Hi, my name is Yuriko S, and I successfully completed two rounds of egg freezing with Dr. Zouves, storing 32 mature eggs in total. I was recommended to Dr. Zouves by multiple friends that I knew from tennis that also had good experiences with him. The main reason my husband and I decided to freeze my eggs was because after getting married, we found out that my husband had a 0 sperm count which was a side effect from radiation cancer treatment several years earlier. My husband, however, is in a study at Stanford working to use stem cells to create sperm cells. In the event that that study goes to clinical trials in a few years, I wanted to preserve my fertility. I was 35 / 36 years young at the time of the two procedures. There are multiple Bay Area offices where you can get egg freezing done. I highly recommend Dr. Zouves’s office for a multitude of reasons.
#1 is Dr Zouves. He answers your questions personally and is the person running all of your office visits. This subject is one that people have a lot of questions about, and he is a patient, expert who makes you feel comfortable.
#2 Dr Zouves has the best approach. When you do egg freezing in his office you take a number of health supplements that help to ensure better yields. He also has a top notch facility which ensures that your entire experience will be smooth and pleasant. Despite the expense, I would highly recommend egg freezing to anyone who is serious about preserving their fertility. The peace of mind you get from taking control of this aspect of your life is immeasurable.
My husband and I discovered we had fertility issues while we were with our HMO. Although we are generally pleased with our HMO healthcare, when it came time to seek out medical help for fertility, we decided to go private. The HMO fertility doctor gave me conflicting recommendations, and I just didn’t feel he really knew my situation or case. Since all expenses were out of pocket anyways, we decided the private route was a better choice for us. My neighbor recommended Dr. Zouves, and it was the best recommendation we’ve ever gotten.
From the start, I was incredibly impressed with Dr. Zouves and his entire staff. From the front desk to back office to the nurses to Dr. Zouves and every person in between, we felt the care and understanding needed for this emotionally and physically demanding process from them.
Our first interaction was a phone consult with Dr. Zouves. He has an lovely quietness and calm yet his strong demeanor puts you at ease immediately. We decided then at that moment Dr. Zouves would treat our infertility.
Followed by our conversation with Dr. Zouves, we spoke with a former patient with similar fertility issues. This was one of my favorite parts of the process. To speak with someone who has gone through what you will face, sheds light on what IVF will look like for you. It also gives you the much needed hope required to go through the process.
Our journey began in January and became fruitful at the end of the year. When I first began, I thought I’d be pregnant within a couple months. I was disappointed to find that the process would take much longer. Dr. Zouves takes a conservative approach time wise with fertility. I had to ready my body with acupuncture and diet (gluten and dairy free) as well as yoga for three months before my first procedure. Although initially disappointing for this impatient girl, I now recognize the wisdom in his protocol. His focus on combining Eastern and Western medicine is what helped me become healthy and more likely to produce viable, healthy embryos.
After two egg retrievals, I had three excellent quality embryos- something we weren’t supposed to be able to produce. Initially Dr. Zouves prepared me for the statistical likelihood that we would be lucky to have one healthy embryo. By his surprise, we had three. After nearly a year of working on our fertility, Dr. Zouves transferred two of the embryos. We now have a healthy pair of twins, a boy and a girl, who made it full term. We are beyond thrilled and feel incredibly blessed.
Another aspect of Dr. Zouves’ office that is impressive is how well run and efficient it is. After dozens of appointments, I think I had to wait once for fifteen minutes beyond my appointment time. Contacting the office and its various departments is also easy. The staff is readily accessible by email and phone. His employees contact you quickly and are great about thoroughly explaining information. Additionally, his office is open 365 days a year. Being able to come to appointments on Saturdays and Sundays makes a demanding process less stressful. There are necessary times when I had to miss work, so being able to come to flexible appointments on my off time helped.
I can’t recommend Dr. Zouves enough. He is well worth his expertise and the cost that it entails. We are fortunate to live in the greater Bay Area where we could drive to appointments. However, like many of his patients, national and international, I would have committed to traveling to see him.
Make the right choice and choose Dr. Zouves. Go IVF!
Anonymous
Dear Dr. Zouves,
It is hard to put into words how incredibly grateful we are to Dr. Zouves and the entire staff at ZFC. We are 6 weeks away from the birth of a baby girl we were not sure was ever possible.
After a shocking infertility diagnosis at age 31, we had a lot of choices of doctors to work with in the Bay Area. None of the other doctors we met with compared to quality of care with Dr. Zouves. I was referred to ZFC by two different people who assured me that he was the best and great to work with. I had completed consults at PFC and a few other private clinics and just did not feel i had found the right person to work with.
During that initial consult with Dr. Zouves was very well prepared and had obviously read through my history thoroughly. He was able to outline a very clear plan to get started. Obviously no doctor can make any guarantees but both my husband and I knew we had found the right doctor and we had hope. I truly felt in my heart that our endeavors would give us the best shot possible to have this baby. That was all I needed to get started.
Like so many others, by the time you reach the point of pursuing IVF you have already experienced a lot. The 2 cycles we completed at ZFC had many highs and lows but Dr. Zouves was always upfront about the situation, our next steps and really guided us through the process. He never patronized me and always answered my every question. It was very reassuring knowing that he did every scan, every procedure and any questions were routed through him directly.
