Boston IVF

Dr. Rita Sneeringer is a compassionate, kind and empathetic doctor. I didn't feel ashamed or shy to share intimate medical details with her. Something I really value about her is she is honest but also understanding. I didn't get a sense of judgement for her which I sometimes feel with doctors. She actually praised me for our decision to pursue fertility preservation, which really made me feel confident in our decision to continue with Boston IVF after our consult.

Make sure to read all emails thoroughly prior to your consult. Its a LOT of information they need from you, but if you give yourself enough time to fill out everything properly (forms, medical history, clearing with insurance, etc.) you will have a seamless experience. Also! Bring your questions, she is happy to give you scientifically backed answers (as opposed to Dr. Google).

We did fertility preservation, I am 29 (F) and my husband is 31 (M). Total number of days on medication = 10. u= units. My calendar included Gonal-F (150 u), Menopur (75 u) for the first 4 days. Days 5-9 Ganirelex was added (one box, 0.25 mg), for reference this was 5 days of all 3 meds. Day 10 was my trigger shot, Lupon 80 u.

My health insurance covered the cost of the medications, but I looked and it would have costed a whopping 18K without insurance coverage. The copays cost me $110 The cycle cost $9,135.00 The genetic testing (after insurance partially contributed) was $60 for both of us. Note: My employer works with Carrot Fertility to provide supplemental funds for all of this, up to 20K. I spent about 11K.

N/A, we did preservation for future use.

I have had nothing but positive experiences with the team at BostonIVF South Shore, from the administrative staff, nurses, phlebotomist, ultrasound techs, and Dr. Resetkova. Everyone is so kind and seems to be genuinely interested in you and your path to parenthood. I can be open an honest with them about how all of this feels, and how frustrating an infertility diagnosis is. They were genuinely happy when we did achieve a pregnancy, and they cried with us when we lost that pregnancy. I feel so completely supported by the team at BostonIVF.

Be honest and open with her about your concerns, she goes out of her way to find ways to make this journey very individualized, to minimize your fears and help you understand this journey.

I did several un-medicated IUI cycles, then moved onto medicated IUI cylces, non of which resulted in pregnancy. We tried cycles with clomid, and FSH. Then we moved onto IVF, my first IVF cycle started with a short period of oral contraceptive then with used Gonal-F and Menopur to stimulated. We started with lower doses of the Gonal-F and increased as needed with monitoring. This cycle produced very few eggs and was converted to an IUI cycle which was unsuccessful. The next IVF cycle started with high doses of Gonal-F and Menopur, with this cycle we retrieved 8 eggs, more then she expected, 6 fertilized and 2 made it to good quality day 5 blastocysts. We opted not to test our embryos because we were worried with limited numbers we could risk losing them. We transferred both of these embryos and I was pregnant but, lost the baby to a trisomy at 18 weeks. My mos recent IVF cycle we followed the same medication plan, high doses of Gonal F and Menopur, we got 3 eggs, and 2 fertilized. We transferred both of these embryos on day 3. We are now in a holding period because of the COVID 19 pandemic. I am taking an oral contraceptive now in preparation for a hopeful cycle start in May. At that time we will be using Gonal F, Lupron, and Menopur (I believe).

Some of my care was covered under insurance but, some was not. In total I believe we have spent over $10,000 on fertility treatments.

Our physician explained to us that given my age, the likelihood of multiple pregnancy was low as we would likely lose 1/2 of the embryos transferred. If we retrieve more than 5 eggs that successfully fertilize we will wait until day 5 if possible and transfer 2, if we get less then 5 we will transfer on day 3 and will transfer up to 3 embryos based on quality.

Nine years ago when I started seeing Dr. Luzzo she was very thorough and helped us to understand everything that we were about to experience. We had started out from the very beginning of time in intercourse to the IUI procedures, to IVF, to IVF with ICSI hatching , to IVF with ICSI , hatching and PGS. It’s been a long journey, and she has been with us through the whole thing. Each time we had a negative result she would help dust us off and get us back in the saddle. When I got my first positive pregnancy, she was so excited she called me with the results. When we “graduated” we opted not to know the gender but asked her to surprise us, she made out a card for us to open when we were ready. Although later I lost my pregnancy due to IC ( incompetent Cervix), we got pregnant again and again and she would always tell me to text her or email her and keep her updated. She would contact me on my appointment days wishing me luck and I would share sonogram photos with her and updates. She genuinely cares about her patients. I never had a bad experience with her.

Don’t give up on her, she will do everything she can to figure it out and help you. Trust her advice and her treatment plan. She’s more than just a RE , she is one of the best.

