https://boards.hellobee.com/ Pregnancy, Baby and Parenting blog, by Hellobee en Tue, 12 May 2026 23:24:13 +0000 https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/choosing-a-re#post-317320 Sun, 30 Sep 2012 08:54:42 +0000 Bmarch 317320@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>@mrs bird: My husband and I ended up having to go to two clinics due to the fact that we moved across country while still trying to conceive. The first practice we went to we had a female RE who was really lovely and I chose her because of reputation and much like you I was at that point more comfortable with a female dr. I quickly learned that although we saw her 75% of the time, we also ended up seeing her colleagues as well who were male dr's. We were given great care by everyone we saw at her practice and I quickly got over the fact that I was seeing a male dr, all we cared about was the fact that we were successful in our pursuit. Fast forward to a move across country, another clinic with all male RE's with the best results in the Philadelphia area. We were pregnant within 5 cycles and are expecting in January! In the end, it's the result that matters and you will get over the initial reservations about your doctor quickly. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/choosing-a-re#post-316711 Sat, 29 Sep 2012 09:52:13 +0000 cheert16 316711@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>@mrs. bird: I was nervous when the RE my Dr sent me to was a man (i am also in MA) But after the initial meeting and realizing that he was actually awesome, I had no problem with him. Also my husband acutally felt more comfortable with him (when he had to have some testing done) so overall it worked out great for us! I was acutally very sad when he released me to the OB/GYN. I just wanted to have him for all my care while pregnant! </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/choosing-a-re#post-315997 Fri, 28 Sep 2012 16:11:06 +0000 blackbird 315997@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>Very much so. </p> <p>You do get over the fact he's a man pretty quickly. Promise! </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/choosing-a-re#post-315926 Fri, 28 Sep 2012 15:33:50 +0000 mrs. bird 315926@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>@blackbird: I do. He works with my mother. She was talking to her boss about me the other day and I guess they both feel like he is the person I need to go see, lol. Knowing people can come in handy sometimes I guess. There is also the fact that sometimes people are willing to go just that little bit further for people they have some connection to. And you can usually jump the line for an initial appointment. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/choosing-a-re#post-315886 Fri, 28 Sep 2012 15:18:43 +0000 blackbird 315886@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>you know people who know this guy? That would be the selling point for me if they had great things to say about him </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/choosing-a-re#post-315603 Fri, 28 Sep 2012 12:46:44 +0000 spaniellove 315603@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>@mrs. bird: I am going to guess that none of that seems to say a whole lot about their clinical skills, though it speaks to their abilities in academic medicine. If it's possible, you might want to learn more about their clinical practices, especially since it sounds like they're both so busy that they can't be in their practice 100% of the time. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/choosing-a-re#post-315579 Fri, 28 Sep 2012 12:38:18 +0000 mrs. bird 315579@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>@spaniellove: you're absolutely right that reputation isn't everything! i say he's good because he has been named chief of obgyn at a hospital &amp; i know people that work with him (in a professional sense, not as patients) and they have said he 'is a brilliant doctor'. he also knows my mom, for better or worse, and she was going to talk to him about where he suggest i go. the woman i am calling amazing because she was voted to be in the top 1% of reproductive endocrinologist in the nation by US news (i posted the link above for rachel) and she is the chair of obgyn at a larger hospital, and she is a well respected professor at UMASS medical school. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/choosing-a-re#post-315134 Fri, 28 Sep 2012 09:47:18 +0000 Mrs Green Grass 315134@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>The insurance part is really stressful during the process. If the guy is good and it's simpler and cheaper, I'd go with him. But, can you meet him first? Personality is huge! My Re was a man and I loved him...he was so attentive and caring.</p> <p>Also, since women are in more demand, sometimes it can be easier to get appts with men (at least in OB). I would think RE would make less of a difference. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/choosing-a-re#post-315125 Fri, 28 Sep 2012 09:43:01 +0000 sweetooth 315125@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>@mrs. bird: I prefer female doctors myself. I just feel more comfortable with them and have had better experiences with a female doctor.