In addition, all the nurses were quick to follow up via email or phone call and a pleasure to work with. I had many intralipid IV treatments and the nurses are warm and comforting. The environment at the clinic is calm and warm. I always received excellent care following my egg retrieval procedures and embryo transfers.
Infertility is an intensely painful experience and can be horribly overwhelming. I have never felt so vulnerable and shed many tears in the clinic. I truly believe i would have given up without Dr. Zouves guidance. I think it is rare to find such a medical expert who also treats his patients with such genuine compassion and care.
I will never be able to fully express my gratitude for this miracle. I wouldn’t wish the pain of infertility of anyone but working with the right people makes the heartache so much easier.
Ellie
Dear Dr Zouves and Nurses,
We had another ultrasound today at 29 weeks 3 days and are happy to report that our baby boy is right on track and very healthy. He is now 3 lbs 4 oz. We can hardly believe we are down to the last 10 weeks or so!
Before all the fun/frenzy of parenthood begins, we wanted to take this chance to thank you all for everything you have done for us.
Dr Zouves — from the very first phone call we had with you, we immediately felt so at peace and knew we had found the right doctor for us. And when we met you personally for the first time (the day after that phone call), we were even more assured. Your calm, professional manner put us right at ease. We were aware that you are very busy and have so many other patients, but we really appreciated that you knew us by name every time we saw you and remembered the small things we talked about. Your bedside manner is incomparable. You made the egg retrieval and embryo transfer procedures so comfortable and happy. How we wish you could also be there to deliver our baby boy :)
To all the staff and nurses — you were all such rays of sunshine every time we visited the clinic. We really looked forward to every single one of our appointments even if we had to drive 50 minutes each way because of all of you.
To my in cycle nurses – You all made our cycle so easy and smooth. You were all so responsive and patient every time we e-mailed or called about anything. The blood draws were painless, the take-home instructions were always very clear, scheduling was always so prompt. Thank you also for all your help with the prescriptions/pharmacy coordination and insurance stuff.
To my retrieval/transfer/recovery/intralipids nurses — we always had so much fun with you back there! Thank you for always making us feel so pampered and spoiled! Although it’s probably not ideal to need 10 intralipid infusions, we actually looked forward to our sessions and missed them when they were over! You have set the bar so high for the nurses at CPMC for my delivery! I now expect nothing but the best :)
Of course, a big thank you also to the embryologists and people in the lab and the other people we didn’t get to meet personally but who were also a part of our journey.
Again, THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU from the bottom of our hearts to each and every one of you.
D & P
Dr. Zouves,
We want to let you know how grateful we are to you for helping us to conceive our beautiful baby – Matthew David. We always felt you took special care of us and for that we thank you. You’ve helped us achieve our dream of becoming a family – Thank You!
Sincerely,
Ken, Sue and baby Matthew
Dear Christo,
Thank you – for these incredible little beings. The road was a hard one – but all the starts & stops & re-starts were eased by your devotion, compassion and persistence.
Love,
Deb and Mark
Dear Dr. Zouves & Staff,
I want to thank all of you for the professional and caring way you handled my initial consultation. I have talked to several places and yours was the most patient-friendly. Thank you for your devotion to this industry – I thank God every day that there are people like you who make it possible for us to one day conceive a child of our own.
Beth and Tim
Dear Dr. Zouves,
We want to thank you for helping us realize our dream of starting a family. Our son, Joseph Mason, was born on March 27th of this year and he is truly a miracle. We cannot begin to thank you enough and we will be forever grateful for your help and compassion. What you do for people is amazing and a miracle.
Hope you enjoy the enclosed announcement and picture. Joey is 3 months old today and now weighs about 11 pounds!
Our Warmest Regards,
Joanna and Mitch
Dear Dr. Zouves,
It is impossible to begin to thank you for all you’ve done for us or to adequately express our appreciation. Our daughter is perfect and you truly are a miracle worker! Our hearts will always be overflowing with love and gratitude for your incredible skill, caring and support.
We can’t wait for you to meet Gracie!
Robin and Manny
Dear Dr. Zouves,
John and I met you and your staff in October 1998 after months of trying to conceive. Our first impression of the staff was how welcome they made us feel. We walked away from our first appointment feeling very hopeful and in good hands. My husband and I are the proud parents of two beautiful and adorable twin boys.
We truly owe this miracle to you, Dr. Zouves, and your wonderful staff. We are now blessed with two beautiful sons to share in our lives.
Bonnie and John
Dear Dr. Zouves,
Here are a couple of pictures of Rebecca and Hannah. We are so excited to have them finally meet you. We think of you all the time and could never adequately express in words how grateful we are to you for who you are and all that you do. Working with you has been an honor and a pleasure. You are an extraordinary person – we feel very lucky to know you. Your dedication, brilliance, passion, perseverance, kindness and caring are inspirational and your beautiful soul is a treasure.
Thank you for being you.
Love,
Paula, Nazeem, Rebecca and Hannah