I don’t remember each treatment strategy however, when we did the IVF process we did the Gonal-F and started our doses low I believe (75) and then gradually higher , by our 3rd retrieval we started high (300) and stayed high approx 2-3 weeks. We also did Menopur and again started at 1 vial then by our 3rd retrieval we started at 2 vials during the 2-3 weeks. Then we would go in for ultrasounds and check on the follicle growth and count and bloodwork for levels of LH and FSH. Slow and steady wins the race! Close to the time of “ triggering “ (ovulation stimulant) I would start on cetrotide (.25MG)for the last week and then when ready to finally “pop” the nurse would call with the time that I would inject the Pregnyl (HCG). Then about 48 hours later I would have the eggs retrieved and ready for testing.

Monitoring appointments would be scheduled for early mornings. There had been times where I was stuck in traffic and running late for my appointment when I would call they would say don’t worry we’ll see you when you get here. One time I did forget about my appointment and they called me to make sure I was ok, and we just rescheduled for the next day. The nice thing about the appts is that they can start very early in the morning so you can still make it to work on time.

The cost of care was expensive. We had changed our insurance company last year but some costs were not always covered. We spent a couple thousand dollars each cycle for medications, some bloodwork (3rd party ), co-payments and meeting our deductible, also our genetic testing was not covered the first time so that cost us $3,700 for the testing of 5-8 day 5 embryos. IVF is not cheap and we have done it multiple times. Luckily, the last time we had the PGS testing done, insurance covered the cost with the recommendation from the doctor.

Because of my age we would only put in one, since it could split and we knew they were checked for chromosomal abnormalities. I trusted her advice and was ok with just the one at a time approach.

Dr. Sneeringer is probably one of the best in the industry. She is compassionate, friendly, and genuinely wants to see you succeed. She knows when to also be firm and assert her expertise. She did let me ask about novel protocols, etc. The one issue is she is conservative and plays it safe. I was also using frozen eggs. She insisted on developing the eggs past 5 day blasts and having genetic testing on both fresh and frozen eggs. After several failed cycles I asked for a Day 3 transfer and she agreed to a Day 5 transfer. That helped me conceive. But we used every egg and I have no frozen eggs left. I often wish we had done a Day 5 transfer on earlier cycles. Or we had frozen the one remaining embryo that was left with the frozen egg at Day 5. I may have been able to have one more child?

Dr. Sneeringer is one of the best fertility specialists. She is genuine and cares. Some people prefer a stronger voice, but she is professional and asserts her medical expertise when necessary. She is conservative with the medical technology and prefers to "put the eggs through hoops" with lab growth then genetic testing. I felt she brought up donor eggs too early after one unsuccessful cycle. But otherwise, every interaction with her was professional and with the highest level of medical attention and care.

Cycle 1 - 4 Frozen, Fresh retrieval Cycle 2 - 3 Frozen, Fresh retrieval Cycle 3 - 0 Frozen, Fresh retrieval - Genetic Screening - 1 AA embryo, Frozen transfer Cycle 4 - 7 Frozen, Fresh retrieval - 1 BB embryo and one morula, Day 5 transfer, 1 conception (no genetic screening due to day 5 transfer) Strategies used: 7% chance of frozen eggs working, so best to have fresh cycles with frozen eggs. Always use genetic screening to be safe even with eggs frozen at age 35 and 36.

Egg freezing cycles = $15,000-17,000. 3 elective frozen egg cycles. Human growth hormone = $3,000.

Dr. Sneeringer does not prefer to have Day 3, Day 5 transfers. Prefers genetic screening then frozen transfer. Prefers 2 embryos at most. Conservative with number of embryos to be transferred.

He was very educated and informed, and able to explain things without going over your head when he talks. I personally appreciate somebody who is very honest, so Dr. Penzias was a great doctor for me. He's very straight forward if you ask him a question and confident in his responses, when your dealing with infertility at first you usually come across doctors that don't know much about it, so it was comforting for me to not hear any hesitation when he spoke. By breaking down my personal experiences with my diagnosis of unexplained infertility, he was able to say with confidence that IVF could be a good solution for me and he was correct. I could never thank him enough.

Listen to what he's saying when he discusses your condition with you.

I've had one IVF cycle, and I am currently 8 months pregnant with my first child. IVF was determined to be the best course of action, I previously had lost 5 pregnancies over 2 years, giving me a diagnosis of recurrent pregnancy loss and unexplained infertility. I had no issues getting pregnant, but could not carry past 6 weeks. I was given progesterone to help maintain the pregnancy until 11 weeks gestation. Ovidrel was the drug used to cause ovulation. Menopur with gonal-f were used during egg stimulation producing 14 eggs in total.

