Austin Fertility Institute

Would have been nice to meet with a financial coordinator to walk us through the costs of IVF and how insurance related to our out of pocket costs. The lady who handles their insurance told us at our last visit that we needed to pay several thousand dollars out of pocket because our insurance benefits had run out, but we told her that we had an HRA and we also had a credit... and then she confirmed that (but only after we mentioned it). Loved that the lab was in house and they would even be able to run the labs on the weekends.

Dr. Crawford is so incredibly compassionate, especially when delivering bad news. You could tell that it was difficult for her to even have to give us the bad news, but she answered every question we possibly could have had and was available via email.

Loved all of the nurses at AFI. Just like Dr. Crawford, they were knowledgeable and compassionate. The only downside was the difficulty in reaching them via phone because it is such a busy practice.

She was extremely knowledgeable and could provide evidence behind almost everything as it related to IVF. I could not have asked for a better doctor to guide us through our first few cycles of IVF. She welcomed our input even when it came to treatment protocols. For example, I responded very poorly to lupron and had a lot of side effects ... I felt hesitant to even discuss that I did not want to do another lupron cycle, but when I expressed my hesitation she agreed. She was always upbeat and positive, but also realistic. After our first egg retrieval ended with only 1 embryo, we changed strategies from embryo banking to just trying to have 1 baby. I'm glad we were all on the same page the whole way through.

Ask her any questions that you may have, because her answers are based on extensive knowledge and will make you feel more at ease.

First was antagonist protocol with gonalF, menopur, ganirelex and ovidrel trigger. Made it to egg retrieval with 6 eggs retrieved, only 1 embryo (PGS abnormal). Due to concern that maybe the follicles were growing quickly and weren't used to the stimulation, OCP and lupron was added the 2nd cycle (started at 10 units, then tapered to 5). Also added HGH for possibly an increase in number of follicles. Had horrible side effects to lupron ... would feel feverish, chills, aches. There was only 1 dominant follicle so we did IUI that failed. 3rd cycle was the normal antagonist protocol with HGH. Follicles did not respond to medication at all and that cycle was cancelled.

From what I can recall, each ultrasound monitoring appointment was around 180 (based on the contracted rate with my insurance), which was approx $1000 in the first cycle. The surgical center costs were the bulk of what we had to pay out of pocket. It was approximately $4000 for the egg retrieval/lab and $4000 for PGS testing.

ave not been to other clinic(s) in town so I can't really speak towards comparison, but I chose Dr. M and AFI because of the individualized attention and treatment plan. I also picked him because he was ready to get me started immediately and did not make me go through a bunch of hoops to become a patient. For something so personal as fertility treatments to build your family, you need to be comfortable with the doctor and nurses. You WILL spend a lot of time with them and put a great deal of trust in them. I have always felt very comfortable and well taken care of here.

Everyone in the office is caring. They use your name, know your history, and treat you like a person. They always spend time with you each appointment.

They are all very sweet, caring, and helpful. They know you and remember details to make it seem more personal.

He tells it like it is. He's compassionate without being unrealistic or condescending. I like his bedside manner a lot. He's not the type to sugar coat things or sit and hold your hand, but not everyone wants or needs that type of doctor. However, he will make sure you have answers to all your questions and explains each step.

Wait times are extensive, but when it is your turn, the care you receive somehow makes you forget the wait. Go into it open and willing to listen to options. However, don't feel like you need to do something you are not interested or comfortable doing.

