Great review on shady Grove...NOT

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Ok, I’ll bite 9:01. I am that woman they are protecting. After multiple years trying, multiple failures, and a miscarriage I don’t want to see your daughter at the fertility clinic. For three months after my miscarriage, I did not go to parks, libraries during the day, or grocery stores before 7pm because seeing a child or worse a pregnant woman would set me in a spiral. Having to see your daughter playing in the waiting room while I was waiting for my D and C of a 9 week pregabacy would have destroyed me. Seeing your happy family while waiting for my betas to come back zero would have been a jab in the heart. Waiting in the same space as you while I wait to have my blood drawn for yet another BFN, which I already know the cycle did not work because I tested at home five times, would just be a reminder of how much this process sucks.

I understand that there a many appointments. I understand getting a babysitting is hard and expensive. But, this policy is at a place that is designed for people who are struggling to get pregnant. There a many things you might complain about in this process and many reasons you might post a negative review, but I would seriously ask you to reconsider bringing your child to a fertility clinic. It is painful to many of us and if you can show a little compassion, that would go a long way.

+1000
And I would expect nothing less off the Leesburg SG office, where I have always found kind, compassionate people.

Many RE offices ask their patients not to bring in young children; this isn’t just SG’s policy.

Look, I get that it's hard to see babies / children when you're dealing with infertility. But two things: 1) when I was trying to conceive my first and would see couples or women with children in the waiting room...I took it as encouraging! Success stories, if you will. I think it's important to remind yourself it's not a zero sum game - someone else getting pregnant does not make it any less likely that I will. 2) yes, I understand the point that it feels 'in your face' to see kids at an infertility clinic. But logistically...think about it realistically. You are having to make a stream of very last-minute, often weekday appointments. For those who do not have prescheduled daily childcare or family in the area, there really are not a ton of options. Friends are at work, you can't keep a nanny on 24/7 retainer just in case you get a positive OPK, and it really is just not realistic to find last minute weekday babysitters all the time.

I agree- children in the waiting room was a reminder that fertility treatments work!! Also I think that because of the nature of fertility treatments and the constant blood draws and ultrasounds - it would be very difficult to always have child care coverage.

+1

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Hi everyone, New poster here. Not sure if this forum is still active but Ive been seeing Dr. Abassi at Columbia Fertility for the past 3 years. Overall I feel ok with her work but her lack of bedside manner and inefficiency of her staff has been pushing me away for months. Having to deal with infertility is enough stress and driving almost 2 hours to visit a clinic you're not really satisfied with is not helping. I'm now strongly considering SGF at Rockville with Dr. Roth or O'Brien. Anyone have recommendations for this location or these doctors specifically? Thanks for your help.

Dr. O'Brien has been our RE for a very tough journey and we love her. She is not cold, but not exactly warm and fuzzy. She is however very knowledgeable and is open to listening to us as well. I don't know if they will let you schedule consults with both doctors so you can form your own opinions.

That's a good idea. I would love to get to know each of them before deciding. Thanks for the help! My current doc doesn't want to listen to us at all when we share a concern. It always feels like she's trying to push us out her office when we go to talk to her so knowing that Dr. O'Brien is a good listener is definitely a big deal for me.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Hi everyone, New poster here. Not sure if this forum is still active but Ive been seeing Dr. Abassi at Columbia Fertility for the past 3 years. Overall I feel ok with her work but her lack of bedside manner and inefficiency of her staff has been pushing me away for months. Having to deal with infertility is enough stress and driving almost 2 hours to visit a clinic you're not really satisfied with is not helping. I'm now strongly considering SGF at Rockville with Dr. Roth or O'Brien. Anyone have recommendations for this location or these doctors specifically? Thanks for your help.

Dr. O'Brien has been our RE for a very tough journey and we love her. She is not cold, but not exactly warm and fuzzy. She is however very knowledgeable and is open to listening to us as well. I don't know if they will let you schedule consults with both doctors so you can form your own opinions.

That's a good idea. I would love to get to know each of them before deciding. Thanks for the help! My current doc doesn't want to listen to us at all when we share a concern. It always feels like she's trying to push us out her office when we go to talk to her so knowing that Dr. O'Brien is a good listener is definitely a big deal for me.

Curious how you ended up between Dr. Roth and Dr. O’Brien since there are so many other REs to choose from the Rockville office. Is it because they are both female?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Hi everyone, New poster here. Not sure if this forum is still active but Ive been seeing Dr. Abassi at Columbia Fertility for the past 3 years. Overall I feel ok with her work but her lack of bedside manner and inefficiency of her staff has been pushing me away for months. Having to deal with infertility is enough stress and driving almost 2 hours to visit a clinic you're not really satisfied with is not helping. I'm now strongly considering SGF at Rockville with Dr. Roth or O'Brien. Anyone have recommendations for this location or these doctors specifically? Thanks for your help.

Dr. O'Brien has been our RE for a very tough journey and we love her. She is not cold, but not exactly warm and fuzzy. She is however very knowledgeable and is open to listening to us as well. I don't know if they will let you schedule consults with both doctors so you can form your own opinions.

That's a good idea. I would love to get to know each of them before deciding. Thanks for the help! My current doc doesn't want to listen to us at all when we share a concern. It always feels like she's trying to push us out her office when we go to talk to her so knowing that Dr. O'Brien is a good listener is definitely a big deal for me.

Curious how you ended up between Dr. Roth and Dr. O’Brien since there are so many other REs to choose from the Rockville office. Is it because they are both female?

Lol, yea basically. I've heard so many good things about the male doctors too but I feel more comfortable with a female doctor.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote: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

I'm a former patient of Dr. Chang's and did have him several times personally call us to see how things were going, to give us results, etc. It was anything but anonymous - I felt I got a lot of personalized attention and found all the staff I interacted with to be very kind.

I get that the waiting room experience might not be the greatest for some people, but it didn't bother me at all. Having gone through multiple fertility treatments with the whole emotional roller coaster, I have intense empathy for people going through the same thing. If it weren't weird to do so, I'd just want to give every woman in the room a hug. We all have fear of being judged for having to go to a fertility clinic, but the people in that waiting room are going through the same thing you are.