Yolanda R. Smith

Dr Smith was supportive and listened intently to what we had to say. She learned from each retrieval and adjusted treatment accordingly which I appreciated. I generally like her but wish I would have seen her more often for retrievals and monitoring appointments. I also wish she had suggested a full fertility physical outside of only a sperm analysis for my husband initially. After 2 rounds of IVF we found that we have male factor infertility and our IVF cycles could have been more successful is his condition had been found sooner.

Be present for more appointments and suggest full male physicals before jumping into IVF.

We used an antagonist protocol both times and yielded 27 total eggs between both cycles. I do not have PCOS or any other discernible diagnosis which is, to my knowledge, why this protocol was used.

Costs seemed pretty average. One great service that is offered is 60% off the cost of a bill if that bill is not covered under insurance, but you have to call to request the discount.

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I don’t feel as though my fertility treatments were thoroughly assessed. I felt like I was treated in a “one size fits all” perspective. I had multiple tests done after the initial consultation but I didn’t feel as though the results were explained to me well. During my AFC ultrasound, the radiologist told me that she counted 50 follicles. It didn’t really know what that meant. I ended up doing a lot of research on my own and read that having that many follicles could be an indication of PCOS. At the time I hadn’t even heard of PCOS. I continued to wait for the results and never received any consultation about the results. Instead, all I received was a quick memo of test results on my patient portal and noticed a diagnostic note saying “Anovulatory/ PCOS”. I was devastated to see that diagnosis and wish I would have been told face to face so I could have been able to ask more questions. I started treatments of Letrozole 2.5mg CD 3-7 plus Ovidrel trigger on day 14 with timed intercourse. Every cycle I had 1-3 mature follicles. After 3 failed cycles I asked if maybe we should be doing the trigger shot a little later since in previous cycles my LH surge was later in my cycle. Instead my Letrozole was increased to 5 mg to no avail. I don’t even know if I was actually ovulating after my mature follicles were detected on the ultrasound. After 7 total unsuccessful cycles I was told that the next step was IVF. I personally was not ready to go the IVF route.

Be prepared to be given blunt information, which is not always bad. She doesn’t have very delicate bedside manner.

As described in the previous section: 2.5 mg Letrozole CD 3-7, transvaginal ultrasound to check for 1-2 mature follicles followed by in clinic Ovidrel trigger shot + timed intercourse 3 cycles. Letrozole upped your 5 mg for 4 more cycles. No pregnancies resulted.

Over 7 months of treatments came to apps $3000-$4000.

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She is very frank and blunt with diagnosis, and tells it like it is, but is definitely empathetic and is willing to come up with solutions to each and every case she has, she truly has our best interest, getting us pregnant at the forefront of her practice. She has never withheld information or facts, so every drug or procedure we've tried we've understood 110% exactly what has happening.

She can be blunt, but she truly does want to help and is ver empathetic when discussing her ideas for treatment. You just have to get past the bluntness. And I've seen other reviews about her, complaining about not seeing her, or having other doctors around. Please remember U of M is a teaching hospital, and Dr. Smith is not only a doctor there, but is also faculty. There will very often be residents and fellows around to assist her, or meet with you before you see Dr. Smith. It is not because she doesn't have time to see you or talk to you, that's what they do at teaching hospitals.

I have diminished ovarian reserve, but no concerns on egg quality, and borderline MFI that has improved, so we've been lumped into the "unexplained" category as well. We tried for cycles of 100 mg clomid, with ovidrel trigger and timed intercourse - the strategy being to "increase targets" because of the borderline male factor. None of those cycles were successful. I responded well to the medications however. We took a break for a little while after that. We are now attempting IUI, 150 mg clomid, ovidrel trigger and IUI. Again, the thought to help increase targets, and assist with the slight MFI. Dr. Smith feels that is what is holding us back. We discussed IVF with ICSI, but there were some other concerns my husband & I had about side effects, cost, risks that at this time it is not an option we are comfortable with. And Dr. Smith is OK with that. It is on the table though if we ever want to revisit it.

We are lucky to have some infertility coverage on our insurance, and only pay a co-pay for office visits with Dr. Smith. All testing and procedures are covered up to 90% so we do not pay much out of pocket. Without insurance, or clomid cycles, would have been around $400-$500 including clomid, ovidrel, and hospital fees for the monitoring ultrasound. The IUI, when all said and done would have cost about $1,000 out of pocket.

