When he [Dr. Tsai] read the results of the semen analysis to my husband, my husband was devastated. Dr. Tsai noticed, but instead of just saying ok have a good day, he proceeded to make my husband feel better and that we still had a chance. On the day of my egg retrieval, he started off by being really positive saying, "Today is the big day, everything looks good, and we are hoping for the best!" Even after the treatment was over and unsuccessful, he showed genuine concern as to why it didn't work and went over options including recommending a grant.
[New York Fertility Center] gave me a strict list of foods/drinks to stay away from, as well as a pill/vitamin regiment. After retrieval the only injection was progesterone...package plans available if you are paying out-of-pocket and loan options through a third-party financial co. We paid out-of-pocket because our insurance didn't cover IVF and we didn't want to pay a loan with interest. Our fresh transfer cycle was $14,000. This included all monitoring, injectable meds, egg retrieval, and transfer, anesthesia, and ICSI. Basically, it covered everything but the vitamins and the prescription pills for in-between monitoring appointments.
How was your experience with Tony Tsai at New York Fertility Center?
Dr. Tony Tsai was very knowledgeable. He's been in practice for a long time and seems to be up on the latest news of infertility. When he read the results of the semen analysis to my husband, my husband was devastated. Dr. Tsai noticed, but instead of just saying ok have a good day, he proceeded to make my husband feel better and that we still had a chance. On the day of my egg retrieval, he started off by being really positive saying, "Today is the big day, everything looks good, and we are hoping for the best!" Even after the treatment was over and unsuccessful, he showed genuine concern as to why it didn't work and went over options including recommending a grant.
What's one piece of advice would you give a prospective patient of Tony Tsai at New York Fertility Center?
He speaks very fast so pay attention. No matter how busy he is if there is something you don't understand, ask. Also, expect long wait times.
During treatment, were you treated like a number or a human with Tony Tsai at New York Fertility Center?
Some of the appointments felt rushed because of the number of patients waiting, but for the short amount of time you had to talk with the doctor, he gave his full attention.
Describe the protocols Tony Tsai used in your cycles at New York Fertility Center and their degree of success.
He started me on a short cycle, so I had no injections/medicine prior to my day 3 appointment. He started me on a low dosage of Gonal-F, but when my follicles weren't showing growth he upped the dosage and changed the injection site from sub-cutaneous to intra-muscular. The number of follicles tripled, but growth was still slow so then he added menopur. My follicles finally started to grow, but he was afraid I would ovulate before the treatment so he added ganirelix to keep me regulated. They also gave me a strict list of foods/drinks to stay away from, as well as a pill/vitamin regiment. After retrieval the only injection was progesterone.
Describe your experience with the nursing staff at New York Fertility Center.
He has quite a large staff, but the nurses I saw the most were Noel at his Flushing location. The other nurse at his Manhattan office is also very nice and very good at returning calls, but I can't remember her name. I saw Noel as much as the doctor himself. He's very quiet, calm, and direct. The sono tech (I think her name was Joanne) had an awesome personality and Jenny was also great (she did my bloodwork, assisted the doctor in procedures, and many other roles).
Describe your experience with New York Fertility Center.
The waiting room is quite small so if they are busy expect to stand. Sometimes the front desk area seems chaotic because they are running around trying to get everything done. My biggest issues were the wait times, not only in the waiting room but also how late my procedures took place after the original appointment time. Dr. Tsai is the only RE so I believe that's what causes the wait to be so much worse than a practice that involves a team of MD's.
Describe the costs associated with your care under Tony Tsai at New York Fertility Center.
Dr. Tsai has package plans available if you are paying out-of-pocket and loan options through a third-party financial co. We paid out-of-pocket because our insurance didn't cover IVF and we didn't want to pay a loan with interest. Our fresh transfer cycle was $14,000. This included all monitoring, injectable meds, egg retrieval, and transfer, anesthesia, and ICSI. Basically, it covered everything but the vitamins and the prescription pills for in-between monitoring appointments.
Describe Tony Tsai's approach to eSET (elective single embryo transfer) vs. multiple embryo transfer at New York Fertility Center.
Dr. Tsai didn't recommend an eSET. I also didn't have a choice in the matter as I only had one viable embryo. He makes the decision based on the case.
