Duke Fertility Center

As an entity of Duke University, we had high expectations for the clinic. They were not met as the front desk staff, nurses and finance staff were unprofessional, not compassionate of patients, and unorganized. We made a serious of complaints over the years to leadership of the clinic and our own RE, Dr. Eaton. Our Dr. agreed with a lot of the complaints we had. At times we had considered leaving but stayed because we loved our doctor, Dr. Eaton. After being away from the clinic after getting pregnant and having our son, we now know that there has been a number of changes that seem to be improving the clinic.

Dr. Eaton has great bedside manner. She truly gets to know her patients, their wants and desires and works with you to come up with a plan that meets all of your needs and comfort levels.

In the 5 years we were at the clinic, we had a lot of turn over. There were so great nurses but due to leadership (which has since changed) at the clinic a lot of them did not stay long.

Dr.Eaton truly loves her job as a reproductive endocrinologist. She works tirelessly to make sure her patients are heard, taken care of and respected, even by her own staff. Through all of the ups and downs of the infertility journey, I always felt like I had her in my corner to help me pick the best option for me, my spouse and our plans to be parents.

She has high expectations of her patients, staff and self.

We were introduced to Dr. Eaton after for failed unmedicated IUIs. Since I did not have any noted health issues, she recommend that we try medicated IUIs. The medication worked great, but the fellows who performed the IUIs could not navigate my spec fix and most likely the sperm never made it to the corrrct location. After 4 unsuccessful medicated IUIs, we decided to proceed with IVF. The protocol was birth control for ~22 days to suppress ovulation, stimulation medications to include Gonal F and Menopur. The doses given were high and caused me to stimulate too quickly. 15 eggs were retrieved after a week of stimulations. 8 eggs were mature, 4 fertilized and 3 made it to day 5. We transferred two fresh embryos, which resulted in a negative pregnancy test. After the difficulty with passing my cervix, Dr. Eaton wanted to only proceed with frozen transfers so that she could be the one to perform the transfer rather than the RE On call that day. We then transferred the remaining frozen embryo which also resulted in a negative pregnancy test. We then proceed per another IVF cycle. Repeated the birth control for ~22 days, but lower the dose of Gonal F and Menopur stimulation meds. Dr. Eaton pushed my body to 10 days, which resulted in borderline OHSS estradiol levels, so we did a freeze all. We retrieved 15 eggs, 14 mature, 13 fertilized and 8 made it to day 5. We transferred 2 eggs first which ended in a negative pregnancy test. Transferred two more, negative test. Transferred one more, positive pregnancy test and early miscarriage/chemical. Dr.Eaton found this to be promising as I finally got pregnant. We then decided to proceed to IVF Cycle#3, same protocol as IVF cycle #2, but do PGS testing. We retrieved 23 eggs, 15 mature, 13 fertilized, 12 made it to day 3, 2 made it to day 5, one was normal and one abnormal. We transferred the normal and remaining embryo from IVF cycle 2. We had a positive pregnancy test, a healthy 41 week pregnancy and a healthy baby boy born via c-section. We are now discussing steps for IVF cycle #4 for baby #2.

For my first thre cycles as a Duke employee, I received a discount. My fourth upcoming cycle is no longer eligible for employee benefits do it will be $20k for IVF retrieval, ICSI, PGS testing, medications and one transfer.

It can be a pain to get somebody on the phone in a timely manner. I’m often on hold for up to a half an hour on the phone. This is certainly not ideal. Once I’m there I feel they are organized and attentive, so I’m not sure what’s up with the phone issue. I truly feel very cared for and I think all my providers have been very competent. Duke is very protocol driven though, so if you’re interested in a clinic that Experiments with untested but promising new alternative modalities, this is not the place for you. But they make choices that seem very solid and research driven. Over all I have found them to be extremely compassionate, caring, and person centered.

She is warm, a sense of humor, always greets me with a hug, compassionate after loss, positive and hopeful, always leaves lots of time for questions, direct and clear about medical information and expectations.

I get hugs every time I come to the clinic from several different nurses. They have been warm and attentive. When I miscarried, two came into the room to give me hugs who were not even assigned to my case that day. Very kind and competent.

She is a great doctor and I feel very respected by her. She is warm and compassionate while also being direct and honest. She has a good sense of humor, she provides a lot of hope and optimism, and she has a great sense of humor. I’ve had several doctors perform procedures and I had honestly less Pain after she performs the procedure than others. Sometimes it is hard to get an appointment with her in a timely manner. Overall, I highly recommend her.

You can trust her to be honest. She does follow pretty standard treatment protocols, so if you are looking for someone with an alternative approach, it might not be her. But she is very very grounded in research, and can quote the latest research findings for you.

We used the same approach in all five cycles. She was happy with the results, so we repeated to the same strategy every time. My issue was not egg quantity, and our embryos tend to live for five days, but with PGS it turns out we have lots of chromosomal issues. Each round was about 8-11 days of stimulation with 75 menopur and 150 gonal F. We did a natural FET transfer with estradiol patches for 4 weeks and acrimony vaginal progesterone. At 6 weeks we had a heart beat, at 7 nothing. Next transfer she recommends switching to IM progesterone in oil due to recent published study.

