Has anyone had a cosult with dr. silverman in ny?  What does he talk about?  Does he give stats on pregnancy rates and outcome for his office?  Has anyone ever asked the doc himself how the sperm spinning works and if he has ever checked the sample after spinning?   It costs $500 for the consult and I was wondering why it was so much.   Does he reveal the secret behind the DaVinci Code? 

I emailed his office with some questions a while ago.  About 1 week later, he personally responsed to all of my questions and gave me a lot of info.  You could try this route first to see if you want to pay for the consultation.  Maybe you could get some of your questions answered this way.  GL

Have you decided on using this method?  I will use this method once I convince dh.

No we are doing Microsort for a daughter but I spend many months doing a lot of research so I emailed Dr. Silverman so I could explore all my options.  I wish I would have saved his email then I would have send it to you.

Sorry, I forgot to mention this-We didn't want to pay for the consult unless we were sure about doing it.  So after hearing from Dr. Silverman we found a clinic in NJ that did sperm spinning also.  It is called sperm spinning and not Ericsson.  The clinic took our insurance so our consult was just a office visit with a copay.  So we were out only 20 dollars and found out what is involved.  Then I proceded to contact the lab that actually did the spinning to talk to the director over there.  Maybe you could do something along these lines to get answers you are looking for without paying the money now.  If your dh is not up for it, you could just go to the consult alone to gather the info and then present it to him for a cheap route.

Wow, $500 for a consult sounds very expensive!!  How much is the actual procedure, then?  The question I would want to ask is about the success rates, and whether they follow up with EVERY one who gets pregnant.

Trying4agirl, It doesnt settle right to go to any doctor for any sperm spinning.  I am uneasy as it is with Ericsson but it seems to be the only route I am able to take atm.  Virginia has discontinued taking m/s with iui patients until August 2007 and who knows if they will even begin again then.  Anyway, I made my decision and if I do anything it will have to be with Dr. Silverman otherwise I am back to the drawing board with at home low or high tech.

Maureen,  I thought the same thing about the consult cost.  Even Microsort only charges $300 for the initial consult and they have higher more accurate success rates.  I did ask about stats and how they get the stats.  The secretary said that he has published his stats on the website.  I also asked who spins the sperm and how do they know the final product is active live good sample.  She said I could watch the whole process from start to finish.  That was a little reassuring  but I still would like an answer to how they know the finished product is a good high quality sperm sample for insemination and how will they know whether it contains more Y than X for my particular case.  I am going to have to ask the doctor that question.  So basically I have to pay $500 before I am going to be able to make my decision.  

On his web site, he only says 70 to 75%, without any more information, i.e. is it the same for boys vs. girls, and the issue of following up all pg's.  He also says 5,000 babies born!

I think it is interesting he is doing Ericsson + PGD.  I am dying to know how many times he has done E+PGD and what ratio of embryos he is seeing  -- although not bad enough to pay $500 to ask!  But if you do the consult you must ask that for me!

I live in that area and emailed Dr. Silverman as well and he also responded to me and answered some questions.  I ultimately decided not to do spinning of any kind based on some other research I did. 

It's tough to spin sperm for boys, probably since they are the weaker sperm.  The Ericson method has never been proven to effect the sperm balance at all, and they have never agreed to a study with the FDA or an independent party, like microsort has done.  It's like you just have to accept what they say on blind faith.  That was too hard for me to do, I guess I'm too skeptical.  

I used Dr. Silverman. I paid the $500 consultation fee and the cost of the sorting was $1800. Since our IVF was covered by our insurance, the cost of the sorting didn't really bother me. I knew that I would only ever be paying him for one sort (as opposed to the gamble of doing IUI where several attempts are often needed) so knowing it was a one time fee definitely lessened the blow. When I first contacted him, he sent me a very lengthy email about what he does and what he offers that I had assumed was the standard response he sent to everyone. Honestly, during our telephone consultation, I didn't ask him questions about his success rates and statistics. I'd already done a ton of researching on my own about Ericsson AND Dr. Silverman himself. He's published several studies discussing his findings and success rates. His website, the published articles I read, the blog he kept at the time, newspaper articles I read about him, etc., all echoed his 70-75% success rates. So, I kind of felt it would be a waste of my time to ask him his success rates since I knew he'd give me the responses I'd already read that he gave so many others, kwim? The majority of our telephone consultation was about the logistics of how we'd coordinate the sorting and my IVF cycle. I did ask him his thoughts about combining Ericsson and IVF and he said that they'd had luck with it in the past. I didn't press him for success rates because I know that I'm an oddity in the Ericsson world (it wasn't meant to be used with IVF and no one keeps stats on it). On a personal level, I found him to be a very likeable man with a good personality and his staff was equally as pleasant and likeable.