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She is direct and experienced. We always were provided tons of information which is what we wanted but sometimes (and this may be because of our clinical situation) not a lot of very pointed feedback - such as this is the best course of treatment for you. We liked having all the info and being able to make an informed decision but some people may not have appreciated this approach.

Be prepared with questions and make sure to request a detailed game plan at the end of each appointment

I was on an antagonist protocol with Metformin. I starred on a low dose of Gonal-F, then added Menopur and Ganirelix. I've only have one stim so far and if we do another one, she recommended increasing my dose of Gonal f to see if we can get more eggs. Because I have PCOS, there was high risk of OHSS, so I believe they were more cautious in my stimulation which made sense.

We have coverage of 80% of fertility treatments up to a lifetime benefit of $20,000. So far, out of pocket, for 1 IUI, mock transfer and 1 stim and egg retrieval, we've paid $3000. PGS is costing us an additional $2000.

Yes, she strongly recommended SET due to my age and the fact that we were doing PGS.

Very cold and uncaring. Did not recognize us from visit to visit--each time she saw us she acted like she'd never met us before. While I believe she has a good understanding of medicine, her bedside manner is nonexistent. (And when we left this clinic I did have big doubts about whether I received good care--it was not until receiving a second opinion that I felt confident in her ability to address my medical issues.)

Don't expect to have a relationship with this doctor. She will treat you like a number and will not involve you in your own healthcare decisions. You should also be aware that at this clinic it is very difficult to get consistent care from any one doctor--they have a huge staff and you will rarely see the same doctor twice.

I don't remember the exact drugs. After experiencing repeated (naturally conceived) pregnancy losses I was diagnosed with diminished ovarian reserve. Dr. Smith prescribed very high doses of injectable medicines due to my DOR diagnosis. After our egg retrieval I asked about following a different protocol and was told that high-doses of the IVF meds was the only thing they could do for my condition. Do not see this doctor if you want to follow a protocol that will be tweaked and adjusted from cycle to cycle.

I was fortunate to have my cycle covered by insurance (except for a $2,000 deductible). Therefore, the exact costs do not stick out in my mind--though I think a complete IVF cycle would have been about $8,000. (I also did not complete a full cycle because none of my embryos made it to the blastocyst stage.)

Dr. Smith has a very chilly bedside manner, but she is straightforward and extremely knowledgeable. I chose to visit Dr. Smith for a second opinion and felt comfortable that she knew her stuff and gave me the best plan of action for my situation.

Don’t expect a doctor that will hold your hand and be loving. She is knowledgeable and direct, but not emotional.

Dr. Smith ordered a variety of tests for me including LH progesterone, autoimmune disorders, and ovarian reserve. She also ordered a hysteroscopy and an endometrial biopsy. The blood results showed nothing abnormal, so the OHS and biopsy are the next plan of action as well as beginning progesterone 72 hours post-ovulation.

My insurance covers 50% of infertility services and I pay a $20 copay for visits.

Yolanda Smith is very knowledgeable but seemed to be pushing for IVF in our situation. I wish we would have been offered more testing in addition to the few things we were diagnosed with to see if there were any more reasons for recurrent miscarriages.

Come prepared with the questions you have, the appointments are usually brief. The clinic is usually running behind (or at least it was while I was a patient.)

We used Femara and Ovidrel trigger shots to induce ovulation. Ultrasound monitoring was used mid-cycle before trigger.

We did get pregnant with Dr. Smith but felt it was more luck than the actual protocol. Dr. Smith is not warm at the bedside and you definitely feel more like a number. UM practices as a team anyway, so all of the doctors make the decisions. They are pretty strict on following their protocols, not aggressive in treatment and more conservative. Another reviewer put, they practice more medicine than the art of medicine and I fully agree with that statement.

I would not choose Dr. Smith, I think some of the other doctors in the same clinic have a better bedside manner.

Standard lupron protocol with birth control.

10Kish but workup and meds covered

UM is in more in favor of single embryo transfer.

We didn't see Dr Smith that often, but when we did she was very informative and gracious with her time. She was thorough and respectful with our questions. She was also emotionally responsive when we dealt with negative cycles.

At this clinic you will see nurses and ultrasound technicians more often than your doctor.

We needed 3 IUIs before we could get IVF for insurance purposes. We had already had 9 IUIs at another office, and we did not expect these to work (and they did not). Dr. Smith understood this and did not try to get our hope up with each IUI, unlike our previous doctor, which was really nice!