My insurance covered the cost of most of it.

They insisted on a single transfer, it's common practice in this clinic and they have high success rates with it. While I would have rather transferred 2 embryos to start, the risks with multiples in pregnancy was enough that I didn't argue it, and we had a successful single transfer.

She is a no nonsense type person. Blunt and to the point with recommendations. We don’t feel we need coddling or hand holding as a couple so her approach worked for us. If someone needs a softer touch she may not be the best doctor. After we had a successful transfer her demeanor changed a little and she was lighter, less serious demeanor, happier for us and our situation. I think that is the nature of I fertility though, you can’t be too optimistic Incase it doesn’t work. We hit a few speed bumps and she gave us proper guidance for each step.

Have your questions written down ahead of time if you can. But don’t hesitate to call and ask additional ones that pop up.

Two procedures: 1) IVF for egg retrieval and 2) embryo transfer. 1) Started Lupron 10 units SQ once daily for 10 days, then decreased to 5 units once daily and started Gonadotrpins: Gonal F 225 units SQ and Menopur 75 units SQ once daily until hCG shot (10 days later). Egg retrieval 2 days after trigger. 13 eggs retrieved, 7 mature and frozen unfertilized. We found out a week or so before retrieval that my husband had zero sperm in his sample that was to be frozen for a back up. As well as zero sperm the day of retrieval. After speaking with Dr. Wright she encouraged us to go ahead with Egg retrieval since we were so far along in the process and fertilize later on. My husband had TESE procedure 2 months after my ER and the froze 10 vials of sperm. We did not to any genetic testing or extra testing on eggs/sperm or embryos. 2) Fresh embryo transfer from frozen gametes (3 months after ER and 1 month after TESE procedure). Treated like a frozen embryo transfer schedule but with the unpredictability of transfer date like a fresh cycle. Started Aspirin 81mg and estrogen patches (I get migraines and can’t be on Estrace pills) and continued this until pregnancy test. Started Progesterone 25mg IM once daily day 15 and increase to 50mg IM daily until after positive pregnancy test and ultrasounds. Day 17 transfer of two embryos. Gametes thawed, 4 eggs survived the thaw and fertilized, 2 arrested day 1, 2 remained and were transferred as a Day 2/3 transfer to Give them the best chance at growing. Our original protocol was to transfer one embryo due to our low risk factors and age. The on call doctor made the decision to transfer both in order to give us the best chance to get pregnant, we agreed with their recommendation. Transferred a -2c and a 5b embryo. Both stuck and resulted in live (C-section) birth of B/G twins.

Medications were completely out of pocket. They were phoned into a local compounding pharmacy that has dedicated staff to help answer any questions about fertility medication. 1) IVF for egg retrieval: Leuprolide $249 Gonal F $2,142 Menopur $972 Pregnyl (hCG) $92 Crinone $572.46 (did not use due to no fertilization at egg retrieval and non-returnable) Rx fees $16.94 Total for cycle $4,044.40 2) embryo transfer Estrogen patches $409.21 Progesterone injectable $79.85 Total cycle cost $489.06

I came to Dr. Zimon after already being treated by another doctor in another state. I wasn't new to infertility or treatments, so we hit the ground running. We had some insurance hoops to jump through (like trying IUI one more time) and she was patient through all that. She explained everything we needed to know about IVF, the risks, the benefits, and the odds of it working for us. She was cautious going into our first cycle (maybe too cautious) and we found out I was a poor responder to meds. She was open to adjusting my protocol and she was open to trying different things. I met with her several times and she always listened to my concerns and took the time to answer all my questions. She did my first egg retrieval, and we only had one egg retrieved, but she took the time to talk to me about everything and called me personally when that egg didn't fertilize. She celebrated with me when we had successes and shared my disappointment with failed cycles. I felt like she was a good balance between honest and direct but also compassionate. We ultimately ended up with twins after our third retrieval and second transfer, so I'm glad she was willing to try different protocols until we found what worked.

Come to appointments prepared with a list of questions and be ready to take notes. It can be a lot of information at once.

