I've had an incredibly disappointing experience with NewLIFE Fertility/New Leaders in Fertility & Endocrinology in Pensacola. I called them on Monday to schedule an appointment, provided all my information, and filled out the requested forms--yet nothing was scheduled by Tuesday. They called me again, asked for the same information I'd already given, and still, no progress. By Wednesday, I spoke to a doctor who confirmed everything was correct and promised to get me scheduled, but I heard nothing. Thursday rolls around, and after calling them again--my fifth attempt--I'm still without a date. Every time, I'm told, "Someone will call you right back," but I'm lucky if I even get a call the next day.The inefficiency is unreal. I could harass them hourly and still get nowhere. They only communicate by phone--no email option--which makes this even more painful. It's a complete mess, worse than most government agencies. It feels like a bloated, bureaucratic operation propped up by some healthcare system, not a functioning fertility clinic. A business this disorganized should honestly be out of business. If you're looking for help with something as sensitive as fertility, steer clear--this place will just waste your time and energy. read more

My husband and I have been patients at NewLIFE (Mobile office mostly) since March. I'd like to tell you our story so that hopefully, other women/couples can make an informed decision before beginning here. After a lot of blood work and many ultrasounds during March, we were (finally) called in August for our review with Dr. Ripps. We were told that IVF was our only option (this was our 2nd opinion) and that we needed to start cycles ASAP to give ourselves a good shot. We began the IVF process in November (they do every other month). At this same review (Aug.), Dr. Ripps informed us the cost of the IVF treatment as a whole would be $12,500 and the meds would run $2,500 at a min. (if we could order them in time to get them here from the UK/Canada) or $5,000 MAX if we order them from the US. We didn't hear from the clinic until mid Oct. about signing our paperwork, even though I called a couple of times to ensure we were on the right track timeline-wise (since we were hoping to get the medications from the UK/Canada to save). A couple of days before we went in for our late Oct. apt. to sign our paperwork, a prescription was called in for my meds, and we were FLOORED to find out that they were going to cost approx $9,700. We were then also told they would be about the same price from the UK/Canada with shipping, and they could get hung up in customs and not make it on time, so we needed to order them from the US. One of the nurses (Kathleen) was nice enough to inform us about a program that could provide a discount, and our ins. covered some (total after discounts ~$5,700) *We were told the meds were more expensive than normal because I was on the highest dose, but I would have assumed Dr. Ripps would have been aware that would be the case during our review, not to mention I'm sure I can't be the first patient (also confirmed by one of their staff) to be on this high dose, leading me to believe he either didn't really know what he was talking about price wise and was just saying what he could to get us to the $15k number we had discussed at the first appointment in March, or he is just incredibly misinformed and talks about some of the med costs without doing his due diligence. November 6th- our egg retrieval. They were only able to get 5 eggs, of which 3 were mature and injected, and 1 fertilized. We received a call from Kathleen on November 10th informing us our embryo had quit growing and there would be nothing to transfer the next day. She also asked if Dr. Ripps had called. I told her he had not. She said he would be calling that day. He NEVER called. Kathleen called yesterday, 11/14, to ask if we wanted to come in in December, to discuss with Dr. Ripps what may have gone wrong, and talk about our options. I told her that I felt pretty lousy that we spent a large sum of money-the same as everyone else- and didn't even get to go through the entire process (no one's fault, but I do feel we deserved a call from the Dr. himself) and no one had reached out to us to discuss even though we were told they would. We were given bad news and then just left with no information and not even a call from the doctor as mentioned to us. Despite that, I told her we would like to come in, and figure out what is next, b/c we are wanting to move forward with another cycle. She told me that the only day she had available was December 5th, (we will be out of town working the week of 12/2-12/6 and can't make that day). She said that was the only day he has available due to other appts with other patients and new patients. So not only did we not receive a call, but we were clearly NOT a priority in any way since we didn't have any embryos at this time. IVF is done next in Jan. so if we don't get to see him until Jan., we would obviously be put off an additional 2 months which is incredibly discouraging, considering Dr. Ripps is the one who made it clear we needed to be moving forward ASAP. My husband and I feel we were just a number to Dr. Ripps. We paid the same sum as everyone else and were dropped when we couldn't produce embryos first attempt. I have several friends who have done IVF with other clinics and their doctors are much more proactive in conversing with them, especially if they are receiving bad news. Since we were only offered one date in Dec. that we cannot make work, we have been pushed off until at least January, which we find to be unacceptable. We will be continuing our treatment elsewhere. I encourage anyone about to begin this process to reach out to me if you'd like for any further information. I may be angry, but I am also honest. This clinic ONLY received 2 stars because of Kathleen, Heather and Paula. Dr. Ripps receives 1 star. IVF is an emotional and difficult process for anyone- you'll want the right dr. by your side, and in my opinion, it is not Dr. Ripps. Thank you for taking the time to read this. I truly hope it helps keep someone from having our same experience. read more

