Columbia, Dominion or Shady Grove

[Anonymous]

I’ve consulted at all of them and liked Dominion but I would need to change my insurance to a PPO which is about $200 more a month. I’m willing to pay that for a positive experience but when I called Dominion they said only one office accepts Carefirst PPO?

[Anonymous]

Went to dominion, although our Carefirst doesn’t pay for IVF, they did pay for early pregnancy test and ultrasound at dominion after our successful cycle. They just charged half of the 400 to me and submitted the rest to Carefirst. They did this several times and my DH checked the explanation of benefit from Carefirst then wrote them a long email say they overcharged us. They did send the money back but it should not have happened.

Otherwise a great experience. We were secondary infertility took three natural cycles.

[Anonymous]

Which doctor at Dominion do you recommend?

[Anonymous]

Went with Dominion for embryo freezing and using them for GC cycle. I would recommend them. It's a little bit of a whacky place, which you think you definitely wouldn't want in a clinic, but I think the skill level is high and it's WAY more human than Shady Grove (first hand experience). Worked with Dr. Waud and Dr. DiMattina, who is a little off sometimes but he's fine. You definitely don't feel like a number.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Which doctor at Dominion do you recommend?

DiMattina probably be your best shot. I stared with Gordon but he left the practice. Never worked with the other two women doctors except monitoring rotation.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Which doctor at Dominion do you recommend?

DiMattina probably be your best shot. I stared with Gordon but he left the practice. Never worked with the other two women doctors except monitoring rotation.

I worked with Gordon for my first child. I picked to work with Dr. Sarajari as we try for kid #2; she seems fine, but definitely a very different dynamic than with Dr. Gordon. My colleague recommends Dr. Waud.

[Anonymous]

I went to SG Columbia last year for IVF and had an excellent experience. Front desk staff were nice. I had Casey (RN) and Dr. Osherhoff . Definitely going back to them for baby #2

[Anonymous]

I'm in a bad place mentally post two failed cycles at SGF, and I SO wish I knew two years ago what I know now. I just found this site as well as FB support groups and it has been eye opening and comforting to know I'm not alone. First SGF has gone downhill with customer service on every level. I liked my doc at fist but when things didn't go well she turned into an ice princess. I had to change nurses twice because the first one left and the second was clueless, there's a new person at the front desk every week, and the billing department is unreachable. SGF made leaving just a difficult by not releasing records for 45 days!!
It took a lot to call Dominion, and I did get put on hold for a bit.....but despite the hold I got to talk to an actual HUMAN as a first time caller. She was so nice and actually took time to answer my questions.

[Anonymous]

Has anyone seen Dr. Sacks?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I'm in a bad place mentally post two failed cycles at SGF, and I SO wish I knew two years ago what I know now. I just found this site as well as FB support groups and it has been eye opening and comforting to know I'm not alone. First SGF has gone downhill with customer service on every level. I liked my doc at fist but when things didn't go well she turned into an ice princess. I had to change nurses twice because the first one left and the second was clueless, there's a new person at the front desk every week, and the billing department is unreachable. SGF made leaving just a difficult by not releasing records for 45 days!!
It took a lot to call Dominion, and I did get put on hold for a bit.....but despite the hold I got to talk to an actual HUMAN as a first time caller. She was so nice and actually took time to answer my questions.

I’m sorry your going through this. I’ve been there and I bet we had the same ice princess dr

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Has anyone seen Dr. Sacks?

I had a consultation with him and it went well! He was the first doctor to actually ask me how I feel. Very compassionate, which is just what I need during this difficult time. I also had a consult with Abassi and she has the opposite style. Straightforward, no hand holding there. But straight with the facts and seems knowledgeable. Depends on what you’re looking for.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Has anyone seen Dr. Sacks?

I had a consultation with him and it went well! He was the first doctor to actually ask me how I feel. Very compassionate, which is just what I need during this difficult time. I also had a consult with Abassi and she has the opposite style. Straightforward, no hand holding there. But straight with the facts and seems knowledgeable. Depends on what you’re looking for.

Dear PP or any readers who have been through Cokumbia, do you have any feedback on your experience with Columbia Fertility outside of the doctors themselves. I too had a consult and really appreciated the doctors approach, but I am noticing it is very difficult for me to get someone on the phone. The vibe I get is that the doctors are excellent but the admin and running of the office is lacking. I saw this theme in their Yelp reviews too and was hoping it was just a fluke but now I am seeing it myself firsthand.

