Hanabusa IVF

Dr. Chang is intelligent and extremely knowledgeable. When I asked him questions, he would share up to date information from the conferences that he attended. He listens with a compassionate heart and responds with trustworthy advice. I trusted Dr. Chang's protocol and medical guidance.

Be organized. Be thorough. Keep good notes. Keep all paper work in a folder or a binder to help you to refer back things that happened while you are in your appointments. Do not expect Dr. Chang and the nurses to remember every little thing. Every patient's situation is completely different. It will help you and your cause immensely if you keep good notes and good accounting.

Dr. Chang discovered at our first IVF that I did not need a lot of medication to create follicles. Dr. Chang put me on Clomid with a little dose of Gonal F.

$400 ultrasound/bloodwork. $5000 IVF retrieval cycle. $1400 cryopreservation. $1000 meds per cycle.

We did not reach this step in my journey.

He is a very professional and talented doctor with a great skill and knowledge. He also has a very good and efficient bedside manner, making procedure painless every time. He is also kind and positive.

Trust him and follow your heart.

Cycle 1: Clomid(a 50mg tablet by mouth daily ) ,Gonal-f (injected 900IU total) & Ovidel (Trigger) Cycle 2: Clomid(a 50mg tablet by mouth daily ) ,Gonal-f (injected 825IU total) & Ovidel (Trigger) Cycle 3: Clomid(a 50mg tablet by mouth daily ) ,Gonal-f (injected 525IU total) , Ganirelix (injected 250mcg) & Ovidel (Trigger) Cycle 4: Clomid(a 50mg tablet by mouth daily ) , Gonal-f (injected 900IU total) , Cetrotide (injected 0.25mg total) & Ovidel (Trigger)

I always had a smooth monitoring experience on time except one busy time right before thanksgiving. Each monitoring was done very quickly and efficiently.

Fertility Consultation (New Patient) $250 In-Cycle Monitoring (U/S + Blood testing) per visit $450 Infectious Disease Testing Package - Female $250 Blood Testing (per visit, 1 - 4 hormones) $200 Infectious Disease Testing Package- Male $165 Outside Review Fee (Per time) $200 In-Vitro Fertilization 1-2 Eggs $5,100 3-9 Eggs $6,800 10-15 Eggs $8,50016+ Eggs $11,200 Fresh Embryo transfer Procedure Fee $2,000 Frozen Embryo Transfer Procedure Fee $2,600 Embryo Storage - One year $600 PGS test (per embryo) $800 Oocyte/Embryo Cryopreservation $1,400 Medication For Mini IVF Cycle $1500-2800 Signature Medication For Conventional Cycle $2000-$4000 Date Medication For Frozen Transfer Cycle $400-1500

haven't transferred yet

Dr. Chang was the first doctor that had hope for me, which as someone with POI was a huge motivator. I very much appreciated that each cycle was tailored to me that month. It felt like I was seen as an individual and not a number. He was also very good at explaining the rationale behind the treatment. Understanding my treatment process was very helpful for me.

Be patient. If you are dealing with DOR/POI, trust the process and be persistent.

We needed IVF due to MFI, but because of my reduced ovarian reserve this was a challenge. Conventional IVF would have been pointless because I could not produce many eggs. We started with mini IVF using low doses of clomid and gonal f to produce 1 to 2 mature eggs each cycle. The dose of medication was based on my AFC and hormone levels for each cycle and retrieval was individualized to when my follicles were ready to be retrieved based on hormone levels and follicle sizes. The clinic does retrievals every day of the week which was important for me in optimizing our results. We opted to do several rounds and bank embryos with PGS testing to hopefully have enough embryos for more than one child. We were generally able to retrieve 2 mature eggs per cycle and had about 50% blast rate.

Pricing was a la carte. Retrieval price $4200-6300, Embryo freezing and biopsy $1400, PGS $800, Transfer $2800, labs $150

Yes, Dr. Chang recommend eSET and we were very in favor of this approach.

We went to Dr. Chang after we had a failed first attempt at another IVF clinic. We appreciate that he is candid but also optimistic at the same time, and makes us feel cared for. Dr. Chang takes time to explain options and his thoughts, and he also makes sure to ask what we would like to do and respects our decisions.

