Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I've done mini IVF. I did it in 2012 as part of a clinical trial studying the efficacy of mini vs. traditional (with New Hope in NYC -- allegedly they pioneered mini IVF). It worked for me and most of the people I was in contact with who were also in the trial. My DS was born in 2013.

I actually went to Dr. Widra thereafter for several rounds of traditional IVF, and while I do like the guy, he is really not the right person for mini IVF. I was on max stims for 3 cycles as part of Shared Risk and once it looked like the protocol wasn't going to be changing much, I switched clinics and found myself back in NYC, this time at Cornell. The cycles I did there (4 of them, I think?) were somewhere in between mini and traditional. I was on drastically reduced stims and the protocol was altogether pretty similar to New Hope's. I would recommend either NYC clinic. It sounds like a bigger pain than it is (cycling out of state). You can do a lot of your monitoring locally, or take the 4am train up, which is what I got used to doing!

How do you do a lot of your monitoring locally? I have cycled at Cornell and was told that I need to come up after the baseline or maybe the second monitoring. Also, where do you monitor locally on weekends?

Cornell didn't LOVE having me monitor locally but they didn't forbid it. The difference is that at Cornell there are doctors performing all the ultrasounds, and they also don't want to deal with having to wait for results to be faxed or emailed in from the local clinic. In their defense, SG was late with results on more than one occasion, leaving me to have to be the middleman between both offices, calling and seeing if things were sent, etc. Cornell does require that after your lead follicle reaches a certain point (I apologize for not recalling what this is but I was to say 12mm?) you come in and stay through retrieval. You just need to be straightforward with your nurse about your capabilities. I monitored at Shady Grove and did so over the weekends as well. Zero issues with SG. On the cycle I was paying out of pocket, this did cost roughly $300 which was a pain because I technically had already paid for the full cycle at Cornell, which included monitoring. So after I paid that first $300, I was like, hell no, and that's when I decided I would take the Amtrak up and back (up on the 4am, back on the 11:30 -- it was crazy I admit! But I could even get to work for the 2nd half). Once I had insurance, I stayed local until the nurses told me I needed to come up.

Anonymous wrote:I've done mini IVF. I did it in 2012 as part of a clinical trial studying the efficacy of mini vs. traditional (with New Hope in NYC -- allegedly they pioneered mini IVF). It worked for me and most of the people I was in contact with who were also in the trial. My DS was born in 2013.

I actually went to Dr. Widra thereafter for several rounds of traditional IVF, and while I do like the guy, he is really not the right person for mini IVF. I was on max stims for 3 cycles as part of Shared Risk and once it looked like the protocol wasn't going to be changing much, I switched clinics and found myself back in NYC, this time at Cornell. The cycles I did there (4 of them, I think?) were somewhere in between mini and traditional. I was on drastically reduced stims and the protocol was altogether pretty similar to New Hope's. I would recommend either NYC clinic. It sounds like a bigger pain than it is (cycling out of state). You can do a lot of your monitoring locally, or take the 4am train up, which is what I got used to doing!

How do you do a lot of your monitoring locally? I have cycled at Cornell and was told that I need to come up after the baseline or maybe the second monitoring. Also, where do you monitor locally on weekends?

Absolutely! A lot of the people I was in the trial with got less than 6. If I recall I had more than most (and I was much younger then), but ended up with one embryo which took. Most of the others I was in contact with had fewer eggs with more success, which speaks to the quality of quantity thing.

Also, if you are only getting a few on max stims you may find you get more on low stims. And even if you get the same amount, they should be of higher quality.

I admit that the whole thing is very confusing.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:i think dominion does natural cycle ivf. is that the same? also, what counts as mini?

First PP here. No, natural cycle is different. In mini, you are still aiming for a few eggs, but the focus is on quality rather than quantity (and still I have gotten as many as 25 eggs on a mini-ish protocol). Normally, around 6 eggs is a good goal for a true mini cycle.

gee, 6 sounds like a lot! i get 3 eggs on max stims. is mini an option for me?

Ginger78 wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I've done mini IVF. I did it in 2012 as part of a clinical trial studying the efficacy of mini vs. traditional (with New Hope in NYC -- allegedly they pioneered mini IVF). It worked for me and most of the people I was in contact with who were also in the trial. My DS was born in 2013.

I actually went to Dr. Widra thereafter for several rounds of traditional IVF, and while I do like the guy, he is really not the right person for mini IVF. I was on max stims for 3 cycles as part of Shared Risk and once it looked like the protocol wasn't going to be changing much, I switched clinics and found myself back in NYC, this time at Cornell. The cycles I did there (4 of them, I think?) were somewhere in between mini and traditional. I was on drastically reduced stims and the protocol was altogether pretty similar to New Hope's. I would recommend either NYC clinic. It sounds like a bigger pain than it is (cycling out of state). You can do a lot of your monitoring locally, or take the 4am train up, which is what I got used to doing!

