Willie Zoma

My experience with Dr. Zoma has been great. He has answered an absolute onslaught of questions from me with ease. You can tell he's extremely knowledgeable, and he does stick to the most evidence based, up to date practices. Which should be reassuring to anyone seeking treatment.

This is the same advice I would give anyone seeing any fertility specialist; read as much as you can about your specific reproductive issue/the procedures you're looking to undergo and come ready with a list of questions. The whole process is extremely overwhelming and it's easy to get lost and forget things. It's also helpful if you can bring a support person as a second set of ears.

Dr. Zoma recommended we jump straight to IVF, as with my occluded fallopian tube and endometriosis, other fertility treatments would likely be unsuccessful. We completed our first round of egg retrieval on the short protocol with gonal F, menopur, cetrotide and lupron trigger. We also discovered that I'm a poor responder to medication despite having a normal AMH for my age. (My left ovary is smaller and has fewer antral follicles likely from two endometriosis laparoscopic lysis of adhesions previously). We ended up doubling doses of both medications halfway through. Triggered on day 13, retrieved 12 eggs, 8 were mature, all 8 fertilized, and 2 became blastocysts that were thankfully PGT-A normal. My husband and I decided we wanted to bank embryos given that I'm close to 35, so we elected to do another egg retrieval. Because I was alarmed at my slow follicle growth and 25% blast rate, Dr. Zoma said we could try the long protocol. For my second egg retrieval I primed with estrogen only birth control, and cross tapered with approximately 8 days of microdosing lupron. Then immediately started on the double dose of gonal F and menopur, and stayed on the lupron as my GrNH agonist and triggered with HcG. We again retrieved 12 eggs, 8 were mature, 6 fertilized, and unfortunately all embryos arrested during development, and we ended up with 0 blastocysts. Dr. Zoma sat with me while I cried, and reassured me that this wasn't my fault, that all cycles are different, and that the long protocol clearly just wasn't for me. We made a plan to go back to the short protocol on the maximum dose of medication and are hoping for greater success. Dr. Zoma also performed my HSG and hysteroscopy to remove a polyp following my second miscarriage.

My insurance covers most medication and fertility treatments, thankfully. The financial counselor is very sweet and easy to speak to.

Dr. Zoma again follows the best evidence-based protocols. If you do not elect to have your embryo's PGT-A tested, he will transfer 2 embryos. However, if your embryos are PGT-A normal, he will only transfer 1. That is because the rate of miscarriage for chromosomally healthy embryos is far less, and the rate of embryo splitting (creating identical twins) is far greater in IVF than in the general population. IVF pregnancies are already considered high risk for multiple reasons, and creating a multiples pregnancy on purpose is unsafe. The goal is one healthy, full-term baby.

Dr. Zoma was very blunt and straight forward. He does not allow enough time for questions, unless you are persistent. He often wouldn't even sit during the visit to discuss results or options. He would stand with the door open to review results and provide instruction. We worked with a separate fertility clinic for the male portion of our IVF journey and he would not return their calls to discuss our case.

Be your own advocate; my insurance dictated that I had to use this clinic. If presented a different option I would go with another clinic. Otherwise you need to be your own advocate; politely ask questions and do your research.

After our initial workup it was determined that I was a routine patient; meaning no issues on paper with my fertility. I have never been pregnant, our issues were male factor that could not be handled at this fertility clinic. My stims cycle was pretty routine from my understanding; Gonal F, Menopur for stimulation, added Cetrotide on day 6, then Lupron trigger. This occurred with both cycles; retrieval 1 resulted in 7 mature oocytes, cycle 2 resulted in 11 mature oocytes.

This has been very up in the air; my meds had copays which was less than $2,000. I have IVF coverage with my insurance; with this clinic a lot of my visits are still pending with insurance.

Yes, we were advised that if we completed PGT-A Testing a single embryo would be transferred, if we opted out of this 2 embryo's could be transferred. This was based on my age, previous attempts at IVF, which in our case this is our first.

Dr Zoma is very to the point and not very emotional. If you’re looking for someone to hold your hand throughout this process, Dr Zoma is not the doctor for you. But he is very professional and good at his job. At times, he can hard to understand due to strong accent.

Write down questions beforehand because it can be overwhelming. Make sure your needs are heard and make your goals known. Do not be intimidated.

After my diagnosis, I did one round of a Clomid which was not successful followed by two rounds of Femera which also were not successful. We underwent 3 cycles of IUI with these medications. I recently did one round of Gonal F injections which I did not respond to. I’ve been plagued by ovarian cysts and multiple abnormal cycles.

