Boston IVF

Dr. Kim Thornton is a straight shooter and I respect that about her. She didn't sugarcoat anything just to make us feel better, and I appreciated that. She was direct, to the point, and pretty serious. There was no hand-holding. I felt that she had put the best plan together for my specific situation, and trusted her medical expertise. At 28, my FSH levels and AFC was that of a 40 year old, and she diagnosed me with Premature Ovarian Insufficiency - time was not on my side. She felt that we needed to move straight to IVF and not waste any time, so we went for it. I appreciated that she felt the same sort of urgency that if I was going to have my own healthy babies with my husband, it needed to be ASAP. I met with her twice. Once for the initial consult just before Christmas, and once again in Feb after all the diagnostic testing. My first IVF cycle started in April and after 8 days of stimulation it was abruptly cancelled (on a Saturday), because not enough estrogen was being produced. I trusted her expertise, and was instructed to call on Tuesday (after marathon Monday) to schedule followup consult. When I called on Tuesday, I was told that she was on vacation for the rest of the week, and the next available appointment was 8 days away. Not only was she on vacation, there were no other doctors available that could talk to us sooner, except the emergency on-call doctor, but that wasn't an option. As a patient undergoing something as extreme and sensitive as IVF, I'm shocked that my Doctor would go on vacation without a back-up. I'm also shocked that there was no professional courtesy to give us a heads up that she was going away during the most sensitive part of the cycle (days 7 - 16!!!) because that's the critical time for everything IVF related. I would have postponed it, or asked for another Dr to monitor the cycle. Not only that, but I'm also left wondering if my cycle was cancelled because it was inconvenient OR if there simply wasn't anybody there to monitor my cycle.

Ask about upcoming vacation days that may occur during your cycle. Be proactive and be an advocate for yourself.

I'm 28, in-shape, besides my sub-fertility, I'm generally healthy. My husband and I were officially trying, but I wasn't getting my period. I went to see my OB after 6 months and he tested my blood work to see the thyroid/hormone levels. After that he referred me to Dr. Kim Thornton. She revealed that I wasn't ovulating at all, and my FSH was about 2x - 3x higher than it should be at 28. During preliminary ultrasound scans there were 8 antral follicles, not as many as there should have been for my age, but enough that she thought IVF was our best shot. She didn't want me to waste my time with Clomid or IUI. The goal was to stimulate the few follicles that I had with injectibles, and hope for high quality eggs. After diagnostic testing she prescribed levothyroxine to bring my Thyroid levels down. It was within the normal range, but was higher than ideal range for pregnancy, had me start the birth control pill, and start taking CoQ10 to help with egg quality. I continued taking a prenatal vitamin. Summary: Antagonist protocol 300iu Gonal F Redi-Pen and 150 Menopur during stimulation days 1 - 8. Cycle cancelled on stimulation day 8, not enough estrogen being produced. Stim day 6: Ultrasound + bloodwork 7am. Ultrasound technician wouldn't comment on anything. Nurse called around 1p and said that results showed 1 dominant follicle 10mm in left ovary and 2 - 4 small follicles in each. She also said estrogen was way too low and that my cycle may be cancelled, but for now Dr. Thornton wanted me to continue same dose of meds and come back for testing on stim day 8. Stim day 8: Ultrasound + bloodwork 8:30am. The ultrasound technician said there was nothing going on in the right ovary, but 1 dominant follicle 10-11mm and 10 follicles too small to measure in the left ovary. Nurse called around 1:30pm to say that the cycle had been cancelled, and to call on Tuesday to schedule followup meeting with Dr Thornton.

He is very open and doesn't judge; he always answered all our questions carefully and was sympathetic to difficult / negative feelings and offered a positive outlook; he was available by phone even in the evening; he always tried to explain treatments so we would understand and used visual aids

Don't automatically assume every woman over 40 years is "defective"; check if she could do a natural (unmedicated) transfer before administering typical protocols with hormones

Several strategies with bcp and different dosages of Bravelle plus Menopur, Gonal-F and Lupron as well as Ganirelix. Treatment of thin lining with various estrogen formulations (patches, tablets). Cycle leading to pregnancy was unmedicated with progesterone support after transfer.

Drugs were typically filled by specialty pharmacies and I didn't shop around: costs ran from 50-1000$ per cycle. Fees and procedures per OE and DE ran approx. 10-30,000$, but I had insurance coverage.