My doc Only allows a single transfer at a time for me because they are five day old blastocysts and PGS normal. I have not challenge this recommendation.

When I went back to the clinic in February 2018 to try to conceive my second child, it was much different from my experience there in 2015 when I was trying to conceive my first child. In 2015, the doctors and staff were great, I felt like a person and not a number. Fast forward 3 years and that was not the case. My RE was the same as I saw in 2015, but the staff was all different. I did not have a good experience with the fellow that was there at the time, she did not have a good bedside manner or personality. Communication was not good, I did not have blood drawn during many stages of my cycles and I received conflicting information from different staff members. Then my RE retired and Dr. Steiner joined the clinic and took over my case and I could immediately see the positive changes. I was switched to a different fellow, I had blood drawn during every monitoring appointment and communication improved greatly. Dr. Steiner has been a truly positive addition to the clinic.

Dr. Steiner has such a warm, nurturing personality. She really makes an effort to explain everything in detail and answer all questions. She has called me personally to answer questions and has done routine monitoring scans herself when she is in the office, rather than the sonographer or nurse.

After Dr. Steiner joined the clinic, I could see positive changes in the staff. I've had the best experiences with Dr. Shaia- a fellow at the clinic; Stephanie Kemper, Cathy Gustafson, and Randa Blenden- nurses; and all of the medical assistants and phlebotomists. Everyone is warm and compassionate and goes out of their way to make me feel comfortable.

I started seeing Dr. Steiner after my previous RE retired. I immediately saw the changes she brought not only to my care, but to the way the clinic did things. She has the best bedside manner, she is warm and compassionate, nuturing and really looks out for her patients. She takes the time to make sure all of your questions are answered and that you feel comfortable with every stage of treatment.

Keep an open mind and don't be afraid to ask questions.

When Dr. Steiner took over my care, I was "on the bench" due to a large ovarian cyst. Previously, we had done one cycle of timed intercourse using 5mg Letrozole plus an Ovidrel trigger and one IUI also using 5mg Letrozole and an Ovidrel trigger. The following 2 cycles I had to sit out due to the cyst. Dr. Steiner recommended birth control pills to help shrink the cyst and they worked! For the 5th cycle, Dr. Steiner recommended increasing the Letrozole to 7.5mg, plus the Ovidrel trigger and another IUI. It was negative unfortunately, but Dr. Steiner encouraged us to keep going and also talked with us about options for the future (ex: doing a HSG, adding in FSH injections or thinking about IVF). We did one more cycle (the 6th) with 7.5mg of Letrozole, the Ovidrel trigger and IUI, which was also negative. At this point, we had a consult with Dr. Steiner to talk about moving on to FSH injections (a min-stim cycle). Dr. Steiner really took the time to explain exactly how it would work and answer all of our questions. She also recommended switching from Letrozole to Clomid. For the 7th cycle, I took 100mg Clomid and 8 days of Gonal F injections (75iu, 75iu, 75iu, 75iu, 150iu, 150iu, 125iu, 125iu). Dr. Steiner made sure to communicate with me throughout the cycle and explained each time the dosage was increased/decreased. At the time of trigger, I had 1 18mm follicle, 2 17mm follicles and 2 16mm follicles. I was very nervous about the high risk of multiples and not sure if I should continue with the IUI. I contacted Dr. Steiner multiple times and she eased my fears. The 7th cycle was successful and I am now expecting my second child.

A consultation with Dr. Steiner was $55- my specialist co-pay. All monitoring and bloodwork appointments were fully covered. IUI appointments were $55. Medications: I purchased Letrozole ($5-$10) and Clomid ($15) through Walgreens. I purchased 3 Gonal F redi-pens from Freedom Fertility pharmacy ($330 per 300iu pen) and one from Town Drugstore ($270 per 300iu pen).

The providers are well educated and follow a strict protocol. I felt like it was still important for me to come with my own questions and to see if there was any flexibility or more clarity. Befriend the financial care counselors, they are super helpful!

When asking questions, I felt like the responses were not tailored to me, but rather what the “data” said. Even though I noted how our situation might be different, it felt like they were just following a protocol that they wouldn’t move away from.

The nursing staff was helpful in that they explained things well (like how to use the medications, etc.), and would call back in a timely manner. However, I felt like when they called to deliver bad news, it was always really uncomfortable and awkward (like saying “your results came back and you’re not pregnant” with an upbeat attitude.)

Dr. Eaton was pleasant and knowledgeable. I wish she and not a fellow would perform the IUI’s. I felt safe and comfortable in her care, but I didn’t feel like things were tailored to us as much as they could have been.

I would say to come with a list of questions. In our meetings, I was surprised that some things weren’t covered, outside of my questions at the end. (Like at the end of the day, what is our liklihood of bringing home a baby using IUI vs. IVF or how does my weight impact these numbers?)