I would not hesitate to ask him questions or tell him about concerns you have in the course of treatment. Dr. Chang is busy (he was running the clinic by himself until very recently, he only recently had another physician join the clinic) and sometimes forget details, so helpful if you can keep record in order to discuss future treatment plans with him.

Minimal stimulation IVF with climid (100mg daily) for a few days, Follistim or Gonal-F ~250 IU (2-4 days)+ sometimes certrotide (half dose x 2);Dr. Chang decides on the dosage and duration depending on the results of the bloodwork and ultrasound. Trigger shot (Ovidrel) 2 days before egg retrieval. The stimulation cycles yielded 1-4 eggs each time. So far froze 4 blastocysts, all of the blastocysts got tested for PGT-A, 3 abnormal and 1 unknown result.

Consult: ~$400 ultrasound:$250, bloodwork: $150 PGT-A testing: $800, egg retrieval: ~$4000-$5000, embryo freezing: $1,190

Our understanding is Dr. Chang likes to do single embryo transfer when there are PGT-A normal embryos, to minimize high risk pregnancy. If there are no PGT normal embryo, he would consider transferring 2 abnormal embryos. We are okay with his approach but we are not yet ready for trying embryo transfer yet (trying to get PGT normal embryos).

He is willing to work with “difficult cases,” he is kind with great bedside manners. The care is very individualized. He practice is getting busier and there are times when you only having one doctor is the office is a downfall.

Be open to unconventional protocols, know that with each lab drawn, your protocol and next appoint date may change.

Basically we tried to do things as natural as possible. I have DOR, I did not respond to medications, so we our goal was quality embryos not quantity .

There have been changes to the clinic pricing throughout my time at this clinic.

He was open to hearing our thoughts and suggesting what embryo he thought would be best to transfer. He was open to one or two embryos per transfer.

Dr. Chang is a unicorn of a fertility specialist & the medical field at large. He is a highly intelligent, innovative, exceptional & caring doctor. He takes an intensely considered, evidence-based approach while being on cutting-edge of current research & is willing to let the patient try new therapies. He is personally involved in all aspects of my care, performs all monitoring ultrasounds himself. His timing for egg retrievals & transfers is impeccable, a true art & science. His bedside manner, egg retrieval & embryo transfer abilities are second to none! He is extremely gentle, steady & skilled in all that he does. (It’s also helpful that the needle he uses for retrievals is half the diameter of other clinics.) He provides extremely individualized care, adjusting protocols in cycle according to my body’s need a & response. I couldn’t dream of a better doctor!

Do not hesitate to consult with Dr. Chang! Ask questions & brainstorm on potential protocols for your individual situation. You can trust his advise & timing as it is impeccable. You will be in amazing hands with Dr. Chang & the entire Hanabusa staff.

Our protocols have ranged from completely natural cycles with egg retrieval to Mini IVF with oral Clomid, Mini IVF with Clomid + Gonal F, several with Cetrotide added (tried omnitrope experimentally for egg quality for several cycles) FET protocols: Natural prep with progesterone support (vaginal & oral) starting at natural ovulation Several Medicated with estradiol oral, sublingual & vaginal if indicated by lab monitoring, Progesterone vaginal + oral Prednisone 5mg & Lovenox injections for MTHFR mutations/clotting disorder & recurrent miscarriage. (aspirin allergy) All transfers resulted in pregnancies, that unfortunately ended in miscarriage. PGS testing. Currently one of only a few doctors in the US that is willing to allow patients to choose to attempt informed transfers embryos which showed PGS mosaic or certain abnormal biopsies. (based on recent studies showing self-correction resulting in normal births in percentage of embryos) He has had successful live births of chromosomal normal babies from transfer of these embryos.

He is a very professional doctor because of his skill and knowledge. I was with my wife during egg retrieval, Dr. Chang has an amazing skill set, to make procedure painless, he is also patient and kind.

If his patient lives remotely, I would like to suggest that you should have a skype meeting with him or meet in his office in San Diego. I recommend to ask him or his staff to make sure how remote procedure work and make clear any questions.