</p> <p>I only had my first RE appointment yesterday, but I can already tell it's not only about finding the right RE, it's also about the nurse, the staff, etc. I went in yesterday telling myself that if I didn't feel comfortable, I'll find another doctor. I'm glad I felt comfortable, and I already like the people I've been dealing with. I don't think I will see the doctor often. I saw her yesterday, and now the testing begins and I won't see her again for over a month. But I will be interacting with all sorts of new people. So far everyone has been a woman.</p> <p>I know that money, insurance, results, etc. are all good things to consider. But for me, being comfortable is just as important. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/choosing-a-re#post-315069 Fri, 28 Sep 2012 09:29:01 +0000 GreenThumb 315069@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>One other thing, unfortunately the SART stats are only for IVF not other interventions. So you might want to ask the offices about success with IUIs or other procedures. Once you get to IVF, there are a lot of other factors to consider - like the skill level of the embryologists, not just the RE. That is where the SART stats start to be more helpful. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/choosing-a-re#post-315040 Fri, 28 Sep 2012 09:20:12 +0000 GreenThumb 315040@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>Tough choice, but I would go more with weighing their success rates (based on results) and costs. And as others have said, success can trump initial costs especially if one doc can get to the issue more quickly for you. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/choosing-a-re#post-314965 Fri, 28 Sep 2012 08:54:55 +0000 blackbird 314965@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>As far as fees go, I would talk to the offices that the REs work out of. They'll be able to give you more information on that and estimated costs. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/choosing-a-re#post-314925 Fri, 28 Sep 2012 08:41:16 +0000 spaniellove 314925@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>Are you able to define how the male doctor is "good" whereas the female doctor is "amazing"? Like is it just a reputation that they have, or do you know that one doctor definitely gets better results than the other? If you have some way of knowing that the female doctor is more likely to be successful, it's probably worth the money to work with her. Cheaper is not necessarily a bargain if you're paying it longer and not getting the results you want. But if it's just reputation, it's worth figuring out why they have those reputations! </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/choosing-a-re#post-314861 Fri, 28 Sep 2012 08:11:21 +0000 mrs. bird 314861@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>@birdieputt: it's not for IVF, hopefully we won't need to take it that far, but i guess we won't know until we get more answers. i'm not Oing, so that's the first order of business that needs to be addressed. i wish i could get a real answer about the fees from the ins company! i can tell you we have a deductible of $2000 before any diagnostic or treatment is covered, but that we pay a negotiated rate before that with the lower cost hospital and full boat with the higher cost. but after we've met my deductible, so paid $2000, it would just be $45 per visit and no diagnostic or treatment cost at the lower costs but $75 for each set of labs, $100 for each image, and $500 for each advanced image. just as an example: right now we are still under our $2000 deductible, so i had blood work run by my obgyn at my annual exam, she is affiliated with the lower cost hospital, and the bill from the lab was almost $1,000, but i paid the negotiated lower rate of $188, so it's a huge difference but i'm not sure how much the testing would be at the RE. the ins company says i have to ask the provider what each of their negotiated costs are but i don't know how i ask about what the fees would be yet because i don't know what tests or treatments we're looking at =( i'm a nanny &amp; DH works with special needs kids, obviously we aren't rolling in cash, so cost is a huge factor for us. i've already blown through well over $1,000 on acupuncture. this ish adds up! </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/choosing-a-re#post-314720 Fri, 28 Sep 2012 06:11:57 +0000 blackbird 314720@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>Well, I used to be weird about seeing male doctors for this kind of stuff. My OB is a female. But then the emergency room doctor who handled my m/c was a male ER doc. Then my RE was a male. There were only males there and he was the best of the best. Then my perinatologist ended up being a male (and he's director of the whole unit). And he was all up in my business this week. I find that the super-specialists tend to be a man more often than a woman. It was just something that i said, "this guy knows his shit, whatever" and the ones i have seen have had THE BEST bedside manner and have made me SO uncomfortable. It's like they work extra hard to make you comfortable. They see women all the time that have issues. I dunno, I got all worked up for nothing! What if you end up with a male that delivers your baby? It's not ideal, but it does happen!</p> <p>I'd see the best doctor with the best results, period.