ur priority was to get me ovulating. He used oral and injectable medications right away. When I questioned this, he said his experience showed a better outcome and gave me specific examples of how my case fit this protocol. He had "criteria" he explained about number of spontaneous ovulations in a year dictating if oral vs oral + injectable meds worked best. After 4 rounds of this with a surgery in the middle (adhesions were found), we decided to take a break from treatments. We were not ready to go to IVF and that was his recommendation. He said further IUIs would not be worth the cost for our situation because I was responding to the medications beautifully but still not conceiving. A few weeks later, I had a spontaneous pregnancy that ended up being in my tube. He treated me (doing betas, early ultrasound, basically treating me like I was still his patient even though I had technically said goodbye to him the month before). At this point I got the push I needed to pursue IVF. He provided details about our expected outcome of IVF stimulation - estimating the number of eggs. I appreciated that he said he gives each patient a personalized "low number" that he likes to see before he cancels a cycle. He detailed the lab side of things talking about when we would receive updates and what details would be provided. We discussed the benefits and negatives of doing a Freeze All vs a Fresh cycle. We chose a freeze all and it was a good choice for us because I responded well to the meds and would have been at risk for overstimulation otherwise. He provided a recommendation and fairly detailed reasons why when we were trying to determine if we should transfer 1 vs 2. For my FET, it was a long prep time. That is always a bummer to have MORE waiting after so long, but Dr M explained it all. Because of the crazy high hormone levels post-retrieval, I needed Lupron and birth control pills for a month or so. We started estrogen supplements and all seemed to go well, but then my body messed up and my lining was not good enough to transfer. We had to cancel and Dr. M promised me we'd get it right next go. He got me back on board really quick (we only lost 3 weeks) and added in IM estrogen shots because my body was metabolizing the oral estrogen too quick he said. He gave me a choice of progesterone options and we chose a combination of PIO and Crinone. He said he really liked this combo and had great results with it, but PIO alone was a cost effective solution. (He was sensitive to our finances in understanding we could not do all crinone due to cost). Our first transfer was a success.

e provided a price list (cash patient pricing) at my first visit for Timed Intercourse and IUI cycles ($500-$1500 depending on type of medication used and TI vs IUI) He provided a list of costs for IVF at my IVF consult appointment. ($10-12K depending on fresh vs frozen - FETs around $3K)

He used my age, the lab results, and finances to propose a recommendation for # of embyros to transfer. He said between my age and the lab results he really did not have a strong preference or suggestion. At nearly 36, he said two made a lot of sense (not genetic tested). Because our embryos looked so great in the lab and we had extras frozen, he said we should start with 1. Finally he did mention costs and if doing a 2nd transfer would be a large burden we should go with 2 as long as we were open to twins. After all that information he said his "soft recommendation" would be a single transfer, but he had no hesitations or judgement if we chose 2. (we did choose 2)

Same as the nursing staff and doctor: too many patients, too large of a waiting time. The staff is nice, professional and accommodating most of the time. Things may have changed as they have another doctor on staff, and I hope this doesn't mean they just took on more patients.

His clinic is impossibly busy. Wait periods are anywhere from 30mins to two hours.

Weakness is the overall weakness of the clinic : too many patients in one day. No level of organization can handle that volume. Another thing the annoyed me: the clinic wanted me to buy my IVF medicine before the teaching session. So I was supposed to shell out thousands of dollars for medicine and don't have a clue what is it for and if the amounts are appropriate. They should reverse the order of that.

He is very competent and uses a straightforward language to describe his thought process. He is less accommodating about questions that do not exactly confirm his line of thinking. Examples: the question of when to inject sperm after the trigger in IUI. He says it doesn't matter, Cochrane review says the evidence is poor to asses the issue. He almost took offense with me when I mentioned that. I don't mean to be a nosy, know-all patient, but I have too many friends that are medical doctors to know that lots of issues are not as straightforward as some of them are trying to present them.

Bring your laptop and work in his office while waiting if you can. Be persistent in asking questions and don't take his reluctance to address ambiguities personally.

He used Femara + Folistin+Ovidrel for trigger for IUI. I did 4 IUI's with him. Number of mature eggs were 6-2-3-4 I had chemical pregnancy in my third try and pregnancy (and live birth) in my fourth try. For IVF, he used Femara + Folistin+ Menopure + Lupron for trigger. I had 18 eggs extracted, 13 were mature, 6 embryos survived to be PGS-ed, none of them was valid (all were aneuploid) He adjusted the dose once during my second IUI - that resulted in only two mature eggs.

$1500 per IUI, I don't remember exactly his fee for IVF. With failed IVF, I got two free IUI's.

Scheduling appointments and billing were super easy. Never felt like I was being upsold. The clinic they partner with is just next door and the team there was equally amazing, compassionate, and kind. We are incredibly grateful to the team at Viviere for how we were treated during my OHSS episode.

Dr. Crawford remembered exactly who we were each time we saw her - including what my career is and the fact that it might mean needing to schedule appointments at very specific times. She greeted us with a smile every time we saw her except for the times when we it was more appropriate to greet us with compassion during a difficult time in our treatment. I ended up being one of the "lucky" folks to suffer from severe OHSS (even though my #s did not indicate I would be at risk), and she did not rest until I was feeling better, including communicating with me at 6am. We always came in with a list of questions which were pleasantly answered, and yet Dr. Crawford managed to schedule her appointments with enough time inbetween to be respectful of our other time commitments - I rarely waited more than 15 minutes to be seen. They built their practice to recognize people have lives outside of this endeavor, making it possible to have blood drawn at their office rather than running around town. In addition to Dr. Crawford's incredible bedside manner, her support team was equally up to the task, answering questions with a pleasant demeanor, recognizing my severe needle anxiety and walking me through administrating it without judgment.

