This is a long overdue note about our experience with Dr. Sharara and his amazing team at VCRM.
After several years of not conceiving, we had our first consult with Dr. Sharara at the recommendation of a close and trusted family member. I’d very soon after discover that many friends and acquaintances were also his patients - and everyone was happy.
After almost a year of being in his care, which included the diagnostic tests and discovering that I had been living with Stage IV endometriosis, 2 egg retrievals, fertilization, and eventually our transfer, I am beyond excited to share that we are 20 weeks pregnant.
I appreciated his approach to diet, lifestyle, and treatment. We followed his guidance exactly - the supplements, the diet, the timeline. I even backed off from running (I am a marathoner / endurance runner). He was very direct in his recommendation, sharing statistics and science (much appreciated by my husband who is a numbers person!). He is extremely direct and will not beat around the bush (so grateful for that!).
After our first retrieval which yielded many eggs but not as many viable embryos, we knew we wanted to try another retrieval. With a few tweaks, and continuation of his diet and lifestyle recommendations, we had an incredible response and all felt confident moving forward with a transfer.
Aside from Dr. Sharara’s expertise and knowledge, it is the white glove service that his office provides. The nurses are incredible. During what can be such a scary time, filled with the unknown, and so much newness, the nurses (and particularly Jo) put me at ease, reducing any anxiety or stress.
Friends of mine shared their fertility journey experiences they had with other clinics, lamenting that they felt they were a bit more of a “factory” - not so much personal interaction, limited engagement with their doctor, and little to no guidance on injections and medication. VCRM’s approach could not be more different. I realize everyone’s journey is their own, and process / style preferences may differ, I am forever grateful for the care and attention we received from VCRM.
It is easy to write a positive review when the outcome is favorable. But I stand strong in my assertion that this review would be exactly the same had we not had such a favorable outcome because it is based on the standard of care - which truly should be an industry standard.
2 years ago, I drew my boundary line at IVF. I said I’d be open to IUI, medicated cycles, but not IVF. That was because I was not educated. Sadly, this is because we don’t talk about this enough and women are made to feel like it’s taboo. Dr. Sharara shared - honestly - that IUI would likely be unsuccessful and just delay what was already a narrowing timeline (due to my egg quality). The more I learned from him, the more I was encouraged to talk about our journey, and the more I connected with other women who had experienced IVF. And, eventually, my boundary line disappeared. IVF became less scary.
My hope for anyone considering treatment and reading this is to just have the initial conversation, learn about your body and get the full picture before you draw your lines. You will be in the best of hands at VCRM.
Thank you to Dr. Sharara and the entire VCRM team. You deserve every accolade. We miss seeing you all regularly, and God-willing we will be able to visit in a few months with our baby.
Cannot say enough great things about these folks. These folks became our family over the time that we spent with them. This an extremely well ran office and helped us have our first baby through their IVF treatment. We will continue to work with them. So, look no further if you are in need of fertility help, it’s VCRM!
So far I have been very impressed, of course I will come back later and update this here need be as my journey progresses. However I contacted Dr. Sharara’s office because shady grove was not able to accept outside embryos for embryo transfer. I have been seeking an open embryo donation/adoption. Not many are available through clinics. Dr. Sharara took me in for the initial consult, went over my history and right away started the tests needed prior to transfer. With other clinics there was always a ton of waiting for appointments only to learn they couldn’t help. Here the process is very stream lined. Dr. Sharara is always on time and efficient in his procedures and appointment. He can be very straight to the point and isn’t overly hand holdy if you need that… but I don’t mind. When the initial donor family backed out he did offer that one set of embryos through there clinic available for an open donation. Something I’ve not had any other clinic offer. We wanted a larger group of embryos as we hope to have multiple siblings from the same group so we had to pass but I really appreciate that he offered that and took the time to look into the file details etc. We are back to looking for another embryo match. That said Dr. Sharara has never pushed us to use the closed donor embryos they have at their clinic or made me feel like our request for an open donation was a burden like some of the other clinics have. So far I definitely recommend.
Dr. Sharara was knowledgeable and kind. The front desk ladies remembered my name when I came in and always had the answers to my insurance questions. I was always in and out of there without waiting which I can’t say for any other doctors office I’ve been to.
We saw Dr. Sharara for about 6 months before finally conceiving. He ran tests quickly, discovered polyps on my uterus and removed them with a painless surgery. He has an honest and friendly approach. We loved working with him.
Dr. Fady and the team at VCRM were absolutely wonderful with every step of the process in getting us to pregnancy. They were courteous, helpful, understanding of any questions we had and we will also be grateful to the entire team for helping us grow our family. We never felt like we were in the dark about the care we needed and next steps, because it can be complicated to take on. Thank you the entire team and best wishes to them all.
