Cooper Institute for Advanced Reproductive Medicine

He truly is excellent. Dr. C has the patients best interest in mind as well as the fact that we are desperately wanting to have a child or children. In front of you he always remains positive and encouraging. You would not believe how many times he said something positive to me that made me feel better emotionally. I also like the fact that he keeps his website up to date and current with different conferences he's gone to and new information about fertility. Financially, he also knows how expensive fertility treatments are so he provides patients with websites to seek discounts and gives options of pharmacies so we can choose the most cost effective one. I had started another IUI cycle as the pandemic was starting and offices were shutting down and cancelling cycles, but Dr. C did not. He understands the time and emotional investment we've made and he made sure to continue with only cycles that were already in progress. Again, I had another negative pregnancy test but I wouldn't change him as my doctor. After my 5th and final IUI, his office was closed and when I got the results, he called me personally on the phone and spoke with me for about 15 minutes to discuss the next steps and what could have been the reason this cycles was not successful. No one can ask for any better treatment than that.

You don't need a fancy building or the nicest dressed professionals, you need people who care about you and your willingness to trust them with the journey to you having a baby. For anyone who is considering going to Dr. C, don't think twice. He is a good doctor and more importantly a good person. That means a lot to people and if you're like me, someone who wants to be involved in the process, want to know the whys and hows, and what's next, he'd be a perfect doctor for you.

First cycle - Started me on Clomid instead of Letrozole, which is what I used at my previous clinic. He said that research shows Clomid has better results and that he rarely uses it, maybe for older women. I started on a standard dose, however I can't recall what it was. I did a cycle day 3 appointment to check my follicles and hormones. Once they came back within range, I started Clomid on cycle day 3 and took if for 5 days. I came back to do a mid-cycle appointment on cycle day 12. I was instructed to use an OPK kit and have the results when I went. Again, checked follicles and on cycle day 14 I took the trigger shot and waited 36 hours and had the insemination the next day. 3 mature follicles. Results negative. Second cycle - Same process, the only difference was the day I did the trigger and the date of the insemination. I also took a higher dose of Clomid, four pills instead of one for 5 days. I only produced one good follicle. Results negative. Third cycle - Came in on cycle day 2 instead of 3 because his recommendation was to do a round with injectables. His protocol is that with injectables you start on cycle day 3 but it takes a day for the medication to arrive. I took Gonol-F in the morning for 11 days, 150 for 5 days and 75 for 5 days. At night, I took 75IU Menopur for 6 days and then I started Cetrotide for 3 days and took 1.5 Ovidrel on cycle day 10. I produced 8 follicles, 7 mature. Results negative. ? Cycle - I don't know when I'll be able to start treatment again, but Dr. C's recommendation is IVF. At the time of this review, I am 34 but will be 35 in May so my window is narrowing. So I will start IVF for my next treatment, whenever that will be.

Cycle 1 and Cycle 2: IUI w/ ultrasound - $525 Sperm transfer - $100 Sperm plus shipping - $970 Injectables - $4,000 (all resulted in negative cycles)

I have not had the sit down IVF conversation yet. I will be having it when I can start treatment again. I don't know his approach yet, but mine in no more than two, lol!

Dr. Check is very research & data driven, which I appreciate. He was recommended to me by a family member who described him as "unconventional" which I agree with. He looks for treatment options that are outside of the box and does not push people into the most expensive treatment options right away, which I appreciate. After your initial consult & course of treatment are set, you will deal mostly with nurses (this was my experience as a non-IVF patient). If you want Dr. Check directly involved, you will need to request phone calls or appointments for that. When we were going to make a change in my treatment plan, I did request a call with Dr. Check to make sure I understood the path forward and he called me that week before we went ahead with the next cycle.

Dr. Check is straightforward, and not necessarily "warm & fuzzy." Infertility is a tough journey and some may expect/desire more support from their care providers. If you don't have a strong support system outside of the office, you probably will not find it there. However, after several months with the staff, I was able to build a rapport with them and they are especially kind to me this time around, as a recurring patient with a 2 year old daughter thanks to them. You will also need to be prepared to explore some unconventional approaches to fertility treatment. But, I found it refreshing that he was driven by the curiosity of different cases and finding an approach that worked best for each patient rather than referring everyone right away for expensive IVF treatments.