Medicated mini IVF cycle, first time with Gonal F, Cetrotide, second time Clomid and Gonal F (for just a few days). No good results yet.

one cycle depending on how many follicles are retrieved, can cost $7,000-11,000

he prefers single transfer unless there is a chance for multiple embryo transfer would deliver better results

I was previously told that IVF would not work for me, so when I first saw Dr. Chang, he gave me hope. There's no standard protocol with him--I've done a natural cycle, injections and Clomid-only, and had two retrievals during several cycles. I'm not standard, and he works with that, seeing each patient as an individual.

I would say to be engaged in the process, sharing all your questions about what you're doing and why, because he's not just giving you a routine treatment, and so you can be part of it, not just on a standard program.

I have a high breast cancer risk, so I wanted to go with no- or low-stim treatments. I had one natural cycle, a couple Clomid-only and a couple with injections. Each produced eggs, but the quality and size differed. There were two cycles that included Clomid and a couple days of injections produced two embryos.

There is a standard retrieval cost based on your number of eggs. Mine was typically $4,900 for up to three eggs. The bloodwork was $150 each appointment and ultrasound/bloodwork was $400 each appointment.

N/A

I think his technique is incredible. When I started seeing him there were no other Dr's in my area (or outside of NYC I think) doing low stim natural cycle protocols with patient awake retrievals. That was huge for me, I hated being unconscious and hated the expense of it. (I did traditional IVF the first time). He talks you though every step of the retrieval and makes sure you understand everything going on and keeps a close eye on any pain or discomfort. He is a very compassionate and caring man.

Ask lots of questions. That would be true for any Dr though. Keep track of your cycles and results and any issues or thoughts. I do but my notes are minimal, I always wish I wrote more detail. Know you will sometimes have to prompt him or correct a statement. But know he's saying things out loud because your care is a conversation, and it should be (it wasn't so much with my first IVF Dr).

Dr Chang is a minimalist, unless you tell him you want to do higher stim (and your body cooperates). He uses natural cycle with minimal stimulation, very little to no prep. This makes is possible to cycle every month if you want to. This was key for me as I make very few eggs it was really important to me to closely examine every possibility. With him I have taken clomid, as well as injectables like Gonal F and Centrotide, BCP was the only prep I ever did as I have a tendency to create a large early lead follicle so we were always trying to slow that down in the hopes of getting more than 1.

We have some insurance coverage, and this was difficult to manage with them in the beginning. They don't take insurance, so it has to be reimbursement style. But the girl in charge of giving codes and handling doesn't speak english very well and had a generally negative attitude. She would often say things like "oh they are not going to cover that". Well, its your job to try. We multiple times had to ask her to call insurance and advocate for us. My husband was in charge of all the $$ so he had to deal with her and our insurance for the most part and I know it was frustrating for him. But ultimately we ended up getting some things covered that she said we wouldn't and we have gotten into a routine now for reimbursement submitting so we feel like we are doing ok. Cost wise, monitoring appointments are at $400, just blood work is $150. Retrievals are like 5K I think and transfers are around the same I think. Like I said I didn't have to handle the billing thank goodness, I would have a panic attack. I do know that cryopreservation is $800 and PGS testing (for 1 embryo) is about $1200 because insurance won't cover either of those things anymore.

Dr Chang would do what I wanted if i had strong views. He's open to multiple or single, whatever you want to do. If we had a normal embryo we would only transfer one (also we would most likely only ever end up with one), we are still working on that one normal though. But when we tried the abnormal embryos (all we have gotten so far during this process of trying for a second baby), we transferred 2 because the odds of either of them working were very slim.

I like Dr. Chang. He's really thoughtful. At each appointment he was very professional while also being sensitive to our situation and our feelings. At each appointment he would explain all the possible next steps, then take some time to digest this information himself and formulate a plan of action. He gave us options for treatment, and his recommendations, but ultimately let us choose our course of action.

Understand the infertility jargon so you know what your doctor is talking about.

Dr. Chang started with the least invasive treatment and as that did not work, he individualized treatment for us. We started with just medicine and timed intercourse, then we moved to IUI, and finally we tried IVF.

In total, we spent around 18,000. This included medication and timed intercourse, IUI, and IVF without embryo transfer. No viable embryos were created with our IVF cycle.