First cycle: antagonist protocol. Started low and slow, very little response to meds (Bravelle and Menopur). Tried upping the dosage, with some response. I have some symptoms of PCOS, so I think she was worried I would over-stim, but since I have DOR, that wasn't an issue. Only 1 egg was retrieved and it didn't fertilize, so nothing to transfer that round. Second cycle: no birth control pills taken prior to cycle start, since I was over-suppressed. Switched to an estrogen priming protocol with much better response and upped my dosage of Bravelle, continued Menopur. 8 eggs were retrieved, 5 fertilized. Elective single embryo transfer on day 5, 2 embryos were frozen. Negative pregnancy test. Third cycle: Dr. Zimon recommended another fresh cycle, so we left 2 embryos frozen and did the EPP again. My dose of Bravelle was upped again, I think to the max recommended dose. 6 eggs were retrieved, 4 mature, 2 fertilized. Dr. Zimon recommended a 3 day transfer (clinic policy with less than 4 embryos on day 2). We transferred both embryos on day 3, both were 8 cells. One was good quality and the other was showing some fragmentation. They told us that embryo likely wouldn't survive to day 5, and if it did, wouldn't meet the freeze criteria, so we decided to transfer both. Both embryos implanted and I gave birth to twin girls at 37 weeks 4 days.

Monitoring was done first thing in the morning, I liked the early appointments. It was organized and the wait time was never long.

I think the total cost for the cycle was around $12.500. We had insurance coverage, so our OOP was around $1500. I know ICSI was going to cost us an extra $1500, but our insurance ended up covering it. We were quoted $4500 for PGS, but didn't ended up using it (not recommended based on our diagnosis, but cost would have been prohibitive). Retail for meds was over $6K per cycle, I paid about $1K in co-pays per cycle for meds.

The clinic policy was eSET if patient was under 35 and first IVF cycle, so we followed that recommendation for our first transfer. She seemed very supportive of eSET, especially because we were concerned with the risks of multiples. She explained that the cost of multiple transfers would be potentially less that the cost of a high risk pregnancy and/or premature babies. After our eSET transfer failed, she was open to us transfering 2, but she let us know that the risk of multiples went up more than the probability of pregnancy.

Dr. Murphy is exceptionally empathetic and extremely knowledgeable. She answers all our statistical questions thoroughly. She addressed our anxieties thoughtfully. And she offered her recommendations on next steps but created plenty of space for us to talk through possible alternative options. Even when I wasn't able to speak to her directly, I could tell her whole team was in close communication. I never needed to repeat myself to an RN. Sometimes, I would email Dr. Murphy a question, and receive a call from the nursing team a few hours later to answer my question. Other times, she'd reply directly. It always felt like she was rooting for us. She even called us at the end of her workday on a Friday evening after we miscarried to just talk to us and say sorry for the loss. It was unexpected and really heartwarming. It emphasized to us how she was our advocate and cheerleader in addition to being our doctor.

Ask for what you need. Don't be afraid to ask any questions. Even if she's not there doing a procedure, she's always aware of her patients.

5 rounds of IUI, some unmedicated, some medicated. One full IVF round including a retrieval with all the related medication. Then 2 rounds of IVF natural cycles with trigger shot. One was a single embryo transfer and the second two embryos. Then a third double embryo transfer with full medication. Prior to the third IVF transfer, we did an endometrio biopsy and mock transfer cycle for additional tests.

We initially transferred one embryo, and then she was comfortable starting to transfer two embryos after that. The reasons felt clear primarily because we had been in this process for 2.5 years at that point.

(I am cutting and pasting from my prior comment as it applies to this question.) Dr. Penzias is incredibly knowledgeable and a leader in the field, and also knows that as I scientist I am very up to date on the research. So while he is always prepared to talk through any step of the process in a clear way, he also respected that I was pretty clear on everything and knew the literature. Still I felt comfortable asking any remaining questions and he always took the time to make sure they were fully answered. He also came to every consultation having read and prepared my history carefully. He knew all my backstory and extreme challenges and was highly sensitive to that. And while he doesn't generally encourage the use of RI's, in my case (and a few other patients of his) it was clear that was the next step having ruled out so much else, and he was on board for collaborating. And lastly, after my last failure, he wanted to make sure that aside from IVF plans, that I had support for the depression and challenges I was going through. I couldn't have asked for much more.

He may not at first come across as especially warm and fuzzy (though definitely not cold) but he really is quite empathetic which I learned more and more over time. He also really takes all the time to make sure you have covered any and all questions For me he knew that I knew the research well so we didn't have to go through many of the basics, but he always had relevant slides prepared if we needed to, and I'm sure they would have been extremely helpful when I first started this process. He is also totally up to date on the current research and upcoming policies and guidance as a leader in the field and at the ASRM.

The costs at the clinic in general seem among the highest of other clinics I am aware of.

