Reproductive Science Center

Do not come here if you want to be an egg donor. They wasted so much of my time and energy while I was working and going to school full time. I took and passed all the tests multiple times throughout the process, finally got matched, went to more appointments, and then the day before I was about the start the donor meds they said I was no longer eligible because of a false positive test result that I had passed many times before and know I don’t have. Seriously, the day before??? And now they want me to waste more of my time to return all the meds when this is their fault! So disorganized, and I feel bad for the family that wanted a baby because I won’t be returning. Also, I never met with my doctor once in the span of a year. I was doing this out of the kindness in my heart and they screwed me and the couple over.

This review is for my current experience, hopefully this might change.
The doctor and case manager have been very helpful thus far. But I think I am getting a little frustrated with my financial counselor.
1. Submitted my Attain application but didn’t follow up until I emailed to ask the status and finally found out I am missing labs, which they never told me that was what they are waiting on until 10 days later.
2. I wasn’t informed that payment needs to be made 2 weeks before I start injections (using Attain through RSC). My injections starts in less than 2 weeks and now I don’t know if I will be too late to continue the process and I already started my birth control pills.
3. Wasn’t helpful, most of the time the person said «Ask your case manager.» I would appreciate it more if the person said «Hey, I don’t know the answer, but let me copy your case manager and see if she can help you and I can help follow up» or something less rude
4. Emails exchanged were not secured emails unlike Case Manager
Overall, Financial Counselor I would give that person zero star. Case manager I would have to give her 5 star, cause she has been very responsive and helpful.
I will give an updated review if I actually get to the procedure after all of these craziness is sorted out.

I went here with my friend who agreed to be my egg donor. We received poor service from almost all departments at the San Ramon, Orinda and San Jose offices with a number of miscommunications, medical errors and a lack of monitoring on behalf of my nurse case manager and the doctor. This resulted in a failed embryo transfer a few weeks ago, when the live birth rate according to the genetic testing company should have been 70%.
RSC is disorganized with frequent staff turnover. The staff that is there appear overworked and unhappy to be there. I cannot recommend them to anyone seeking reproductive advice. Even after changing doctors and case managers, the confusion continues with conflicting instructions from multiple staff, which indicates a lack of training and failure to communicate.
One beacon of light at the organization is a phone receptionist named Nathan, with his soothing voice and helpful professional manner, made me remember how wonderful it feels to receive good service. If only the others could learn from him!

I would choose 0 if I could.
We just started our journey with RSC and here is what we are experiencing. I guess we have to switch to another clinic.
1) first impression/​consultation was good: the doctor is knowledgeable and not pushy. The consultation was informative.
2) Case Manager: they assign you a case manager which you don’t even know you have a Case Manager.
3) you will NEVER get hold with your Case Manager. They email you at the end of the day.
4) when you call in the office number ending 1800, make sure you don’t call during their 2 hours’ lunch break, nobody is there, not even the Physician on-​call.
5) they are slow on sharing the test results with you: take about a week/​10 calendar days.
6) they care more about statistics and profit over patient’s emotions and the best interest. It turned out that using eggs donor IVF is my only option. If you would like to discuss further about THE option, please set up a re-​consultation so I am wondering what the profit difference is between eggs donor IVF and patients own eggs IVF, probably not much. But the success rate to RSC will make a big difference, that is probably the reason the doctor offered me the only option with RSC — it is kind of take it or leave offer.

For the record my review stands at 5 Stars because the love and support provided by the staff. Dr. Weckstein, was my Doctor, who also happens to be the Director. He is truthful, caring, and even funny at times. We loved working with him through our two cycles. We did both a fresh egg transfer and frozen with Dr. Weckstein. And we plan to return in the future to complete our family as we are expecting our little boy in July. Thank you RSC Staff for being so supportive throughout our journey. You have truly made this experience manageable.

My husband and I began our relationship with Dr Willman at the beginning of 2013. She helped us achieve 4 pregnancies, 2 of which actually worked out.
Kid #1: The education along the way was helpful and there was never a sense of wondering what to do next. Everything went smoothly start to finish.
Kid #2: This one took a couple a couple of tries. The sincerity of care and concern for the ones that didn’t work out made me feel so supported. If RSC is reading this — I think on baby #2 another education class would be beneficial, I didn’t realize how vastly different a fresh IVF cycle was from a frozen one.
It meant so much to me to have Dr Willman on my side, she really did seem personally invested, as well as always giving a professional medical opinion that was in my best interest for success.
A few other miscellaneous things that I liked — they’re open on Saturdays and I was able to drop in for an impromptu ultrasound when I thought something was going wrong with an early pregnancy. There wasn’t a question of whether or not to come, it was just «come and we’ll figure it out».
Since you end up going there quite often, the people in the office (Orinda) actually got to know me, I didn’t feel like a random person in a doctor’s office.

