[lizzie518]

We have recently had a real setback in our IF journey. None of our embryos survived the thaw for our transfer today and we are feeling a little uneasy about the lab at our current RE because of this and another issue we had. We love the RE, but want to be sure we are confident with whatever lab we are using. I know lots of you have been in a study at CORM. It is over an hour from our house, but I assume if they are doing lots of research, their lab has pretty strict protocols for handling the embryos and documenting their work. Can anyone share with me about their experiences there - either positive or negative? We have a consult with Dr. Schnell this Saturday morning. If you are not comfortable posting your opinions, feel free to PM me.

[praying4my1st]

First of all, I would like to tell you how deeply sorry I am for what happened. That is devastating and my heart goes out to you & youR DH!

I live outside of Beaumont and have been going to CORM since Dec. 2006. Dr. Schnell does not have the greatest "bed side manner", but if anyone can get you pregant she can! Anyway, you don't need a best friend, you need a doctor, right? She is a very smart, talented doctor! The staff is super sweet! They moved into their new building last year and with the new ventilation system, Jon (the embryologist) said there success rates have improved greatly! Their website is The Center of Reproductive Medicine > Home if you haven't found it yet.

I just had my ET there on Sunday 8/17 and feel very confident in their hands!

Best of luck to you & DH and I'm so happy you are not giving up! You will be in my prayers!

God Bless!

[davea]

I just thought I would throw in a high recommendation for Houston IVF. They have an excellent lab.

[babybearjmd]

I, too am sorry for all that you have been through!!!

I was in the study at CORM this year and am currently pregnant from my first IVF w/ICSI. I liked Dr. Schnell and her staff. The office and lab are great and Jon, the embryologist is happy to talk to you and give you his opinion of your odds. Dr. Schnell and Jon have gotten a lot of us pregnant lately. Good luck!

[Staci]

Does anyone know if they are still excepting people into the study? What does it cost?

[Martieroo]

We were with Dr. Schnell 8 years ago and have a 7yo DD!

Her group really knows what they are doing!!!!

Megan

[Melanee2255]

K....I CANNOT SAY ENOUGH ABOUT CORM IN HOUSTON!!! I agree with the bedside manner thing about Dr. Schnell...it took her a long time to finally warm up to my husband and I but it finally did happen. She is extremely knowledgable and sincerely wants to help people. I would see her every morning bringing all of her charts into the building (she takes all of them home EVERY night to look them over before the next day to analyze what needs to be done for who) that tells me right there that she sincerely cares about her patients. She will answer any questions you have and so will either of the embryologists (we dealt with Todd more than Jon and he was wonderful too). Because we were on the study it took a while to be called back during our appointments but we didn't mind because we always felt we were in great hands with them.

[browneyes1970]

Lizzie-

I am so sorry...When I read your post yesterday my heart just sunk. I know the feeling of a let down, twice to be exact.

CORM is an excellent facility. Jon IS THE BEST. He more than makes up for Dr. Schnells lack of bedside manner. She does warm up, but very little. I can tell you, JON knows how to take the edge off. He is down to earth, funny and really cares about you and what you think regarding your process. He is really proffesional but a joker at heart, there was a time during our IVF class if he wouldnt have made a quick joke, for some reason I was getting the feeling I was over my head, he really made me and my husband feel like it was going to be okay and that our dream was obtainable... Dr Schnell knows her stuff, she is smart. ALthough everything there was not picture perfect, she is a very talented person and very skilled, just a little icky on the bedside manner

If you need anything feel free to PM me.

[ImHis]

I agree with everyone else. Her bedside manner is not the greatest, but I thnk it is because she just takes her work very seriously. She has a great reputaion in the medical community. Unfortunantly for me, we didn;t get pregnant, so I am going for a second opinion to another clinic today. I am 40 years old so I have more challenges to face than the ladies in the study. Their success rates also had to do with their age. They are all under 40 I believe. I know they only let 10 people in 40 and over.
Im not liking having to go get another opinion, but given my age and such... i feel I need to. I love the clinic and I am doing this moslty for my own peace of mind.