OE transfer was with multiple embryos; DE transfer with 2 frozen embryos per cycle. Future DE transfers will only be single embryo transfers.

He clearly cares about his patients and doing his job well. He always fully explains the procedures and gave an frank assessment of the likelihood of success. I appreciate that he was never alarmist or made attempts to offer cultural/social speculations about our infertility and often offered a more optimistic assessment of our challenges than what I was personally worried about.

You do not actually see/talk to the doctor as often as you might like.

We were covered by health insurance

Dr Pauli was always wiling to discuss the process with us, including having materials for frequently asked questions and drawing out some answers to help us understand better. He obviously thoroughly reviewed our paperwork before we showed up and was always prepared.

Don't let anyone tell you that you just need to remain calm. That's BS. Also be prepared to not find out why you are having issues with miscarriages and conceiving....unfortunately unexplained infertility is common.

Just my copay of $300....Dr Pauli's team handled the rest with insurance.

I have two beautiful children. We had heartbreak along the way, but could not be happier now. Dr. Pauli is a huge part of our happiness. I highly recommend him and his team. He explained the steps and gave us options. Dr. Pauli was on our side from the beginning. He spent a great deal of time arguing our case to the insurance company, who wanted more control of our procedures. After our first round of IVF (which failed) he reached out to his colleagues for advice, as he was unsure of how to handle our rarely seen situation. Upon their advice, he changed the protocol - which ultimately led to success!

There are lots of appointments to attend. Make sure your schedule can be flexible.

Our first IVF attempt was negative. It resulted with a condition Dr. Pauli had knew little about. (We found VERY few resources about it on the internet). He then changed the protocol. We were successful with the change!

Insurance covered all costs.

Dr Glatstein seemed genuinely interested in us having a successful cycle.

Ask lots of questions.

Costs associated with medication, co-pays for office visits, tests, and procedures.

He seemed to favor a SET, but ultimately it seemed like insurance requirements dictated how many to transfer.

He was great at explaining everything to me and giving me realistic statistics . I felt very confident in his knowledge and the care he provided. He didn’t get more technical than I wanted , everything was at just the right level for me. I also felt like he had plenty of time with me and didn’t feel rushed

He is very trustworthy and I recommend him without hesitation

We used metformin, letrozole and IUI. I’m a single mother by choice so obviously I went straight to iui . We started with ovulation predictor kits but I asked to move to active monitoring . I got pregnant on the 5th cycle. If that hadn’t worked the next step would have been ivf but I didn’t need tha

I paid about 2000 per cycle - 800 for the sperm and 1200 for the iui and montori g. My insurance covered the visits so I only had a copay and it also covered the blood tests and HSG

Dr. Pang is not a warm and fuzzy doctor, so if that is your style, I wouldn't recommend him. He is however, extremely intelligent and you feel like he is on the cutting edge with technology and research. He is also extremely punctual so you never feel like you are an afterthought.

Don't assume he is cold, he is just very professional.

I don't remember exactly, but most recently we went through 2 Patch protocols because I am considered a low-responder. This involved Menopure, Gonal-F, a steriod pill, and ganorelix towards the end. You also track for a month before you begin and wear an estrogen patch for awhile at the beginning.

My first cycle I tried to donate for my sister so that was out of pocket around $20,000. The other cycles were largely covered by my insurance, but now that we are beginning egg donor we will have to pay about $15,000-$20,000.

Dr Glatstein is the kindest doctor I've ever met. A little too kind. I sometimes felt like he was a little disingenuous. But bear in mind that when you're 4 cycles down with no success your relationship with your doctor might be a little different than when you started. And I was hurt that after 4 cycles he seemed to give up on us. But prior to that, during our first few cycles Dr G was a godsend and a perfect first doctor for us. Us being completely clueless about IVF, he explained everything perfectly and made sure that we understood and agreed.

Don't be afraid to ask questions and suggest things. He may not always agree but he will explain everything in detail.

We tried 3 antagonist protocols with various medication dosages. And one microdose lupron flare protocol. All 4 failed.

Very efficient

All covered under insurance

We never had the choice. Only one embryo per cycle.

I only saw Dr. Pauli twice. The rest of my care was with nurses or other doctors. He was nice, but very to the point, scientific and I felt rushed. I did feel like he knew what he was doing and we were in good care, I just had no connection with him.