I want to start by saying that regardless of a positive or negative pregnancy test, I still would have written a positive review about this clinic. Unfortunately, IVF is not a guarantee, and it’s horrible to get bad news. That would not have dampened how I feel about my experience here, however. I fortunately had a positive test, which helps further cement my love for them!
I had a not so great experience with IVF in a bigger hospital setting, and was left with nothing to show for it and not much faith in the process. RSC is a beautiful facility and was a much more personal experience. My doctor, Dr. Weckstein, called me personally with news whenever he possibly could (my previous doctor I saw for about five minutes once). He was such a kind and reassuring presence through the whole experience. His bedside manner is wonderful. The case workers who helped me were amazing, Jessica and Kathryn. They were always quick to check in with me, support me, offer advice when I needed it. The whole staff is great, I felt like people knew me and were supporting me when I went in to have ultrasounds, blood draws (I love Jen!) etc. I also found the billing to be much more straightforward than it was with my previous clinic, which is so important– when you are dealing with something so emotionally and physically stressful, the last thing you need is financial stress! For example, in the last hospital, I would be told a procedure cost a certain amount, and later be billed for hidden fees like ‘hospital’ ‘radiology’ etc. When I was told a cost at RSC, it was that cost.
I felt like I was in the best hands possible, and I would highly recommend them to anyone struggling with infertility!

As mentioned in many other reviews we had pretty much the same experiences. The two main issues we had were:
A) They seem to care only about their success statistics and do not deal with special medical cases very well at all.
B) Their billing is absolutely atrocious
In our case we had a unique medical issue in which we probably should’ve been advised against having a second child via IVF for my wife. However, they kept on looking at our child and saying «well, you did it once so you should be able to do it again.» Five failed pregnancies later that definitely was not the case.
They messed up the drugs during our IVF cycle by only prescribing half the dosage, the doctor upped it halfway through the cycle when he realized it was a mistake. The retrieval then only yielded one good embryo and two okay ones. After telling us that no matter what they were going to do a day five transfer they freaked out when it looked like we’d only have one viable embryo and made us rush up on day three. Needless to say the strong embryo ended up splitting and led to a fetal demise.
When it came time to use the last embryo they gave us a letter saying our insurance would cover most of it. We didn’t think this was the case but they insisted that was correct. So we figured we might as well try despite it not being a good embryo. We went through with the transfer, it failed, and then they charged us the whole amount. After months and multiple hour long sessions on the phone they finally relented because we had their letter saying what the price was supposed to be saying they had checked with our insurance to pay the bulk of it.
In our opinion this clinic is not a good facility to go to for special medical cases, and other people’s reviews seem to support that. There is definitely a feeling from them of «just IVF it and try» instead of looking at each specific case and determining the best individual path. If you do go I would advise that you request Dr. Hinckley specifically. We only got her at the end and admittedly she was put in a tough spot with us.

We used this facility for IVF through Dr. Aimee Eyvazzadeh, who we have also reviewed. We cannot comment on the other doctors here, or insurance and financial obligations. Doing IVF is expensive and this was handled through Dr. Aimee directly.
We can comment on the facility and staff. It was very clean and the staff members were nice. We had success and gave birth to twins in November.

I had great experience here with Dr Sgarlata being my Dr. We had our first frozen embryo transfer result in a positive pregnany. I highly recommend this office as my partner never thought that a family could happen for him as we experienced male infertility.
Only downfall is the price. Our insurance did not cover anything so it was very pricey as everything was out of pocket. We would do it all over again though.

Excellent facility and very professional service. Dr. Weckstein is highly recommended. He is both informative and considerate and best of all, presented us with a range of treatment options which yielded great results. RSC has multiple locations in the area which was also very helpful to us. Many thanks to Dr. Weckstein and to everyone at RSC.

Fyi: I’m writing under my husband’s page because I never write reviews and have not signed up for a Unilocal account but really wanted to leave a review on my experience at RSC. A few days ago I went in for an HSG which was performed by Dr. Wachs. First, let me say that of course I’d googled to find out what to expect and got a varied range of experiences. I expected it to be mildly uncomfortable but tolerable. I’d received instructions prior to the procedure to take a painkiller one-​two hours before the procedure which I did but I still expected it to be somewhat eventful. Guess what? It was not. My recent experience having my teeth cleaned was way worse. ha! For real, I even believe my last pap smear was more eventful. Another thing — it was over so quickly I doubt I’ll remember to mark it as a life event… ha.
I am very impressed with RSC and let me clarify that my main doctor is Dr. Willman who is just awesome. She is really knowledgable and takes her time explaining everything. Every time I’ve had to go in I’ve been treated well and you can tell the team is meticulously coordinated — no lengthy wait times or shoddy service. Life is already challenging enough, it is great to receive top-​notch medical care without having to worry whether the doctor cares or is best suited to address your medical concerns. RSC has assembled a great team and I wish them the very best!