For IUI, I started with clomid, which gave me horrible side effects - so I switched to letrozole for the rest of my IUI cycles. Each cycle was about the same. Med doses didn’t change as we continued doing IUI’s. For IVF, we learned that we didn’t stimulate long enough, and many of my eggs were not mature. I did one more IUI after this, and I didn’t feel like that was taken into consideration during the IUI.

Monitoring appointments were smooth, but always done by different providers.

I am a Duke Employee with set pricing for going to a Duke fertility clinic.

She refused to do a multiple embryo transfer.

One of the clinic's strengths is I think they are cognizant of the costs associated with fertility treatments and try to find ways to help keep the patient's costs down whenever possible. Additionally, the staff is very nice. However, at times the front desk staff can seem a little disorganized.

While Dr. Hurd is extremely knowledgeable, his "bedside" manner is lacking. He provides a lot of information during each consultation visit, but is very clinical in his delivery which can be difficult for a non-medical person to understand or absorb. It is especially difficult when you are very new to the fertility process.

Dr. Hurd's nurse, KC has been helpful during the process. She has been good at responding to phone calls and emails. She is a good compliment to Dr. Hurd's "bed side" manner.

Dr. Hurd has a wealth of information due to the number of years he has been practicing, but I feel he lacks the ability to connect or empathize with his patients. During my appointments, his delivery of information has always been very clinical. With such a very sensitive and emotional experience dealing with fertility issues, I would prefer if he could be more compassionate and empathic. It would also be helpful to have a clear and concise summary of what was discussed as well as any follow-up instructions.

I would recommend bringing someone with to each consultation so they can help take in all of the information provided during appointments. If you are able, I would also advise taking notes during the appointments. Additionally, research as much as possible before the appointments so you can advocate for yourself. I have found that Dr. Hurd is open to suggestions.

After being diagnosed with unexplained fertility, Dr. Hurd initially presented several IUI and IVF options. He outlined the benefits and drawbacks of each option including estimated costs. Since my husband and I were new to the fertility process and due to the lower initial cost, we elected to try IUI with Clomid and Ovidrel trigger shot. While I was provided with a lot of information concerning the IUI process for each cycle, I felt some of the basic information (when to test for ovulation) was left out. To date we have only tried one IUI cycle which did not result in a pregnancy.

Extremely poor internal communication. I understand this clinic sees a lot of patients, but they really need to get their processes in place. The first thing they tell you when beginning IVF is that you need to try not to stress. I didn't even feel very stressed throughout the process, except when I had to visit the office. They messed up time after time, making me so upset and stressed. My husband and I eventually sat down with the office manager, because we could not believe the amount of issues that had piled up, everything from wrong financial information, to prescription issues, to having my records wrong, to not even looking at my records. It's also important to know, I have had a positive pregnancy test, and I'm waiting for my first ultrasound, but even with that result, I would never want to recommend this clinic to anyone and have them deal with the stress the staff put me through.

I only saw Dr. Hurd at the initial consult, and then again during my egg retrieval. I probably saw about 15 other staff during my IVF cycle, and they usually didn't seem to remember who I was or didn't bother to read my charts.

At my first nurses appointment, I thought Amanda was great, and then all went downhill after that. I had issue after issue trying to get my medications, when she needed to provide information to the pharmacy. I actually had to have my husband go into the office, and then I had to go in myself, because phone calls weren't resolving the issues. She also called in a wrong medication, but she did at least fix that situation, and got the pharmacy to return it. When I would leave messages with questions for Amanda, she would always return my phone call within a few hours, however, half the time she didn't even look at my chart or ask the doctor questions when she did not know the answer. For example, when I went off birth control, and I was starting my cycle, she told me that shouldn't happen, and then she called back the next day and said she had checked with the doctor, and that it was actually OK. She also continued to instruct me to use a medication that I wasn't prescribed, rather than changing my chart.

Dr. Hurd seems like a very kind, knowledgeable doctor during the consult. However, he recommended we do regular insemination, and then that changed to 50 regular/50 ICSI, and then we were told that really the best case was all ICSI. We wanted the best outcome, and were very confused as to why this changed 3 times during our process.

You will rarely see Dr. Hurd, so during your consult, really take the time to ask ALL the questions you have.

We were first recommended to do regular insemination, then that was changed to 50 ICSI/50 regular, and then all ICSI. We did a regular IVF cycle, which resulted in retrieving 24 eggs, and 5 made it to the blastocyst stage. 1 was transferred, and a positive pregnancy test was confirmed. It's only been 5 weeks so it is still early to know the final result.

Under my husband's insurance we had a discounted flat rate, and this is why we had to use Duke. 50% off all medications, medications totaled around $4,000. IVF cycle (including monitoring, egg retrieval, transfer) = $4500 and additional $450 to wait until Day 5.

Multiple embryo transfer was not even discussed for me. I don't believe that Dr. Hurd or the clinic would do this for someone under 35, unless they really did not see 1 being successful.

Scheduling an appointment isn't terribly hard, depending on what you need. But my biggest complaint is wait time for blood draws -- waiting an hour+ for something that takes <5 minutes is a terrible waste of my time. The office staff is friendly and helpful, though.