After years of trying to get pregnant and going through a miscarriage, my husband and I were referred to New Life in Panama City to begin our process of trying to start a family. We completed 3 rounds of IUI that were unsuccessful before moving on to IVF. The women who worked in this office when we first started being seen here were horrible- very disorganized, never knew what they were talking about, would tell you something one day and the next would deny it, and I even missed out on a cycle because they never told me the medications I needed. That all changed when Simona and Lindsey got there. They are both the nicest women you will ever meet, are happy to answer any questions you have (even in the middle of the night on a weekend when you are freaking out), and are definitely who you want on your side when you start this emotional process. No matter how many patients they saw a day, I always felt like I mattered when I was there and that was everything to me. Yes, IVF is rough (emotionally and physically) not to mention expensive. You will have numerous appointments, ultrasounds, and blood tests done, meet with Dr. Ripps and his team to find the best option for you, take an endless amount of medications and shots, but if the end result is being pregnant, all of it is worth it and then some. I'm happy to say we are now pregnant with twins and will be forever grateful to Dr. Ripps, Simona, and Lindsey for giving us something we have wanted for so long. If you are struggling with fertility issues and are looking for an office that actually cares about you, this is it. read more

Absolutely horrible!!! Do NOT go to this clinic if you want good bed-side manor. My husband and I were new the the area about a year ago and were super excited to continue our dream of having a child. We started going here last December and after the consultation with Doctor Ripps, were told we needed to do a treatment plan (even though we had completed all tests before including recent SA analysis with our previous fertility clinic). We decided to go ahead and do the tests again. Right off the bat, my husband was NOT impressed with the Doctor and mentioned he reminded him of a used Car Salesman....we continued with the plan anyway. The short story- I completed all the required procedures and weeks went on before I finally called their office, come to find out they had the results in but never called!!!! I tried setting up the second consultation many times, but ultimately knew they didn't have my interest at heart. After 8 plus years of going through fertility treatments, we were blessed with a positive pregnancy test about a month after giving up on this company! What a blessing that we did not have to contribute thousands of dollars!! read more

I was referred to Dr. Ripps and New Leaders in Fertility & Endocrinology after my primary care physician and OB found what looked like a fibroid near my ovary. Although it tested benign, due to my concerns about fertility, both doctors felt it was best to have Dr. Ripps and his team handle any impending removal surgery. After some testing that confirmed that fibroid was benign, Dr. Ripps decided it was best to focus on getting pregnant first, then worry about having surgery later. I adored his team in Panama City, Florida, where I got most of my tests done. Their no-nonsense but compassionate approach helped me feel confident that they would find out why I had not been getting pregnant, and would do everything they could to help us conceive. I went into the diagnostic phase completely emotional and afraid of needles (and other procedures), but everyone in the office went out of they way to always make me feel comfortable. Just over two months later, a couple of weeks after it was determined I had "unexplained fertility" (i.e.: tests indicated nothing out of order), I found out I was pregnant. I didn't even have to take any fertility drugs! I credit Dr. Ripps and his team, especially my favorite nurse in Panama City -- Terri, for helping me get to know my (wacky) cycle more intimately and give me the peace of mind I needed to relax and let nature take its course. After three years of trying with no success, we were completely overwhelmed with joy! I highly recommend New LIFE to any woman or couple who has been struggling to get pregnant for whatever reason. Dr. Ripps and his team will take care of you, and everyone will hold your hand through the process of addressing issues with real solutions. read more

I was talking with Dr. Ripps today, telling him about all the horror stories you read on the internet about surgery (he was doing my surgery this morning) and hospitals and how nervous I was. He told me something I thought was very important. You read bad stuff, cause those are the people that blog, not the ones who have a good experience. We never take the time to write... so taking the time to write. Dr. Ripps had been my doctor for a few years, helping me and my hubby try to have a baby... now this is through 2 deployments and a lot of other life events. He is ALWAYS patient with me and ALWAYS does what I want. He will go over options 100 times if I ask, always with a smile. ALWAYS. He never thinks something I heard or read on-line is silly. He goes over it with me. He breaks down my options with power point slides, LOTS of reading material and recommended web-sites. Then more of them if I ask. His staff, well they are amazing. Nice, sweet, and they can draw blood like it didnt happen. I never feel anything (I HATE NEEDLES). Everything I have had done at his office, even the sucky stuff was made better by the staff. His nurses know me by name and that we are picking out baby names... at least really future planning. His walls are of all the success stories and happy babies. You feel comfortable in the office, its not a doctors office, its different... ok the medical rooms are more "medical", but the front area and where you do your basic stuff is peaceful and nice. I feel like at a spa waiting room than a doctors office. I can get my coffee on and watch HGTV or read. The two areas have some space between them, so you dont HAVE to watch tv if you dont want to, but its a cheery positive place to be. Today, we were finally able to do my tube repair surgery. Dr Ripps, in Dr Ripps true fashion was awesome. He came and sat with me for about 10 minutes if not longer before my surgery because I was nervous. He tells these dad jokes that makes you feel at ease. He went over everything again (I ask a lot of questions sometimes). He was just him. Which, when you meet him you know that he cares and if going to do everything to try and fix it. The team at Sacred Heart was excellent too. After my surgery, he personally went and told my friend everything, went over the photos, and how things went. I can tell you from experience picking up my friend from Eglin, they didnt do that. I literally got a call, went in, and we left. I had to ask a nurse about medications and stuff. Not with Dr. Ripps. He went over everything again with my friend and made sure she had no questions. He did an excellent job with my surgery. All my friends are surprised I went to get Panera right after, saying that you dont eat food right after, but Dr. Ripps has this crazy re-surgery routine of stuff you do and well... it sucked last night, but I am so happy today. I cant move around too much cause its sore, really sore, but I feel great right now. My friends are shocked I had surgery today. I couldnt have asked for a better doctor and team than this office. PS also again shout out to the surgical prep team at Sacred Heart. Nurse Beth was amazing as well. read more