Incredibly friendly. Sometimes the blood draw was more painful than how I've experienced it elsewhere, but the folks were very friendly and the convenience was worth it. Calls were always returned within 24 hours, paperwork requested for financial assistance filled out in a timely manner, questions pleasantly answered.

She is incredibly knowledgable, up to date in the latest research/technology/procedures, personable, and upbeat without giving a false sense of hope. Please see my comments under why I felt like a human for more specific examples.

Trust her. I didn't want to have the saline sonogram that she recommended because I had recently had an HSG performed elsewhere. While she was willing to work with me for 1 cycle without doing the sonogram as I was concerned about costs, I ultimately decided to trust her. Very glad I did as we found 2 uterine polyps that the HSG had not detected.

I forget the name of the protocol, but it included starting with birth control, then using Gonal F and menopur, later adding ganirelix, and using ovidrel as a trigger. This had to do with the fact that I ovulated regularly and she thought this would produce the highest quantity of eggs within a safe range. We ended up with 18 eggs harvested, 18 embryos being fertilized with ICSI, with 9 of them making it to day 5/6. We did a freeze all because even though my estrogen was below 3000, I still developed severe OHSS. We then elected to do a SET starting with Estrogen pill and patch and progesterone pill and crinone, switching to PIO after my progesterone levels were borderline (she likes them higher for IVF patients than what one might see if one conceived the old fashioned way to lower the risk of miscarriage.

Procedures and Physician Fees: Follicle Monitoring- $1500, Oocyte Aspiration- $1500, Embryo Transfer- $750. ICSI included. Storage for first year included; $500 year after that. Vivere Health: Lab fee- $5250, Anesthesia fee- $500, Oocyte Retrieval- $1250, Embryo Transfer- $1250 Frozen Embryo Transfer- Ultrasounds and labs- $750, Embryo Transfer- $750 Austin Fertility Lab fee- $500 Facility Fees- $1250 Meds were approximately $6k for retrieval cycle and approximately $2k for FET.

She didn't seem to have a strong preference; she explained the statistical likelihood of different outcomes. We felt fairly strongly about only transferring 1 embryo given my age, size, and the statistics she presented to us.

The office is quite busy, taking that into consideration I do feel I am known as a patient and there is specific focus on me and my case at anytime with the Dr. He is able to recall previous visits and concerns and readdress them or casually comment on something unrelated to our visit that we share in common. The care team has always been attentive and truly seem to want to see this succeed as well. The cost of being treated as a human, is all other patients are as well so there have been multiple occasions where the visits run long, which can put a time lag for other appointments.

They seem to remember who I am and will always reiterate or further explain anything i need help remembering. They make the experience hospitable and are compassionate.

I am still in the beginning stages of our treatment. Up until now, I feel he is extremely knowledgeable and truly is passionate about his field. He has been very educative on anything we were not clear on, taking other ways to provide clarity. The alternative would be a Dr. who would make a patient feel as if there was no need to explain since they likely wouldn't understand anyway. He is willing to explain something in as many ways necessary to bring you up to speed, as well as to ease any concerns, even if he has stated he isn't concerned with a particular issue for your case. He doesn't appear to hold anything back, which I think is great. For some he may seem too blunt, but really with an issue such as infertility there is no better way to get to the root of what treatment will be best and why. It's possible you may wait longer than you'd like for your appointment, but again he takes his time with whoever he is currently treating so that is a given and you are afforded the same. He has stayed as late as almost 8pm on a Fri evening just educating and answering questions for us. He has also provided direct access to him for anything outside of normal business hours should we need to reach him.

Understand that it's about your fertility, you have options and need understanding. He can provide that, and should. Don't expect an overly compassionate personality, he is an expert and is driven by data and how he can move forward. Expect appointments to run late, but know you won't be rushed either.

There are days when things are very behind and your appointment may not start until 30 minutes after your appointment time. The waiting room was fairly small at the time I went and sometimes it would be Jam packed. They did create a calm waiting room experience.

