New Hope Fertility Center

[cutzthename]

I think I saw a post on here about the mini IVF.  I just  made and appointment with the center for October 22.  My doctor is good friends with the doctor who heads this up.  My dr had problems getting pregnant (he's a man, but you know what I mean) and now has a 6 month old baby!!!  There is only one center that does the mimi IVF in the states (I think).

I will let you all know how the consult went and what the procedure is.  I really have precautions to go thru conventional IVF, so maybe this is a sign.

It's funny, my doctor told me about the center, but didn't give me the contact info.  I get home the same day, look thru the paper and BAM there it was!!!

[A Baby + A Family]

Yes please keep me posted!!!  I really wanted to know!!!

I live in the SF area. But I think I am going to NY for my 3rd cycle.  Not sure how it will work out but will definitely try.

Thank you and good luck to you!!!

[applebeebaby]

I had my first failed IVF at this center. I am not blaming the doctor since I know the overall success rate nation wide is no higher than 40%. But someone at my age (30) with 3 good qualify embryos would optimistically think her chance will be better. I had two embryos transplant on day 3(although people think day 5 transfer is a better bet as embryos develop further and has higher potential to implant). After the transplant, I was not moving much for two days, and afterwards very careful on my daily activities. I was having cramps all along and sour breasts through day 6-9. On my day 10, I had my beta test and was told that my beta was close to zero, in another words, the nurse (in this center, normally Dr will not talk to patient directly as he is VERY BUSY, rather his staff will be calling you, explaining your test results and telling you what to do,) told me my poor two embryos had no sign of even implanted, which is to say I did not even have a “chemical pregnancy”. Well, because I was greedy and wanted to have twins by asking Dr to transplant two embryos instead of one as he suggested, I only had one frozen embryo (frozen at day 5) left for future transplant.

Overall, I had 5 shots and was on clomid for the most of the time. The mini IVF is less painfully (but I bet it is psychologically as painful as the traditional one, although I had no prior experience on IVF whatsoever). My retrieval was not that bad, just felt very nervous and I believe I will be more relaxed next time if I have to go through another cycle in the future.

Really have to say the result is quite disappointing. I was totally shocked when the nurse told me about my BFN! My first reaction was to talk to Dr in person and ask him what I should do next. I did not talk to him in person because I wanted to take a break and waited for my period to come (which came 3 days after I stopped the meds). Now I am taking it easy for this month and planning to have my frozen embryo transplant when I feel I am ready. If say I still cannot have my frozen embryo implanted and will have to start another cycle, I think I can handle it. After all, we all will have to move on. Wish you all and myself good luck on our baby pursuing!

[Mary97]

I'm thinking of going to New Hope.  What happened with the second transfer?  

[Nanapoo34]

Hi
My hubby and I are going in March has anyone has any success at this facility

[mrs_schwartz]

I am also thinking of going to this clinic and would be interested in any success stories.  

[MR_NG]

Just in case you guys are considering going to this Fertility center, I would like to share with you the experience with IVF with what me and my wife went through. Also my wife is 37 and her chances of pregnacy is 35%.

Let me start off by saying, we only met with the Doctor for 5 minutes and every question we had after that were answered by his nurses or some other individual in his office. After our first initial consultation with him, we still had alot of questions regarding the IVF procedure, the doctor's response to us was that if you need answers to all your questions, we cannot provide this service to you as it will be too time consuming and I will not have the time; "you are better off going to another clinic". We were both shocked by his answer! We kind of just sucked it up and continued with the IVF process.

**If you choose to goto this center, be prepared to never speak to the DR because he will never speak to you

My wife was on meds and injections for 2 weeks before the retreival and on the day of retreival they had retreived 7 eggs; which 2 were damaged and 5 were fertilized. Thinking we had 5 fertilized eggs we were very happy at the chances that the embryos will survive and soon to be our child. We even opted for PGD because my wife wanted boys, and out of the 5 embryos there were 3 boys and 2 girls. On the day 5 we had the transplant done and was told by the DR that 2 good boy emryos and 1 good girl embryo. My wife had also wanted twins so we had the 2 boy embryios transplanted and was soon on our way home hoping for twins. She didnt do much for the whole week prior to going back for the blood test, but layinng around and watching TV.

