I have one child via Dr. Abbasi, and have been a patient now for some time TTCA. The office isn't perfect- but I do appreciate the personalized attention and email accessibility of the RE. She's attentive and forthright, as well as willing to discuss alternatives.

I agree that their billing leaves a lot to be desired- but I threw a fit and met with their Finance Director which resulted in a more positive relationship and greater understanding of how the somewhat dismissive communication style of their billing people have on patients.

That's too bad that nurse Crystal is no longer with CFA. She was terrific, but I never got along well with Sharon and despised the front desk staff in Bethesda.

No experience with Tavia in Arlington, but I absolutely loved Andie, who did all my blood draws, and Sabrina, who works the front desk.

I'm with dr sarhan at CFA and have no complaints. Love the office and love the doctor. I have had one pregnancy that ended in miscarriage within 4 cycles with her.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Oh dear. I was recently referred to CFA (Dr Sacks) by my OB/GYN. I haven't had my consultation yet - so I'm still at the starting line - and now getting worried about going down this path with CFA.

I also have a consult at SG with Dr Nair that I haven't cancelled yet. So I could go either way at this point.

Should I be steering clear of CFA?

I would still have your consult with Dr. Sacks. I really liked him and didn't have any problems with the nurses or billing. Most importantly, I have two kids thanks to Dr. Sacks!

I also had a great experience with Dr. Sacks and the staff in the Arlington office. After several attempts at TI and/or IUI, I am now 7 months pregnant from my first IVF with CFA and Dr. Sacks (and have a few frozen embryos).

Thanks for these replies. Helpful to hear this!

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Oh dear. I was recently referred to CFA (Dr Sacks) by my OB/GYN. I haven't had my consultation yet - so I'm still at the starting line - and now getting worried about going down this path with CFA.

I also have a consult at SG with Dr Nair that I haven't cancelled yet. So I could go either way at this point.

Should I be steering clear of CFA?

I would still have your consult with Dr. Sacks. I really liked him and didn't have any problems with the nurses or billing. Most importantly, I have two kids thanks to Dr. Sacks!

I also had a great experience with Dr. Sacks and the staff in the Arlington office. After several attempts at TI and/or IUI, I am now 7 months pregnant from my first IVF with CFA and Dr. Sacks (and have a few frozen embryos).

Anonymous wrote:Oh dear. I was recently referred to CFA (Dr Sacks) by my OB/GYN. I haven't had my consultation yet - so I'm still at the starting line - and now getting worried about going down this path with CFA.

I also have a consult at SG with Dr Nair that I haven't cancelled yet. So I could go either way at this point.

Should I be steering clear of CFA?

I would still have your consult with Dr. Sacks. I really liked him and didn't have any problems with the nurses or billing. Most importantly, I have two kids thanks to Dr. Sacks!

We started off at SG, but didn't like the factory feel so we switched to CFA which was better at first then they dropped the ball on us. Lots of communication issues with both places so we moved to DF and so far I received more information on the first phone call with them than from the other two combined. We have our initial consult next week and as soon as I made the appointment I got an email from the nurse I spoke with recapping our discussion with instructions to get certain test results emailed to her for the first appointment.

Oh dear. I was recently referred to CFA (Dr Sacks) by my OB/GYN. I haven't had my consultation yet - so I'm still at the starting line - and now getting worried about going down this path with CFA.

I also have a consult at SG with Dr Nair that I haven't cancelled yet. So I could go either way at this point.

Should I be steering clear of CFA?

Thanks for your feedback. CFA dropped the ball on another item this week that should have been simple, so I'm done. Trying SG and hoping for the best.

I just started at CFA but I love everyone there. Never had a problem. They remember me and call me when needed. I'm almost done with all the battery of tests so I guess time will tell but so far very happy there

CFA seemed great at the beginning but they continuously dropped the ball on so many things and there were continuous communication issues - phone calls didn't get returned, test results not done correctly, emails not received, etc. There was always an excuse but the problems never got fixed. This is a super stressful process and they made it more stressful. I would recommend going elsewhere.

I'm at GW - but the nursing staff has changed since our first round. The old ones were better. i feel like all of these groups need a master check list. There shouldn't be so many surprises..I mean, we had one at the beginning (almost making us miss our window), at the medication stage and again with some payment issues. All because we just weren't informed. And, like all of us, I'm invested, so I'm asking a ton of questions. annoying. but i do love the docs at GW and the billing and front desk folks are great. Most of the nurses have the compassion element down pat, but surprises = stress an in this game, we all have plenty of that.

I am with CFA and while I like my dr, and crystal was really nice, everything involving the nurses, admin, etc., has been extremely disorganized. If I hadn't done IVF elsewhere before I came there I would have been completely lost and not known what to do. It's a shame because I think the drs are good, and most of the staff's intentions are good, but they do not run a tight ship at all, have basic process management problems.

I think you should try someplace else, there are a lot of options in the area, you should take advantage of that.

I went from CFA to GW back to CFA. I actually preferred CFA because it was more personalized and I really felt my doctor (Abbasi) cared. I also liked. Crystal and Sharon. If you are not happy at CFA...go elsewhere...too important/expensive to stay if you are not happy. Good luck!!!

So...Crystal is no longer with CFA and she was the only silver lining in that cloud for me. I'm feeling like there's no real reason to stay there now. Every time I need information from the office it is a battle. I find nurse Sharon to be antagonistic and Dr. Abbasi never seems to know what's going on with my file. I missed my opportunity to do anything this cycle because I was told I didn't need an appointment by any certain date and yet when I went in for my appointment they said I had missed my window by a day. I don't think it should be this difficult to get information from a doctor's office and I don't think it's asking too much for the doctor to be up to speed on my file before a consult with me. Am I wrong here? It's gotten to the point where no one returns my call when I leave messages and so I purposely call after hours so I can have the on-call doctor call me back so that I can talk to a human. I'm so sick of banging my head against this wall.

For those of you who have switched to GW (or elsewhere), which RE do you use? How difficult was it to switch? Did you have trouble getting your files from CFA? Did you have to repeat any tests with the new practice? I'm so sick of leaving that office in tears but I'm worried about losing ground. Thank you for any input.