Wisconsin/Illinois clinics for IVF

Polythene Pam

Hi there! New to the group... I have a 3 year old daughter and we've been trying for 18 months for another baby, turns out one of my tubes is blocked so my daughter may have been luck. We tried clomid and finally reached the point of being ready for IVF, per my doctor's recommendation (and us just reaching the point of absolute frustration). We're looking between Froedert (Dr Strawn) and the Advanced Fertility Center (Gurnee Illinois). Does anyone have feedback one way or another? It seems like most reviewers disliked Dr Strawn and I've only heard great things about the AFC. However the AFC is a good hour+ from us, where Froedert is 15 minutes away, and I'll be needing care for my daughter either way, just the AFC drive would add 2+ hours to each appointment.

I'm leaning towards the AFC just from initial conversations with both places and the statistics of success looking better, but if anyone has great things to say about Froedert I'd certainly listen! Thanks so much.

mtpbadger

Sorry that you find yourself here! I don't have any knowledge of either clinic but would it be possible that if you went to AFC, you could have some of your monitoring appointments done locally and the results sent to the clinic? That way you might only have to drive the commute for a more important appointments. I think some ladies on the board have done that before. Might be worth asking if you are leaning towards AFC.

Polythene Pam

Great idea, I'll definitely call to ask them that. Thank you!

ADRIANAC1982

Im from Illinois but we went through FCI (Dr. Sipe) 

I definitely would look up doctors and reviews etc.  We had a great experience however, there may not be a clinic close to you.  

Also, I would suggest checking with insurance about your coverage.  If your Illinois IF coverage should be an issue, but for us we had to do IUI's first before BCBS would approve IVF. Some insurances also require more, even up to 6 before you can move along, unless there are "certain" issues.  We had initially wanted to jump into IVF and we receive a big surprise because of insurance unless you plan to self pay.  

Polythene Pam

Thank you! Our insurance doesn't cover anything at all... None of this. So frustrating. So I'm definitely going based off reviews and statistics hoping for quick results. 

ReesaAnne16

We're only at the IUI stage right now, but I really like my doctors at Generations Fertility clinic in Madison, WI. They seem to have a high IVF success rate. 
https://www.uwhealth.org/infertility/reproductive-endocrinology-and-infertility/14380

ADRIANAC1982

@Polythene Pam your insurance is IL based though? I though IL mandates fertility coverage its one of the 15 

JamieH2000

Hi! I live in the mke area and am actually going to AFC right now. I also had a consult with froedert this summer (dr schoyer) and I liked her but just clicked with dr catenachi at AFC a lot more. The statistics for AFC are also really good. So far I have had a good experience with them, tho I had my first IVF cancelled due to poor response. They have a good plan for me going forward with an aggressive protocol that uses the latest research, so I'm hopeful next round will work. I would reco doing a consult with both and seeing how you like each. I also had some coworkers that went to dr strawn and eventually had sucess but it took a few times. I also went to an RE previously in mke that told me she did monitoring for AFC and reco'd them to me, so that could be an option for you. Feel free to private message me if you want!

Polythene Pam

No we live in Wisconsin (Milwaukee area), so our insurance doesn't cover any infertility. I've just heard really great things about the Illinois clinics though and they're fairly close to us. Thanks so much for the help!

Polythene Pam

JamieH2000 Thank you so so much! Dr Catenachi is actually the doctor I'll initially meet with (end of October). Did you have big fees for your initial consultations? I contacted Aurora in West Allis and just to meet and talk to them, it was around $500 (plus they are booked solid till January), so I guess I assumed I'd have to pay just for the initial meeting, why I felt like I should choose. But both appointments are within the same week so maybe I'll call to check on fees and keep both. Thanks so much, good luck to you!

JamieH2000

I fortunately have some insurance once I hit deductible/ out of pocket but I think they both would have been about $300-500 if I hadn't. If you really like the first maybe you can cancel the second consult? Keep me posted on where you decide! Always nice to "know" another lady in the area. Some of us in the area met up in August and it was amazing how much we had to talk about even tho we had never met before. 

Polythene Pam

Oh that sounds wonderful to meet others! I'll keep you posted... If I can do some of the testing from AFC more locally I'll do them for sure, or if my inlaws can watch my daughter so we're not also paying a fortune on sitters... Definitely leaning towards them so far. Let me know how things go for you, best of luck!

jodes727

@PolythenePam I go to West Allis and it was over $500 for our first consult with the RE.  I was shocked about the price but figured it would be worth it to get the ball moving.  TW***like you I also felt like AFC would have been a great option, but between work and our 2 kids, I felt like getting down to appointments would have been nearly impossible.  West Allis is close enough for us and I like both Dr. Shanti and Dr. Hayes.  Good luck with your decision.  I will say, that like most things, I am not sure if there will ever be a perfect fit.  There are things I love about my clinic and other things that I don't...it's a give and take.  The things that are important great out weigh what is not.  GL

Polythene Pam

Thanks @jodes727 Yea my husband came home from work and is really pushing for froedert.. His work is 10 min away so he can be a support if needed, I have a daycare option for my little if I go there (it'd get a lot more complicated if I added 2 hours of driving), and my husband has a friend who apparently went to froedert and had great luck, we're meeting with them next weekend to chat. If I didn't have my daughter I'd probably do AFC, and I'll keep both appts to debate a bit more. Thanks for your input, good luck to you! 

JamieH2000

Polythene Pam - just sent you a private message with one more option!

Tulumina

Hey - not sure you decided yet but wanted to chime in. We live in St Louis and used AFCC (5.5 hour drive each way!!). We only had to go there for initial consult, semen deposit (they freeze) and transfers. We did donor eggs so no retrievals. I can't say enough good things about AFCC. They have awesome success rates. And we used Dr. Sherbahn but Catennaci did our transfer that resulted in success. She was so great! By the time we got to AFCC we'd already spent a few years at a different clinic and I so strongly believe we should be choosing clinics based on their success rates with cases similar to our own. Consider the time, heartache, and money saved by having to do fewer cycles at a place that has better outcomes.