I was allowed to transfer two double donor low mosaic embryos at the same time, primarily because they were mosaics but perhaps also keeping mind all my prior failures even with double donor euploid embryos.

I saw Dr. Luzzo for a second opinion after 4 failed FET cycles. She not only took a fresh careful approach to my diagnosis of unexplained secondary infertility, but was very thorough and knowledgeable about my medical history. She offered up options, answered all my questions, and was really personable.

Go see her as soon as you can! She is an excellent combination of clinical expertise and personable care.

We started with a hysteroscopy, then an egg retrieval and PGT testing. Then proceeded with natural FET cycle and, although I had a miscarriage, I actually got pregnant, which was a first after 4 prior FET cycles and 3 IUIs!! We regrouped with a repeat hysteroscopy as it had been more than a year, removed some cerbical stenosis and completed a natural mock cycle with endometrial biopsy. Now I’m about to start a natural cycle for an embryo transfer.

My insurance has given me pretty good coverage overall. Main costs included PGT testing, which wasn’t covered by my insurance. They communicated clearly upfront costs associated with this and called along the way if there were different options to choose from, such as when we were deciding how many of our embryos to send for PGT testing.

She fully discussed pros and cons of both choices fully with me. In my case, she recommended single embryo transfer, given tested embryos and other heath factors. We discussed a plan to consider multiple embryo transfers in the future if this next cycle is not successful.

Dr. Penzias is extremely thorough and knowledgeable. He is frank about what he can and cannot do for me, and explains why. I appreciate that he’s forthcoming about his thought process. We haven’t found success yet, but I am confident that he will leave no stones unturned to help us get there if we can.

Do your research and be prepared with questions!

We came to Dr. P already having done two retrievals, so we had three tested embryos and were coming to him after a failed transfer and a cancelled transfer. Dr. P was receptive to me doing diagnostic testing (Emma/Alice) before moving forward with a FET cycle. For the FET cycle, he had me on a high dose of estrogen for three weeks, and then increased it further for a fourth week to thicken my lining. This seemed to work, though it was still on the thin side. The transfer was not successful, but I think he’ll still be able to find a solution for us.

So far almost all of my care has been covered by insurance.

We never really talked about this, we only want to transfer one embryo at a time.

Dr. Seidler and her team were amazing. They felt like friends that were rooting for me and I came to really trust and care about them. They understood my concerns and made me feel comfortable reaching out any day / time. And I always received a response within 24 hours (oftentimes just an hour or two later).

Don’t be afraid to open up and ask the questions that feel “stupid.” Dr. Seidler will make you feel heard no matter what.

Used an antagonist method for IVF b/c of PCOS diagnosis and a freeze all cycle to avoid OHSS. We then proceeded with eSET based on our ages and the Dr.’s recommendations.

Nearly all of our costs were covered by insurance!

eSET was ultimately the right choice for us! It was hard to be patient but ultimately happy to be pregnant with one singleton.

Dr. Murphy is fantastic and I would highly recommend her to anyone looking for a fertility doctor. She was patient, kind, and thoroughly explained my options and associated risks. I was so grateful to have found such a great fertility doctor. After I moved to a different state and consequently had to proceed with a different fertility clinic, I set up a consultation with Dr. Murphy as a second opinion because I valued her expertise so much. I trusted her so much that I couldn't imagine proceeding with my FET without her weighing in!

I did two egg retrievals (for freezing) with Dr. Murphy. Because of my age (39 at the time), I think we had to be pretty aggressive about medications and monitor pretty closely. My results were amazing, though, retrieving over 60 eggs in those two cycles. So, whatever she did certainly worked. A couple years later, we turned those eggs into embryos, did PGT-A testing and ended up with 8 beautiful, healthy embryos. Given my age, I really needed to mitigate the chances of miscarriage, so I don't at all regret doing the PGT-A testing. I also consulted with her about what kind of frozen embryo cycle to go with, not getting much clarity from my new fertility doctor (I had moved to a new state). We discussed my options and preferences and she recommended a natural cycle. I went with that natural cycle and am now pregnant.

I was very lucky because I had Google insurance that covered most of my egg freezing costs.

Given my age and the fact that we did the PGT-A testing, both Dr Murphy and my new fertility doctor recommended a single embryo transfer. Both doctors were pretty clear on this being the healthiest choice for me.

She is very informative. She answers every question you have with a straight answer. She doesn't give false hope and she will tell you what to expect. Even with only one failed round, I am very eager to start my next round with her as my doctor because this is not an 100% chance thing and with her as my doctor I feel like my odds increase!