Dr. Pauli is just there for the logistics and you won't see him often.

We had to start with 3 IUI's. Tests were inconclusive, so we were unexplained infertility. I wanted to to a IVF cycle with NO birth control and he let me which I thought was great. After the failed IUI's we did IVF. IVF worked the first time, so he didn't have to come up with a new strategy.

My insurance covered 100% of procedures I had maybe $50 of copays & $200 for meds.

He was professional and clearly presented the treatment options and chances of success. He had decent bedside manner. He was friendly and treated me like a person. When he found a polyp in my uterus he made sure to remove it before going forward with treatment. He was very thorough. I was very happy with him as my doctor.

Not sure

We decided to go with donor eggs as my FSH level was too high for insurance to cover IVF due to my age. We did try an iui first but it did not work. Dr Pauli removed a polyp from my uterus before we did the IVF with the donor eggs. We used frozen eggs from my egg bank. I got seven eggs and 2 embryos made it to be able to transfer. We transferred 1 embryo as a 5 day transfer and now I have a 3 week old son.

Donor egg cycle. $18,000

She was perfectly friendly and clear I really liked her and appreciated how she explained everything to us. The clinic was easy and they kept me informed of everything I needed to know and got back to me really quickly. I think dr Zimon did a great job for us and we ended up getting pregnant.

Clomid, letrzole ovidrel and IUI

Most was covered by my insurance

Knowledgeable. Answers questions thoroughly. Very busy, difficult to get in touch with. Can be smug, but if he gets the job done then I don't have a problem with it. That is all I have to say about dr berger.

Be ready for waiting room delays

She was recommended by a doctor who I trust. She was not warm and I barely met with her. Communication with her amd with the clinic was limited and there was not enough information passed along to me at times.

If you don't need a personal touch, she may be an ok choice.

She wanted me to do IVF or medicated IUI due to my age. She let me do unmedicated IUI since it was my choice.

Dr Ryley is very friendly, informative and mostly, he listened to what my concerns seriously. I ended up putting 2 embryos back and was pregnant with twins at first but miscarried one of them at 9 weeks of pregnancy. When we were putting the embryos back in, he has explained to me that one of the embryos were much stronger than the other so it made sense that the weaker one just didn't make it and it wasn't meant to be. I was recommended to put 2 back in instead of just one for the likelihood of me getting pregnant doubles by doing so. And it was right, I sure am pregnant now with a singleton baby(third trimester now). One negative thing that I have experienced is the fact that I have suffered from Hyperactive Ovary Syndrome in the beginning of my pregnancy. I am a small person and have accumulated water in my lungs as well because of it. I called in to let Dr Ryley know right away and he told me to go to an ER right away. That's how I found out that I am actually pregnant (this was a very early stage)! Dr Ryley and his staff scheduled me an emergency quick surgery to drain the fluid out of my uterus (under the influence of anesthesia of course). The fluid in my lugs ended up draining on its own so I didn't need a surgery. It was a bit of a scare in the beginning but I command Dr. Ryley and his staff for their quick remedy and actions so that my symptoms won't be worse. Hyperactive Ovary syndrome is usually prevented by having the doctor watch your vital stats weekly(which was normal for me weekly) but my symptom actually occurred towards the end with a pregnancy with twins, it may have something to do with it. Either way, I'm happy that I am pregnant in the end with a good doctor who had watched over me with great care. Boston IVF in general was such a great experience with great staff overall. I definitely will recommend this doctor and it's facility.

Ask as many questions as possible, tell him about your concerns(how many embryos to put back in to maximize the chance of pregnancy versus likelihood of having twins, etc).

Dr. Zimon was knowledgeable, caring and matter of fact. When our results for trying for our second child were not optimal and not expected - she completely adjusted plans and worked with us to determine the level of aggression we wished to pursue. Very satisfied with out results.

Be honest with yourself and Dr. Zimon about how you tolerate pain, and know what your expectations are. (I know - it is to have a baby!) But how aggressive do you want to be? Understand your financial ramifications as well. We only could do one full cycle of IVF and knowing that - we chose the upper level of medical interventions rather than starting out at lower doses.