</p> <p>(eta: when i originally saw an RE, i saw someone a friend of mine saw for her IVF. She said he was amazing and raved about him. I didn't even look around, I just went off her word. He was in my insurance, too. Most RE offices will offer you a free consult and they'll talk about their IVF and IUI costs with you. Every clinic is different since fertility treatments are primarily out of pocket in most states) </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/choosing-a-re#post-314694 Fri, 28 Sep 2012 05:16:28 +0000 PrincessBaby 314694@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>@mrs. bird: Without a doubt, I'd do the woman who's more expensive. Lets just say you went with the dude, and you saved a little money each month. Those savings over a few cycles would still always have me wondering if the woman doctor could have gotten it done in one or two cycles. I guess my point is, if it's not THAT huge of a difference, then I wouldn't worry about saving money in this area of your life. You and DH could cut back somewhere else if you needed to. Good luck!!! </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/choosing-a-re#post-314685 Fri, 28 Sep 2012 05:04:26 +0000 Shutterbug 314685@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>@mrs. bird: thank you! </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/choosing-a-re#post-314477 Thu, 27 Sep 2012 21:25:12 +0000 mrs. bird 314477@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>@Rachel: we are so lucky to live near amazing healthcare! Here's the us news rankings link. I was looking at dr Julia Johnson because she's close to me.<br /> <a href="http://health.usnews.com/top-doctors/search?doctor=Name&#038;specialist=Reproductive+Endocrinologists&#038;specialties=085&#038;doctor_gender=&#038;location=01602&#038;distance=50&#038;hospital=Hospital+Name&#038;x=119&#038;y=11" rel="nofollow">http://health.usnews.com/top-doctors/search?doctor=Name&#038;specialist=Reproductive+Endocrinologists&#038;specialties=085&#038;doctor_gender=&#038;location=01602&#038;distance=50&#038;hospital=Hospital+Name&#038;x=119&#038;y=11</a> </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/choosing-a-re#post-314452 Thu, 27 Sep 2012 21:08:53 +0000 Trailmix 314452@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>Hmmmm, tough call...My RE is a guy but so is my GYN/OB (is it weird that that never bothered me?) I will say that based on how many times you have to go during any sort of medicated cycle, convenience is a fairly big factor but if you think you will be uncomfortable with the guy and can afford to pay extra, I guess you should go with the lady? </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/choosing-a-re#post-314401 Thu, 27 Sep 2012 20:54:31 +0000 birdieputt 314401@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>is this for IVF? if so, then i'd compare the success rates for clinics in your region, instead of focusing on the individual RE. <a href="http://www.sart.org/find_frm.html" rel="nofollow">http://www.sart.org/find_frm.html</a>. after your initial consult with the RE, most of your visits will be with ultrasound techs and nurses anyway. </p> <p>i would also get definitive answers from your insurance company about the out-of-network doctor. you do not want to be stuck with extraordinary out-of-pocket expenses on top of the stress of TTC. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/choosing-a-re#post-314384 Thu, 27 Sep 2012 20:49:54 +0000 Shutterbug 314384@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>@mrs. bird: I think personally I'd go with the amazing female dr. that you'd feel more comfortable with. I think once you're preggo you transfer to an ob/gyn anyway, so you could move hospitals then if you wanted to.</p> <p>Out of curiosity, want to share the female dr's name? I'm from MA too and in the market for an RE. You can write it on my wall, but I totally get it if you want to keep it anonymous. Good luck! </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/choosing-a-re#post-314222 Thu, 27 Sep 2012 20:09:53 +0000 mrs. bird 314222@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>I don't mind male drs for a lot of things, but obgyn or RE, I feel weird seeing a man. I know DH would much prefer that I see a female as well. But I'm not sure that can happen with our ins :/ </p> <p>so here's my dilemma- see a male dr that if the chief obgyn at our ins's preferred hospital, I keep hearing him described as 'brilliant' by people that work in the field, or see a female dr that is at our higher cost hospital option, but she has been ranked in US News as being in the top 1% in the nation in reproductive endocrinology? Office visits would each be a $45 but labs &amp; diagnostic testing would be billed at different rates but the ins can't tell me exactly what that means other than I'd pay more at the higher cost option since they work out a 'deal' with the lower cost one. So male dr that's good &amp; less $$ or female dr that is AMAZING but more $$$?? How much is comfort worth? Do you spend that much time with the RE themselves or is most of the actual care provided by their staff? I also don't know how long it would take before the first available appt, I suppose that would be a factor too. Any tips or suggestions for selecting a RE? </p>