Ask her any questions you have. She will always answer you.

In my cycle I used menopur, ganirelix, and follistim for my egg retrieval. I got 19 eggs, 8 were fertilized and 4 made it to day 5. 1 was transferred, 2 were frozen. I started progesterone the day after my egg retrieval until after my negative pregnancy test.

I reached my out of pocket maximum because of a surgery I had prior to starting ivf so I didn't have to pay much for ivf. My lifetime max is 25k and meds is 10k, I reached my med maximum very quickly but I paid nothing for almost all of the medications, except 1 that wasn't covered and my nurse got me a very good price.

Dr. Murphy suggested 1 embryo transfer because of my age and heath.

Where to begin? I started my egg freeze process just about one year ago with a different doctor. All of my initial labs came back great. My first and second round of treatment ended with a terrible result (compared to what was expected). I ended up with only 3 mature eggs each time. The doctor I was seeing at the time diagnosed me with unexplained diminished ovarian reserve and more or less wrote me off. At this time, I went to Dr. Berger for a second opinion. Within minutes of speaking with me and looking at my results he had determined that I had lean pcos. As he described symptoms that I’d had my entire life, I was in disbelief that someone I’d met minutes before had finally figured me out. I was relieved but cautiously optimistic because of 2 bad cycles with the previous doctor. I began treatment for pcos. I just got back from my cycle with dr. Berger. I had 16 eggs retrieved and 13 frozen. That is four times what I got in my two previous cycles. I am so thankful I found Dr. Berger. Had I not gone to him for a second opinion I may never have known I had pcos and might have never figured this out. Additionally, he was extremely kind and informative. I cannot recommend him enough. Thank you Dr. Berger !!!!

Put your faith in his expertise!

Metformin to treat pcos Began estradiol one week before cycle day 1 Gonal f with decreasing dosage as treatment went on Low dose hcgc Certrotide Ovradil to trigger

I did egg retrieval which was self pay. I believe cost was around $6,500 plus drugs.

Dr. Sneeringer was a great fit for us, we appreciated her kindness and bedside manner. She was always up to date on our case, empathetic, and confident. She was open to any and all questions, and was thorough in explaining things to us. She tailored my testing to me specifically based on family history (adding some additional genetic tests after discussing my mother's fertility history).

I did a basic antagonist protocol - 10 days of BCP, then 11 days of Gonal-F with the last 5 days adding Cetrotide. I did Ovidrel trigger for all procedures. She kept me on a mid-range protocol and wanted middle-of-the-road results for me, which she said we achieved.

My care was completely covered by my insurance, except for my deductible for my egg retrieval.

Dr. Sneeringer recommended eSET for our first transfers, but after 2 unsuccessful tries, was open to transferring two for us.

Dr. Pauli has been fantastic. I really appreciate his straightforward manner. He's approach tends to be more conservative and while I have not gotten pregnant yet, I don't think this is a reflection of his clinical skills.

Ask lots of questions. Dr. Pauli always seemed willing to answer all my questions and explain his rationale for my treatment plans, and asking questions helped me to understand.

We did three IUIs with Dr. Pauli using letrozole, which he selected because the academic research indicates women with PCOS tend to respond better to letrozole than clomid. During the first IUI cycle, we started with the lowest dose and incremented up until I was on the highest dose plus dexamethasone. For our egg retrieval, he had me do an antagonist protocol with Cetrotide. I don't know the rationale for this protocol over others, but I responded will in terms of follicles/mature eggs produced. On retrieval day, we got 21 eggs, 16 mature eggs, 16 fertilized, and 6 embryos frozen on day 5. I did develop mild OHSS. For the first two frozen embryo transfers, Dr. Pauli had me on a birth control and Lupron down regulation then estrogen in increasing doses before starting progesterone in oil after a lining check. Both transfers resulted in negative betas. We switched to ovulation induction with letrozole and an HCG triggers shot for the third embryo transfer, which resulted in a chemical pregnancy. I stopped responding to letrozole, so we switched back to the original transfer protocol and did an ERA, which showed that I was 1 day pre-receptive and needed an additional 24 hours of progesterone. Our fourth embryo transfer resulted in a missed miscarriage between 6 and 8 weeks. Fifth transfer resulted in a negative beta test.

My insurance has covered the majority of my costs.

In my situation, he strongly suggested elective single embryo transfers for the first two transfers. After that, he seemed more amenable to doing a multiple embryo transfer if I pushed for that but still recommended single embryo transfers.