First off, you get a full battery of tests. Bloods, ultrasounds, testing for your partner, etc. Once it was determined that my partner wasn't contributing to my infertility and that my anatomy was normal, we decided on a treatment plan. He also put me on adderall right away, which he had papers on to show a correlation with increased success in fertility treatments. He also found that I had low thyroid and started me on synthroid. Dr. Check's first approach was to have me try to get pregnant with timed intercourse and just support my luteal phase with progesterone, where he first suspected my miscarriages stemmed from. I had a lot of success naturally getting pregnant, just not staying pregnant. However, during my first cycle being monitored, it was discovered that I was ovulating prematurely and my follicles were small and immature when released, so we did not attempt pregnancy in that cycle. For the next cycle, I used FSH to stimulate follicle growth, Cetrotide to suppress my LH, hCG to trigger ovulation, timed intercourse with my husband, lupron to promote implantation, and several forms of progesterone (oral & 2 types of suppositories) support in my luteal phase. I was unsuccessful in that cycle and the next, and after the third cycle I had an endometrial scratch procedure after my negative pregnancy test. The next cycle, my treatment plan was the same and I successfully became pregnant. After my positive pregnancy test, my blood & ultrasound were heavily monitored by the nurses. I was kept on progesterone until close to 20 weeks, was also taking estradiol to support my estrogen levels, and was kept on pelvic protection until 20 weeks due to some unexplained bleeding early in pregnancy. I also continued my adderall through the first trimester. As someone who experienced pregnancy loss, I appreciated the heavy monitoring throughout my early pregnancy.

My procedures & medications were well covered by my insurance company with the exception of the lupron which was only 1 dose/cycle. Each occasion of blood & ultrasound was ~$35 out of pocket, and medications were ~$150 per cycle overall. One time when I needed to get a cetrotide dose the same day to prevent ovulating & losing the cycle, they had one on site that they gave to me free of charge since my insurance mandated a mail-in pharmacy use.

Dr. Jung Choe is kind, sweet, patient, knowledgeable and experienced. She shows a genuine interest, has a wonderful bedside manner. She understands and has told me that her job is to be there for me as her patient. She called me personally to deliver results and has gone out of her way to be available to me. I trust her years of expertise and even moreso her understanding and gentle nature.

Listen and ask questions, Dr. Choe is a wealth of knowledge and kindness.

Dr. Jung Choe requested a full diagnostic workup of me and my husband. She said that we should start with IUI considering the results from the previously performed hysterosalpingogram (HSG) (by a different doctor) and sonohysterogram (performed by a different doctor). After 6 failed attempts it was deemed that my cervix was too acidic and to try a baking soda douche. And, then to perform the hysterosalpingogram and sonohysterogram. She decided during surgery that my fallopian tubes were too diseased to keep and removed them both along with massive scar tissue found from my c-section from my daughter in 2014, and some cysts on my ovaries that she said one was of the largest she has seen. She suggested a few months recovery and then a retrieval and transfer. She was present for the egg retrieval. They retrieved 5 and out of those 5, 3 fertilized. They transferred 3 on cycle day 3. It was not a successful transfer. However, knowing that I am positive for the MTHFR gene and Rh- (A-), she advised my seeing a rheumatologist to help in directing my treatment moving forward with future IVF procedures. I am currently on meds again for another transfer.

I think the costs are extremely reasonable compared to what I know other friends to have paid for the same procedures. I pay out of pocket for IVF, outside of ultrasounds and bloodwork. I can not afford to try IVF more than twice, but had the costs not have been cut in half in the first place I would only have been able to afford to have IVF done once.

I left eSET vs. multiple embryo transfer in Dr. Choe's very capable hands.

Dr. Check is all the compassion and hope you'd expect from your fertility Dr. The only downside is his office is very self-directed. For a rookie, this office might be a little confusing. You may not see him at every visit but if you need/ want to speak with him, the staff will set it up immediately. I feel like he is always available.

For any fertility rookie, ask your nurses A LOT of questions so you know what the plan is.

Dr. Check uses adderall and Lupron for implantation which I like; anything that can give me a boost I am down to try. He specializes in hormonal disorders and is really against over-medicating. He has a more natural starting approach.

Dr. Check has the BEST IVF programs and prices around. If you donate half your eggs in a cycle, your cycle is free. A regular cycle cost $4,600 plus meds. An IUI cycle is $435 plus meds and monitoring.

He's often described as a mad scientist. I never doubted he was absolutely brilliant and a leader in his field. He is funny, and as someone who needs a little humor I appreciated it. He seems to care immensely about the financial aspect of infertility. But you don't often get to see him.

