Valerie Ratts

Dr. Ratts is just the right amount of confident, sophisticated, humbled, respectful, and kind doctor. My husband and I had previously met with Dr. Odem, and just after the consult and first appointment, we retired. We were so nervous about having a new doctor. So many questions, "Will this doctor be as good?" "Will this doctor know how to help us? We were also concerned if the new doctor was going to be compassionate. But quickly, just after the first few moments, Dr. Ratts was personable. She spoke with poise and confidence, and she made us feel as if we were her only patients. Due to military training, my husband and I both had to take a significant pause in our planning. However, on our first appointment back after quite some time, she remembered exactly who we were and had created the perfect plan for us. we are so grateful to have Dr. Ratts and her team at Washington University lead our fertility care.

Make sure you get Dr. Ratts she is incredible!

Dr. Ratts suggested that we start with another consult/initial appointment. Rationale: It has been three years, and it's important to make sure our lab work, hormones, semen analysis, and all the things are still in good standing. Dr. Ratts also suggested freezing our embryos. Rationale: We want to implement using a family member as our gestational carrier, and the one we have in mind has yet to be confirmed. We shared fears that we were getting older. Although Dr. Ratts does not consider me a geriatric mother quite yet, she suggested freezing, so therefore whenever we have decided on a gestational carrier, we are ready for the transfer and to help relieve the pressure and stress off us. Dr. Ratts then even created a plan that works concurrently with my military training. Again, to help relieve any pressure or unnecessary steps. She has been reassuring us that a baby is what we want and a baby is what she will do her very best to make happen!

They appear to be reasonably priced, and compared to the research my husband and I have conducted, the prices are equally matched with all other fertility clinics and procedures.

Dr. Ratts suggested we take the best three to help strengthen our chances of success.

I love have Dr. Rattes for a doctor. I wish a cycle would have worked, but she continues to look for ways to adjust the cycle. She is a caring human being would will have the difficult conversations when needed.

You will not see her for ever visit during an actual treatment cycle. The doctors work on rotation so any of the doctors could be doing the retrieval and transfer. I always fell on a different doctors rotation and absolutely loved them all.

My first cycle was a fresh 3 day transfer. I went in for many visits to monitor egg growth and lining checks. Once I had the retrieval, I was called in for a 3 day transfer to transfer 2 embryos. They gave us the option for 1, but we chose 2 on the doctors recommendations. The cycle failed. The next cycle was a frozen transfer. Not all our embryos made it to day 5. We had 1 left. Cycle was much easier. Took estradiol before and then progesterone after transfer. The cycle also failed. I did a second retrieval, 3rd transfer (2nd fresh). Cycle was much like the First only the stemmed harder to try for more eggs. More eggs were immature and didn’t get to be fertilized. 2 embryos transferred on fresh cycle day 3. Failed. No embryos survived to 5 days.

Costs for IVF range from 12-15,000 for a retrieval and fresh transfer. I went through a place in CA to finance and provide cost for 1 fresh, 1 frozen for less than in office. The second fresh, frozen we purchased I lost out on some of the $ I had paid in due to not having any embryos survive to 5 days for a frozen transfer. The clinic had the money but since it was contractually linked to the fresh cycle, it is not allowed to be applied to future cycles.

Dr. Ratts was nice, and was pretty informative our very first visit, but we really never saw her again after that. She just was very hard to get ahold of, and I felt like she really didn't know that much about us or really want or try to get to know us personally. And I definitely didn't feel a lot of compassion from her.

Be prepared to see her one time and one time only.

We did a couple rounds of oral medications, none of which were successful. So then we switched to injectables, and did an IUI cycle. It was successful but unfortunately ended in miscarriage.

N/A

I completed three rounds of letrozole and two rounds of Clomid with follicle scans under the care of Dr. Ratts. I never ovulated on any of these cycles. Dr. Ratts said I could either pursue IUI or IVF, but she would recommend IVF if I was going to spend the money. After all of my failed treatment cycles, I didn't have any direct communication with her. All messages were relayed through her nurse, which was frustrating.

Do not see Dr. Ratts if you are not interested in pursuing IVF.

I did three rounds of letrozole (2.5, 5, and 7.5 mg) with OPKs and timed intercourse. When I didn't have a period by CD35 and had a negative pregnancy test, I took Provera to have a withdrawal bleed. I also did two rounds of Clomid (150 and 250 mg) with a follicle scan. I did not develop a follicle with either scan so my treatments stopped. My next course of action was to try injectable medications with IUI or IVF, and I did not want to pursue that course at the time due to financial and ethical concerns.

Ultrasounds - $360; Injectables $3,000-5,000; IUI - $1200; IVF - $11,000

Things move slowly but we have a game plan so that helps. I also felt very heard and understood when it came to treatment options. During my HSG the staff was amazing and very supportive to get the test done. Results have been easy to understand

Be prepared for anything. You won’t know what is going on till you get the test and don’t wait to see a doctor. See them sooner than you planned

We did the HSG to check my tubes and also an ultrasound to check for any abnormalites. We knew going in that my husband had XXY. So that gave us a starting point to check the basics on me and then options for him

So far we are at about $500 for visits. And the IVF cost is $20,000

I understand the rational about just doing eSET. I didn’t question the decision

I had trouble with thin uterine lining for almost a year. Dr. Ratts was very knowledgeable, understanding, communicative, and ambitious with the treatment for that. After finally achieving a thick enough lining to schedule an FET, we became pregnant. Tragically I miscarried at about 9 weeks. Dr. Ratts called me personally on a Friday evening when she found out to offer what I could tell were her sincere condolences. I will never forget that. We are currently in our 2ww after transferring our last embryo. Regardless of the result, I believe she is an amazing doctor.

Never lose hope.

Scratch test to thicken lining after trying for a year with meds. Surgery to remove scar tissue from a D&C.

All covered by insurance

She was very honest and open to collaboration with me and what I felt comfortable with. I know she is very knowledgeable too and I trust her with my care. She has always explained things in a way that made sense and was in depth.

To ask questions and advocate for self

Since I do not ovulate decided to start with letrozole low dose to see if I could ovulate and do timed intercourse to give me a chance at the lowest intervention. I didn’t ovulate at 2.5 or 5 so increased to 7.5 and added IUI.

IUI is $510 for private pay ultrasounds $270

Dr. Rattes understood we had no insurance coverage and tried to do what was best for us within our financial means. She was very open and honest. She was not afraid to tell me my best option would be IVF and stop wasting my money on IUI's. She always gave me multiple options in the beginning and listed all the pros and cons of each option.

Definitely give her a try!

Dr. Rattes started me with Clomid. She then prepared me for IUI. After it failed she recommended IVF.

I did not have any insurance coverage for infertility so the cost were very high.