Coming from a doctor with no bedside manner Dr. Pauli is a breathe of fresh air. He has a sense of humar which is needed in this journey and comes highly recommended in the online support group I’m in.

If you’re looking to pick a fertility doctor or make a change go for it!

changing my injections as needed to keep follicles growing while also trying to prevent OHSS.

$9,400 for IVF and monitoring plus medication roughly $2,000-$4,000

He isn’t in the business’s of making multiples and does what’s best for you to not have a high risk pregnancy.

I would highly recommend Dr. Brian Berger. I went into this experience knowing little about the IVF process and Dr. Berger put my mind at ease, being patient with answering any questions I had while in his office. He gave me a course of treatment/plan that he recommended but did not pressure me into it, allowing me to weigh out my options and do my own research which was very important for me since I am a self pay patient.

You will have a wait when seeing Dr. Berger, however this is a positive thing as he does not rush any patient in his office. I appreciate the time he takes to complete a thorough evaluation/consultation which is individualized to the patient.

I believe i was on a FSH protocol, slow controlled stimulation, I stimmed for approximately 15 or 16 days, and due to risk for hyperovarian simulation syndrome I triggered with Lupron and had no issues. I had 24 eggs retrieved, 16 fertilized and 11 embryos that made it to blasts/freeze at day 5/6.

Monitoring appointments were very convenient they were set up in a window.

I am self pay, IVF with medications and frozen transfer with PGS testing roughly 22,000

N/A have not had transfer yet

I wasn’t sure where to start on the IVF journey. It’s very overwhelming, I filled out an online contact form and received a call from Boston IVF and they paired me with Dr Thornton. Other may not have left the best reviews but I personally think she has been great for us. She is very straightforward, and with time being of the essence, that’s what we need! She explains the process very thoroughly and answered all of our questions. Even after our first failed cycle (we didn’t make it to transfer) she quickly sat with us (within 1 day after finding out no transfer) and went through the next course of action! Even went so far as to collaborate with other Drs with in the practice to see if they had similar cases to ours! Overall I’m happy with her and am still holding hope that I’ll have a live birth!

If you want someone to give you hugs and kisses, Dr Thornton isn’t the one for you, but if you want an honest approach she definitely won’t sugar coat the process.

When I first met with add Thornton I was 39 turning 40, my husband had a failed vasectomy reversal. She initially suggested we go back to the office who did the reversal to see if we could retrieve sperm from him. Once that procedure was complete we moved very quickly. We started with Gonal-F and Menopur and then added Cetrotide. Trigger was done and then egg retrieval. Once retrieval was done I started on Endometrin 3 times a day.

Costs were pretty high! I am self pay meaning insurance doesn’t cover anything for the cycle. All pre blood work was covered but once the cycle started I obtained a loan for $15,000 and paid $1000 out of pocket on top of that. That included medication

Every experience we’ve had with Dr. Berger has strengthened our trust in him. He has great bedside manner, thoroughly explains every step of the process and his reasons behind his decisions for our treatment. He also doesn’t sugarcoat anything, which is appreciated.

Do as much research as possible and learn the lingo. There is a lot of new information, it can be overwhelming to try and follow a conversation at first. Be your own advocate and always bring a list of questions.

I did not do Birth Control priming, instead I was put on Estrogen pills twice a day for 10 days before my period. On day 2 of my cycle I started Gonal-F and Low Dose HCG. My first cycle started with 325 of Gonal-F and 20 of Low Dose HCG, Cetrotide was added around day 9 to slow the growth of the leading follicles. I stimmed for 13 days total. They retrieved 19 follicles, 15 were mature, 6 fertilized, 2 made it to day 5 and one was transferred. The other embryo stopped growing later on day 5. I didn’t get pregnant from this round. Round 2 used the same medications, but upped the dosages to get larger follicles. My starting doses were 450 of Gonal-F and 40 of Low Dose HCG.

The monitoring appointments were fast! I was always done with the ultrasound and blood draw within 20 minutes of arriving at Quincy or Waltham. Also, I live on the Cape, and Boston IVF has an arrangement with a local Ultrasound clinic. I was able to do monitoring Monday-Thursday on the Cape, I had to go to Quincy on Friday’s, and Waltham on Sat & Sun.

I live in Massachusetts and my insurance covers IVF coverage. So I only had to meet my yearly $2000 deductible, and pay $50 copays for office visits with the Dr. My prescription copays added up to about $300 per cycle. We are electing to do PGS testing on the embryos, costing $3700 for 8 embryos.

Dr. Berger strongly recommend we only transfer one embryo and we agreed.