Get to know everyone else in the office. You will deal with them, not Dr Check as much.

This is a big one for me: he does a post coital test. From what I have heard not many doctors do this. By doing this simple test they discovered my cervical mucus was killing all of the sperm. The fix was an easy douche of water and baking soda once a month. Everyone though this was insane but it worked. I was prescribed medication for the hyperthyroidism. Each cycle was close monitoring to watch for ovulation, followed by progesterone (he seems very keen on progesterone) and a Lupron shot one week after ovulation.

I was incredibly lucky. My insurance wad amazing. That being said, during my first appointment I received a large chart of the cost for everything and it seemed to be far more reasonable than I have heard of others paying. I also saw a lot of messaging about them trying to make treatments as reasonable as possible for patients.

He cared for my health not just infertility. He is kind, smart and takes costs into consideration which is a big factor when you seek infertility care with no infertility insurance. His costs were the lowest, but his knowledge is better then the higher prices, fancy fertility clinics.

You will becomes pregnant with his help. Just have faith and patience.

I didn’t have any reactions to ivf meds. Gonal-f, menopour, Ganerelix, Norvel, progesterone in oil, progesterone, suppositories, Estrace. The progesterone in oil shots hurt. Need to use a large needle. Nurses marked where I needed to inject shot. Overall it wasn’t bad and if I had the funds I would do it again.

For ivf it’s 4250 plus blood and ultrasound $1600 Fet: $3250 plus 800 for blood and ultrasound.

He wanted to transfer 2 day 3 embryos. I didn’t want twins. I transferred 1 day 3. It was a negative pregnancy test

Dr Check is brilliant. I know it sounds hyperbolic but he really is. He took me when no one else would. I traveled across the country to work with him along with women from all over the world. He was always trying to save me money and explain exactly what was happening. He was so ahead of what other doctors were doing. I was told by other doctors that I would need to use donor eggs period. He enabled me to use my own egg and I was pregnant after 1 IVF cycle.

You will know exactly where you stand. The information comes fast but he knows what he’s doing. It’s all about the outcome of a child -not his percentages. I really cannot recommend him enough.

I had a short literal phase. I was on hormones to lengthen it. If you can get the literal phase to go past 11 days, the viability of the egg is much improved. He believed I didn’t even need IVF but after a few years of going through infertility with other doctors, I was impatient. I ended up having IVF with Dr Check (using my own egg) one time resulting in a pregnancy and ultimately a beautiful, healthy daughter.

I spent less than $2000 for IVF which is still incredible to me.

Dr. James Chuong is a great doctor and know what he is doing. He made me feel comfortable and well aware of the process and procedure he was doing. He doesn't beat around the bush and he takes his job very serious.

Ask questions, he will answer any question you have. I asked him so many and he never had a problem with answering them.

I took Birth control pills, then started Lupron injections. Went in for multiple ultrasounds and bloodwork. I then took Menopur & Bravelle as my stimulation drugs. I then had my trigger shot before my retrieval. After Transfer I took progesterone in oil & progesterone suppositories.

I would estimate around $13,000.00

Dr. Check didn't waiste time figuring out why I was experiencing infertility. He took time with me and listened. He ran tests that I hadn't had done by another doctor and explained things well. He gave me a lot of research he had done on a drug that would help my endometriosis which made me feel well informed!

Be ready to get answers!

Husbands sperm was check and it was great. I was diagnosed with Endometriosis and he prescribed me medicine to help with it. He prescribed me thyroid medicine for hyperthyroidism. My progesterone was low so I am on progesterone. Monitored me very closely. It is possible that my egg is not releasing so if pregnancy wasn't achieved this month I will have hcg injection next month.

He was very thorough and comforting and understanding and explained everything thoroughly. I really only dealt with nurses thus far my treatment was canceled when everything was shut down due to the covid-19 pandemic but from what I've encountered he's very nice warm thorough and makes me feel like he's going to try his hardest to make sure that I have a baby.

I haven't been through any Cycles yet but he was very optimistic about my chances and it made me feel comforted in hopeful again

The IVF procedure would be like $4,000 the medication would be 2500 and because my insurance doesn't cover anything concerning fertility IVF diagnostic testing or medication I have to pay for my ultrasound and my blood work out of pocket which will be another $2,000 so that grand total brings us to maybe 9000 but if I have other embryos Frozen that'll be another $2,000 for about that gear I may be a year-and-a-half before I have another transfer