That is super helpful, thanks. Yes, the thought of going up there constantly was the big obstacle in my head.

It really isn't so bad but that depends on the flexibility of your work. My boss at the time was made aware of everything going on -- I had been working for her for many years so we had developed a good relationship and proven myself -- so I was able to leave on short notice for monitoring or retrieval and just work from an AirBnB or whatever. So I was lucky in that regard. And it also isn't cheap. For all but one NYC cycle, I had insurance covering, so it took the bite out of the few hundred dollars for the hotel or AirBnB and the train rides. Once insurance kicked in, I did more monitoring at Shady Grove.

Anonymous wrote:i think dominion does natural cycle ivf. is that the same? also, what counts as mini?

First PP here. No, natural cycle is different. In mini, you are still aiming for a few eggs, but the focus is on quality rather than quantity (and still I have gotten as many as 25 eggs on a mini-ish protocol). Normally, around 6 eggs is a good goal for a true mini cycle.

Cornell would be best. They don't call it a mini, but its the same general idea. I did one at Dominion with Dr. Sarajari after many higher stim rounds - it wasn't successful, but had the best results of any of the rounds in terms of # of blasts.

I like Widra at SG, but agree he wouldn't be the person to see for a mini.

I wouldn't try to do mini IVF at Shady Grove, if they'll even let you they're not experts at it.

The three main ones I hear about are Life (CA you can get a package of 3 for like 15k), New Hope (NYC) and Hanabusa (CA). I haven't done mini though I wish I had looked into it more while I was still doing IVF. One of my cycles was lower stim (75 Menopur/5 days of Clomid/150 Gonal) similar to the Cornell protocol and I did that at CCRM Nova but it was my worst cycle.

I had a successful one at GW

I did one round of mini-IVF at Shady Grove with Dr. Greenhouse after max stims didn't produce more than one egg in a previous cycle. I ended up with a lead follicle and the cycle was turned into an IUI, which ended up being not successful.

Anonymous wrote:I've done mini IVF. I did it in 2012 as part of a clinical trial studying the efficacy of mini vs. traditional (with New Hope in NYC -- allegedly they pioneered mini IVF). It worked for me and most of the people I was in contact with who were also in the trial. My DS was born in 2013.

I actually went to Dr. Widra thereafter for several rounds of traditional IVF, and while I do like the guy, he is really not the right person for mini IVF. I was on max stims for 3 cycles as part of Shared Risk and once it looked like the protocol wasn't going to be changing much, I switched clinics and found myself back in NYC, this time at Cornell. The cycles I did there (4 of them, I think?) were somewhere in between mini and traditional. I was on drastically reduced stims and the protocol was altogether pretty similar to New Hope's. I would recommend either NYC clinic. It sounds like a bigger pain than it is (cycling out of state). You can do a lot of your monitoring locally, or take the 4am train up, which is what I got used to doing!

That is super helpful, thanks. Yes, the thought of going up there constantly was the big obstacle in my head.

i think dominion does natural cycle ivf. is that the same? also, what counts as mini?

I've done mini IVF. I did it in 2012 as part of a clinical trial studying the efficacy of mini vs. traditional (with New Hope in NYC -- allegedly they pioneered mini IVF). It worked for me and most of the people I was in contact with who were also in the trial. My DS was born in 2013.

I actually went to Dr. Widra thereafter for several rounds of traditional IVF, and while I do like the guy, he is really not the right person for mini IVF. I was on max stims for 3 cycles as part of Shared Risk and once it looked like the protocol wasn't going to be changing much, I switched clinics and found myself back in NYC, this time at Cornell. The cycles I did there (4 of them, I think?) were somewhere in between mini and traditional. I was on drastically reduced stims and the protocol was altogether pretty similar to New Hope's. I would recommend either NYC clinic. It sounds like a bigger pain than it is (cycling out of state). You can do a lot of your monitoring locally, or take the 4am train up, which is what I got used to doing!

Has anyone done mini-IVF in the area? What clinic and doctor?

Already had some unsuccessful full IVF cycles out of state, would like to try mini-IVF as last-ditch for cost and b/c I'm 40.

Met with Dr. Widra at Shady Grove a few months ago, before I had learned about mini-IVF, and he seems abrupt, but I've also read that he's not that supportive of mini/natural IVF.

Thanks in advance for any help!

Summer