My insurance does not cover fertility treatments and I have received multiple bills. So far I’ve paid around $1000 which does not include medication costs.

He has a different cultural background so there is a bit of cultural difference but he explained everything very well and kept me fully updated every step of the way. He definitely wants the best outcome for his patients.

Just realize that he is not a warm fuzzy doctor but that is likely due to cultural differences.

Diagnosed with a large ovarian cyst at my first scan. Hoping it would go away he monitored it for several months before scheduling a cystectomy. Cystectomy performed and was clear at my scan a month after surgery. Next month started Follistim and Menopur, then added Ganirelex on day 8. Retrieval on day 15 with planned freezing for PGT-A testing and eventual frozen transfer. 18 eggs retrieved, 17 fertilized, 12 made it to blast, 6 PGT-A tested normal. FET on hold for now due to COVID.

My treatment was mostly covered by my insurance. I had to pay around 1700.00 for medications, my 500.00 medical deductible per year, 150.00 for scans, 1000.00 for donor sperm and 3200.00 for PGT-A testing on 12 embryos.

Because I had PGT-A testing and no known fertility issues other than age my doctor advised against transferring more than one embryo.

Dr. Zoma was always in a hurry to move me through the appointment and had poor bedside manner. When you would ask him questions he would get irritated like I was a bother. He was not sincere or comforting when speaking with. Also when it came to procedures and ultrasounds he was very rough and unpleasant

If you have another fertility clinic in mind, use them!

I did Clomid with timed intercourse which only resulted in 1 follicle in 1 out of 3 cycles. That cycle failed. I then was on Letrozole for 3 cycles and only 1 cycle yielded a follicle. That cycle failed

My insurance covered most of my timed intercourse and oral medicated cycles. When it came to IVF they wanted $18,000 for 1 cycle. That was when we knew we couldn't afford Geisinger anymore and moved to a more affordable clinic with alot more knowledge and compassion

Again, Dr Zoma is a very knowledgeable person in his field. He made sure to explain every aspect of what was going on. Has a great bedside manner and is easily approachable with any questions that you may have. He makes you feel comfortable and eases your nerves when you meet him.

Just listen carefully. He does have a slight accent that can be difficult to understand if you aren’t paying close attention.

So far Dr Zoma has has only done my test to see if my tubes were blocked, one of my baseline ultrasounds, and my IVF consultation. He always explains everything thoroughly prior to whatever procedure he is doing, as well as during the procedure itself.

Unsure as most of this process for me has been covered by my insurance. That could change for IVF though

He will do two embryos for transfer if we didn’t have genetic testing done prior to. If we had that elective testing done, they would only do one transfer.

Dr. Zoma sees me every visit and always takes the time to explain if I have any questions. He has even done my ultrasounds if the tech is busy that moment. He makes sure to ask if I understand how to give my injections every cycle. He explained everything in length in the beginning and continues to do so.

If you don't understand what he says ever... ask :)

WE have done timed intercourse for a full 4 cycles. I started with clomid and hcg injections, since im anovulatory with PCOS. I did one full cycle with clomid. I did take clomid for 2 cycles though. The first there was a mass in my uterus that was found for my mid cycle scan tha tneeded to be removed by Dr. Zoma. The second was a full cycle that ended in a cyst. He then changed my medication to Femara to see if we would have better results and less complications. I have completed 2 rounds and I am in my 3rd round of femara and hcg injections. Currently in my two week wait.

The costs are all reasonable and everything was discussed with a financial advisor before anything was done

Dr. Zoma was sometimes very personable, very nice, and communicated well with us at our appointments. At other appointments I felt like he wasjust there because it was his job. It was a hit or miss.

I’m not sure

My first treatment dr zoma wanted to try was IUI. We wanted to go the less expensive route first. After doing the insemination, dr zoma told us that my husbands sperm analysis showed that his sperm was not very mobile, meaning that the chances of iui working was slim. I felt very discouraged. We went back two weeks later after getting a negative pregnancy test. Dr zoma told us that he personally felt we would be wasting our time and money doing more iuis based on my husbands sperm analysis. He recommended we go straight to IVF w/ ICSI. We agreed and moved forward with the IVF process. Dr zoma recommended we do a fresh transfer with our IVF and freeze the remaining embryos. We transferred two day 5 embryos and it resulted in a negative pregnancy. We had 4 remaining embryos to freeze so we went back a few months later and did a frozen embryo transfer. We transferred two embryos and that resulted in a single pregnancy. Our son was born in may 2016 and is now a happy healthy 2 year old. We went back in June 2018 to use our remaining two frozen embryos. I followed the same protocol as my first FET but this time it did not work and my beta was negative.