Insurance covered the majority of or IUI cycles for our first child - copay was around 400 for Dr. Zimon and maybe 300 for the drugs? For our IVF cycle we maxed out our drug benefit after the initial cycle and had to pay out of pocket for all drugs to sustain the pregnancy. I would say Dr. Zimon's co-pay was around 400-500; and the out of pockets cost on drugs was easily over 2000

Dr. Pauli has great bedside manners. He truly listens and cares about the patients that he is trying to help. If it's a viable solution, he will help you try it. In my case I was diagnosed with "Unexplained Infertility" and had 3 failed IVF cycles before seeking help from Dr. Pauli. Knowing what I know now, I would definitely have gone to him first!

If you have done some research on your situation and believe it will help, please share with him. This will help him help you.

The protocol involved following the natural ovulation cycle and used heavy hormone stimulation (Gonal F and Ganirelix) to increase the most amount of eggs that can be retrieved during ovulation that was triggered with the trigger shot. Then I believe with only 6 eggs retrieved, ICSI was performed.

The IVF cycles were around $20K per round.

I felt like he did a great job. He follows the western medical model and as a patient I needed to remember that he was going from that philosophy which isn't the whole picture. I have been considering returning for another cycle though. The fact that he did most of my surgeries helped me trust him with understanding my specific fertility treatment needs as complications arose.

1. The body needs time to recover and heal in between surgeries. Sometimes focusing on the body clock medical model although has evidence behind it, may not be paying attention to the need for recovery time. 2. Get to know a few more other approaches that are also evidence based for informed referral practices because ivf treatment really requires an interdisciplinary approach and model. Specifically - for emotional and psychological support: Music therapy and other creative arts therapies/ expressive therapies. Dietician should definitely be a part of ivf treatment as well as acupuncture for sure! If I had not had these areas covered in my treatment with Tamie, I would have definitely been prescribed more medical model medicine, or surgeries and not found the root of the issues I was facing.

2 x fibroid removal surgeries, 3 hours long each. 1 or 2 months between each. 1 cycle, gonotropin? and the other injections: one for egg quality and one to control the cycle. egg retrieval with 2 eggs, successful positive test unsuccessful pregnancy 2 natural egg transfers, 1 at a time. a few months between each other with progesterone.

not sure, my insurance covered most of the costs.

Dr. Pang was no nonsense and after so many failed attempts and fluff from our previous doctor we felt we were finally with a doctor that would take the time to figure out the real reason we couldn’t get pregnant. He is no nonsense and very serious about his job and he does it good and will do whatever it takes to have a happy outcome. And even reached out to me to discuss any questions I had during the the process.

Stay open-minded and just know this guy is legit and knows what he is doing. Trust him.

Dr Pang had given my husband and I a chromosome test where is was found I had an extra chromosome that was maybe to blame for myany failed ivf attempts at my last clinic. They didn’t test me there but pushed frozen cycle after cycle that always ended in miscarrriage. Because of this chromosome being there he was more confident in using donor eggs then my own to have a healthy baby. I trusted him and he provided an excellent medical protocol for my egg donor. Everything was seamless,and easy. Which for an egg donor having to go through ivf for no personal benefit you want to be sure they are treated better than most.

Because we used donor eggs and had no insurance coverage we paid out of pocket $16,000. Give or take. This included legal fees, egg donor cycle, transfer, meds, and continuing to pay storage fees.

I remember a couple days before transfer I begged dr pang to transfer two embryos for a higher success rate. He didn’t want to budge and knew I’d get pregnant and have a healthy pregnancy with a singleton and he was right.

Dr. Penzias is a very caring doctor. He explains things well and doesn’t give false hope. He is optimistic but truthful. He also genuinely seems happy when things go well and celebrates along with you.

Listen to what he says and trust that he won’t steer you wrong.

We were told that Ivf with icsi was our only option because the count and motility was so low. For the ivf cycle I was put on birth control for one month. On day 3 I started final-f. I took that for a few days and was monitored. When the follicles were ready I was told when to take the hcg and when to come back for retrieval. The eggs were retrieved, fertilized and left to grow. We did a day 5 transfer of two embryos. That cycle ended in a negative pregnancy test. The next cycle we did a fet. I was put on a pill, I forgot the name, but it was to help my lining grow but keep me from ovulating I think. When my lining was thick enough two embryos were transferred. I got pregnant with one baby and had my daughter from that cycle. A year later the same thing was done but that ended in a negative test. The doctor thought my lining my have been too thick. The next cycle was the same protocol but that one ended with betas that didn’t double so I was told to stop taking meds. The last time things were done differently but I forgot that protocol. I took a pill and then transferred when the timing was right. That was our last two embryos and it resulted in my second daughter. Each transfer we transferred two embryos.