[jhlucas]

I'm sorry to hear that it hasn't worked so far. Don't give up hope.

I can't say enough about CORM. I don't think Dr. Schnell really has a lack of "bedside manners" she is just focused. I never felt like she was rude or didn't care. This was my first IVF after 4 year ttc. After I found out it worked she was walking by and I just told her I wanted to thank her and the staff for making my dreams come true. She was so sweet and gave me a big hug and said she was glad she could help. I just think there are so many people and appointments she just doesn't have time to sit and chit chat. She goes in and gets the job done. I have told a few of my friends to go there and we all live 2 1/2 hours away.
I would give them a try. I wish you the best of luck!!

[holliej1181]

I had a great experience with CORM in Beaumont/Houston. I was in the study, which I believe is no longer taking patients. You can look at the thread for IVF in Houston at CORM and go through a few pages until you find the long list. That shows everybody that is on this forum and what their results were. I know 2 other people who were in the study that are pregnant. The study didn't do anything out of the ordinary for stims, just a controlled form of progesterone.

I loved the embryologist. The seminar was very informative and reassuring. I recommend going to that even if you've had IVF just to meet the guys. Wait time to see Dr. Schnell was long a couple of times because she goes between Houston and Beaumont some days, but she now has another dr in the practice to help out, and he is great. He is a little more sensitive than she is. Nurses and staff were 95% very nice and helpful. A couple of times one of the girls would get on my nerves, but nothing major.

I had one example of Dr. S being sensitive. For my ER, I couldn't urinate afterwards, and the nurse had to catheterize... OUCH!! Then for the transfer, Dr. S said my bladder needed to be fuller, which it felt full to me. She started getting out the catheter package and said she was going to fill it up... I had a little panic attack. She said it's ok, was super nice, calmed me down, and said I could drink some water. She came back, not frustrated at all, and did the procedure, and was very sweet.

THEN for my first u/s, Dr. S did it because u/s tech was not there. We saw 2 sacs, and she said the smaller one would be gone next time, like it was no big deal. She gave us no hope and was a little cold. But... she was right. She wasn't mean, just cold.

But overall, these people know what they are doing. She takes her job seriously as do all of the staff there, and I think it's a world class facility, and I would say the same thing if I got BFN. Sorry so long, but this is a topic close to my heart!

Good luck. Remember you may have to wait for a while to see the dr, especially if she has procedures that day, but she will see you and give you her honest opinion.

[Passionscientist]

Well since I started the CORM thread for the study, guess I'll throw my two cents in . I agree that Dr. Schnell can come across as cold, but I think she's just very professional and has a lot going on. It's definitely not a place that will hold your hand and where you will see the RE every visit, so if you need that it might not be the best choice. However, their facility is brand new and top notch, and their success rates are through the roof. Even with the study (which typically tend to be lower success rates than normal IVFs), they had over a 70% success rate from the study group. THat's UNHEARD of!! Many of our fellow study participants at different clinics were not that successful so I think the real difference was in the lab.

They have some of the newest state of the art equipment and I can tell you that if the first attempt doesn't work, they will bend over backwards on that second attempt. My example, I was in two clinical trials at CORM. The first one failed miserably (mostly due to the requirements of the study and limits on my stim protocol)...the second one was 1000 times better. John, the lab director, would call me up during my waits and tell me he was going to redeem himself this time and he was right!! The staff is so friendly and more than make up for Dr. Schnell's less than perfect sensitivities . Although, when my first attempt failed and we had my follow up appt with her, she did hug me and was probably the most sincere I had ever seen.

So I know this is long, but I would highly recommend CORM. I personally have brought several friends (and people I met on this board) to CORM and they are ALL pregnant (either through the trial or a FET)!!

Good luck in your decision!!