David B Smotrich, MD

Dr Smotrich and his staff were absolutely amazing and we would HIGHLY recommend his clinic to any families struggling to get pregnant. We were trying to conceive for about 5 years when we came to his practice and from the first time we met him, we both knew he was the one we had been searching for! He made us feel special from the start and really cared and respected our wishes. (We didn’t want to be too aggressive with the meds and he allowed us the space to slowly work through our preferred pace and plan.) From the sweet demeanor of the front desk receptionist, to the talented nurses and their awesome phlebotomist we were impressed with the very high quality of personal care we were given. Dr Smotrich’s caring soul and experience made what we thought was never possible happen. Our son is now a little over 2 months old and we are the happiest parents we could be. Thank you La Jolla IVF for being the best there is and for making our dreams come true!

As a 5x gestation surrogate, I’ve «been around the block» a few times in the IVF community. I have worked with several other RE’s, and I can say without hesitation that Dr. Smotrich and his office staff are top-​notch, all the way. My last three pregnancies, all of which resulted in singleton pregnancy (and subsequent births) on the first cycle, are a result of working with him. Over the close to four-​year period in which I have been his patient, I have always been impressed with the quality of care and respect I have received as a surrogate by everyone in his office. If I were to seek a 6^th surrogate journey (which I will *not* be doing!), I would certainly be more inclined to match with intended parents who were working with Dr. Smotrich and La Jolla IVF.

I’ve actually worked with Dr. Smotrich in 2 very different ways-​on opposite ends of the spectrum! I was an egg donor numerous times and always appreciated his professionalism and kindness. I trusted him.
When my husband and I were struggling almost a decade later, I came back as an intended parent. I’m so grateful to him and his staff for their help and support and professionalism. He has high standards for customer care, and his staff is really unfailingly amazing through an intense, emotional ordeal.
He always communicates clearly and outlines options and recommendations honestly and respectfully.
From both perspectives, he is the best.

I recently wrote a review about this business which was not favorable. I was shocked and surprised that Unilocal had it removed. It was an unbiased review of my experience at this practice. If you value your health and money dont invest in this practice.

We liked Dr. Smotrich a lot personally, and his staff was efficient and caring and overall a pleasure to deal with.
Unfortunately however we did not have a good experience at this clinic. We came here after coming tantalizingly close to success with another clinic, wanting to tweak the formula a bit, and in particular thinking that a lower drug approach would do better. But he ended up steering us into a high drug formula, which basically scrambled my eggs and we had much worse results than with the first clinic. Since then, I have had much better results (2 eggs both creating blastocysts) with a half pill of Clomid than with the thousands of dollars of drugs he had me use.
Our initial call with him on the phone was very positive and he really seemed like he could help us, then as we worked with him he got more and more negative but by then we had gotten pulled in. Wish he had not displayed all that bravado on the first phone call. We also got very excited by his story of success with a 46 year old, and we had the impression that he had been successful with many older patients, but later it turned out that he had only had success with one person that age.
So as other people have mentioned, this is a good doctor in a good clinic, but unfortunately we found that his approach doesn’t work for everyone.

After TTC for two years and seeing a few different fertility specialists, Dr Smotrich did what no one else could and helped me get my beautiful baby girl. His staff was great and always made me feel comfortable. We were doing an IVF cycle and due to only one follicle he agreed to do IUI and it worked! Even when I had worries after I was pregnant he and his staff were there to reassure me and do additional testing. We will be going back for number 2!

I have nothing but great things to say about Dr. Smotrich and everyone else at La Jolla IVF. Our wonderful baby boy just turned one and we wouldn’t have him without their help. However, my review would be the same even if it had not worked out. Despite that IVF is a medical procedure, given the goal (having a child) and length of time involved (several months at minimum) it is also an extremely emotional process. Not only is La Jolla IVF medically state of the art, but having met with Dr. Smotrich regularly for a year, I know that he has both a brilliant mind and truly cares about what he’s doing. I couldn’t be more grateful or happier and I whole-​heatedly recommend La Jolla IVF to anyone looking for help getting pregnant.

The staff was pleasant and Dr. Smotrich was very professional. I agree that he wasn’t overbearing when it came to making decisions.
The office is comfortable and spread out. Parking fees apply but doesn’t affect my rating of the physician and facility.
The website also serves as an excellent resource for information.
Overall, La Jolla IVF was definitely the only other contender as a specialist for me.

How difficult it is to have to consider a fertility specialist! If you are looking at your choices, I know the difficult position you are in.
After meeting with a few clinics, I decided to go with La Jolla IVF (Dr. Smotrich), primarily because he explained all the statistics to me and still let me make my choice based on emotions, not logic. The other places pushed egg donation right off the bat and that was difficult to consider just because of my age. Although Dr. Smotrich explained the pros and cons and costs involved, my choice was supported by the entire office.
I started seeing Dr. Smotrich when I was single, but ended up with a successful IVF with my husband. Throughout the course of four years, I had frozen several cycles of my own eggs to have ready when I was ready. Because I met my husband after I started egg retrievals, my relationship with La Jolla IVF lasted four years (we didn’t want to rush into children!). Dr. Smotrich was totally and completely patient with my/​our schedule and our requests. I’m sure if I was in a rush for children, I would have had a successful pregnancy in the first 6 months.
He has a wonderful bedside manner, is very compassionate and devoted to what he does. If this is an emotional situation for you, I highly suggest that you interview Dr. Smotrich as an option. He and his staff are wonderful to work with before IVF and through follow up support after pregnancy.