Dr. Price is a bit socially awkward and is very blunt/direct...but he cares. He gets to know you, asks about other parts of your life, takes those into consideration in his treatment, and responds quickly and thoroughly. He will reply 1000 times to questions. And genuinely seems to care if we succeed.

The nurses all seem caring and knowledgeable.

I wrote this above, but I think he genuinely cares. He may not be the most sensitive man when it comes to speaking, and can be very blunt. But he knows what he's talking about and is thorough. He's good at explaining issues, reasons, medications, and treatment plans. And he's usually quick to respond (and will respond to a ton of questions, even if he may think they're silly). He gives pros and cons, laying out options and helping you understand them, but lets you make decisions about your own care when there is a choice to be made. He hasn't been pushy about treatments and has been caring when I have experienced loss.

Understand that his personality might not meet your needs, and that is fine. He is a bit socially awkward and seems to have an all-absorbing interest his field -- but that interest and knowledge is why I like him. He knows his stuff but may not have the "bedside manner" that some people need/want.

I started seeing Dr. Price for recurrent loss. He ran a slew of tests, more than most doctors seem to, and gave me options for further testing. Due to some of my numbers, we tried Femara/Letrozole for 1 cycle (had a CP) and Clomid for another (had an ectopic). Our next plan of attack is Clomid again.

This is very different with insurances, so I can't say specifics.

This clinic practices evidence based medicine and overall, i think they provide quality care. The front desk staff are great. The fellows are great, especially Dr. Acharya and Dr. Keyhan. However, the clinic weaknesses are related to being very busy, impersonal, seeming to have high turnover of nursing staff, and not assisting patients enough with coordination of care leading up to cycles. I've also had many issues with billing problems and insurance not being billed properly, so I have to micromanage that as well.

Because Duke is a teaching hospital, I see the fellows more often than I see Dr. Eaton. And my retrievals and transfers have been done by various doctors in the practice, although Dr. Eaton manages my care. The fellows are generally warmer and more friendly than the doctors, and since this process is extremely stressful, expensive, and emotional, I don't always feel like Dr. Eaton is sensitive to that as much as I'd like her to be. However, I also feel like I've received good care from her medically. The other difficulty of this clinic is that it is very busy, and the patient really needs to be on top of their own care or it's easy to miss cycles because you don't have all your paperwork, labs, meds, etc. in order. The clinic does not give patients enough support with that.

In general, I feel the nursing staff are compassionate, and helpful. I've been able to call the nursing lines during IVF and IUI and get answers to my questions within a reasonable amount of time. The one thing that I wish they would do better is to be more organized in telling patients all of the things that they need to have in place before starting cycles. Between resigning consent forms, tests, ordering meds, and having donor shipment forms signed, it seems like every cycle there is something missing that results in a stressful period of running to the clinic to sign forms that i didn't know I was missing. I've also missed several cycles due to issues with not having documents ready, meds ordered in time (because I wasn't told when I needed them and didn't know enough to proactively manage the clinic staff), or because the clinic had blacked out dates for IVF but didn't communicate this with patients until I was about to start a new cycle. That has been very frustrating.

Dr. Eaton is very straight-forward and patient and willing to explain all of the medical information clearly and in detail. She presented us with options, listened to our concerns, didn't pressure us into treatments but was clear about what she felt was the most likely to work. That said, I had a few occasions where I felt like I would have liked a more compassionate response from her, especially when it came to missed cycles due to clinic issues.

I'm not sure.

I had previously undergone letrazole+trigger shot IUI for about 6 cycles with an OBGYN, so when I started seeing Dr. Eaton, she recommended trying min stim (150 menopur) IUI. We did that for about 3 cycles (she recommended going to IVF sooner, but for scheduling and financial reasons, we had to put that off). Then moved to IVF. The first IVF, I started with 300 gonal f/150 menopur and after 5 days, increased to 375 gonal f/150 menopur. I think retrieval was on day 11ish. They got 18 eggs, about half fertilized, and 5 made it to day 3. 2 of those were low quality, so Dr. Eaton transferred all 5 eggs (rationale was that the 2 low quality would not survive freezing so choice was to transfer to dispose of them). Resulted in a chemical pregnancy. I am doing the second IVF cycle now. Started with 375 gonal f/150 menopur and then reduced to 300 gonal f/150 menopur on day 5. similar timing for retrieval. This time, they got 12 eggs (but more were mature than 1st IVF), 6 fertilized and grew to day 3. Transferred 3 and froze 3. I saw Dr. Price at the transfer, so we talked through options for how many to transfer vs. freeze. This seemed like the best approach to both me and Dr. Price. Waiting for result of transfer now.

IUI meds plus treatment (with insurance) cost about $4000-5000 per cycle, I think. IVF meds cost about $6000 and cycle with my insurance cost $4800. Although, I spent the past 3 months fighting with Duke Medicine over a $15000 bill for IVF because my insurance was improperly registered in their system, and my claims were being rejected.

