnostics and was finally heard and repeat labs were drawn. We increased my dose of gonal-f the next round but still were not successful. I do not have IVF coverage but still after each failed IUI, I was asked if I wanted to move forward with IVF. I felt this was a little insensitive. I was not offered any other diagnostics or protocols other than just moving on to IVF.

She is very educated and informative but doesn't always have a lot of compassion so do not take it personally. Also, dont be afraid to advocate for yourself and things you may want explored further.

When seeing Dr Chu I was still considered "unexplained infertility". I did 3 rounds of IUI with gonal-f. First round, I did gonal-f 50mg with blood work and ultrasound monitoring every few days, followed by 2 days of IUI once follicles were deemed "mature." Second round, we followed the same protocol and dose of gonal-f. After our second round failed, I was begging for more diagnostics to try and see why it hasnt worked. They redrew the same day 3 labs as when we first started and we moved forward with another IUI. This round we did increase the gonal-f to 75mg followed by 2 back to back IUIs but again it failed.

I have insurance coverage for unlimited IUIs and diagnostics and just had to pay co-pays for my visits.

Dr Chu, so far, has been great. I appreciate her candor. Although, I wish I could get ahold of her directly verses having to call my nurse, wait for a response then speak through the nurse. But, that’s RMA’s policy not the doctor’s.

If you don’t mind straight forward advice and no fluff - yes. She’s smart and to the point. You need to understand what type of doctor you need prior to joining RMA. If you need more emotional support Dr. Cosantini may be a better fit, and she’s in the same location.

I’ve done only medicated IUIs all according to our plan - but extended quantity wise due to Insurance requiring a “lesser vs. more” clause.

Insurance covered some, but I did hit my deductibles. I also suspect I will hit my next year deductible as well.

No experience here

She has been very informative and helped me to know what would go on. I wanted to Move quick to get started and she was totally on board to work with what I wanted. She was eager to help. I appreciated her bedside manner. Always positive and comforting through everything I’ve done thus far.

Ask questions if you have hem. She will answer.

We used an antagonist protocol. I was on 450 follistim with 20 hcg. Adding ganirelix. My trigger was .5 pregnyl and 40 lupron 12 hours apart

Expensive because our insurance had a lifetime max of 5k. The retrieval our of pocket was 16k and meds for retrieval 4.5k

Doing eSET.

Dr. Chu is very nice. She explained the risk and all with iuis. I talked more with Lisa, her nurse about procedures and answers all my questions and my concerns. I feel that dr. Chu is very brief unless I asked for explanations. She is very thorough with what I’ll expect and what’s the next step.

Ask a lot of questions and explanations. Not sure about other fertility doctors, but I’m use to doctors explaining everything to me and have a plan. They’re really just there to get you pregnant and figure out what is going on and what they can do to get you to point. But just ask a lot of questions and don’t hesitate to ask everything you want to know.

1st iui - used only ovidrel 2nd and 3rd - folistim and ovidrel

Dr. Chu is amazing! She made my husband and I feel very comfortable. She really took the time to get to know us and answered every question we had in detail. We left our appointment well informed and optimistic. She really cares about her patients and it shows. I highly recommend her!!