Great review on shady Grove...NOT

[Anonymous]

We are patients at Shady Grove and although our doctor (Dr. Chang) is wonderful and skilled, the whole "McDonald's" experience of their awful waiting room can really play a part in adding to the stress of infertility. First of all, there are so many people "warehoused" in that waiting room every time you go in! You really do feel like just a number in the waiting room, and although the doctor is great, you spend so much time not interacting with these people in the waiting room (no one talks in there, it's very uncomfortable) that it becomes a negative part of your experience. You really do feel like just a number. Also after almost 3 years of trying we have come to a crossroads and three months ago stopped - yet no one has called to follow up or see what direction we want to go. It is in a nutshell pretty anonymous. The one really bright spot about the Shady Grove Rockville location is the pharmacist downstairs who really and truly goes out of his way to go the extra mile for every patient who he sees.
Thanks yelp, wish I had read your reviews before I wasted so much time and money at SG:
http://www.yelp.com/biz/shady-grove-fertility-centers-rockville

[Anonymous]

I have mixed feelings about SG, but just needed to echo your statement about the pharmacist downstairs on the ground floor. This guy is so caring, and went out of his way to find extra samples for me when my insurance didn't pay for meds. He saved me a lot of money, but more importantly, when I was feeling very vulnerable and emotional (and broke!), I felt like someone went way out of their way for me, just to be nice. I wanted to hug him.

[Anonymous]

Hey OP: I don't know if this is a unique thing to SG. The Rockville office is the busiest (I've been to 4 of their offices for treatment) but I've also been in treatment at other fertility centers (Cornell, SIRM) and nobody ever strikes up conversations in the waiting rooms. At the other clinics I've been to, they are all packed out and it's a generally uncomfortable feeling.

Look, going through infertility treatments sucks. It's not the most pleasant experience in the world. Everybody you see in those waiting rooms (patients) are all upset that they have to be there. No amount of cheery music, coffee bars, conversations will take away the fact that the only thing anybody who is sitting there wants is a baby.

Also, when I've stopped treatment at 3 different clinics I've never been called by the offices to be asked why I've stopped. I think that so many people quit treatment for so many reasons ( financial reasons being the primary reason) that offices don't follow up.

I say all of this very lovingly, but don't flame SG. Your experience would be typical at most clinics.

[Anonymous]

It's really silly to condemn an entire practice because their waiting room is busy and other patients don't talk with you! Especially since you say your physician is great.

I get that you're upset because you're not pregnant yet (been there myself and it stinks) but I think maligning the practice in spite is wrong.

[Anonymous]

Every practice has its good and bad points. I agree that there are things about SG that could be improved and it is not the most warm and fuzzy place but the bottom line is I wanted a baby and when I looked at the stats SG had the best lab/results so if I had to prioritize what was important to me I would say results way of over all the complaints that you have. I am sure there are many smaller groups that I could have gone to that did not have the same success rates but had the time to hold my hand. However, I wanted the best lab not the warmest office. The first thing I learned with SG is you have to be your own advocate and to find great nurse. If you have that it all becomes much more doable/tolerable.

[Anonymous]

I had a terrible experience with the DC Shady Grove clinic. My doctor was not familiar with my fertility problem and first told me there was nothing I could do. When she was confronted with medical articles recommending treatment, she then said she would try it. These doctors are specialists and should know the field or at least do some research before telling patients that nothing can be done. Infertility is stressful enough, you don't want to be told there is no treatment when in fact there is. The staff were sometimes rude and unhelpful. For example, one nurse did not want to spend time to finish one of my tests because it was taking too long and she needed to get to the next patient. I had to push to get her to finish the test. Steer clear of this place. I am now with Columbia Fertility Associates, receiving treatment and happy.

[Anonymous]

I'm amazed that this place has the good reputation it does, though I do understand why. They play on the highly emotional event of conception and babies, and people lose their minds over it and just allow themselves to be steered, en masse, to IVF (In Vitro Fertilization.) You have to wonder about a doctor who is so renowned telling a woman with 15 follicles and a low FSH that she needs to have IVF. This place is all about their statistics, without any regard for what the patient wants or what is most cost effective. We have been told IUI is an option for us, and yet, Shady Grove won't do it because they "don't feel comfortable."

The definition of not feeling comfortable is that IUI costs significantly less, IS covered by insurance AND has lower success rates. And they have to report their success rates, so they certainly don't want any lower statistical procedures clouding their reputation.

Take your emotions out of it before you allow them to sell you into something that's their cash cow.
http://www.yelp.com/biz/shady-grove-fertility-centers-rockville

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I'm amazed that this place has the good reputation it does, though I do understand why. They play on the highly emotional event of conception and babies, and people lose their minds over it and just allow themselves to be steered, en masse, to IVF (In Vitro Fertilization.) You have to wonder about a doctor who is so renowned telling a woman with 15 follicles and a low FSH that she needs to have IVF. This place is all about their statistics, without any regard for what the patient wants or what is most cost effective. We have been told IUI is an option for us, and yet, Shady Grove won't do it because they "don't feel comfortable."