He has years of experience in mini ivf, and helping women of different issues and ages. He shows support in terms of our care, and has a positive but realistic view on tough cases. He takes time to explain options when needed. At mini ivf egg retrieval surgery he has great bedside manner and makes the procedure as pain free and positive as he can.

Prepare for the emotional and financial hardship with ivf process.

Lowering fsh with birth control pill. Gonal f, cetrotide, ovidrel before egg retrieval. Letrozole before iui. No positive pregnancy results yet.

mini ivf procedure cost varies depending on egg retrieval medications for ivf less than general ivf

He suggests transferring one embryo unless they are mixed.

My experience with Dr. Chang has been wonderful. He is truly one of the best fertility doctors out there. Not only is he very skilled, he is honest & genuine. He has great bedside manner and is knowledgeable. He welcomes questions and doesn't make you feel inferior for asking them. I can tell he cares about me as a patient and he treats his staff and patients with care. His staff love him and say he is a good man.

My advice would be to come prepared with all of your treatment notes so that Dr. Chang will have a good overview of your medical & fertility history. The more information he has, the better he can treat you.

Dr. Chang has me on oral estrogen & vaginal progesterone pills regularly. Right before an egg retrieval, he puts me on Ovidrel trigger shot, Cetrotide, & Gonal F. I am unsure of how he chooses to use these meds, but I fully trust he knows what to do with them far more than me! I know the estrogen is used to keep my FSH & LH numbers lower (mine tend to be quite high).

Dr. Chang's prices are very reasonable. Lower than most other fertility doctors charge. I appreciate that because not everyone can afford IVF. It just goes to show how much he cares about his patients. He has a very good understanding of how financially straining IVF cycles are to a patient.

Unsure of my doctor's viewpoints on this topic.

Dr. Chang is VERY knowledgeable. He is cutting edge. He is an out-of-the-box thinker and doctor. He takes some of the most difficult cases with woman such as me whose egg count is diminishing significantly and whose egg quality is not always the best and gives them hope. I was told to use donor eggs after our embryos didn't make it past day three during our first egg retrieval with another doctor. I found Dr. Chang, who uses a unique approach called "Mini IVF," which simply means less medication so as to coax out the eggs and not drown them with medicine. At first, it was tough, because each new cycle, Dr. Chang would check my hormone levels and follicles and if they weren't perfectly balancing each other, he didn't want to move ahead with the cycle. He taught me patience in that respect. But eventually, his methodical approach worked and we got two normal embryos after cycle 3 and 4. Following those cycles, we didn't have much success with retrievals 5, 6, and 7, all of which ended in abnormal embryos. While we had a few issues with communication with Dr. Chang from time to time, he eventually understood how important it is to me to promptly return my emails and calls. He provides thorough information and ensures I gain clarity.

Make sure you tell Dr. Chang how you best prefer to communicate and what works for you in regards to communication. He is an amazing doctor--so progressive. However, his clinic is getting busy, so it's really important that he knows you need very quick communication, if necessary.

With Mini IVF, you approach each cycle quite methodically. I often have a dominant follicle that is very quick to develop. So, at first, I hated cancelling a cycle, but I soon learned how to be more patient and wait for the "right" cycle, so that my dominant follicle didn't kill off all the rest. With each Mini IVF cycle, on day 4 or 5, you typically take Clomid. Then, around day 7 or 8, you begin taking low doses of Follistim. Ganirelix might be added around day 10 to avoid premature ovulation. But each cycle could be different. For example, I would sometimes start Follistim earlier, or take Clomid for less time. It just depends on how many follicles I have and what my hormone levels indicate. For Dr. Chang, it's a balancing act--one that requires patience and precision. I would trigger and 36 hours later go in for egg retrieval. Because Dr. Chang is San Diego, and I live in Los Angeles, I did all of my ultra sounds and blood work with Dr. Jain in Los Angeles, and he would fax the results down to Dr. Chang. It was a little tiring, because I'd often not get results back until later in the day. Nonetheless, come egg retrieval time, my fiance and I would drive down to San Diego the night before, get a hotel room, and then wake up the following morning for the procedure. During the procedure, I am completely awake. I don't take any medication, aside from a few IbuProfen. I am not medicated because Dr. Chang uses a very tiny needle to extract the eggs and has a unique method where you breath very deeply as he pulls out the eggs. Most of my procedures didn't hurt; however, for some of them, they were painful. But, I liked not being zapped out for the rest of the day, as you would if you were under normal anesthesia. As a result of such a unique method, one cycle one with Dr. Chang, we got 4 eggs. All fertilized and 2 made it to blast. They came back abnormal. Cycle #2, we got three eggs. 1 fertilized normally, and 1 abnormally. The other didn't fertilize. One made it to blast and came back PGS normal. One cycle #3, we got 4 eggs. All 4 fertilized and 2 made it to blast. One came back PGS normal. On cycle #4, 3 were retrieved, 2 fertilized, and only one made it to blast, which was abnormal. For cycle #5, we got 2 eggs and both fertilized; one made it to blast and was abnormal. On cycle #6, we retrieved 5 eggs, 3 fertilized, and none made it to blast.

