Andrea Journagin, MD - Sharp Rees-Stealy La Mesa

"Dr. Journagin is an amazing doctor. She is kind, and understanding, and has a warm welcoming smile. She has been my Doctor for two of my pregnancies, and has helped me with all my questions, and concerns."

"I wish I could give negative stars. I don't know about the quality of the doctor, but her staff was an absolute joke. I did a cycle of in-vitro in Mexico and my doctor told me to find an OBGYN in the US to perform my pregnancy test and to continue care. A little note to those who haven't had to do IVF... (In order to get an accurate pregnancy test after IVF you need a quantitative blood test which measures your HGC levels. The at home (urine) tests can give false positives or negatives due to the hormones used in the process. A blood test is required 14 days after your implantation and can also indicate the presence of multiples. Not only is a blood test important because urine tests are not reliable with IVF but if the cycle was not successful then you need to start another several month long regimen of drugs to try again. Waiting 10 weeks to even know if you are pregnant makes no sense and is a substantial waste of time. Also IVF carries a higher risk of multiples, ectopic pregnancy, and miscarriage. Early testing is required not just for convenience but for very real risks to the health of the mother and child.) So.. when I called to attempt to get an appointment the nurse scoffed and told me that they don't see any patients until the 8-10th week after their missed period. As if I was an idiot for even asking. I let her know my situation and she rudely told me that if I had invitro done in Mexico that I needed to go back to the same doctor for my pregnancy test. I told her that it didn't seem necessary to travel internationally for a single blood test that can be done without needing an office visit. All I needed was a lab slip. If they wanted to do an office visit that's fine too but I was only asking for a pregnancy test. She then told me again that the only place I should do a pregnancy test was back in Mexico with my fertility doctor. She also told me I don't even NEED to know if I'm pregnant until the 8-10 week mark because "a lot can happen in the first few weeks" Implying that I might just miscarry and that an appointment would be a waste of their time. She kept using the term "normal" pregnancy implying that I'm ABnormal. When I told her that I was sorry I wasn't a "normal" case and that with invitro there are several reasons that testing is absolutely required at 14 days post embrio transfer she told me again "just go to Mexico then if you need it". She continued telling me their office's procedures for "normal" women. I gave her several reasons that waiting 8-10 weeks would put my health (or possible baby) at risk and she laughed. I asked her why she was laughing about she told me "I'm just listening to you talk". I told her putting my health at risk really isn't funny. Then she put me on hold to talk to a manager (yeah right). She came back on and said that I should just go to Mexico if I really need to see a doctor so bad, their office wouldn't see me before 8 weeks. Either the receptionist is completely uneducated on the basics of early pregnancy or she has some bias against women who have to go through the nightmare of IVF. She even told me that without a positive test that I had no reason to call. I informed her that I HAD gotten several positive tests at home and explained again that the hormones used in the process can give a false positive. She just completely dismissed my answer and seemed not to understand. I stopped by another OBGYN's office closer to my house later that day. Not only did the receptionist congratulate me and my husband but she told me she hoped that all 3 embrios take so that they could see 3 new babies. She scheduled a phone appointment with the doctor for THAT DAY and an appointment for the lab on the day I requested. When the doctor called she was 100% engaged and agreed that a blood test is absolutely necessary in the case of IVF and was at a loss for words as to why Andrea Journagin's office refused to see me. She told me how dangerous it is to ignore high risk scenarios like mine. Im so glad I saw up front how horrible this office is. Don't trust them."

"A physician that listens. Dr. Journagin stops, sits, and actively listens to what you're saying. Thorough and gives sound medical advice about women's health. I trust Dr. Journagin and have scheduled an appointment for my teen daughter. I definitely recommend Dr. Journagin."

"What an amazing doctor she is. She truly cares about your well being and is very knowledgeable. I am so thankful for her! I would 100% recommend her to anyone!"