Dr. Eaton recommended transferring 3 embryos prior to starting IVf, due to my age and the fact that I was okay doing selective reduction. That said, I was a little nervous about the 5 embryo transfer, but I trusted that Dr. Eaton is conservative and doesn't have a high multiples rate, so she was advising us well.

Overall, I think the clinic was really good. I could always get an appointment pretty quickly (within a week usually), and they are usually very prompt and I never had to wait long to see a doctor at my appointments. The nurses and technical staff are very smart and friendly. I didn't love the other doctors aside from mine, but you only have to see a different doctor if yours isn't there that day (i.e. weekend call). My biggest complaint about the clinic was the financial department - they really didn't seem to know or do much and even led me astray on some important things. But I was always very happy with my care and the quality of the lab for IVF.

Dr. Hurd is extremely warm and comforting and makes you feel like you are in really good hands. He is optimistic but honest about things. He always remembered my case and seemed to be truly disappointed when things didn't work out. I feel like he really wanted to see us be successful, and not just for the clinic's statistics. He even gave me the option of getting a second opinion after our second failed transfer, but he said he thought he learned a lot about my body and that we could be successful on another try (which we were). I felt like he treated me as an educated participant rather than a patient who didn't know anything. He sent me a personal letter congratulating us after we had our baby and was very happy to see our success story.

The IVF nurses are all really good. They answer emails and respond to phone calls really quickly and are super sweet. Whenever I asked to talk to a doctor they had someone call me ASAP and never seemed annoyed.

I really liked Dr. Hurd since our first visit with him and throughout the 3 years we were at Duke Fertility. He is really warm and respectful and took all of my suggestions into consideration. He told me what to expect and was always there to answer questions (in person, phone, or email). He never seemed annoyed with my endless questions and he took all of my suggestions into real consideration. He always seemed very invested in helping us get pregnant.

I would say advocate for yourself and push for things to be more aggressive or faster if that is what you want. The pace was perfect for me, and I never wanted more than a single embryo transfer. This clinic follows the guidelines, so it may not be the best for someone who wants twins or is willing to get OHSS for more eggs. Also, do not blindly trust the financial office and be sure to double check everything with your insurance.

I started with Clomid to induce ovulation, which didn't work. Then we did injectables with IUI, but had to cancel two cycles (one because I ovulated too early and one because I did not respond). Then I did my first IVF cycle with Menopur and Cetrotide (no FSH alone because my LH is low so they thought I needed the extra LH from Menopur). We got 13 eggs, 3 embryos, and 2 negative pregnancy tests from that egg retrieval. My second IVF cycle used Menopur, low dose Gonal-F, and cetrotide, and was much more successful. We got 18 eggs, 12 blastocysts, 6 PGS normal embryos, and 1 beautiful little boy from that egg retrieval. We still have the other 5 genetically normal embryos in the freezer for future children.

IUIs were covered under my insurance, so they were copays of maybe $300 for 3 IUIs. IVF was not covered, so my first cycle was about $15K and my second cycle with PGS testing was closer to $20K. With copays, acupuncture, supplements, counseling, etc., I'm sure we spent $40K.

Dr. Hurd was pretty adamant that we only do eSETs with our 5-day blasts (they allow multiple embryo transfer with 3-day embryos). He follows the research and guidelines, which I always respected and appreciated. After two failed eSETs, he probably would have let us do 2 if we wanted, but we did PGS testing and he definitely would not have let us transfer 2 genetically tested embryos (nor would we have wanted to!).

Overall, I think the clinic is really good. You can always get an appointment pretty quickly (within a week usually), and they are usually very prompt and you never have to wait long to see a doctor at your appointment. The nurses and technical staff are very smart and friendly. I don't love the doctors aside from mine, but you only have to see a different doctor if yours isn't there that day (i.e. weekend call). My biggest complaint about the clinic is the financial department. They really don't seem to know or do much and have even led me astray on some important things.

Dr. Hurd is extremely warm and comforting and makes you feel like you are in really good hands. He is optimistic but honest about things. He remembers my case and seems to be truly disappointed when things don't work out. I feel like he really wants to see us be successful, and not just for the clinic's statistics.

The IVF nurses (Ann and Ellen) are really good. They answer emails and respond to phone calls really quickly and are super sweet.

I have really liked Dr. Hurd since our first visit with him over a year ago. He is really warm and respectful and takes all of my suggestions into consideration. He tells me what to expect and is always there to answer questions. He encourages me to send him emails and doesn't seem annoyed with my endless questions. He seems very invested in helping us get pregnant.

I would say advocate for yourself and push for things to be more aggressive or faster if that is what you want. Also, do not trust the financial office and be sure to double check everything with your insurance.

I started with Clomid to induce ovulation, which didn't work. Then we did injectables with IUI, but had to cancel two cycles (one because I ovulated too early and one because I did not respond). Then I did my first IVF cycle with Menopur and Cetrotide (no FSH alone because my LH is low so they thought I needed the extra LH from Menopur). Second IVF cycle is Menopur, Gonal-F, and cetrotide, but I can't say yet if it is more successful.