The definition of not feeling comfortable is that IUI costs significantly less, IS covered by insurance AND has lower success rates. And they have to report their success rates, so they certainly don't want any lower statistical procedures clouding their reputation.

Take your emotions out of it before you allow them to sell you into something that's their cash cow.
http://www.yelp.com/biz/shady-grove-fertility-centers-rockville

I'm sorry, what you wrote isn't true. IUI wasn't covered by my insurance. I was not steered "en mass" to IVF. I was encouraged to do IUI's before moving to IVF. I've personally referred 5 friends to SG and they've all undergone IUI's before moving to IVF. I had one friend that did 11 IUI's before she got her BFP.

I'm sorry you had a poor experience at SG. But I don't think it's necessary to post things that are not true about the place. You cannot make a blanket statement because the fact is that everyone has a different diagnosis which determines the course of treatment.

Signed,
A former SG patient

[Anonymous]

I too was told to try IUI first at 37. I was told that because though the Shady Grove Dr. knew my best chance of success was IVF he wanted me to try the less expensive, less invasive treatments first to rule them out before moving on.

The reality is that not all the shady grove offices are equipped to do monitoring on weekends and in the instances where you need to monitor on the weekends it will be more crowded in the Rockville office than you are used to in your "home" office. I wouldn't make the mistake of choosing a different center because of a mild inconvenience. If you do, you will be giving up excellent care, some of the best success rates in the country and staff who really care about you because you all because you get mad at a crowded waiting room that you only need to "deal with" for about an hour of your life. My daughter turned one in October and without Shady Grove I would not have her.

[Anonymous]

This is another vote of support for sg. I started there several months ago, but they've not all pressured me to do ivf, and only just started suggesting moving to IUIs from medicated TI cycles (I'm 37, dx is unexplained infertility). I agree that the assembly-line monitoring atmosphere is a bit off-putting, but I've never doubted the competence or expertise of the doctors or nurses.

[Anonymous]

I had a wonderful experience at Shady Grove and have two amazing boys thanks to them. I have stage 4 endo, multiple adhesions, a uterine abnormality (that they found & surgically corrected....thank god b/c if they hadn't I would have probably lost my baby in the 2nd tri), high FSH and my husband has male factor.

I don't care about all that other BS...waiting rooms, whether the nurse knows my name, etc. All of that is a distant memory anyways and such a small part of the big picture of my life. My kids are what matter and they made them possible. They are the best at what they do....

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I had a wonderful experience at Shady Grove and have two amazing boys thanks to them. I have stage 4 endo, multiple adhesions, a uterine abnormality (that they found & surgically corrected....thank god b/c if they hadn't I would have probably lost my baby in the 2nd tri), high FSH and my husband has male factor.

I don't care about all that other BS...waiting rooms, whether the nurse knows my name, etc. All of that is a distant memory anyways and such a small part of the big picture of my life. My kids are what matter and they made them possible. They are the best at what they do....

ditto this. I have 3 children thanks to Shady Grove and by no means felt pushed into doing IVF. We did numerous cycles of IUI on my request although in the end it took IVF to get pregnant. Honestly I don't understand the degree of stress that some feel over the busy waiting room, Mcdonald's experience of the practice. I went to my fertility doctor to get pregnant. Not to meet other infertile friends while waiting for monitoring, not to become best buddies with my doctor or nurse. Not to have my hand held by either. I wanted to get pregnant and so I went to the practice in the DC area with the best stats for IVF. I simply don't get the whole "I go to a practice A (and not practice B) because practice A (although inferior clinically) makes me warm and fuzzy". DH and I are physicians and I guess we just have different expectations from our health care providers.

[Anonymous]

Well I agree that SG is a factory, and I have been to 3 infertility practices in our area.

[Anonymous]

PP wihich one did you like the best and did you have success with any of them??

[Anonymous]

I went to SG because my insurance covered treatment there more fully than anywhere else. I wasn't thrilled with my primary doctor's bedside manner. He brushed off some (major) concerns I had and I felt he was dismissive of my questions. However, I saw some other doctors during my treatment who were much better (and a couple who were about the same).

In the end, I ended up pregnant but it was an emotionally difficult process and my primary doctor and nurse didn't make it any easier. I did feel like "just a number" and I was "in a factory," but it worked, so I am grateful. I would have preferred to go somewhere smaller and more personable, but a) it wasn't financially feasible and b) I really can't argue with SG's stats - they were better than many of the other places I looked. I just wish SG were a little more caring towards their patients (although you can find individual doctors and nurses there who are).