6 Days after the transplant we went back for the blood test and the results came out negative; we were devastated, especially my wife. We know there is a possibility she might not pregnant, but with 2 x 50% chance per embryo we were counting on at least 1 of them, to survive.

After speaking to another fertility dr, we sooned learned that the Dr at New Hope Fertility Center had numerous complaints against him regarding his service and also there was even a lawsuit or such brought against him, which the DR had settled. Our new DR even said that the meds and injection should be a month not 2 weeks, and 2 weeks is just too short of a time. Either way this new DR can be dishonest too, but at least he was willing to sit down with us  go through the whole entire process with us and answered any questions we had.

I am writing not to badger the DR, but our experience there had been horrible; Bad service, not being informative, misleading us and mostly just not treating us right from the start. The Dr. runs the clinic like a car dealership and treats you as just another customer with no concern for you, just a $ sign in his eyes.

Anyway, just wanted to vent a lil ( not because the IVF failed, but moreso of the treatment we got), plus inform you guys of our experience.

[jmc2008]

I did a natural cycle ivf at new hope and agree with everyone else about never seeing the doctor - well almost.  The consultation and when I brought in my embryo from the miscarriage.

My IVF was successful, but I miscarried at almost 7 weeks. The nurses that called with blood work results are the worst! "Doctor wants you to come in such and such" nothing about what my results were - just that!

My pregnancy issues were recurring miscarriage so I can't blame the center for it - who knows.  The fact that the I never talked to the doctor can't be a good thing!

The nicest person was the woman who did the ultrasounds. She's the only one who ever told me "congratulations", about drinking lots of water, not lifting anything heavy, taking it easy. or anything else!

I hope others had better luck than we did.

[rainbow44287]

I would not reccomend this clinic to anybody!! First off the Dr is not even a reproductive Endocrinoligist, He is only certified as an ob/gyn. The Dr does not even meet with you, and if u do get to see him he is rude and he will discriminate against you. My husband and I were originally going to be part of a clinical trial. We were coming in from out of state and the first appointment my E2( estrogen) was low so he put me on meds to bring it up went back in 2 weeks it still was not high enough so more meds. 2weeks the later returned and now it was too high. The dr says its not his fault. It is my fault that it is high and its my fault because I am FAT!!! I am overweight I am 5 foot 5 and weigh 169 and I know that besides that I am healthy. He told my husband to force me to work out 5 times a day for 30 minutes so I could loose 10 pounds in 10 days. THe clinic is run like a a freaking ***** house. Seriously they push sooo many people through the doors it is not even funny. The 2 hours we were waiting there I seriously saw at least 50 couples in and out. This dr is very rude, unprofessional, and only wants money. He does not care about his patients and if you are not a thin asian girl you might as well forget about getting care there. Please no body go here, you are wasting your money, I know his prices are cheap but they seriously reflect the care you will recieve.  Please do not but yourself through the heartache that this dr will cause you there are other options out there.

[herrmannpt]

Just want to say that we have only good things to say about New Hope.  It's true that there are a TON of patients that go through their doors, and I can see how people feel that patient care is compromised because of this.  They do rely on medical assistants to relay medical instructions, and they are not capable of answering many of your questions.  You just need to be proactive.  Find a nurse that you like and request to speak with her about your treatment.  We are  in the middle of a cycle now, and we came from Indianapolis just to come to this clinic.  It is leaps and bounds above anything near us.  As for seeing the doctor, we feel that he has treated us very well.  He personally did my ultrasound this morning (on Easter morning) and talked with us about what was going on and what his plans are.  And just for the record...I am not an Asian woman.  In my opinion, Dr. Zhang has a great protocol that makes a lot of sense.  I think his way of doing IVF will be standard practice throughout the US in the future.  

[thetam01]

whats the difference between mini ivf an a traditional ivf

[leslu]

Hello:

I am new to this thread but I was a bit amazed to see the comments posted here about New Hope Fertility, though I feel a bit annoyed by the experience that you folks had, I must say the treatment I received was extremely different.  At my consultation with the Dr. I was fully informed and was greeted nicely.  It was a short consultation but it was extremely informative and his protocol made so much sense that I agree with the last thread that I too belive it is going to be an adopted process very near in the future.