On my first visit during a consultation he [Dr. Tsai] advised that due to my age and my medical history it is probably unlikely for me to get pregnant on my own...He made me believe that something is wrong with each one of us and he made me believe that IVF is the only way to go...Without offering me any follow up tests he then encouraged me that I need to proceed with second cycle IVF
[NY Fertility Center] Strengths- easy to find parking around Weaknesses- rude staff, too many patients, no place to sit or stand, long wait time No good communication Not compassionate to their patients Talk among themselves ignoring pts that are standing to ask a question unless there's someone with cash money Dirty office No one prepares the US room before you go in They will bring you in a room and tell you to get undressed without even offering a gown
How was your experience with Tony Tsai at New York Fertility Center?
Dr Tsai was recommended to me by a friend who had a successful IVF procedure with him many years ago.
At the time when I saw Tsai, I was 36 years old and my only medical history was that I only had 1 over because the other one was completely removed at age 12 due to a dermoid cyst.
On my first visit during a consultation he advised that due to my age and my medical history it is probably unlikely for me to get pregnant on my own. He then asked my husband to be tested and after the test he was very rude saying " how could you merry this guy, he is tall and handsome but you can never have kids with him on your own, you should of tested him before getting married. ." I was in shock. He made me believe that something is wrong with each one of us and he made me believe that IVF is the only way to go.
Without performing the needed test he proceeded with medicating me and the IVF procedure which of course failed.
Only then he decided that he needs to run some tests on me and he then realized that I had a uterine polyp which may be the reason for my infertility. During the first consult with him I did complain about excessive painful bleeding during menstruation but he never asked further and didn't offer me any tests
I don't know why I still trusted him at that point, but I decided to proceed with the surgery to remove the polyp. after the operation he told me that he removed the entire polyp but I continued experiencing heavy bleeding during my menstruation.
Without offering me any follow up tests he then encouraged me that I need to proceed with second cycle IVF.
He gave my husband a diagnosis of male factor infertility but he never offered any treatment such as clomid or to refer him to a specialist for further investigation...
BTW he does his semen analysis at his office and checks the results himself...
I can tell you everything about him was business, he's a money making machine, he makes every effort for you to trust his opinion, convincing you for the procedure and getting as much money from you as he can.
After my surgery with him I realized that I need to see someone else.
When I went to another specialist he first ordered a bunch of labs as well as a follow up saline US to check if any polyps are still present. He also sent my husband for a repeat semenysis.
My husband's test came back normal but my saline US showed that I still had the uterine polyp in the same spot where it initially was found by Dr Tsai. It was larger than 1cm in size. And it was only 3 months after my surgery with Dr Tsai to remove this polyp. I couldn't belive my ears and eyes.
After my new fertility specialist surgically removed this polyp my husband and I were able to get pregnant naturally without any medications/ivf procedure. We now thank G-d and thanks to this new doctor have a beautiful 5 mo old baby girl.
Please stay away from Dr Tsai and his office. He is a total scam and a nightmare.
What's one piece of advice would you give a prospective patient of Tony Tsai at New York Fertility Center?
be careful and think twice before you decide to proceed with any surgery or a procedure with him
During treatment, were you treated like a number or a human with Tony Tsai at New York Fertility Center?
The wait time at his office was between 1-2 hours. You don't get to ask questions. He never has time to listen to your questions or concerns and he treats you as you are not a human being.
Describe your experience with the nursing staff at New York Fertility Center.
He has one nurse who never has time to answer any of your questions or you phone calls. When she draws blood she doest talk and never tells you what the blood is for. When I asked she said I jusr follow Dr's orders and if I had questions then I should talk to Dr Tsai directly....
Describe your experience with New York Fertility Center.
Strengths- easy to find parking around
Weaknesses- rude staff, too many patients, no place to sit or stand, long wait time
No good communication
Not compassionate to their patients
Talk among themselves ignoring pts that are standing to ask a question unless there's someone with cash money
Dirty office
No one prepares the US room before you go in
They will bring you in a room and tell you to get undressed without even offering a gown
Describe the costs associated with your care under Tony Tsai at New York Fertility Center.
I spend over $5,000 out of pocket event hough my medical insurance covers ivf 100%
What specific things went wrong at New York Fertility Center?
During our first consultation, he [Dr. Tsai] made me feel uncomfortable and defective, highlighting my age and quickly ushering me out of his office. After testing my husband's sperm and looking at the results of my Fallopian tube test, he said "The problem is her."...He then proceeded to tell us how popular and successful IVF is now, seeing as "JLO" and "Beyonce" have all had it done...He used this odd clicking contraption to "count" the sperm by hand. It looked like he was doing Morse code. Then he rendered his opinion that my husband had "super sperm." Again, no staining, no report. For that, he charged $250. He told us that we should have IVF and get pregnant once and then maybe we could get pregnant afterwards by ourselves but we should try IVF because "JLO" and "Beyonce" had done it. I can't believe he practices medicine.