I did outside monitoring at another office, since Dr. Chang was not in my area.

Because it's Mini IVF, it's less expensive. Nonetheless, we did 6 retrievals with them. They gave us a discount for doing so many cycles.

Dr Chang is knowledgeable and extremely intelligent. He is reasonable and open to modifying the treatment plan according to my wishes. He listens and is responsive to my questions and concerns. Treating another physician can often be difficult, but he has treated me fairly and compassionately. He is able to speak to me as a medical professional without condescension or judgement.

Be patient with the process- I’m still working on this myself

Dr Chang specializes in mini-IVF, so I took clomid and lower doses of gonal F the weeks leading up to egg retrieval. He was able to retrieve 5 eggs and 4 made it to PGS testing at day 5, unfortunately every embryo came back abnormal. Currently gearing up for my next round

Egg retrieval $6800; PGS testing $800 per embryo, lab draws $350 per draw, medications $1800, frozen transfer $3500; total for one cycle approximately $13500

Dr. Chang performed all the ultrasounds himself. The continuity between visits and the ability to speak with him directly was invaluable when having to make difficult decisions. He spent the time to hear our needs and goals. I always felt respected and empowered to make decisions while in the hands of a trusted doctor to give me the information in order to do so.

Seek out an trusted support system to help you in this process.

Dr. Chang specializes in low ovarian reserve patients. He uses a less aggressive protocol with the goal to achieve high quality eggs versus quantity.

Ultrasound $400, egg retrieval $1700, PGS $800 per embryo, Frozen embryo transfer $2600

Dr Chang is a very attentive who listen to his patients. He is a bit of a perfectionist, and will try to give the best care for his patients. He is very knowledgeable and willing to work with you to personalized your treatment.

Don't hesitate to ask your questions and your thoughts with Dr. Chang.

Artificial cycle transferring frozen embryo.

The insurance option is limited. They do charge a lab review fee to review your lab result which is kinda expensive.

Dr Chang suggested eSET because of my age and previous uterus surgeries.

I am currently in the process of seeking treatment at Hanabusa IVF and my experience so far has exceeded my expectations. I went to see Dr. Chang after a failed attempt at another facility. He came strongly recommeded by a friend, who had a difficult case and found success with Dr. Chang. I arrived at my first visit bringing with me extreme frustration and very little hope that it was possible for me to produce my own egg, as I have a very low egg reserve. After several discussions with Dr. Chang and just 1 cycle, he has already restored my hope with his aproach. I would HIGHLY recommend Dr. Chang at Hanabusa IVF

Be patient and trust him and the process. I went to see Dr. CHang with very little hope left, and through his approach and dedication he has convinced me that the production of an egg is actually possible for me.