Normally I would run but it is hard to find a good RE and I can deal with it if it means real help with infertility issues.

Please let me know if you have this experience and if you have any tips for navigating their less than ideal admin system. Thank you so much!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I'm in a bad place mentally post two failed cycles at SGF, and I SO wish I knew two years ago what I know now. I just found this site as well as FB support groups and it has been eye opening and comforting to know I'm not alone. First SGF has gone downhill with customer service on every level. I liked my doc at fist but when things didn't go well she turned into an ice princess. I had to change nurses twice because the first one left and the second was clueless, there's a new person at the front desk every week, and the billing department is unreachable. SGF made leaving just a difficult by not releasing records for 45 days!!
It took a lot to call Dominion, and I did get put on hold for a bit.....but despite the hold I got to talk to an actual HUMAN as a first time caller. She was so nice and actually took time to answer my questions.

I’m sorry your going through this. I’ve been there and I bet we had the same ice princess dr

To both PP’s, I am so sorry about your difficult experiences. I think I had ice princess too. It took me so much to move away too. I am wishing you both the very best! It is so hard to have a doctor who you do nothing feel like really has your back, and it is confusing to experience too making it that much harder to know what is going on and figuring out that the best way forward is with another practice. 🙏🏼

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Has anyone seen Dr. Sacks?

I had a consultation with him and it went well! He was the first doctor to actually ask me how I feel. Very compassionate, which is just what I need during this difficult time. I also had a consult with Abassi and she has the opposite style. Straightforward, no hand holding there. But straight with the facts and seems knowledgeable. Depends on what you’re looking for.

Dear PP or any readers who have been through Cokumbia, do you have any feedback on your experience with Columbia Fertility outside of the doctors themselves. I too had a consult and really appreciated the doctors approach, but I am noticing it is very difficult for me to get someone on the phone. The vibe I get is that the doctors are excellent but the admin and running of the office is lacking. I saw this theme in their Yelp reviews too and was hoping it was just a fluke but now I am seeing it myself firsthand.

Normally I would run but it is hard to find a good RE and I can deal with it if it means real help with infertility issues.

Please let me know if you have this experience and if you have any tips for navigating their less than ideal admin system. Thank you so much!


I have used CFA and saw Dr. Sacks. Regarding their admins and nurses, they are good people but busy. I had to do A LOT of self advocating. I had to watch every bill to make sure it was sent to insurance and applied correctly. I do not think that they were trying to scam me or had bad intentions in any way, just that they were disorganized. Sometimes to get the nurses I would have to email, leave a voicemail on the nurses line, and call the front desk. There were times I showed up for an appointment and they didn't realize I needed to be there, or the nurses, who knew me well and my case well, would have me come in before it was necessary. I feel like they need a really good office manager.

That said, I've read reviews at other places about staff being rude or just incompetent. I feel like CFA is just busy and disorganized. People were never rude to me and seemed well intentioned. You just have to be prepared to be pushy when needed to get the info that you need. Recently I've had consults with other REs and this seems to be a factor wherever I've gone.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Has anyone seen Dr. Sacks?

I had a consultation with him and it went well! He was the first doctor to actually ask me how I feel. Very compassionate, which is just what I need during this difficult time. I also had a consult with Abassi and she has the opposite style. Straightforward, no hand holding there. But straight with the facts and seems knowledgeable. Depends on what you’re looking for.

Dear PP or any readers who have been through Cokumbia, do you have any feedback on your experience with Columbia Fertility outside of the doctors themselves. I too had a consult and really appreciated the doctors approach, but I am noticing it is very difficult for me to get someone on the phone. The vibe I get is that the doctors are excellent but the admin and running of the office is lacking. I saw this theme in their Yelp reviews too and was hoping it was just a fluke but now I am seeing it myself firsthand.

Normally I would run but it is hard to find a good RE and I can deal with it if it means real help with infertility issues.

Please let me know if you have this experience and if you have any tips for navigating their less than ideal admin system. Thank you so much!

I've only been there twice for consultations so I can't speak to what it is truly like. Based on my experience, it has been easy to far to get an appointment on the phone. I just call again if nobody picks up. I also got the vibe that they are busy and the office team is always running around. I like how their lab is in house, so I can get my bloodwork done right then and there (previous RE didn't and I had to go to LabCorp after appointments). I would keep a close eye on insurance/bills and things of that sort, just based on reading reviews. Worst part for me so far is paying for parking. Just another cost I didn't have to think about before.