I was referred to New Life by my PCM here in Mississippi. It took me nearly 2 months to even get into the place because they wanted the records from my old fertility specialist to "review" before they could set me up an appointment. I was with my old fertility specialist since 2016 and had my daughter 2017 and wanted to try again. I moved so going back to the old specialist was not an option. I finally got an appointment in October 2019, brought in charts measuring BBT from the last few months, told Dr. Ripps about my history and diagnoses etc and he told me he didnt care about my charts because "science was better". I was frustrated from that point on. Nurses have no bedside manners. They never explained anything to you when doing ultrasounds, pushed bloodwork my insurance wouldnt cover and made my partner get a new semen analysis even though he just had one and the one they wanted was not covered by insurance ($85). Drew blood for something else from me and didnt tell me insurance didnt cover it until I was checking out, it was $75. Dr. Ripps gave me a "diagnositc" round of meds and sent me home. I never heard back about blood work so a week later they i called them back and they told me the blood was in the fridge still.... I was shocked and frustrated. I completed the round of meds, did the ultrasounds, etc I did not get pregnant and they overstimulated me... then forced me on a high level of birth control to shrink the cysts... and wouldnt do anything else for me until I met with the doctor, PLUS my partner had ANOTHER semen analysis with them and I had a HS procedure done. They wanted me to come to Pensacola FL (I live in MS) and I refused because thats 2 hours from me. December 2, I believe, I went back for the HS in Alabama, it was fine so I met with Dr. Ripps again. He was saying if the second semen analysis came back "not where he wanted it" (but not necessarily any real issues with it) we would have to do a THIRD semen analysis but this time it would be sent to a different lab and was $125!!! If the the THIRD analysis was "abnormal" the only "real way" to get the sperm to the egg was IVF! IN ALL OF MY YEARS WITH MY PREVIOUS FERTILITY SPECIALIST, I HAVE NEVER EVER EVEN HEARD A THING ABOUT IVF!!! The old specialist gave my partner clomid and I conceived naturally 4 months later after I gave up on treatments because I was obsessing and stressing myself out about them! This was not an option here. I have PCOS, thats easy to manage and I told Dr. Ripps what worked for me but he wanted to try things other ways which were MUCH MUCH more expensive. I also received bills from the hospital for blood work (in addition to the $75 I had to pay for whatever "special blood work" it was they drew at my first appointment) then another bill from LabCorp when they told me all of their blood work was done in office AND one was for a pregnancy test but they never drew blood 14 days after confirmed ovulation, only 7 days after my "mid-cycle scan" -- so why a HCG test was taken/ordered I have no clue... Bottom line, the Mobile staff is unfriendly. When I would call for results they would tell me to wait until I talked to the dr (whenever that would be) or after a week tell me they still havent gotten to doing my blood work, it was still in the fridge, etc - Dr. Ripps didnt seem to care about anything I had to tell him in regards to what worked before and jumped straight to IVF after only one cycle in which my body responded to meds (although I was over stimulated) so it wasn't like there was no response or that we had tried everything before resorting to the most expensive "last resort" option. Ultimately, I cancelled all the rest of my appointments and unfortunately will be finding a new dr to help us expand the family. read more

I cannot say enough good things about Dr. Ripps and his staff. We came to them about a year ago for a semen analysis and now we are now 8 weeks pregnant from a successful IVF cycle with them. Today was our last day as New LIFE patients. It is so hard to leave this wonderful group of people! From the very beginning they have gone above and beyond for us. Dr. Ripps and his nurses are very thorough and make sure you are fully educated about everything that is going on. They have developed 100% of my trust and have been with me every step of the way throughout this process making it so much less intimidating and scary. I am forever grateful for each and every one of them and all that they do. I cannot recommend New LIFE enough! read more

Don't go here if you actually want a baby. All you'll get here is heartbreak and you'll be broke from giving all your hard earned money to them. Save yourself some pain and find a better doctor. All Dr. Ripps cares about is getting the most money from each patient. Very sad! read more

After 10 years of trying, we set up an appointment to speak with Dr. Ripps. We were truly impressed with the knowledge and compassion Dr. Ripps and his staff had. We found out that IVF was going to be the best route for us and they walked us through every step of the way. Thanks to this amazing team, we become parents to a little boy! My husband and I are so happy we made the decision to come to NewLIFE. We highly recommend NewLIFE to anyone struggling with infertility. read more