As the Dr. Chang told me , we are looking for at least one good embryo and we are going to focus on that,n rather than have multiples. I agree with him to have a single embryo transfer in my case, because is very difficult to find at least one good quality egg

When I was first introduced to Hanabusa IVF, I was emotionally exhausted. Six months prior I received the news (from my then OB) that I had diminished ovarian reserve, poor egg quality, was too old, and basically missed my opportunity to have a biological child of my own. On top of that I also found out that I had a large uterine fibroid, and told fertility clinics wouldn’t even work with me unless I had it removed. It was recommended that I pursue donor eggs as my only option, I was devastated. But I pulled myself together, and decided I was not ready to give up. I did not want to look back with regret that I didn’t do everything I could to try, before turning 42 years-old. First I found a new OB, who was honest with me about my odds and obstacles, but also gave me hope that all was not lost. Then, I reached out to a friend, whom had gone through IVF, and was successful. She recommended Hanabusa IVF because, she was very impressed and appreciative with how Dr. Chang individualized his care and treatment for her. I really like that he studies a cycle thoroughly, adjusting and fine-tuning the treatment according to what is right for one’s own body at a particular cycle stage.

More cycles may be need to be performed, but there is less pressure of having to succeed at every cycle; with each cycle more information is gained to provide the best possibility for a successful outcome.

Dr. Chang uses a minimal stimulation approach. His view is to create less but better quality embryos using less drugs; allowing a few good quality embryos to be collected at the rate my own bodies delivers them and put them back in later at cycles. I feel this is a more natural way to proceed, and less stressful by not introducing unnecessary hormones to my body. So far have used low does birth control and progesterone. These have been needed to prevent me from ovulating too early and allowing the follicles/embryos to all grow at the same rate. Producing more viable options for retrieval.

Dr. Chang's costs are very reasonable compared to what most all other IVF clinics charge, they charge for IVF by steps, rather than in one overall payment He makes every effort to keep costs low. He even provided me with the name of several pharmacies in the area who sell my medications at the best prices. He offers his honest opinion about how to proceed, even if it is not the outcome that will be the most profitable, taking into consideration what the best course of action is financially for the patients needs.

Dr. Change was very personable with me and my husband. He took our all past IUI/IVF treatments and studied the outcomes from those to help us create a plan to have a successful IVF cycle. He always made us feel welcomed and would reach out to us throughout the entire process. He also provided information regarding embryo testing and when we had negatives on all embryos, he took the time to research what happened and brought us in on his time to explain the tough answers. Knowing how hard it was, he was always helpful and gave us multiple options for our next step in our journal to becoming parents. I will continue to trust Dr. Chang and use him as we look to continue our IVF journey.

Please ask him all of your questions. There is so much information on IVF and he will gladly get you answers to your questions without hesitation.

50mg Chlomid for the first 5 days of my cycle,150ml Gonal F starting day 2, HCG trigger shot on cycle day 10, egg retrieval on day 12. I produce many follicles at once and Dr. Chang wanted to make sure I didn't over stimulate. His strategy was quality over quantity.

Consultation- $200 Monitoring- $400 a visit Egg Retrieval-Depends on how many eggs were retrieved. Mine was $12,000

We didn't get far enough to talk about how many we would transfer.

I was referred to Dr. Chang at Hanabusa Fertility Clinic after finding out that I had a low AMH level indicating low ovarian reserve. This news was heart breaking, as I was only 30 years old. My husband and I tried IUI treatments, without success for a few years. We finally met with Dr. Chang and his team to discuss our options. He spent time with us, discussing those options and reviewing my health history to assess for potential difficulties. He helped ease our minds about the IVF process, and we decided to move forward with the egg retrieval process. Dr. Chang understands that each patient is unique, therefore he has developed a patient-driven clinic that is far from cookie-cutter.

Dr. Chang and his team are very willing to give you time in person, via email, or on the phone to discuss any questions or concerns. Use that to gain as much knowledge and ask as many questions as you can to help you decide what treatment route to take.

Due to my low AMH levels, I had to have a low-stimulation IVF cycle. This meant that Dr. Chang would monitor me with blood work and ultrasounds every 2 days to ensure that the medication dosages were correct. He would make changes to increase or decrease certain medications dependent upon lab results. His team of nurses would then communicate with me via email to make a specific detailed itinerary of when to take certain meds and at what dosage. Very specific to my body and cycle.

I did my research before choosing Hanabusa, and realized that their prices/costs seemed to be in line with other facilities. They are very clear about the costs for each specific procedure, so there are no hidden fees or surprise costs that arise.

