Just Trying to Pick a Clinic

beefjerky · Post by **beefjerky** » Mon Jan 26, 2009 4:06 am

I'm in a place that is not near any reputable fertility center. I will travel anywhere to do this. It's worth it to me to pick the best place in the country and stay in a hotel for 10 nights.

I just can't figure out how to make the decision. I looked at SART and am trying to figure out why anyone wouldn't just go with the place that has the highest live birth rates. What do I not know about these percentages?

Is there a so called "#1" out there? Any recommendations for clinics would be appreciated. I'm so anxious to get this started, but refuse to use the clinics in my state.

Colorado Center for Reproductive Medicine looked good. Does anyone know about them?

CT_Michele · Post by **CT_Michele** » Mon Jan 26, 2009 4:22 am

I don;t know any of the top clinics personally, but I have been on these boards for a while, and CCRM (colorado) comes up a lot as one of the best.

esperanza · Post by **esperanza** » Mon Jan 26, 2009 7:28 am

yeap, I agree with CT Michelle, that one seems to be one of the best ones (at least according to folks on this forum).

Best wishes!!!

NY4thtry · Post by **NY4thtry** » Mon Jan 26, 2009 9:05 am

CCRM has a good reputation. but fromwhat it seems like they are not into personal service and riid with their rules.. I have done my last 2 cycles with SIRM www.haveababy.com.. Dr sher himself is my DR and he is in las vegas although comes to ny for cycles.. SIRM like CCRM is at the cutting edge of research.. you should check out their website www.haveababy.com

on topof that they are wonderful.. Dr sher actually called me the night before my last beta fromhis vacation to wish me luck..

PM me if you want more info
(PS this was my third set of drs and i did huge research)

beefjerky · Post by **beefjerky** » Mon Jan 26, 2009 5:05 pm

Thanks for the responses. CCRM and SIRM were the two I've been considering. I have a scheduled phone consultion with Dr. Sher already. Then I came along CCRM's website and saw their statistics on SART. SIRM worries me because they do not report to SART. I asked them why, and they said it's because they do not want to cause a competition or bad feelings between the doctors at their many different locations. They would have to report the results at each different clinic, and didn't want to do that. They want to gather the results from all the clinics and list the results as a whole.

Do they have something to hide?? Are some of their clinics not doing well? I've read that the people in the lab have alot to do with the results, so if one of their locations has a great doctor and not so great lab people, then maybe they aren't doing as well as say the clinic in LV. I would just like to know the statistics for the exact clinic. Other than that I was very optimistic about SIRM. Should I not let the SART thing bother me?

NY4thtry · Post by **NY4thtry** » Mon Jan 26, 2009 5:22 pm

i would NOT let the SART thing bother you...
I was at NY fertility institute for 2 cycles then at Cornell and interviewed everybody in NY... i am currently in 2ww after tranferring 4 blasts on saturday (i am 41 so thats an amazing result)
i am sooooo impressed with them and know you will get personal service t least i did which i dont think is the case at CCRM...

i love Dr Sher!!

Molly23 · Post by **Molly23** » Mon Jan 26, 2009 5:42 pm

You should look at Reproductive Biology associates in Atlanta. They have always been great and personable with their service. Here is their website. They have some great stats as well.
http://www.rba-online.com/

siouxsie · Post by **siouxsie** » Mon Jan 26, 2009 9:12 pm

IMO you can’t go by numbers alone. You need to find a clinic that’s expert in treating your particular condition. Those with the highest numbers sometimes refuse to take difficult cases.

We were lucky because we live in LA and have loads of local options. We started with a list of about 12 compiled from numbers and recommendations. Price alone knocked out a few. I called them all and choose three to talk in further depth. We went with the doctor who made us the most comfortable. For one thing, she spent 2-1/2 hours with us at the initial consultation opposed to 15 minutes with the other doctor. I also like that since they’re with a university, they are into research. (We choose USC
http://www.uscivf.org/) I’ll like them even better, if my upcoming FET is successful.

kerpupples · Post by **kerpupples** » Tue Jan 27, 2009 12:56 am

an IVF researcher who used to post here (Ghost) also recommended UConn, San Diego Fertility Center, and one in Iowa (forget which one).

Shady Grove in the DC area seems to have a nice shared risk payment plan.

I've known people personally who went to CCRM as well as ladies on this board. There seems to be some question as to whether they screen their patients to inflate their success rates. Most I've heard of have had a good experience with them. I was going to try a cycle with them if my last FET didn't work (it did) even though they made it a bit of a nightmare to work with my insurance company.

Good luck!

lynniecat · Post by **lynniecat** » Tue Jan 27, 2009 2:53 am

I have been to both Shady Grove (who go me pg twice in 4 cycles) and CCRM who screened me out. He would only work with me if I got donor eggs unless I did a CCT and got numbers below 10 on day 3 and day 10.

I knew that would not happen. HOWEVER I think they are very good if you do qualify for their programs.

Here is what Ghost (the researcher) said about numbers: You can not at all compare what you see on sart cause live birth rates are higher when you screen patients and only take the ones most likely to conceive. Rates are lower when you take all patients, even those with few antral follicles, high FSH, etc. So do not be fooled by the numbers there....

One thing Ghost said you can use is the stats on donor eggs as most donors are young and assuming the clinic have similar cut-offs for donors, you should be able to compare their numbers.

Mellie_1233 · Post by **Mellie_1233** » Tue Jan 27, 2009 10:14 pm

I just wanted to second what Lynniecat said about looking at stats for donor egg cycles. It's one good way to compare.

(Congrats, Lynniecat, on your BFP! I'm so happy for you!)

I went to CCRM. When I got there I had already had one FSH value over 10 (that was w/o the CCCT). They still took me although I was only 36 so that may have helped. Maybe it depends on which dr you have. I dunno.

I'll be 38 in May and my dr said I can come back to try for baby #2.

If you want to ask me anything about my experience w/them I'm happy to oblige.

I can also give you rec's on where to stay if you go there.

Good luck!

beefjerky · Post by **beefjerky** » Tue Jan 27, 2009 10:20 pm

thank you for the resonses. I am going to speak with Dr. Sher Friday and see how that goes. CCRM is still an option. Dr. Sher doesn't charge for a phone consult. CCRM charges $250. I wouldn't choose my clinic off of that, but I'm hoping to feel comfortable with Dr. Sher.

NY4thtry · Post by **NY4thtry** » Tue Jan 27, 2009 11:24 pm

you will love him.. tell him that his 41 year old who just transferred 4 blasts cant say enough great things about him!!!!! he will know who you mean

Liam'sMommy · Post by **Liam'sMommy** » Wed Jan 28, 2009 12:20 am

One thing that people don't catch on the stats for CCRM is what they consider a successful or an ongoing pregnancy to be. To them, a positive beta plus any ultrasound evidence of pregnancy is a success. That could be a blighted ovum or ectopic pregnancy. SIRM, on the other hand, has a much higher criteria for what they report as an ongoing pregnancy. It is a fetus with a heart beat at 10 weeks. That is a huge difference. Just food for thought.

Mellie_1233 · Post by **Mellie_1233** » Wed Jan 28, 2009 12:46 am

Maybe they've changed, but my initial call w/CCRM was free. I just had another call w/them to kick off a new attempt and I was charge something nominal (around $10 I think). My dr was Schoolcraft.

SART provides live birth rates for CCRM.

Good luck no matter where you decide to go! I know it's a tough decision.

Just Trying to Pick a Clinic

Just Trying to Pick a Clinic

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