None of the furniture matches [at New York Fertility Center]. It looks like Tony Tsai took old mismatched furniture from his home and threw them in this office. There were people standing because there weren't enough seats. There was a pair of fertility stones called "Shiva Longham" with a framed placard that explained how you were supposed to use them...There were old random posters of Jesus and Precious moments babies...My husband had to come out with a cup of sperm and hand it over, not anonymously, to the receptionist. Everything about these clinics looked like they were not legal or up to code or HIPAA regulations.
How was your experience with Tony Tsai at New York Fertility Center?
Tony Tsai is an unprofessional doctor with no compassion or bedside manner. He said that "The problem is her" when he found out that one of my tubes was blocked. When he performed the sperm analysis on my husband's sperm, he brought us to the back of a corridor with no doors in his Queens office, and proceeded to place the sperm under a microscope. He joked around and laughed at me when I looked disgusted when he put the sperm on the glass rectangle, stirring the sperm and slowly squirting it onto the glass, like it was some kind of sauce. He said something along the lines of "You don't like it?" It was unprofessional and disgusting. We later find out that his so-called analysis was unscientific. There was no report, there was no mention of morphology. He basically put the sperm on a microscope and showed us the squirming sperm magnified on his old Windows 95 computer. He used this odd clicking contraption to "count" the sperm by hand. It looked like he was doing Morse code. Then he rendered his opinion that my husband had "super sperm." Again, no staining, no report. For that, he charged $250. He told us that we should have IVF and get pregnant once and then maybe we could get pregnant afterwards by ourselves but we should try IVF because "JLO" and "Beyonce" had done it. I can't believe he practices medicine.
What's one piece of advice would you give a prospective patient of Tony Tsai at New York Fertility Center?
DO NOT GO TO TONY TSAI. And if you do, you must have thick skin because he will make you feel uncomfortable if you are a woman. He speaks with disdain and makes unprofessional and inappropriate jokes.
During treatment, were you treated like a number or a human with Tony Tsai at New York Fertility Center?
Dr. Tony Tsai is a terrible doctor. During our first consultation, he made me feel uncomfortable and defective, highlighting my age and quickly ushering me out of his office. After testing my husband's sperm and looking at the results of my Fallopian tube test, he said "The problem is her." My husband had to hold back and not give him a piece of his mind. He then proceeded to tell us how popular and successful IVF is now, seeing as "JLO" and "Beyonce" have all had it done, as if that was something I wanted to here.
Describe the protocols Tony Tsai used in your cycles at New York Fertility Center and their degree of success.
Thank goodness, I decided not to go any further with Tony Tsai. I brought the one clinical report from Lenox Hill with me to Columbia Fertility and started treatment there. The only thing Tony Tsai was good for was ordering the Fallopian tube test.
Describe your experience with the nursing staff at New York Fertility Center.
The nursing staff are also the receptionists. When I saw that the same people running my credit card and making my appointments were running to the room to take my blood, I was worried. There seems to be some kind of ultrasound technician. She did not tell me what she was doing or why she was doing it.
Describe your experience with New York Fertility Center.
Tony Tsai has 2 offices, one in Manhattan and 1 in Flushing, Queens. The office in Manhattan appears to an apartment converted into a clinic. The elevator is scary. The suites are make shift and inspire no confidence that it is sanitary or professional. I saw people coming out of some back corridor looking in pain. I would not be surprised if they had their IVF in some poorly lit room back there. The Flushing office, if you could believe it, is much worse. None of the furniture matches. It looks like Tony Tsai took old mismatched furniture from his home and threw them in this office. There were people standing because there weren't enough seats. There was a pair of fertility stones called "Shiva Longham" with a framed placard that explained how you were supposed to use them (I took a picture). There were old random posters of Jesus and Precious moments babies. The receptionists all had tatoos and used foul language. They looked and sounded like convicts or truck drivers. My husband had to come out with a cup of sperm and hand it over, not anonymously, to the receptionist. Everything about these clinics looked like they were not legal or up to code or HIPAA regulations.
Describe the costs associated with your care under Tony Tsai at New York Fertility Center.
I compared the costs that Tony Tsai was billing my insurance versus what Columbia Fertility had billed them and it appeared that he was charging a lot for ultrasounds and consultations, where I barely saw him for 30 minutes. I brought it to the attention of my insurance.
Describe Tony Tsai's approach to eSET (elective single embryo transfer) vs. multiple embryo transfer at New York Fertility Center.
