Dr Zhang-New Hope NY

[mngal]

Hi Ladies
Need your help here. Does anyone has experience or know anything about Dr Zhang's pool of "donor eggs" available in his clinic? I spoke with a RE from NY today about my intention of moving on to DE program outside US since I cant afford here. He suggested to check with Dr Zhang from New Hope, saying that he freezes donor eggs which I can "buy" from for a resonable price, maybe 3-5 eggs for $5000. This RE is not sure and hence didn't want to mis-quote.
Thanks for your time.

[Mom_2_One]

I looked into Dr. Z's clinic for a frozen cycle recently. The price during the sumemr was $10,000 (probably extra for the transfer, but they do bill insurance) for 4 vitrified eggs (special freezing technique). They guarentee that you will have two embryos to transfer (maybe blasts; can't remember) or they will give you two additional eggs. That seems okay, but they could not give me a straight answer about there success rates with frozen eggs. I think that the $5000 IVF price tag is for their mini (micro)-IVF, but that would be with your own eggs, or protocol used for a donor you bring to the clinic. You may want to call them to inquire. Let me know what you find out.

Look at Reproductive Biology Associates in Atlanta; Dr. Shapiro. For $16K they give you 8 eggs and will guarentee two embryos (maybe blasts) to transfer. They have a high success rate with vitrified eggs and recently published on their success; I think it's over 70%; probably higher. I know that this clinic has a completely anonymous donor pool (baby pics only, but Dr. S will describe the donor's physical characteristic as much as you would like him to).

I decided to go with a traditional cycle rather than a frozen; because I'm hoping my donor will make LOTS of good eggs and that I'll have embryos to freeze. I was not comfortable with the "2 embyo guarentee" that the frozen cycles offered. Good Luck!
-Victoria

[mngal]

This is exactly what Mari from New Hope told me too. I didnt ask about success rate, just ask if I can see photos of the donors. So far no reply yet.
On a quick glance, I don't think we can afford this bet neither, too expensive for a small amount of eggs.

[StayinPositive]

I have been trying to get in contact with NHF for the past 2wks... I have not heard a response yet! I have emailed and called, called a few times and left messages. My current RE says they are super busy, so it leaves me wondering if it takes THIS long to call me back, I wonder how it would be like if I was actually going through a cycle there ...

I have read mixed reviews regarding their practice ... but I am really interested about purchasing their vitrified eggs ... but getting a reply from them is difficult.

Anyone have some thoughts/experience???

[Mom_2_One]

Hello Stay in Positive,
I would not feel comfortable working with a clinic that does not return calls. As you have seen in my previous posts in this thread, I did consider New Hope and like you found myself very frustrated in waiting for returned calls.

For the same reasons that I stated before, I would HIGHLY recommend that any one interested in a vitrified IVF cycle call Dr. Shapiro in Atlanta. Take it from a scientist, his embryologist is the real deal. They have published several papers on the subject of pregnancies resulting from vitrification. Here is a link to the abstract of a very important paper they published just a few months ago. If you would like to see the entire paper, please send me PM and I'll send you the full publication.
Clinical evaluation of the efficiency of an oocyte...[Fertil Steril. 2009] - PubMed Result

Finally, if you call Dr. S's office and tell them that you're concerned about money, he may waive or reduce the consultation fee for the phone consult. I spoke with them (Dr. S and his assistant) back in August and they were responsive, professional, confident, and very eager to work with me; just the opposite of what I found at New Hope.

Ultimately my husband and I decided to do a fresh cycle with Dr. Lin at Reproductive Fertility Center in Irvine CA because Dr. Lin's stats for DE are exceptionally high (over 80% live births for the last few years). Also, we won't need to travel out of our state. If we had decided to use vitrified eggs, Dr. S is the only one who I'd want to work with. You can also check out the Frozen Egg Bank and Dr. Jain at Santa Monica Fertility Center. Dr. Jain stated the egg bank, but I'm not too sure about how many vitrified eggs they actually have banked. I do know that he is willing to do shared IVF cycles. (i.e. he approves a donor and they will give you 8 of the eggs, then they will freeze the remainder for their bank). They are also responsive and very flexible in terms of negotiating the price of a DE-cycle. I know a lot about these clinics because I've spoken with both Dr.s Jain and Shapiro and their people. I spent a good 6 weeks researching their work. Honestly, I would not even think about New Hope. The service there does not seem to be as good as it needs to be and offering 4 eggs for $10,000 is not really a "deal". Good luck and let me know how things are progressing.