While they see many patients a day, everyone was always very friendly, welcoming and remembered specific things about my life. I also saw Dr. Moghadam at every appointment.

They were all very friendly and helpful. They remembered details about our lives and would ask questions about us at every appointment, they were also very apologetic anytime things were running behind.

Dr. Moghadam was very no nonsense and very confident, which I liked because he believes in what he does and his ability to help you achieve a pregnancy. I never felt like he was rushing to move on to the next patient and addressed all of my concerns. When I discovered that he suggested that I freeze all embryos and do a frozen cycle, I was devistated and he was behind on his schedule, but he gave me his cell phone number and told me to call him that evening and he would answer any questions or concerns that I had and would explain in more detail why he thought a frozen transfer was the way to go. I called him that evening and he spent around 30 minutes explaining things to me and making sure that I understood his reasoning and was on board with doing what he thought best.

relax and remember that everyone else in the office is there for the same thing thing. If He is running late, it is because he gives his all to his patients and sometimes that means things take longer than expected.

I do not remember the specific protocols and medication dosage used.

I do not remember the specifics of the breakdown, but the egg retrieval and transfer was around $11,000. Since I had to do a frozen transfer instead of a fresh transfer, part of the initial payment went to pay for my frozen transfer

Dr. Moghadam suggested a single embryo transfer for us. We opted to transfer two embryos and he went over why he thought one would be better, ie the quality of the embryos were so good that he thought there was a high chance of them both implanting and he just wanted us to have a healthy, safe pregnancy.

The only weakness is the long wait times. Their strengths are the personalized treatment and care. When your turn comes, you'll feel like the only patient they have.

I never felt like a number here, but the waiting was annoying. The doctor was late to every appointment.

They are all the sweetest ladies in the world. They treat you like family, and remember your name. My faves are Lisa, Priscilla, and Michelle.

I felt that he was very honest, but also a pessimist. My IVF outcome was better than he predicted. Dr M mentioned cancelling my cycle again, but it turned out to be a great cycle. The doctor definitely knows what he is doing, and I would absolutely trust him with another IVF cycle, if necessary.

Be patient and trust him. He gives his patients one on one attention, therefore the waits are usually long.

I first started birth control and then the Antagonist Protocol. I took 75 menopur, and 375 Gonal F. The bcp over suppressed me, and we had to cancel that cycle on Day6. The next cycle, we left out the birth control pills and it was smooth sailing all the way. My prescription was the same, but this tine I showed ten good follicles, one was pretty dominant. The dominant follicle would have to be sacrificed, because the others were all pretty synchronized. We added Cetrotide to prevent ovulation and allow the others to grow. I ended up with 11 eggs, nine mature, nine fertilized normally. I'm very happy with the results.

I have fertility insurance, so I can't answer.

No comment here

Clinic is very helpful. It's kind of hard to trust the scheduling. Frequently runs late, but I think that's at least partially because they try to educate and fully answer questions. Care is always done well.

Very willing to talk and explain things and answer questions.

staff is kind of hard to get a hold of. Appointments are scheduled optimistically and frequently run late. Nursing line always goes to voicemail. They do call back and answer questions, but can never get a hold of them.

Very willing to work, trying to do the best outcomes. Sometimes had conflict about how far to push treatment and how quickly to scale up. I always felt like she was trying to do the very best. She tried to work around my schedule.

I wouldn't have any concern. The same as pretty much any other infertility doctor. I don't know that I would recommend her for someone that absolutely had to have kid glove treatment.

I used femara so far, to stimulate ovulation on the side that still had a fallopian tube, followed by intercourse. Have discussed other protocols but so far haven't tried that yet.

cycles $500 per femara/intercourse. IUI $1500, IVF 10,000

didn't try it yet.

The long wait times sometimes an hour. He was running two locations and must have been stretched thin. The doctor should be more open about potential issues as in how important lining is for implantation. How can you move forward with two IUIs with a patient without informing them that their lining was very thin?

At the first appointment, he took his time but appointments there after it was in and out after very long wait times.

Jamie did a great job to make sure to communicate as much information and provided updates to me. She always asked me how I was doing and showed so much compassion.

He was the first fertility doctor I saw and when I did 2 iuis with him, he never mentioned that my lining was thin or try to change any protocols to help with the lining. I only found out by looking at my medical records.

To make sure you ask as many questions to ensure you are receiving the right care.

$1500 for IUI medication and I don't recall the cost for the procedure as insurance covered most of it.