Thankfully most was covered by insurance. I think by the end of all of the cycles we paid around $5000 out of pocket.

Again she was nice and I am confident she knew what she was doing and had the knowledge to help me get pregnant. I also appreciate that she didn't support me trying IVF with my own eggs because of my DOR. That would have been a waste of time and money. All of the support/information I got was from an online group for donor eggs called PVED. I got hardly any information from Dr. Wright. She basically prescribed the medications for IVF and oversaw my cycle. My case was not complicated, no other diagnosis beyond DOR and I had already had a child naturally with my own eggs. Dr. Wright did not do either of my transfers and I did not communicate with her much during my cycles. I mostly talked to my nurse.

Ask lots of questions. Ask who will be doing your transfers and if they use substitute doctors from other practices. She was never rude or mean, but definitely not very emotional. She will get the job done, but don't expect a big hug or anything.

Dr. Bayer was great. I'm a very informed patient (and a RN) and Dr. Bayer always was on the same page with what I was thinking. He was incredibly thorough in his testing, and because of his desire to probe things that weren't quite right, was able to diagnose several issues, including a uterine septum, that would have otherwise gone unnoticed and potentially resulted in a miscarriage. He was very nice and attentive. In opposition to other clinics, the REs at Boston IVF do not do their own monitoring (techs and phlebotomists do it) and retrievals and transfers are done by the doctor on-call and not necessarily your doctor. I heard from my nurse after each appt and only met with Dr. Bayer for wtf appointments or by request. I ended up switching clinics purely because I wanted further testing and to add HGH to my protocol, which Boston IVF does not do. As far as my protocol, Dr. Bayer prescribed the same one as my now current RE. Boston IVF practices very sound medicine, but they aren't very open-minded towards "out-of-the-box" treatments, such as HGH or EFT/E-tegrity tests. This was no fault of Dr. Bayers and I would gladly go back to him if we pursue DE.

I would give this advice regardless of the RE - educate yourself!! You cannot have an educated discussion with any health care provider unless you know what you are talking about and what your options are.

Normal CD3 testing with HSG (yielded Celiac Disease dx and DOR), since I have a tilted uterus he wasn't happy with the view of my ute he got with the HSG and sent me for a 3D saline sono (yielded endometrioma and potential septum), sent me to surgical OB for hysteroscopy and confirmed septum. Surgical hysteroscopy and lap for septum and endo removal. Antagonist protocol with bcp prep = 7R, 6M, 4F - 3dt of 1 7-cell HIP embryo = BFN Antagonist protocol with EPP = 7R, 3F - 3dt of 8-cell HIP and 10-cell = c/p (added CoQ10 after IVF #1) Then switched clinics for more testing and use of different cycle tools such as HGH.

Insurance coverage.

Dr. Alper was very candid with the low chance of success of our initial treatment. He was also didn't push us toward the most invasive treatment for the first round. However, once we made the decision to move forward, it felt like we weren't his patients anymore and instead deposited on some sort of infertility procedure conveyor belt.

Ask him to walk you through the process and his role once you make the decision to move forward. He was great at explaining the medical procedures and what they mean, but didn't tell us that the nurses basically did everything.

Clomid IUI

None-Insurance covered the treadment

Dr. Sneeringer approached us with empathy and understanding. She was also candid and straightforward about the realities of our situation. She struck a perfect balance in my opinion -- she didn't sugar-coat things, but she always made us feel that we were being heard, and she always looked for new solutions.

Dr. Sneeringer is a highly knowledgable and capable RE. It's rare for treatment plans to work perfectly the first time, but that is not a reflection on the doctor. The key is finding a doctor who is willing to brainstorm solutions and who will use your past results to adjust your treatment. I think she's great.

Dr. Ryley was amazing! He knew I worked in the medical profession so he gave me much more detail and was very patient with my questions. He was also able to engage my husband who has no medical background and explain things in plain language. He made us feel safe and we totally trusted him.

Trust in him and the process.

We are very fortunate to live in a state where infertility treatments are covered. I work in a hospital affiliated with BOS IVF so it was considered tier 1. We paid a copay for the cycle meds but that was it. All testing was covered.