Let’s see you’ve completed 2 IUI’s with no success, 3 IVF cycles using your own eggs, and still no success. Now you ask yourself should I stay or should I go? Me, I’m a firm believer that sometimes change is good. No disrespect to your doctor. I know firsthand that once you find your ideal doctor you never want to leave. It’s a bond of feeling like they know you so well and you feel committed and to guilty to leave. It’s called, “your comfort zone”. We all have it. I experienced it firsthand.
Fertility Journey
My journey stared in Miami with a wonderful fertility doctor, and a fantastic clinic. My doctor was the type to come and greet you at the door. His nursing staff went above and beyond. When I first met my doctor I felt a connection. He talked to me in a language that I understood. I knew I was never leaving this clinic until I had success. He suggested IUI’s based on my fertility levels and antral follicle count. I agreed and we went for it. With no success a few times we moved onto IVF. During my first IVF transfer my doctor who was Jewish and me being a nonpracticing Jewish person out of left field started singing beautiful Jewish prayers while doing my transfer. At first I had no idea where it was coming from. A voice that took your breath away.
However, the prayers didn’t work because I officially failed my first IVF cycle. I regrouped and onto the second cycle. At this point I was living in Southern California and traveling back to Miami to deal with my fertility issues. This is exactly what I’m talking about. When is it time to change fertility clinics? I had to stop and think about it myself, “is it time for me to change clinics”? I felt guilty about even thinking this. I put a lot of thought into it and made the change.
Seeking Success in Southern California:
Now I was a free bird with no fertility clinic to call home. I was 40 years old and still no baby, and in a relationship that was heading South. I parked myself in front of the computer and started researching Southern California fertility clinics. I created a list of clinics that I was going to consult with. I was on a mission and, consequently, determined to be pregnant by the end of the year. This was a big step for me being that I’m a creature of habit. I’m terrible at making changes in my life.
When I set out to find my next fertility doctor I knew exactly what I wanted and what I needed. First, I knew I wanted to work with a clinic that offered personal care in a smaller environment with huge success rates. My personality would be lost in one of those large multiple physician’s offices.
Finding the Ideal Fertility Clinic
You know the ones that you wait a few hour to see the doctor and you end up never seeing the doctor that you came to see in the first place. This was just what I wanted to avoid. Second, I needed the next fertility doctor to be cutting edge. You know the doctor that thinks outside the box. The doctor that is taking infertility to the next level. Has something to offer someone like me. Here we go to my first consult. Talk about the guilty feeling I was feeling when I arrived at my first consult. I kept thinking about my fertility clinic back in Miami. You know the one that I felt married too. When I opened the door to my first fertility clinic in California I knew I had found a new home. It was warm and inviting. Not a soul in the waiting room.
I know your thinking empty waiting room equals not a good clinic. Actually they schedule their consults during off clinic hours. I consider that brilliant. Next I moved onto meeting the doctor for my consult. I explained to him right out of the gate, ” I need you to offer me something different”. I need to go to another level to achieve success. What can you offer me? We talked and he offered me a procedure called Zift. It’s an old school procedure, but something he was having great success with advanced age fertility. I was honest and told him I had scheduled consults with a few other clinics. Off I went to my other consults.
Building the Support Network
Next stop locating a great acupuncturist in Southern California. My former acupuncturist in Miami, Lori Bell introduced me to a great acupuncturist in California. I was on a mission to succeed. After leaving my first acupuncture appointment I received a call from Dr. John Jain. His exact words, “from the little bit I know of you I don’t think that you’ll be happy at the other clinics. I felt like I was reliving the movie when Renee Zellwegar tells Tom Cruise “you had me at hello”. Before I hung up the phone I was sold. Onto starting my infertility journey with Santa Monica Fertility https://www.santamonicafertility.com.
You see change can be good. Sometimes it takes a new fertility clinic to find your success. What one reproductive endocrinologist cycle plan is for you can be completely different at another clinic. Yes, I felt guilty leaving my old clinic. However, I did find my success in California and welcomed my little baby boy into the world in 2010. When I relocated back to South Florida I shared my success with my former clinic even bringing my little guy for a visit. My former doctor couldn’t have been happier for me. Go for it! Make the change!!!!!!