My husband and I never made it to the transfer process. However, Dr. Chang did discuss that he prefers eSET vs multiple embryo transfers to decrease chances of one embryo degenerating and taking the other one with it.

Dr. Chang is very personable and always greeted us warmly. He was gentle and thorough at our appointments and always answered all of our questions. My husband and I truly trust Dr. Chang's expertise as I know he is a leader in the field with MiniIVF. One of the big differences I hear from others, when I describe my experience with Dr. Chang, is that he customizes your protocol throughout your cycle and adjusts it depending on how your follicles are responding. Where as other clinics will put you on a pre-determined protocol. You're truly getting individualized treatment.

MiniIVF is unique and although it's cheaper than traditional IVF, you're more likely to have to do multiple cycles. That's why it's better, in our opinion, to do this approach when you're older and have DOR. The focus is on quality, not quantity of eggs. So you might only get a few per cycle but it increases your odds to potentially get a 'normal' embryo.

As mentioned previously, he individualizes each protocol for each person. But typically, I would start on birth control to suppress and then come in for monitoring on day 3 of my period. If all looked good (follicles and hormone levels from blood tests) then we would proceed with usually clomid and gonal F. As another reviewer mentioned, yes there were many times when a cycle didn't look like a good start, so we had to skip it. But with miniIVF, the beauty is that you can try to start again the next month with your cycle. So you have to be patient. We are still going through the process and have one PGS normal embryo so far - fingers crossed we get at least one more!

Costs for egg retrevials are dependent upon how many eggs Dr. Chang retrieves - varies but around $6500 I think. Typical cycle with monitoring appointments ran around 12k. Billing is ala cart - you only pay as you go for what you need. So it's easy to cancel a cycle because you didn't pay anything up front. Know that medications are determined at each monitoring appointment, so you can't order medications ahead of time. He'll only order what you need until the next monitoring and you can pick it up that day.

Although we have not progressed to the point of transferring the embryos yet, Dr. Chang has recommended transferring 1 embryo at a time. For us, I think that is the best approach as it allows us for multiple opportunities for a successful transfer.

The thing I love about Dr Chang, as compared to other doctors I've had, is that he has been completely transparent with us each step of the way, formed theories about what might be going on, and explained those clearly each step of the way. It also appeals to me that he does not blindly want to medicate you, but rather wants to determine the minimal course of action that will lead to the desired result. Dr Chang believes that your body knows best, and I love that about him. He is also far more transparent about the probability of making a normal embryo for a woman my age than my previous docs, so that the expectations were set more realistically. Finally, he takes your success or failure personally. It's clear that he deeply cares about his patients.

Ask questions - he welcomes them.

Mini IVF - clomid and gonal F only.

About $10,000 per cycle so far

More than being a professional, Dr. Chang is an extraordinary human being. Strengths: Caring, Willing to try out different plans each time, knowledgeable in that he will always inform me of the best options & give me a suggestion. He has once humbly admitted a mistake in the timing of a failed retrieval in which I ovulated early. That did truly touch me. He even asked the finance lady not to charge me for that visit. Who does that?? Weakness: I have not noticed any.

Listen to the doctor at all times and ask as many questions as he truly does listen

He used the mini IVF with minimal drugs 1) 1st treatment: Clomid (50mg), Gonal F 150IU & Lupron - 6 eggs retrieved and none progressed to blastocyst 2rd treatment: Clomid (100mg) & Ovidrel - Ovulated same day I was scheduled for a retrieval 3rd treatment: Clomid (100mg) & Ovidrel - Ovulated 10 minutes before my scheduled retrieval. However, they performed IUI. Negative pregnancy result 4th treatment: Gonal F 150 (2 times) & 225IU (once), Cetrotide 0.25 mg & Ovidrel 250 mcg - 3 eggs retrieved and none progressed to blastocyst again

I always love monitoring as I am able to see the progression of my follicles

Blood work & Ultrasound monitoring = $ 400 per visit IVF cycle (local anesthesia, frozen donor sperm, ICSI, culture to blastocyst & freeze) = approx $12,800 Initial Consultation = $250

I have not reached that stage yet nor had the conversation with the doctor regarding eSET vs. multiple embryo tansfer