Zaher Merhi

We initially began the IVF journey at the New Hope clinic with another doctor. However, my OBGYN doctor had recommended Dr. Merhi, and I had felt put off by some of the communication with the other doctor, so we decided to switch to Dr. Merhi. I am so grateful that we did. Along our journey, there were definitely unexpected twists and turns -- a smaller number of eggs than expected reacting to the stimulation medication, a need for me to have a hysteroscopy done, uterine lining not thickening up to the desired level by the scheduled date. While we had direct consultations with Dr. Merhi at only some of these junctures, with every one of these "setbacks", Dr. Merhi implemented some kind of solution-oriented strategy to try to obtain a better outcome. Sometimes this meant just continuing medication and waiting a few days for the situation to change, and in other times it was really about building the best possible conditions for a successful transfer. I knew that he was personally checking my charts after every monitoring session I had, so I felt personally cared for. I am a firm believer in doing my own research and making sure that as a patient, I always advocate for myself. I also knew that I could express my worries or doubts to Dr. Merhi and his responses were always honest, but comforting. Is the IVF science perfected for pregnancy to be guaranteed each time? Of course not. But having a doctor who is truly your cheerleader and doing their best to strategize the best scientific road to success is crucial.

Dr. Merhi is busy, busy, busy. There is always a line out the door of patients out the door to see him. If you choose to be treated by Dr. Merhi, I would suggest: - Communicate! Be open about what are your concerns are with your cycle. - Do your own research and always advocate for yourself! Prepare your own questions so you can best make use of the time at the in-person consultations. - Don't be discouraged if you can't always see him in person. We would occasionally see other doctors for consultations just for questions or concerns, if we couldn't see him.

During the retrieval cycles, we used birth control pills, letrozole and Clomid pills, as well as Gonal-F and Cetrotide injections. My second cycle (which was when we had switched to Dr. Merhi) produced better results than the first cycle (with another doctor). I actually asked to be placed on a higher medication dose because I felt that the dosage in the first cycle wasn't stimulating enough follicles -- Dr. Merhi prescribed a higher dose of the Gonal-F and added in some of the other pills, and we were able to retrieve more eggs and create more embryos the second time around. Regarding transfer, I had one failed FET and one successful FET. Leading up to the first FET, I was taking Prometrium (progesterone). After the first failure, Dr. Merhi expanded the medication protocol to include Progesterone in oil injections, a small dosage of Prednisone and baby aspirin. I believe that these medications helped my body to be more prepared to successfully accept the second FET.

It's a pretty efficient monitoring system. Most of the time I was able to be in and out (bloodwork and sonogram) within 20-40 minutes. Once in a while, the wait was so long and I had to check in with the front desk again to make sure they didn't forget about me. Make sure to not be afraid to check in again if you feel that you've been waiting longer than 30 minutes for bloodwork.

We paid out of pocket for costs as our insurance would not cover any of it. Costs, with medication, ran around $10,000 - $12,000 per retrieval cycle. The FET is around $3000. It helped to get medication for a pharmacy recommended to me by a friend (Medcal Pharmacy), which had a special discount with patients from New Hope and also delivered the medications straight to my door, free of charge.

I was told that it was safer for a woman at my age to transfer one embryo. Personally, my husband and I weren't interested in transferring more than that at one time, so we were already on board with Dr. Merhi's approach to eSET.

Dr. Merhi reviewed my history and on our first visit knew immediately what the challenge was. He caught and diagnosed what was missed twice, by another very reputable IVF clinic. It was confirmed during surgery and he corrected the problem. We had gone through 11 unsuccessful IVF's and 3 IUI's at another facility and had just about every test imaginable. We were told there was nothing wrong but there obviously was and hadn't we seen Dr. Merhi, we believe we would never have discovered the true reason for the infertility. And now that is had been surgically corrected, we are pregnant!

Dr. Merhi is kind, compassionate, funny and extremely knowledgeable. He may not always be available as most doctors cannot be, but his staff is great at getting back to you. He does call and reach out which was great, as our previous doctor didn't typically do that. We felt he was also on point with all the new technology, studies, standards of practice etc and did not subscribe to anything that was not proven or did not have statistical significance.

We did donor egg cycles What was different vs. other donor cycles I'd done at another facility was: addition of low dose prednisone, progesterone suppositories, no lupron, no lovenox, no birth control pills prior to cycle initiation, Estradiol throughout. On the second transfer, addition of 1 ml of progesterone sub q.

The costs for self pay were more reasonable and fair than other clinics in other states. Also, I was delighted that we did not have to pay for everything up front all at once as we had to do at another clinic. They have a fair pricing and payment structure.

Due to my age, Dr. Merhi advised on single embryo transfer. He educated us fully on the risks so we could make an educated decision.

Dr. Merhi was always so kind and encouraging. Even when I got news that wasn’t so great (when I learned of my low AMH, failed iuis, etc) he presented information clearly but when a gentleness that made me feel like he always cared deeply about our goals of growing our family. When our transfer worked he shared in our joy and excitement.

Do not feel the need to interpret every test result- Dr. Merhi will let you know if levels are abnormal or of concern. When monitoring you may not see him as often, but he is still absolutely pouring over the data and making smart decisions based on what he sees. Trust his judgement.

In my protocol for egg retrieval I was on gonal f, cetrotide, and clomid the two weeks leading up to my retrieval (all low doses). For my transfer I followed the procedure with taking estradiol orally and suppositories of progesterone.

