Dr. Jennifer Fay Kawwass, MD

Kind, compassionate, genuine.

Dr. Jennifer Kawwass was uncompassionate when she diagnosed me with premature ovarian failure (POF). I would email/call her office for questions assistance and got the run around from her. It took far too long to get the diagnosis to begin with from her. Based on my own search via online, journal articles and gynecology textbooks, I concluded I had this terrible diagnosis. When I told her and her office that I suspected I had POF which was progressing rapidly for some reason, they just dragged their feet on treating me in a timely manner. I really wanted to begin fertility treatments asap, since there was an urgency and I 37 at the time. Dr. Kawwass attempted to induce a period for me using promethium orally, which did not work. Medical text on progesterone challenge will show this is not the appropriate technique to induce a bleed. However, I trusted her expertise. After not getting a bleed for over a week and a half, I emailed/called her. She didn't have the decency to… even reply to my inquiry. I had to call and speak with the nurse who then brought my concerns to her. Her response was she just wanted to wait for my period to start, however long it might take. I practically had to beg for Provera and ended up discussing the matter with her medical director. The medical director prescribed Provera, which induced a bleed and I finally began treatment with her after waiting over a month. She gave me a very poor protocol for my IUI and could not answer questions I had about the procedure. For instance, she prescribed 150IU of Menopur for my IUI. Upon my research of Menopur, I discovered it’s not recommended if one has high baseline FSH and LH (which I had because of my POF). When I emailed her asking the rationale behind using it and if it would work in my case, her response via email was "I hope so." I'm sorry but this was an unacceptable response from an RE. That IUI was a disaster! I only had 1 follicle and a 5mm lining. When I voiced concerns about the lining, she told me "Plenty of women get pregnant with a thin lining. Plus, the Menopur will help to thicken your lining." Now in retrospect, I know that's not true. She told me that at max I would have the IUI done 36 hours after my trigger shot. I had an office visit with her prior to my IUI to discuss the logistics. Instead of voicing my concerns she kept on forcing donor eggs down my throat. I told her I was not interested in the donor route, but she was relentless. I remember when I was asking questions about the IUI, she slid a green paper towards me as she sat behind the desk in her office. When I looked at the paper it was information about using an egg donor. I was very upset she gave me this paper after repeatedly telling her I'm not interested. When I asked her why she gave this to me she said, "Just read it over and if you don't want it, just throw it away." This woman does not have any tact! The morning of the IUI, my husband and I showed up at 7 am. When we entered the clinic there was literally 15 people there. I thought it was odd for so many people to be there on a Saturday morning, but figured it was people doing monitoring. My husband had to go to work, so he gave the clinic his sperm and left. My appointment was scheduled for 8 am, but 8 am came and went. After 9 am, I asked the receptionist what was going on. At that point, the waiting room was even more full of people and there hardly was any patient movement. She told me that there was a scheduling error and they were overbooked. When I expressed the concerns regarding the time of my trigger shot, the state of my husband's sperm since it had been sitting for over an hour, etc. she was not concerned and just told me I would be called soon. Then after 10 am, I was very agitated. I told the receptionist that I was way past the 36-hour trigger window and my husband's sperm was probably ruined. I also was concerned because I had a lot riding on this IUI. Since I had POF, I had no clue when or IF I would even produce another egg. Again, the receptionist, like my RE, was very dismissive. After 42 hours past my trigger shot, I finally got called back for my insemination. However, I had to wait some more in the procedure area. Naturally, a fellow, not Dr. Kawwass, did the procedure so I could not voice my timing concerns to Kawwass. The fellow just inseminated me and told me I could leave right after. When I asked her about if I should lie still for 10-15 minutes after the insemination, she told me to leave so they could free the room since they were overbooked that day and had more procedures. Of course, that IUI did not take and I was left with an estrogen-producing cyst. Dr. Kawwass prescribed birth control pills for 3 weeks, which did more harm than good. I was told after finishing the birth control pills to come in for a baseline ultrasound. Everything looked good and I was told to take letrozole and more Menopur for 2 weeks. I did just that and came in for another follicle check. However, to my surprise, there were no follicles. Her protocol of birth control oversuppressed my ovaries, which she failed to realize. Many women with POF, DOR experience oversuppression upon using birth control. I, however, being green to the infertility world and my diagnosis I did not know this. This follicle check appointment was the turning point for me. She very coldly looked at me and said, "You’ll only have a 5% chance of ever having a biological baby” and just walked out of the exam room. Even the nurse who was in the room with us gave me a nasty smirk and followed her right out the door. Her lack of sympathy and horrible bedside manner caused me to pass out, half-naked, spread eagle with all my business hanging out and with my feet in the stirrups. I don’t know how I was passed out in that room. Whe