I feel that she is very polite and kind. I also feel like this whole industry is in it for money. So I have a hard time separating myself from this. Our insurance covers absolutely nothing for IVF. We had discussed if we could possibly get supplemental insurance but she told my husband and I we don’t have 6 months to wait due to my egg quality/quantity. So where do we come up with all this money?! I’m sure she’s correct but is she just saying this for the money too. I also felt a little rushed in the office going over our diagnostic results. Overall I do like her and she is kind. Just bitter in general over this whole process and not being able to afford it.

Come prepared with any questions you may have.

I have yet gone for egg retrieval trying to figure out where the money is coming from. She busted I get genetically tested for fragile X and the whole genetic testing panel along with my husband. Then from there I will begin medication for egg retrieval depending on payments.

Egg retrieval $12,000 PGS testing 3/4 eggs $3,800.medications thousands. and transfer $7-$8 thousand and the dethawing of embryo after pgs testing $1,000-$1,200. If need another egg retrieval it would be $12,000 again. So one round of IVF with fertilized egg and pgs testing $25,000. If needing more than one egg retrieval add $13,000 more into that.

I see Dr. Berger as a remote patient--he is in Boston and I live in NY. I went to him for a second opinion after positive referrals, and liked him so much we stayed with his office despite the difficulty of added coordination being in separate cities. We have not had success yet, but we have had more positive progress than we had at Weill Cornell, and better understand the course of treatment and possibilities for us. He is more willing to change protocols than my previous doctor, trying for the optimal response given my low AMH.

Ask about changes in protocols if you are unsatisfied--he is very willing to discuss.

I have a very low AMH and low medication response. The most recent cycle and the one that yielded the most success (12 eggs, 6 mature, 4 fertilized, 3 PGS normal, 2 transferred thus far, 0 implanted), consisted of: estrogen patch priming protocol, stim Gonal F (600 for 6 days, 450 2 days, 375 2 days), 50 low dose HCG (10 days), cetrotide (4 days).

I was seen for monitoring at a clinic in NYC, Columbia Fertility.

IVF Egg Retrieval/Freeze/ PGS= $7,750 + $3,900 (freeze) then $4,000 for future transfer (plus meds) Donor Egg is $12,000 plus medication and donor agency fee’s if you are using an agency ($7K to 15k could be more)

I don't think we spent enough time on the pros/cons of single vs multiple. The thinking initially was that because they were PGS normal, implantation was more likely, so if transferring 2 you should really want twins.

Dr Murphy is by far one of my favorite doctors. She is compassionate, honest and truly cares about her patients. Every nurse I have seen at varying clinic locations comments on her incredible bedside manner. I started ivf at 40, at no point has Dr Murphy ever made me feel like having a baby is an unattainable goal for me. She is smart, well respected and one of the most genuine and compassionate docs I have ever had. I couldn’t imagine going through this with any other doc by my side.

She is only in the South Shore office one day a week so appointments can be hard but I have found her main office in Brookline to not be a challenge at all!

I have been using Menopur, Gonal and Cetrotide. My biggest issue is a lack of mature eggs. Dr Murphy switched up my trigger to a double after my first retrieval only resulted in 2 mature eggs despite having 10 measurable follicles. The double (lupron and HCG) have definitely improved my outcomes.

I have been very fortunate to have good insurance. Just wish I could afford PGS!

Dr. Pauli was clear, direct and provided us with information that we needed to plan our treatment. Dr. Pauli presented treatment in a clear and straightforward way and was pragmatic about the course of treatment. Dr. Pauli laid out the process clearly and gave us some options. He was open to our preferences and laid out benefits and drawbacks to all potential courses.

Come to your appointment prepared with any questions. Dr. Pauli will take time, but he is also efficient and sees a lot of people. I did not get the feeling he was trying to move us along, but I came with a lot of information already, and my husband wanted to get his head around the process more. He got flustered and didn't remember some questions he had previously. Don't be discouraged that he is not initially the warmest doctor. He was pretty flat, but he is clear, direct and thorough, which at this point I value more than warmth.

Dr. Pauli mentioned that some of my levels are in the borderline range, and he might aim for a more aggressive protocol for stimulation. I am not yet sure what this means i terms of medication dosages.

We have been quoted: 8,450 IVF 4400 Frozen transfer 3700 Pre-implantation genetic testing 1200 ISCI upward of 5k meds

Dr. Pauli was cautiously open to multiple embryo transfer when my husband asked, but standard us eSet and he saw no reason to deviate given our health history and age. He would potentially consider based on quality of embryos.