Tony Tsai did not talk about this with us.
What specific things went wrong at New York Fertility Center?
Failed to call with results
Failed to convey critical information
Describe the specific things that went wrong at New York Fertility Center.
The "sperm analysis" had no written report, no staining, no morphology analysis. I only learned this after I went to a real clinic and they asked us where the report was and we described what the test consisted of (Tony Tsai splattering sperm in an unventilated corner of the office onto a glass and looking at the sperm magnified under a microscope and shown to us on an old windows 95 computer).
There was no anonymity when my husband's sample was taken.
The staff was unfriendly, vulgar.
There was quack science (shiva longham) and Jesus pictures, and mismatched furniture in the Queens office.
The Manhattan office was a converted apartment where the receptionists doubled as the nurses who took blood.
Tony Tsai joked inappropriately about my disgust having to look at and smell the sperm as he stirred and squirted it onto the microscope glass.
Tony Tsai talked with disdain about my age, the fact that it was my "fault" that we were having trouble conceiving, and tried to impress us by telling us that "JLO" and "Beyonce" have had IVF.
[Dr. Tsai] is very straight forward. But most of the time I am speaking with his nurses not really him. I only saw him on egg retrieval, and transfer and when I did surgeries outside ivf...Side effects or injections were not clearly explained to me. I did not know there is a risk of ovarian stimulation...He has a lot of success stories this is why I went to his clinic
the staff [at New York Fertility Center] are very helpful and friendly. Just one thing they need to improve is sometimes because they have too many patients, they made some mistakes in prescribing medication...$15000 for 1 ivf cycle...[Dr. Tsai] is very straight forward. But most of the time I am speaking with his nurses not really him. I only saw him on egg retrieval, and transfer and when I did surgeries outside ivf.
How was your experience with Tony Tsai at New York Fertility Center?
He has a lot of success stories this is why I went to his clinic.He is very straight forward. But most of the time I am speaking with his nurses not really him. I only saw him on egg retrieval, and transfer and when I did surgeries outside ivf.
What's one piece of advice would you give a prospective patient of Tony Tsai at New York Fertility Center?
Ask questions to better understand everything
During treatment, were you treated like a number or a human with Tony Tsai at New York Fertility Center?
They were all very helpful
Describe the protocols Tony Tsai used in your cycles at New York Fertility Center and their degree of success.
Side effects or injections were not clearly explained to me. I did not know there is a risk of ovarian stimulation.
Describe your experience with the nursing staff at New York Fertility Center.
very helpful
Describe your experience with New York Fertility Center.
I'm sure the reason why they have a lot of patients is because of the number of success stories on fertility treatments. the staff are very helpful and friendly. Just one thing they need to improve is sometimes because they have too many patients, they made some mistakes in prescribing medication.
Describe the costs associated with your care under Tony Tsai at New York Fertility Center.
He [Dr. Tony Tsai] was straight forward and did know what he was talking about. He didn’t beat around the bush. Overall he was a good doctor. I just wish he would of given me more options because he knew i wanted to have a baby and i feel that after he did the procedure on me nothing else went further than that. ... Felt like human
This clinic [New York Fertility Center] is very comfortable. The staff are good and they are very pleasant. They help you with whatever you need. ... When calling it’s also down to the core. You get what you want as soon as you call. ... The treatment cost 3,000 and a consultation was $300 ... [nursing staff] Good overall ... Wait time is in a timely manner. ...
How was your experience with Tony Tsai at New York Fertility Center?
He was straight forward and did know what he was talking about. He didn’t beat around the bush. Overall he was a good doctor. I just wish he would of given me more options because he knew i wanted to have a baby and i feel that after he did the procedure on me nothing else went further than that.
What's one piece of advice would you give a prospective patient of Tony Tsai at New York Fertility Center?
Ask as much questions as possible
During treatment, were you treated like a number or a human with Tony Tsai at New York Fertility Center?
Felt like human
Describe the protocols Tony Tsai used in your cycles at New York Fertility Center and their degree of success.
I don’t remember
Describe your experience with the nursing staff at New York Fertility Center.
Good overall
Describe your experience with New York Fertility Center.
This clinic is very comfortable. The staff are good and they are very pleasant. They help you with whatever you need. Wait time is in a timely manner. When calling it’s also down to the core. You get what you want as soon as you call.
Describe the costs associated with your care under Tony Tsai at New York Fertility Center.
The treatment cost 3,000 and a consultation was $300
Describe Tony Tsai's approach to eSET (elective single embryo transfer) vs. multiple embryo transfer at New York Fertility Center.