[StayinPositive]

hey mom2one.
THANKS for the info!!! It's funny because NHF actually returned my call today. I asked about the vitrified eggs - its 6 for $10K with a guarantee of 2 embryos to transfer ... but like you said (and I agree) they seem to be lacking in compassion and seems to hurry you off the phone, didn't ask if I had any questions or concerns ... I will definitely take Dr. Shapiro & Jain into consideration!!! Thank u so much for the info!!!

[Mom_2_One]

Hi,
NH made some changes. They increased the number of eggs. In the summer they actaually told me that they were planning to increase their prices. I'm glad they didn't do that (and also increased the egg number). It might not be a bad idea to have a consult with Dr. Z. given this new info, it might be worthwhile finding out more about NH. Also, see if you can get a "clear" answer about the success rate at NH. When I inquired several months ago they told me that they normally do single embryo transfers and so their stats were not directly comparable to most other clinics and they were working on a way to best represent their data (i.e. They never actaully told me what their success rates are using vitrified eggs; or otherwise. Ask for both clinical pg and live birth rates). If you do talk directly with Dr. Z, you may want to let him know that you're concerned because the commuincation with the staff seems sluggish at best and you're concerned about how that might affect your cycle should you choose to work with them.

Good to hear you might be looking to Dr. S an Dr. J. It definitely helps to have choices and options. Dr. S has reasonable success rate; I think it's just over 70%. He's got a nice selection of eggs already banked. He will guarentee two embryos to transfer and normally fertilizes 8 eggs. Their price was $16K, but that included all of your monitoring and the transfer too. I don't recall what Dr. J's success rate is, but he does offer the shared cycle which may turn out to be quite economical. Also, if you look on their site, you'll see that they also offer a pregnancy guarantee package which is kind of nice, but I don't know if that could be combined with a shared cycle. I was able to speak with Dr J without paying a consultation fee, so, I do think it's worth calling him. http://www.donoreggbankinc.com/fees-frozen.html
All the best,
Victoria

[StayinPositive]

I got an email from NHFC and its $10K for 6 eggs with guarantee 1 embryo to transfer (not 2 as they told me over the phone) - NO guarantee of pregnancy ... extra fees apply such as embryo transfer, ICSI, etc ...

Different info from different people ....

[Mom_2_One]

Hi,
Choosing the right donor situation and clinic can be tough and agonizing work. I think that using vitrified eggs is less expensive than doing a traditional fresh cycle; so, it's definitely worth considering frozen since for most of us, money is an issue.

What I would do going forward is to get statistics quoted from all three of the clinincs we discussed before, NH, Santa Monica and Atlanta. Try to go with the one with the best stats if you can work it into your budget. I had to ask myself if saving $2K to work with a clinic that has lower stats is really worth it. Once you know Stats, then decide on price. NH seems inexpensive, but if you consider that you may have to pay for transfer, ICIS is used to fertilize vitrified eggs, and also monitoring costs, it may or may not be less expensive than going with Atlanta that charges 16,000K with a guarantee of two to transfer. However, their price is ALL inclusive of your expenses. Obviously paying for passage out of state has to be factored in.

If you want to go with NH, I would:
Get them to provide you with their STATS to date for their frozen cycles. I would also tell them that there is NO WAY on God's green Earth that you'd work with them if they can't promise in writing two embryos/blasts to transfer. The two other clinics I've mentioned DO OFFER two embryos to transfer. You can find that info on their websites and us that to negotiate with NH. However, if NH's stats are bad or they can not tell you what they are, I would not even consider working with them. The only clinic of the three that offers the pregnancy guaruntee is the Donor egg bank/San Monica. They may only offer the pregnancy assurance package under certain circumstances. Check their website. Neither NH or Atlanta offered me a pregnancy assurance.
Good luck with your decision. It's a very hard one to make. But definitely try to choose the place that has had the best success.
-Victoria