IUIs were covered under my insurance, so that was copays of maybe $300 for 3 IUIs. IVF is not covered, so my first cycle was about $15K and my second cycle with PGS testing will be over $20K.

I always felt very confident in there knowledge and abilities. Everyone was friendly and if they didn't know the answer, they found someone who did. The staff always returned phone calls with questions and concerns in a timely manner. The financial coordinator made sure we had the info from our insurance company with exactly what was covered and what wasn't. She made sure we new exactly what we needed to get started and what the total cost was going to be. The staff was understanding and compassionate. The only thing I didn't like is we had to wait hours in the waiting room with no knowledge of we had embryos or how many the morning of transfer but I hear that other people from other places experienced the same on transfer day.

He took the time to explain anything we didn't understand or wanted explained.

You get to know the nurses/staff very well because those are the people you see the most. With all the monitoring that's involved with IVF, these people are the front line and are a very important part of the process.

We went through a IVF cycle with a different clinic that only does frozen cycles, so they would freeze our embryos on day 5. The problem was our embryos didn't live past 3-4 days, so we had none to freeze. From the first consultation with Dr. Suheil Muasher we new that we were in the right place even if we weren't successful. It truly felt like a different experience then the first clinic. He reviewed our records from the first IVF cycle and thought it was best to do a fresh cycle, we agreed. We retrieved 13 eggs and only had 3 embryos on day 3 that weren't showing signs of deterioration. So we transferred those 3 on day 3. We had a vanishing twin that they never got a heart beat from and was no longer there after 7-8 weeks. We had one healthy baby, which is now our beautiful almost 2 year old daughter. We are more than thankful and felt a tremendous amount of pressure because that cycle was the last that our insurance would help pay for, we new it was our last chance! I tell any one who might be considering IVF about our experience and Dr. Muasher.

Trust the process, this is what he does every day!

We used 3 day embryos and transferred them on day 3 because in a past cycle, are embryos died on day 3-4. It proved to be the right decision.

15,000

The clinic strengths are very high as I felt they knew exactly what they were doing during my treatment. They're weaknesses were just moving me around so quickly that I felt there was not enough time to ask questions without feeling as if they were going to be bothered by another question. Also, sometimes I did not know what to ask or what are other options that could be cheaper.

I always felt she cared during the stages of possibly going to IVF. However, as time past along, my husband and I were speaking about our options, how to possibly fund it, and whether this was the best plan of action. When I called and emailed her about a more affordable option of IVF, my call nor email was not responded to. Therefore, I felt as if she was not showing any empathy to our needs and wanting to know if this would be an option for us versus traveling to the doctor's office and paying another co-pay for a five minute conversation.

They were very nice...I didn't have to work with them that much other than walking me to the room, collecting blood, etc.

Her strengths are very organized and thorough. She knows exactly what should be the next steps as it relates to you. However, if patients have additional questions or concerns, I feel a return email should happen versus the patient coming in each time there is a question especially if University of Southern California is doing research on a cheaper option that your clinic offers. Her weaknesses is not having empathy when they are trying to decide best options along with financing IVF.

Respond to emails and voicemails.

After removing my right Fallopian tube based on complete blockage and inflammation, she determined that I had chronic endometriosis. Therefore, she recommended Lupron Depot to reduce the endometriosis and begin the fertility process with injections and IVF.

Over 10, 000 since I had to have a surgery.

I do not remember.

Poor call back time, do not answer the phones, put patients on hold for long wait times (I once held 50 minutes adyetctgere was a message left for me to return their call). Very clean, up to date patient areas, flexible with appointments during IVF cycle, kind front office staff. Great turnaround time when calling with results of testing, although some nurses were rude on the phone when giving negative HCG results, offered psychological assistance of dealing with stress from IVF.

Had trouble getting a call back from the clinic, would be on hold from 5-50 minutes, he never knew my chart when he entered the room, always asked me questions that has been answered in previous meetings that were clearly on the chart

Some were knowledgeable, others were not. Some were compassionate, 1 nurse was not. But all were kind.

Appeared very knowledgeable but did not have any patient compassion. He honestly made us feel like we were taking up his time when we asked lots of questions, did not give me blount information, always “danced” around some topics and have more statistics than honest answers.

Expect statistics and no real answers. When asking him about further treatment and knowing that my egg quality is poor along with severe endometriosis, he continued to suggest IVF when asked about egg donors.

$18000

The clinic is quick about seeing patients, but I feel like they cut corners in diagnosing causes of infertility. They don't care about the cause. They just get you on a standard plan of medicated cycles until eventually getting to IVF. I feel as if it is a "one-size-fits-all" plan of care.

Jennifer Eaton has a great bedside manner.

Nursing staff is ok. They are quick at getting people seen. Had a bad experience with a nurse doing phlebotomy - she prematurely ripped out the butterfly and stuck me in the finger with the needle, then had to poke me again for blood. Left bruising all over my arm.