I called to see what my options were for help with timing of at home IUIs. After trying to jump straight to talking about IVF the woman on the phone (I’m still not sure what her role was) tells me a basic blood panel is the way to start. I ask if my insurance will cover it, she says she looked it up and it will. Go in for the blood draw, get up to the desk, told I will need to pay out of pocket but they’ll put in a «courtesy» request to see if it will be covered. Get a call from the MD with results a little over a week later, but given my job am often unable to answer the phone while at work and he leaves a message. I try to call back, do NOT choose the option of leaving a voicemail, yet after three rounds of «your call is very important to us», get booted to voicemail anyway. Call back the next day, same thing. Finally call back the 3^rd day and get a real person. Connected with Dr. Rosenbluth (I’d specifically requested a female MD, Dr. Rosenbluth is not and although he seemed nice, I was not entirely comfortable discussing test results with a male MD I’d never met), but I had already decided that the poor communication system at the center was not going to work for me. Transferred back to someone at the front desk to ask about the insurance, now told that the lab panel was a promotion and wouldn’t be covered by ANY insurance. Funny how that answer was finally so quick and clear when it was too late for me to make an informed decision about getting the labs. Also, even in these few interactions I never knew who I was talking to or even what office they were at, «New Patient Liason», «Billing», «Front Desk» — I felt very corporately handled, not the space I want to be in while trying to conceive.
In short: invasive, expensive procedures pushed right out of the gate by someone other than a healthcare provider; personal requests in terms of doctors not honored; misinformation about insurance given; incredibly poor communication system.

Came in for an egg transfer with Dr. Aimee Eyvazzadeh (who is amazing) and the staff could not have been more awesome. Susan started my IV, Dr. Chung was my anesthesiologist, Lynn was in the op room with me, and Jasmine was the nurse after I woke up. Super friendly, well coordinated, and HAPPY people. I am a fan. Thanks for making my procedure so quick, painless, and enjoyable. Crossing my finger for some good news!

Completely satisfied with the staff, work, knowledge and technology here at RSC. Dr. Weckstein and his staff have made my dreams possible! Yvonne, Yani, Amy, Katheryn, Jessica, Nicole, Jen, Nina and all the doctors made my procedures, appointments, and experience just so memorable and pleasant, I couldn’t have asked for anything more! I’m pregnant! That was the goal and the journey getting here was very exhausting, but well worth it! Thank you for making my dreams come true and thank you for making me so very happy and fulfilled!

I have to say going into this experience it was a difficult one. The doctors seem very knowledgeable and respectful, no complaints there. The rest of the staff I have reservations about. The desk staff and clerical staff are severely lacking in customer service. My wife and I are paying a lot of money for the services they provide one would think that they would treat their clients better.
A family friend had went to this clinic and had a great experience and therefore referred us. Unfortunately for us though we have not had the same experience and cannot give this place a good review.
When starting the process with the clinic to have a baby, the staff was very slow going and getting us the information and materials that we needed. They would not answer the phone. We had many questions and they would not call us back. We needed a DNA test kits in order to complete our side of things so we can get the ball rolling in having a child.
They again did not answer the phone, they said they would send the kit– never did, then someone answer the phone finally saying that they could not send the kit after all and we need to come pick it up. We ended up calling later and someone else answered the phone saying they would send the kit and eventually did after our original ordeal. Come to find out that even though the kit was sent to us and we had sent it in for genetic testing, that there was no order by the doctor for it, so the tests were not even being completed in order to get the progression that we wanted to have the results needed. Mind you there first laps in customer service set us back two months and this other delay has sent us back even further.
Overall, I am just completely astonished by lack of customer service and I cannot really say anything good about it thus far.

This review is for Dr. Mary Hinckley.
Thank you Dr, for giving me the greatest joy of my life! The husband and I were having trouble conceiving. We then visited the Dr. Hinckley. Best decision of my life! I could not have asked for a more understanding and patient doctor. Her staff was great. We got pregnant on the first IUI treatment. Now I have a beautiful boy, who is the joy of our lives.
Thank you so much!!! You rock.

