Intro and Nationally Known IVF Clinics: child mentioned warning

hlke

Hello everyone, I am a long time lurker and not a newbie to infertility.  My wife and I are a same-sex couple.  I am 35 and DW is 38.  We started TTC in April 2012 with DW carrying.  After 10 unsuccessful inseminations she moved on to IVF with a diagnosis of unexplained.  She did three cycles of IVF and conceived our daughter on the third cycle.  We are incredibly lucky to have been successful after so much heartbreak and difficulty.  We chose for DW to go first because she is older and it should have been "easy" for her to conceive.

I am now TTC our second child.  I have endometrosis and borderline DOR (AMH 0.5, AFC 5-8, FSH 7ish).  Our RE recommended I go straight to IVF.  I have done two cycles and both have been spectacular failures.  I have stimmed remarkably well for someone with DOR, but at my first retrieval I had "empty follicle syndrome" with only one egg retrieved, which failed to fertilize.  My second retrieval I ovulated early and only had three retrieved, none of which made it to blast.  My clinic strongly prefers 5dt, which is why we didn't do a 3dt despite the low number retrieved.

I am strongly considering traveling for a second opinion, and I am looking for opinions on what clinics I should consider.  Advanced Fertility Centers of Chicago is local to me, but I have heard mixed opinions.  I have a second opinion scheduled there, but it is not with Dr. Sherbahn.  I think I should probably switch my appointment to meet with him rather than an associate at his practice.

The other clinics I hear about most frequently are CCRM and Shady Grove.  I am also curious about Center for Human Reproduction in NYC, and also hearing about other nationally-known clinics that are recommended.  I would also love to hear about your experience with an out of town clinic for either a consult or IVF.

marioana99

I am 36, DOR (AMH 0.48, AFC 5-10, FSH 13ish). I am going to Fertility Clinic of Illinois, and they are ok, dr.Uhler is very open in trying new things. Initially I was recommended to go to FCI and see Angeline Beltsos because she is really good, but she was downtown and too far away, plus she changed clinics shortly after I started in this IVF journey. 
I had a second opinion consult with CCRM, with dr. Schoolcraft after 4 failed ivf's and unfortunately for me he didn't gave me more chances, he basically said egg donor is what he recommends.And it would have cost me somewhere around $30k if I have tried ivf with them, because although my insurance covers IVF, for out of network they don't cover that much.The consult was by phone, I contacted the clinic and they set it up. Somehow it was free, probably as an incentive to become their patient, but usually I think is around $300. 
I also asked Dr.Sher on his forum a few questions, and he gives skype consults too,  and we tried his protocol, but I ovulated early with this one so no idea if it works or not.

mcgeeva

I highly recommend Shady Grove. I have multiple coworkers that went to our same doctor for IVF in VA and they all had success. My brothers wife went to Shady Grove in MD and also had a really great experience. The other great thing about Shady Grove is there are so many locations if you in the middle of a cycle you can go to any location for monitoring etc. Hopefully since they are such a big company they would be in network for you to save money. Wish you the best!

juliajoan

We switched to Reproductive Medicine Associates of New Jersey after several failed cycles at another clinic. Dr. Costantini was tremendously helpful - calling me at home before my first appointment, going over every protocol the prior clinic had put me through, and spending lots of time with me & my husband until we were totally sure we wanted to switch. My first cycle with her resulted in 7 PGD normal frozen embryos, and I am currently 18w5d from my first transfer of one embryo. (Prior cycles had ranged from total failures to only 2 embryos) 

autumnlvs

hlke if you're in Chicago, I highly recommend Dr. Cohen at IHR - I hear his partner is also excellent but Dr. Cohen was recommended to me by several other physician moms after I left FCI. He put me on an endo protocol, and I feel like he really listens and tailors your treatment to your medical conditions - it is a smaller clinic but there's something nice about seeing the same phlebotomist and sonographer every other day. Northwestern also does a good DOR protocol and has a great patient portal which is a nice experience - they will do 3dt.