THEY LOST MY EMBRYOS!!!!
DONT USE THIS CLINIC!!!…read more
I had an extremely distressing and unacceptable experience at Florida Fertility, and I feel compelled to warn others. Gayle has run this place into the ground!! I have referred 6 of my friends away from this place and to another clinic!
My retrieval was Thursday, Feb 6th. On Monday the 10th, I met with Dr. Sanchez to ask a simple PGT question--something that could easily have been discussed over the phone, but instead I was called in for a "consult, then charged $115. When I was shocked about the fee, the red head up front was rude. After all the money we have already paid for the IVF cycle, I get charged for a question? Anyways, we agreed to proceed with PGT, per Sanchez- and I was told that embryo cells are sent out every Wednesday, so will be sent out in 2 days if they make it through blast.
On Tuesday (Day 5), the embryologist called to update me about the three embryos making it through Blast. On Wednesday the 12th (Day 6), she called and stated the fourth embryo had not progressed and that she would be sending the other three out THAT DAY.
By February 21st--nine days later--my PGT portal still showed "pending payment," with no updates. Confused, I called Florida Fertility. Meaghan said, "that's weird there's no update, shell call them. She called back and said Igenomix is pending payment? I already paid FFI for my PGT test. I was super confused. I wasn't told I ALSO owe Igenomix for PGT as well. So, I called to pay. They told me there's no payment due, as they didn't receive any of my cells to test. I called FFI back Meaghan answers, Gayle is in the back screaming "That's ridiculous, we have a tracking number. Shell call them back and call me again." NO CALL BACK, and they ignored my SEVERAL calls, because they didn't have an answer to where my embryos were. So, I left a vm, that I'm heading up to the office to get an answer!! Gayle didnt want me up there, so she instantly calls back. "Hi, this is Gayle returning your call." UMMMMM WHAT?!?! WHERE ARE MY EMRYOS??? She calmly plays stupid, "They only went out TWO days ago- Wednesday the 19th." NOOOOO, they went out on the 12th!! "Who told you that?" YOU!!!!!!! And Sanchez, and the embryologist, and Meaghan when I called asking for an update!!!!!! AND YOU JUST TOLD ME YOU HAD A TRACKING NUMBER FOR GOING OUT ON THE 12TH!" She said, "I have no recollection of telling you that." OF COURSE YOU DONT! Then, she called me rude, because I was CLEARLY panicking.
Ultimately, it was revealed that the embryologist forgot to place my embryos in the shipping box on the 12th, even though the tracking number was documented in my chart. No one realized they hadn't actually shipped until I called for an update. My embryos were effectively unaccounted for OVER a week, and afterward all three came back with abnormal results--something I FIRMLY believe is connected to the mishandling.
Dr. Sanchez nor Dr. Fonti has reached out to apologize, follow up, or reassure me. I was later told my case was the primary topic of their Thursday meeting, yet STILL, no one contacted me.
Also, Gayle scheduled an SIS sonogram and told me it was covered by insurance. The night before, I was informed it would cost $1,100. Gayle said insurance was covering it? Of course, her famous line, "I have no recollection of saying that." So, assuming I needed it, per Gayle, I moved forward with the sonogram. Come to find out, it's only if you're implanting!!!! Now that my PGT results came back bad due to mishandling, I DIDN'T EVEN NEED TO DO THAT SONOGRAM. When I emailed Gayle about it, she rudely said... "Well, you could have cancelled" Right, had I know what it was for, I would have waited on my results to come back first, but I did it because you said that was the next step... AND I TRUSTED YOU!
Separately, during my ectopic pregnancy surgery, Dr. Fonti BOTCHED my abdomen! When I later showed the area to Dr. Sanchez, he told me, "My work would have never looked that bad!"
Horrible DR's, staff, clinic, customer service, etc. All around the absolute WORST clinic!!