You do get little time with the Dr. and he almost never calls you back but a nurse always does.  I think his time is limited because he really review all the flood of patients chart he receives and making sure they are giving the right protocol after their visits.  I start working at 7:30 a.m. and I have to tell you, I have never been late yet.  The nurses does their best and they are always bubbly with me.

I say give it another go and if you still have the same experience then so be it but you will be missing a great deal here, their protocol is AMAZING!!!!  I am now doing the first of my FET cycle and I am very hopeful.

[neon37]

I had my first consultation with Dr. Zhang a few months back, and was suggested to try a few natural cycles so he can understand my ovulation partern. the first meeting with him was short, probablly about 10 minutes after 2 hours of wait. He was all right, and to the point, but he didn't get to the treatment plan, which I figured he might explain that later on. I then started monitoring my bloodwork and repeat the sonogram every few days, his nurse normally would call me on the same day tell me what to do next, but she never bothered to tell me what my results were unless I ask her. . I requested to have a phone consultation with the dr since I just have tons of questions about my treatment plan, unfortuantelly the Dr. never called for the first 3 phone consulations they scheduled for me. I got very nervous about this clinic. it just seems the Dr. doesn't have enough time to handle so many patients. I like the concept of Mini IVF, it sounds like a less invasive methord comparing to traditional IVF. but i am not so sure about the clinic anymore. Another thing pissed me off is that before I started, they told me that since I am from outside of the state, I can use any lab or imaging center near my home to get the test done, and simply ask the lab to fax them the result. I was very happy that they offer this type of flexibility, however, recently just found out they charged me for $500/cycle for using such service, of course nobody ever told me about such charge beforehand.... sign.

[Andreak37]

I had an initial consult and I thought everyone was very nice including the doctor. I am doing a natural cycle this time around and going from there. Better than CNY in Syracuse where I have been pumped with the highest dose of meds, always talking to nurses who never give me my results, and even my initial consult there I met the doctor for 5 minutes tops. So we shall see, it is better than all those shots!

[KKGG]

My overall opinion of NHFC is very good. And, if they get me pregnant (which I'm confident they will, it should be just a matter of time I hope), then obviously they're GREAT.

The Look:
I admit I was a little surprised when I walked in and saw the decor... especially versus my previous experience at a fancy (and oh by the way EXPENSIVE) fertility clinic in Arizona. The walls could use a new coat of paint (maybe a nice fun color) and the trim definitely needs some attention. In various places around the clinic there are still pieces of blue tape. You know the kind... the blue tape used around the trim when painting to help you keep the paint in the lines. Only, I can't figure out if they're "planning" on painting and put up the blue tape (doubtful since the blue tape is here and there - very weird) or are they done painting and haven't taken all of the tape down (doubtful since the trim/walls do not look freshly painted). It's a mystery to me. The lighting is quite awful in the place. I'd hate to have my picture taken in there for fear I'd look ghastly under those lights.

The clinic is on Park Ave (high rent to be sure) and it's a little like a maze when you walk in. Various rooms and hallways abound, steep stairs going up to the treatment rooms, etc. It's almost like a house. On the left when you walk in, there is a waiting room with comfy, but old, black chairs. Quite a few of them to seat their many patients. And, there is a nice, big flat screen TV on the wall featuring CNN. They always have fancy fresh flowers in the entry way every few days. The nurse/medical assistant room where they draw blood and hand out scripts is a decent size. Again though, the decor leaves much to be desired. I'll be honest... if I had walked into a clinic like this in Mexico, I would have had my doubts based on the look. Doubts about the treatment and maybe even the sterility. I probably would have walked out. But, this is on Park Avenue after all and in a very nice area. Ergo: it must be nice and sterile.

Because of the "old-fashion" look of the place, I am very curious as to where they actually freeze the embryos and store them. For having such high tech equipment, they don't look very high tech or modern.

The People:
Dr. Zhang is very pleasant. We had our first consult with him and we both liked him. He took the time to answer any questions we had. And, although I have not seen him other than that initial consult, through all of my treatment, I trust he's behind the scenes working his magic. My original contact through email and phone was with a gal named Jessica. She was amazing at helping me coordinate everything prior to my trip to NY. The lady at the front desk, Melissa, is a doll. She is always very helpful and wears a huge smile on her face. Anytime I had a question, I went to her and she either answered it herself or pointed me in the right direction. The nurses, sonogram technicians, and medical assistants were all very friendly, too.

