Cornell v. Shady Grove?

[Anonymous]

I am ready to start an IVF process and plan to do PGD. We only have a limited amount of funds, and I'm willing to go to NY to the Center for Reproductive Medicine and Infertility (CRMI) in Manhattan (what people refer to as Cornell).

According to the CDC website, rates for live birth only differ by 4% - Cornell is slightly better. Is it worth it? I had a friend at Cornell who asked her dr. for a rec here, and it was Shady Grove, but . . . are there any other experiences? So far, SG can't find anything "wrong" with my husband or myself despite 4 miscarriages, so I don't know whether it's a numbers game or whether a better clinic might be able to figure out the issue.

[Anonymous]

we've had 3 failed ivfs with shady grove. other than severe endo for me, thay have not found anything wrong with me or my husband. they have no idea why we've had 3 failed ivfs. for our last try, we're thinking of going with cornell.

[Anonymous]

First, did you compare SG and Cornell's stats based on your diagnosis (presumable unexplained) and age group? That might give you a better idea of your chances statistically.

Second, I'm not sure whether the PGD offered by Cornell would be very helpful - it has been a few months, but my understanding is that they are not doing the more advanced techniques (microarray or CGH) that look at all chromosomes, which is really necessary to increase live birth rates. If you want to go to NYC for that, I would look at SIRM in NYC. I believe they use the same lab in NJ as CCRM for genetic testing (although different protocols). I also believe that SIRM will deal with immune issues, and Cornell, SG and CCRM won't.

One thing Cornell could offer you, assuming you have primary infertility, is their co-culture procedure - for some women, that seems to do the trick to resolving multiple miscarriages. (In my case, I had secondary IF, so my RE didn't think co-culture would help.)

[Anonymous]

OP here -- thanks for the advice. Do tell me -- what is co-culture? I don't know what that is.

[Anonymous]

I was told by Shady Grove after 2 failed cyles that I would never get pregnant with my own eggs. I went to Cornell, saw Dr. Owen Davis and had a successful cycle with my eggs. I do believe that Cornell is more used to dealing with the more difficult cases and if this is going to be your last cycle, I wouldn't even hesitate in going up there over Shady Grove. I did do the co-culture where they do an endometrial biopsy (which wasn't bad at all), culture the cells and grow your embryos in there instead of the conventional growth media.

[Anonymous]

Totally agree with poster 20:53. I had 4 (!) failed cycles at Shady Grove and and was told I should do DE. I moved on to Cornell and got PG on my first cycle there. I've gone on to have 3 children thanks to Cornell.

Their rates might not be much higher but lots of their patients travel and have not had success at other locations. They are great at getting tough cases PG. Cornell is the best.

[Anonymous]

Totally agree with poster 20:53. I had 4 (!) failed cycles at Shady Grove and and was told I should do DE. I moved on to Cornell and got PG on my first cycle there. I've gone on to have 3 children thanks to Cornell.

Thanks for sharing this information -- it's very useful. I have had one canceled IVF and one failed IVF at Shady Grove, and am considering going to DE. I did not consider Cornell because their success rate for women in my age group (I am 42) are not much better than Shady Grove. But your entry (and the entries of others in this chain) is making me reconsider. Do you mind if I ask the age you were when you did your IVFs at Cornell?

Thanks-
JB

[Anonymous]

I was 35 when I cycled at Cornell but met women there who were older than I was. I still would encourage you to at least go up there for a consultation unless you have for sure decided to go with DE. There is really a world of difference between Cornell and Shady Grove.

[Anonymous]

OP- I would also check out the New York boards on IVFConnections.com - there a lots of women cycling at Cornell, many from out of state or as a last resort, and it is a really good source of information.

[Anonymous]

Shady Grove doesn't have a clue when dealing with m/c, and after 4 failed cycles (1 chem preg and one 9 wk loss) with them I moved to a smaller clinic in our area. SG didn't even want to investigate the reason for my failures and just said it was due to old eggs.

[Anonymous]

OP here to the PP -- would you mind sharing what smaller clinic you're currently going to, and if you feel like they're more determined to find the cause or had success?

[Anonymous]

I am about to start an IVF cycle with Shady Grove after having three miscarriages. My GYN didn't do any testing after the three miscarriages and sent me straight to an RE. Shady Grove has put me through comprehensive testing before I could start cycling. Another clinic in the area recomended I go straight to IVF with no testing after the losses. SG did find that I have a clotting issue that I am being treated for. I don't have my BFP yet but I feel much better informed prior to starting my cycle, even though I hated to wait.

[Anonymous]

I had three cycles at SG. I loved my doctor, and I thought that they made everything (monitoring, appts, ER, ET) pretty easy. They were very organized, and it was easy to get in touch with your nurse coordinator. We were successful on my 3rd IVF (against the odds -- with pretty bad quality embryos). Of course, I'm very pleased that we had success with them. HOWEVER, I did feel that they didn't spend enough time trying to figure out what was specifically causing us problems, and jumped to "bad eggs", even though my tests all came back good. DH and I are now considering trying for another child, and it is my gut that I want to go to Cornell. He would rather stay local b/c it's easier. But I think that our success with SG was a bit of luck, and I personally think that we should just go to Cornell because I think that there is more of a chance that they could get me pg on try #1 as opposed to try #3 (if at all) with SG. The protocols that we used for DC#1 didn't work very well, but that's what SG plans to do again (I did a consult with them). I think that anyone with low resources should go straight to the best clinic that they can find. If you only have enough $$ for one shot... make it count!

As for the statistics, I would say: Cornell takes the toughest cases, and manages to get a lot of them pg. They don't turn away cases, so their stats reflect that. Some clinics have great statistics, but that's *sometimes* because they push the tough cases to use donor eggs or go elsewhere.

[Anonymous]

OP, is there a reason why you're not considering other local clinics? When I first researched where I was going to go, I got really into success rates but after some more careful research and speaking with my OB, I came to believe that the success rates, while important, do not show the whole picture of how sucessful YOUR treatment might be. Some clinics agree to take hard cases that others won't and still manage to have very good statistics. In the end, I chose to go to the Muasher Center and I had a very positive experience there (meaning, after 2 rounds I delivered a healthy baby--but also, more detailed diagnosis than I got from an SG consult). More hands-on than SG, the dr is better at difficult cases. If not Muasher, please consider other clinics here in the area, such as Genetics & IVF Institute.

[Anonymous]

Could you qualify for shared risk? If you can and if you can afford it (and if you think you are up for multiple rounds), you could try first at Shady Grove and if that doesn't work you could get your money back and go to Cornell. That is what we are planning to do if our 3rd IVF doesn;t work. That way Cornell will be able to see what worked/didn't work before and hopefully that will help them pick a good protocol if we do one cycle there. whatever you decide, good luck!!!!