At the end of the day, I went with Ericsson because it was available to us. It was close to home, it was in our price range and we were going high tech to conceive anyway. I decided it was either Ericsson or nothing and I knew that if I did nothing, I might go on to regret it and always wonder "what if." So, we went into it with our eyes fully open, knowing it might not work and that it was a gamble. Boy or girl, I knew I would have no regrets.

 ETA: Here is a recent article about Dr. Silverman and his practice: http://www.thejournalnews.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20070325/BUSINESS01/703250316/1066

I just dont know what to do anymore.  The more I research the more confused I get.  I found out that I can afford the following three options now. 

Ericsson has been proven to work for boys 83% if the time, even though the sperm count is not affected.  Makes you wonder if environment is the main cause of this application actually working for boys.

Microsort sorting is 70-75% successful for boys.  Grim considering the cost and effort involved.

IVF/PGD is so labor intensive and exhausting works 100% of the time but can I handle it? Dr. Brandeis offers IVF/PGD at very affordable rates out of New Jersey CT. 

I had a dream last night that I had my fifth daughter.  My dh walked out on me because I had fallen apart and I was left to raise five kids on my own.  Is that my subconcious talking???????  I was crying so badly in my dream and when I woke up I was exhausted.  I have been online all morning calling doctors and researching.  I fill like a ping pong ball.  For some reason, my gut is saying go with Ericsson.  Does that sound logical?  With IVF/PGD in the picture and I still feel I should do Ericsson.   I like Ericsson cause they will let me watch the sperm sort and I will see the sperm given to the doctor and have it administered using IUI.  I fear letting my dh sperm  out of my hands and extra embryos being misused.  Am I Crazy and Dramatic?  Tell me there is nothing to worry about cause that is what I want to hear.

Forgive me if I said anything offensive or dumb I am completely off my rocker lately.  I really just dont know what to do.  Oh My, God Bless all of you currently doing any high tech method this is the most difficult decision I have ever had to make.

you don't sound off your rocker but you do have some difficult decisions to make. as long as your decision is made with knowledge, whatever you decide will be best for you. i have arguments with my family members about organ donation because they are 100% convinced that the docs let you die and steal your organs for rich/white ppl.  and unfortunately if you look at the history of medical abuse in this country their fears aren't totally off the wall.  but i refuse to let fear rule my life and be the foundation for the decisions i make.  is there a 100% chance that your embies and swimmers won't be misused, no. but  i would estimate that there there is less than a 1% chance that a reputable clinic is so enamored of your hubbies sperm that they would risk their practice to steal it.  honestly, there are way too many 20 year old, straight A, pre-med students with motility rates off the chart giving it away for about 50 bucks a stroke.

you just need to decide what level of risk is too great of a risk for you and go from there.  in the end, the most impt thing is that you are both at peace with your decision....

btw:  the studies that say E is 85% effective for boys, are you sure they weren't performed by E docs or affiliates? most of them are. 

IMO, for a boy, your best bet is PGD.

best of luck, CD

 

Thank you Carol's daughter....., The trials that prove it is 83% effective were done by taking results from 6 clinics that use Ericsson method. The other trial was done in Hong Kong where they use Ericsson method illegally.  You are right.  PGD is the best way.  I just got off the www from reading about embryos.  They are not really considered humans at that stage and becasue they are not in a womans womb they would not survive anyway.  The site I read also suggested donated extra embryos for stem cell research.  First I have to find out if it is possible.  I will definitely freeze any extra embryos, if there are any and if I do take the ivf/pgd route.  Just in case I need a second round and if I have extra they will go to research.  I hope that is an option.  I will be surprised if it isnt. 

 I scheduled a consult with the doctor on a Saturday at 7:30pm to hear what the doc has to say and kinda be nosey about his degrees and certifications.  I wont know if I can trust him until I meet him and see his credentials and statistics for his practice.  He is charging a small fee for the consult I wont mind the loss if I decide against it.  Is it rude to ask for his credentials and pregnancy rate stats?  Does that appt time seem weird or is it normal for a infertility clinic to have late saturday appointments?  WOW, I cant beleive I came this far.  I started out with natural swaying methods.  Go Figure.