For the most part, they seem to be all on the same page when it came to answering my questions. However, I was receiving different responses to my questions about future treatment. Since we live in Arizona, I wanted to know the possible time I'd need to be back for a frozen transfer, in the event the fresh transfer didn't work. For this, I got different answers. That bothers me a little. But, I'll just have to be patient and wait and see. When the time comes, IF the time comes, that I start my period (fingers crossed I don't!), then I will call and ask to speak to the doctor about next steps. Hopefully, I speak with him directly.

Every time I was called with instructions from a nurse or medical assistant after my appointment, I found the call friendly. I have no complaints.

Dr. Chang was my favorite. He did the egg retrieval as well as the transfer. He was very knowledgeable and answered all of my questions. He was also very encouraging and patient. I have nothing but praise for him so far.

Overall, I found it relaxing to be in all of their hands. From the moment I sign in to the computer letting the staff know I'm there for my appointments, I'm quickly whisked away into the various rooms for my treatment. Waiting time is minimal, and it's pretty much non-existant when you go for your appointments later in the afternoon. I usually went around 11am and although the waiting room "appeared" crowded, it didn't "feel" crowded.

It's like organized chaos. Seems scary given that we're talking about FERTILITY. But, it seems to work for them and I have no complaints thus far. Even though at times I thought to question whether they had all their "i's" dotted and "t's" crossed, they did.

[mama1981]

I heard about NHFC from a friend who had a mini ivf done there.  I decided to call to find out more information to see if it will work for my dh and I.  I spoke to a nice lady and she basically answered many of the pre-ivf questions I had.  The last communication with her was for me to email her my ins info to see what would be covered.  I sent the email but never really heard back from her.  It;s ok though as if they are as busy as I am hearing on here, I can understand.   I would have to be the proactive one to call back and get things rolling once my dh and I are ready.  Thank you all for sharing your stories/experiences with them and I wish you all the best on your ttc journey.

BTW, my friend who had the inf got BFN on 05-23-09.  Now on to the next step...

xo,
marline

[tj03]

Be wary of any positive comments here - I suspect they may be posted by staff members.  As I dont beleive anyone who's used this place is really happy with their service.  I attempted to use them on numerous occasions and the list of negatives is as follows:
Never returned calls, dismissive, most nurses dont know or understand the drugs you're supposes to use, but you cant get to see Dr. Zhang as he's 'too busy' counting his money probably.  He's not genuinely concerned of his patients only how well his clinic is doing in terms of numbers of people he can get through the door, he is rude and patronising, charges a fortune if you're from out of the country $1,000 to get monitored initially, doent look at your faxed results and someone got back to me a week later by that stage it was my day 15!! - and pointless, also lost an egg by not monitoring properly, so dont bother with natural, they cant be bothered to track properly and he blamed ME for having a short cycle that month, his staff are not particularly friendly, didnt care at all that my egg had got lost, when I started crying as I was upset, they walked away, probably as didnt want to waste time being nice.  Their answer phone system is so frustrating and stresses you out so muchstress waiting for a call back that its probably ruined your chances anyway.  This clinic looks good on paper but is a night mare.  It is a total time waster and should be avoided if you possibly can.  There are other clinics in Europe particularly scandinavia that do Soft Ivf and they are much more caring - go to them.  The only reason this clinic is full is becuase no one else does low-stimualation in the US but when they do, this clinic will be empty - I hope and it will serve them right. Yes he's a pioneer in it, but at the expense of his patients he's using them as guinea pigs and also clomid is NOT a good drug to use after a few uses there are studies that suggest it has a higher link to ovarian cancers than the other drugs etc.  Dr Zhang uses it because it easy for HIM and cheap and therefore makes his clinic look cheap not anything else.  Some other clinics starting it are in California somewhere and one in or near Virginia somewhere, I forget the names but I found them and wish I'd gone there instead.  DO NOT USE THIS CLINIC UNLESS YOU WANT REALLY HAVE TO - BUT EVEN THEN THINK TWICE.  You might be one of the lucky few that doesnt get him on  a bad day or his clinic when its at bursting point, but unlikley and oh by the way - his results are rubbish - because he's experinmenting with you all and you're all paying him to do it!!!