Just getting started, tell me how you choose a doctor

[Anonymous]

On a slightly off-topic note--I had no idea about shared risk programs when I started out. Wish I'd known about that from the beginning, so you may want to look for more info on those.

[Anonymous]

What is a shared risk program?

[Anonymous]

Personally, my husband and I are both grateful to the entire Shady Grove team at the DC & Rockville offices, from our doctor (Dr. Eric Widra) who is phenomenal to the nurses and lab techs and finance team. They are committed, professional, well-trained, and experienced.

This is our story. We went through one cycle of IVF, had our child, and then I got pregnant naturally 7 months later. This was an unbelievable first for me after trying for so many years naturally. What I remember about our first consult w/Dr. Widra is he was very knowledgeable about our history (my issues b/c husband had none) and told us in a matter-of-fact way that b/c of age (42 at the time), my chance of getting pregnant using my own eggs would be about 25 - 30%. He never encouraged us to use donor eggs which we didn't. He just gave us the stats for our age group. Well, I appreciated his honesty. Something I remember was that when he was doing the embryo transfer, he talked to us the entire time, made us feel comfortable, and then told us to keep in mind that medicine is not the "giver of life". After he finished and it was time to go, I asked Dr. Widra what he meant, and he asked my husband and me if we believe in prayer. I was touched by that. I realized at that moment that as confident as he was, he was still humble.

Yes, my husband and I are Christians, and we prayed for our family to be blessed with a child. I don't know if Dr. Widra will ever know how phenomenal he is. Our insurance paid a part, and we paid the rest, and both of us feel Shady Grove deserved every dime.

Give SG, and especially Dr. Widra, a try. Good luck!

[Anonymous]

For a less hectic SG experience, I suggest trying the Sibley location. It's easy to get to by car from NW early in the morning and not crazy busy. Plus, its decor is actually modern and tasteful.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I'm 13:10 from above, thanks for all your replies. I'm not the OP, but I am just starting my IVF research. I've been doing IUIs at CFA and I like them, but want to look into other places before I commit to IVF with them. Also good to know that Shady Grove's IVF lab is in Rockville, because that takes them out of the running for me. No way would I want to fight traffic up there for retrieval and transfer! I'd much rather have that done closer to my downtown home.

Right now I think I'm deciding between CFA (Sacks) and GWU...

When you go for retrieval, you're going with someone else to drive you home and likely
taking the day off anyway. I've driven to Rockville several times from Cleveland Park and it is really not a hassle.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:For a less hectic SG experience, I suggest trying the Sibley location. It's easy to get to by car from NW early in the morning and not crazy busy. Plus, its decor is actually modern and tasteful.

Second this- Sibley is great. And they don't have u/s techs so the RE does the u/s which I liked.