At the beginning of 2015, my wife and I decided we were ready to move forward with plans to have a child. After reviewing several different reproductive clinics in our area online, we found that RSC was not only local to us, but also had great ratings, and came highly recommended by a friend who works in the medical field.
After an initial consultation with Dr. Sgarlata in February 2015, we knew this was the clinic for us, and began on our journey to motherhood. We did what the clinic refers to as a shared pregnancy, taking my wife’s egg, and donor sperm to create an embryo that I am now carrying.
We were assigned a case manager (Adriana) who was absolutely wonderful, and helped us each and every step of the way. She was quick to respond to any questions, was very personable, and would always follow up with both a phone call and an email with detailed instructions.
Our financial adviser (Yani) was also great, and very responsive when it came to answering questions about insurance, and out of pocket costs. She made sure we were fully informed, which helped us to be prepared regarding out of pocket costs — this was such a relief during a financially stressful time for us (right after starting the process in Feb, we had to move suddenly, and also got married).
Although we only had the pleasure of meeting with Dr. Sgarlata once during the process, he was always the one to call with test results, and any other information related to the procedures that took place. He was funny, down to earth, while also being very direct and straightforward. He made us both feel like he really cared about the success of our IVF cycle.
Our IVF transfer was a success on the first try, and we look forward to the arrival of our little one in March 2016! Our first ultrasound after the transfer with RN Chris was an experience I’ll never forget!
Everyone we dealt with at the clinic was friendly, and professional — from the phlebotomists, to those working in reception, to the Drs and nurses who performed my wife’s egg retrieval, and the transfer itself. They always made us feel comfortable, and welcome. The office was clean, bright, and inviting.
We could not have asked for a better experience with RSC, and would recommend their services to anyone who asked!

When my partner and I decided it was a good time in our lives to finally try to have that baby we kept talking about, we were pretty overwhelmed. Unless you have prior experience on the subject, you don’t know who to call or where to start.
We started by calling a sperm bank Berkeley to see if they could at least point us in the right direction. Nope. When we called the person who answered the phone would not answer one question that we had. Instead she kept telling us all the info was on their website, which is not at all informative or intuitive. Needless to say it was pretty frustrating.
Cut to about a week later my partner heard a commercial on the radio and said she was going to give them a call. When she called, it was a totally different experience. The person who helped her was kind, patient, and sensitive to all of our concerns. We made an appointment and came in the following week and spoke to Dr. Hinkley. Again we got the same treatment. Dr. Hinkley was patient and explained everything to us in a way that we were both happy with. We left the appointment with a feeling that we would be well taken care of. And we were, all throughout the journey. Everyone that we worked with at RSC was nice and great to work with.
And I have to mention the phlebotomist that they have is the best I’ve ever experienced. I didn’t feel a thing each time.
Here we are about nine months later and my baby girl is due anytime now.
Thank you, Dr. Hinkley! And also all the amazing staff.
Keep in mind individual results will very, but my opinion is that they will try their damnedest to get you the results you desire.

RSC is exceptional. They have state of the art technology, they are professional, friendly, hours of operation very convenient, etc. My husband and I are very pleased with them so far. The overall staff is excellent!
Dr. Mary Hinckley is our doctor. She is absolutely a 5 star doctor. She is attentive, informative, and caring. Which is important due to these sensitive times. She discovered that the amount of thyroid medication I was given was not enough. Which I always suspected, due to being tired frequently. I feel so much better with the dose Dr. Hinckley prescribed me. I went to 3 other doctors before Dr. Hinckley about my thyroid, they never caught that. I feel so grateful that she regulated my thyroid just where it needs to be. Which is so important when it comes to fertility and overall quality of life. When my husband and I have an appointment with her, we never felt rushed. She truly was happy to address any concerns or questions we had, very patient. We knew instantly that we were going to be taken care of once we had our first meeting with her.
My case manager was at first Lisa, she was great, by the time my husband and I decided to move forward with IVF (which took time) she moved on to another position. DevRonne was our new case manager. I was concerned at first that I was no longer going to have Lisa as my case manager due to being comfortable and very pleased with her. Once I met DevRonne, I no longer had any concerns. She is just as exceptional. She is very kind, informative, organized, patient, calls me back quickly when I have any concerns or questions. She is on top of everything. She also did a great job teaching the class my hubby and I took regarding the IVF process and to learn how to administer a shot to oneself.
So far I have done an egg retrieval, which went smoothly thank God! Dr. Rosenbluth (I hope I have his name right) did the egg retrieval, he also was excellent. We haven’t done the embryo transfer yet, hopefully when we do, it will be a success. I feel positve that I will get pregnant, with the help of RSC, God willing. I recommend Dr. Hinckley and this facility to anyone that has been trying to conceive for a year or over.