Monitoring hours were a little tricky for me because I had to be at work by 8:00 am as a teacher. However, if I arrived around 6:45 I was never late to work and ready to leave the clinic by 7:40.

We’ve paid under 3,000 in total for both the egg retrieval and transfers.

Dr. Merhi is kind, compassionate and very professional​​. He listens​ to you and proposes​ the best option. Dr. Merhi is confident and cheerful and I can truly appreciate that feeling of optimism. Dr. Merhi, is a very skilled, knowledgable and attentive doctor. He listens to the patient and is not interested in personal results and stats but is genuinely interested in the well being of his patient. He has excellent bed side manners. He makes himself available to answer questions and is very reassuring. He also matter of fact and practical. I am now 13 weeks pregnant, I plan on returning to Dr. Merhi for my second pregnancy.

Follow the instructions and advice from Dr Merhi and the outcome of your expectation will be great as expected

IVF: clomid, letrozol and follistim, followed by Ovidrel as a trigger shot. For the transfer, progesterone suppositories and estrogen pills.

I don't have the exact amount but it was expensive even with insurance, For instance genetic screening I paid $100 as my out of pocket cost at my ob/gyn clinic with a group that they work with but at New Hope the clinic was charging over $700

Dr Merhi had a strong advice for one embryo transfer due to the risk associated with multiple pregnancy but I suggested a multiple pregnancy so that I can finish my child birth sooner. Three embryos were transferred however two succeeded giving my twins

Dr.Zaher Merhi @ nhfc, was really empathetic, and knew exactly what I was going through, and I will not name the institutions, I've been to, but 2 big institutions in New York, and one in Michigan,and one of the doctors there told me, you can start thinking about "Menopause", and am only 32yrs old, and none of them had the time, or the ambition, even to continue, but here in New Hope, they used the minimal stimulation, and everyone in the clinic was extremely positive, encouraging, sympathetic, and they never let you down, and keep going on, needless to say, they make you pay only procedure by procedure, and whatever can be billed to your insurance they will do so, not like any other fertility center, to which we have been in 3 before, where they want you to pay in full in advance. Dr.Zaher Merhi, had the best attitude, with great knowledge, and with his attitude, everything was possible. I would recommend him to anyone, with no reservation whatsoever.

If you have a problem with fertility, please do not shop around, big names can fool you sometimes, go to Dr.Zaher Merhi

Dr.Merhi, used the minimal stimulation technique, and that was one of the very big pitfalls, other fertility doctor stick to, and even when the 1st cycle, did not work, Dr.Merhi, added the steroid and aspirin

They were very convenient and easy to know

They were quite reasonable, and definitely lower compared to peers

Dr.Merhi, showed us, detailed studies, that it's in the best interest of the mother and the baby to have single embryo transfer, and we agreed.

Dr. Merhi was very patient and understanding of my circumstance and ultimately what I had gone through and what I was planning to endure to have a baby. He shared different information with me and had a sense of enthusiasm to work along with me, which encouraged me even more. I would have like to have had more one-on-one time through-out my journey.

You may not get enough one-on-one time

I underwent a mini-IVF, which we utilized letrozole, Chlomid, and injectable hormones prior to the egg retrieval. After the retrieval I was placed on a low dosage of Estradiol and progesterone.

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My costs equated to approximately 5K between doctor visits, actual IVF, medications, and copays

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Dr. Merhi was very hopeful when we met him even though we’d had five failed cycles with two other doctors. We were surprised by his optimism but what won our trust was that he told us what he thought hadn’t worked in previous cycles. He had a completely different philosophy about medications. He felt I’d been given far too much medication and claimed he would not use one very standard medication that I’d been given in 5 other cycles.

He is very trustworthy and truly cares.

Dr. Merhi and the staff at New Hope were truly amazing. They explained everything clearly and tailored the protocol to meet my needs. I was more successful with their mini-IVF protocol than with my previous 2 cycles of conventional IVF. I would recommend them to anyone!

If you don’t understand something, call and speak to a nurse. They are very helpful!

Dr. Merhi used a mini-IVF protocol where I took clomid and letrozole and then Gonal-F injections for about one week. After that I took medication to prevent ovulation and then a trigger shot before the egg retrieval. For my frozen transfer I took estrogen and then progesterone in oil and progesterone suppositories.

I went to monitoring appointments very early in the morning at both the Manhattan and Long Island offices. Manhattan office is very well run with large monitors telling you where to go for blood work and ultrasound. Manhattan office is much larger than Long Island but often more crowded.

My insurance covered a lot of it but I paid out of pocket for the ozone sauna therapy and the PRP procedure. I also had to pay about $2,000 for the egg retrieval and another $2,000 For transfer.

Honest, compassionate and very knowledgeable about his expertise. I never would have believed him if he told me I will get you pregnant but he did and was extremely gentle with the whole procedure. He’s wonderful at his job.

Have faith in your doctor and follow what he tells you and trust the process.

I was in lutueal phase cycle when my eggs were retrieved because my first attempt was not successful. During the luteual phase cycle two eggs were retrieved and one genetically tested embryo day 6 blastocyst was transferred on January 20, I’m 7 weeks pregnant and extremely grateful with outcome.

I was not informed of some procedures but the doctor said he would take care of it for me.

No we did not have elective single embryo. My request was implant the healthiest embryo for implantation