I feel like she had a plan in mind five minutes into our first appointment and did not defer from the course. She skips certain testing done at other clinics that is vital for information in diagnosing causes of infertility. My husband had poor SA results and I feel like it was dismissed without being addressed, she did not order another SA to confirm the poor result, nor refer him to a urologist. Feel like the plan is dead in the water until we give up and go on to IVF.

Do your research on what testing is done at other clinics to diagnose infertility causes and be sure she orders them.

2.5mg Letrozole with Ovidrel trigger

So far I've only had to pay $40 copays at appointments.

Organized Have a financial advisor Handouts Respond quickly

Dr. Muasher takes time to come in and talk with me even when he's not scheduled to see me. He came in on a Saturday for one of my ultrasounds to see it without really needing to be there. He is always compassionate and had a warm heart.

Front desk staff and very nice and have gotten to know my husband and me very well. I did have a bad experience with one of the nps in 2015, her bedside manner wasn't appropriate.... She want compassionate. She's no longer there.

He's genuine, kind and respectful. He takes time to hold my hand and reassure me. I met him in 2015, when my husband and I decided to start fertility treatments after a miscarriage in November 2013. Dr. Muasher takes time to meet with me anymore my husband to go over results and our plan. He called me personally to discuss my concerns.

Trust in him, he'll tailor your plan of care to what you need and what you feel comfortable with.

2015 Clomid 50mg days 3-7, follistim 75ui 8-10, times 2 .... failed IUI cycles 2017: 50 mg clomid, 75 gonalf days 8-10 =R- 20.5, 14, 19.5,13,11.5,10 3less L- 19,19,12 5 less 6.4 tri LH 4.22 E2 1751.02 ,... Failed IUI cycle Femera/75iu gonalf and iui cycle, only one large 26mm follicle, failed

Approx $7500 out of pocket for first 2 rounds of iui with meds and all workup in 2015 Approx $650 for each iui cycle w/ meds and visits in 2017... Insurance helps some now

Dr. Hurd never seemed in a rush and always took whatever amount of time was needed in order to make sure all my questions were answered. He truly seems to care.

Everyone except for one nurse has been great. One nurse (I'm assuming she was a nurse) called on the day that I found out I was going to miscarry and had no empathy and was somewhat rude when she called to tell me after I had already spoke with a nurse who was much more caring. She was more concerned with getting my next appointment scheduled than the fact that I was being told I was going to miscarry.

Dr. Hurd was always very open and honest in a good way. He explained our options and we are now waiting for our next appointment to discuss starting our IVf journey since we have had 3 failed iui's. He shows compassion and seems to really care about his patients. When you are going through such a stressful day difficult time, it is nice to have someone who seems to truly care about you.

Don't be afraid to ask as many questions as you want and if there is something you don't understand, he will take the time to walk you through it.

During all of my iui's I took 50mg of clomid on cycle days 3-7. I would have my monitoring ultrasounds on the days that were necessary and then the insemination when it was suppose to be during my time of ovulation. I used ovidrel 250 as my trigger shot.

I have no insurance benefits due to my husband's vasectomy reversal so I am self pay for everything.

I would say as big as Duke facility is, this clinic has no business to be closed on holidays and no lab or cycle needs to get wasted based on hours of operation. If Duke ER can be open 24-7 then this clinic should refer patients to Duke ER for further testing during holiday hours and when they are closed. We had to change our treatment time a couple of times due to Thanksgiving and Christmas time b/c the clinic was closed and we could not go for testing. Therefore, we were told during those time to just try naturally and skip the IUI treatment. Despite high cost of medication we had to delay that and it is not fair at all.

I had to work with multiple nurses. At times it was confusing since so many people provided care for me.

Dr. Price is a very straight forward person. He is very serious in his practice. He rarely smiles but makes eye contact when needed. He only saw my husband and I twice and we had to deal with other doctors and nurses in the clinic.

He will remain professional and be straight forward with you but do not expect any warm and fuzzy feeling.

After the first visit we had with Dr. Price we had to deal with other doctors and nurses in the clinic for other testing and blood work and they adjust medication and dose.

At least 50% of cost of doctor visit and medication were covered by insurance and even despite that we have spent more than 10,000.00 and to continue with IVF or egg donor was impossible for us due to additional cost.

Very "clinic" , no personal report building, has pictures of fruit on the wall and no babies.... and it's a fertility clinic. Parking is hard

I felt like it was more of a business deal, neither human or number. I was treated like a human by Fellow, and Dr Hurd but a number by the clinic staff.

Staff, especially in the lab had zero understanding of the medication you were taking for fertility, and there was no documentation so every other day i came in I had to list it. The nurses seemed to be "checked out". I had one phenomenal nurse that tended to me after egg retrieval.

He is very delightful and compassionate, and the Fellow under Him was equally amazing. I saw her more than him, but she took care of me just as good. He was easy to communicate with through their portal, but I did feel he was strongly opposed to putting in more than 1 embryo. I didn't push but, should've, bc it resulted in no preg.

During the consultation, interview them as much as you can, so you are on the same page.