Ivf package was $9,997 out of pocket. Cost had to be paid up front before any treatment was done. Medication was a separate cost that we had to pay for.

He's really caring and works with u and makes sure u understand stand how things work and if u have thoughts and ideas he listens only thing that would be a negative would be he's not big on FMLA paperwork when I had my chemical pregnancy after the ivf he was very understanding and caring but would not sign papers or give me any pain meds I was informed everyone experiences it different otherwise I am very happy with him

Don't take offense to what he says he only tells you things if he thinks it will help /or hurt ur chances and some times the truth hurts but he's not mean about it he's just trying to help u , and he has an accent so u may have to concentrate a little sometimes on what he says but overall he's the best I've seen in my years of trying

I'm not really sure on this part I would say compared to the YouTube videos I would say it was the standard meds and procedures but it was over a year ago

Normally my insurance covered most of the things leading up to the procedure but but as far as it and the meds we paid a little over $13,000 it was 9,000 something for the procedure and 3,000plus for the meds plus anything that I ended up needing a refill

Dr. Zoma has a thick accent but I could understand him. He explained all my options throughly and was honest where he needed to be. He always addressed my concerns. I felt like I was a person and not just a number in his office. When a procedure failed he was honest as what he thought would be the next best option.

Dont be afraid to ask questions. He will be honest with you too so be prepared to hear what he may say.

First IUI with Clomid was with husbands sperm who has low sperm count. He wasnt hopeful it would work but it is what I wanted to try. It failed. After that we tried IVF with ICSI. I dont recall meds I was on. I know we retrieved 21 eggs, 17 fertilized and 2 were injected as fresh. The others never made it to freeze. We didnt do genetic testing so we had no answers but doctor thought that there was some incompatibility with egg and sperm. Got pregnant naturally 2 months after IVF and it ended in miscarriage at 9 weeks. So we pondered IUI with donor sperm since it appeared to be a compatibility issue. My IUI cycles were with clomid and injectable for triggering. First IUI with donor sperm failed and the second worked. I know have a 3 year old.

Insurance paid for ultrasounds but I paid for medications and the Dr. Office gave coupons when they had them and the IUI and IVF we paid for.

They always said 2 and I agreed

Dr. Zoma is a cheerful, jovial, and at times, an abrupt provider. He provides evidence-based practice, and there is no doubt in my mind that his experience paired with him "sticking to science" is his greatest asset. He will take the time to answer questions you may have, but it is important to make sure you ask them, because he might not offer a lot of information otherwise. He was a terrific doctor, and I would not have wanted my care from anyone else.

Ask questions if you have them, he doesn't mind answering them and will take the time with you---but really only if you ask for it.

They have an excellent financial person, Denise that lays out the payment plan. Costs about 10K with meds for one cycle of IVF. THey don't do package deals (like some places do where you get refunded if you don't get pregs etc). They have a cap for things like IUI if those aren't covered, so you always know how much out of pocket expense you might have.

He forgets that he is dealing with real people that have real feelings. He doesn’t take the time to explain things fully so you understand. I have to research on my own to figure out what I need to ask him to be informed of anything. Poor bed side manor and no sense of humor. Not personable at all.

Go elsewhere

IUI eith femara and HCG trigger shot since my eggs don’t come to maturity on their own. I also kept creating ovarian cysts but he couldn’t explain why.

Between 300-400 each cycle plus medicines

Due to his accent, it is difficult to understand sometimes. After my second transfer failed he made changes to the protocol. I wish all test and protocol changes that could be done happened after the first failed transfer. Every time you go in, he does meet with you and talk about everything. I did wish he had more bed side manner

Have someone else go with you to take notes Incase you don’t understand

Egg retrieval- different stimulants Frozen embryos Transfer- vagina suppositories and oral medication Beta test after 10 days

It was through my insurance. I had three trials paid for.

The first round he was ok with one embryo. The second round I felt he pushed multiple embryos and I did not feel comfortable with that. He did respect my wishes.

Dr. Zoma is clearly very educated in his field, but in my opinion, lacks compassion and empathy in a field that is full of emotional ups and downs for patients and their partners. After three failed rounds of Clomid/Provera and timed intercourse, I needed to pause my treatment for personal reasons. During my last appointment to establish an interim plan until I was ready to come back, Dr. Zoma was cold and seemed bothered that I needed to take a break from treatment. He spoke directly to my husband about my ovaries, my period, etc. I did not feel heard.

If you are a person who expects compassion and a warm bedside manner, perhaps look elsewhere for treatment. He can be difficult to understand, so take notes and listen closely.

Everything was covered by my insurance.