Lots and lots of injections, and medicine for the egg retrieval cycle. My current provider at a diff clinic was shocked at how much I was on. We transferred 1 embryo fresh, and new Dr. Felt like it should've worked but maybe my Progesterone/hormones were too high, from all the meds

Was insured; cycle was $2600

Strongly preferred only 1embro Transfer which dissappointed me

Front desk staff was always friendly and welcoming. Lab staff were hit or miss (some were great, some took 2 tries before successfully drawing blood out of my arm). Counseling on site at the time I attended (Julia Woodward) but after several visits I found no benefit and discontinued care.

My initial interactions with Dr. Price was that he was very direct and knowledgeable. We like that style. After going through a couple cycles with him and looking back (after transferring to a different clinic), I don't think his approach was nearly as aggressive enough as was warranted for my situation. After 2 failures (both BFPs that didn't make it out of the first trimester), he jumped straight to donor egg as one of my next options to evaluate. When he had zero explanation for the losses.

While initially my impression of Dr. Price was positive, looking back I question the course of action that he directed us to take knowing our history.

If you don't like a doctor who's style is very direct, consider a different doctor.

cycle one - Femera (5mg cycle days 3-7), trigger shot, timed intercourse, progesterone supplementation after BFP, chemical pregnancy cycle two - clomid (50mg cycle days 3-7), trigger shot, timed intercourse, progesterone supplementation after BFP, first trimester miscarriage

The doctors and nursing staff are excellent. They do everything on site including IVF which is great. The finance department is not very responsive if you have insurance and sometimes has the wrong information.

She is a great listener and loves to answer questions

Stephanie was always very prompt to help with meds and answer any questions that didn't require doctor input. She was also always so nice on the phone

Dr. Eaton was very good at walking us through our results and providing information about treatment options. I was also able to get in touch with her through the Duke portal so I never felt like I couldn't reach her.

Come prepared with questions as she is a great source of information

We were given the option to do IUI or IVF. We started with IUI with clomid + trigger since the treatment protocol was less complicated. We had two IUIs that didn't work. Now moving to IVF and will be working out the meds for that with her.

My costs are low because I have good insurance coverage

She recommended SET unless the retrieval only has 2 mediocre quality embryos and in that case she will do 2.

Generally well organized, biggest strength is doctors, biggest weakness was financial advising staff. They seemed to frame everything in a negative light and really overwhelmed me. The online patient portal is great.

Allowed me to ask questions, and responds to emails.

Generally kind and easy to talk to. Front desk staff sometimes appear busy/preoccupied.

He's on the direct/blunt side, but I like that. Not super warm/fuzzy, but still kind. Really good at explaining every step during examinations and procedures, and keeping me calm. Answers questions in session, and through patient portal.

Be sure your male partner has been assessed if applicable.

I did 3 rounds of Prednisone and letrozol, which were unsuccessful in creating a pregnancy. He thinks I have PCOS and may not be ovulating, but I did appear to ovulate on the meds. An HSG was done, and IUI was recommended. Haven't started that yet.

So far everything has been covered by insurance, with a copay. IUI will be 547+meds, ivf is estimated around 14k.

N/a

It seemed clean. I did not have to wait long. The clinic does not post age restrictions on their website or inform you when you make initial appointments. Many people drive far for ivf treatment so this should be protocol.

He refused to treat me based on my age. The exchange was abrupt and curt. He said the cut off was 43 for IVF at his clinic. I had just turned 44. I drove over 2 hours for the appointment.

I was refused treatment based on my age. I am 44. This information was not included on the clinic's website and I was not informed when I called to make the appointment even though my age and intent were stated. I drove over two hours for the appointment. He reluctantly told me my success with egg donor ivf would be greater, then handed me off to office staff for a flyer on egg donation costs, but in every gesture rejected me as a client. I am interested in egg donation, and already knew my chances with my own eggs were low, but never expected to be treated so badly.

Call the clinic before an initial appointment if you are over 40 and make sure they do not have age requirements or cutoffs.

I was refused treatment and my copay was returned.

They are a very good clinic. They don’t have the most up to date technology, and you primarily see the REI fellow, but the physicians are very responsive to email communications and very thoughtful. I do wish the Used time-lapsed monitoring of embryos and had 3D sonography. I don’t know the quality of the lab and have a sense that it varies by the embryologist working.

Dr. Price is an incredibly thoughtfu and truly brilliant physician. His demeanor is very straightforward, but he’s very honest, deeply thoughtful and always patient.

Dr. Price patiently listened to my every concern. He was so kind and thoughtful. He would allow me to share studies with him and explain in a data driven way why he might come out differently. I think he’s probably the most thoughtful and knowledgeable physician I have ever encountered.

Don’t be put off my his seemingly straightforward manner. He’s a compassionate and brilliant clinician.

Antagonist protocol (twice), with PGS testing of 5 day embryos. Produced 7 5-day embryos across two freeze all cycles. Agonist protocol with 3 day freeze all embryos.

9k per cycle plus 1500 for ICSI plus 2 k for PGS testing.