Houston Fertility Institute

I have no issues with the clinic. They work you into the schedule as best as they can. They are incredibly efficient in moving the patients into rooms and getting blood drawn. All of the staff works together very well and you can tell with how smooth things typically run. I usually didn't have to wait much longer than about 10-15 mins at most appointments.

Dr. Kim was there for a lot of my scans. He always knew my name when i walked in, he didn't need to look at my chart to remind himself. When I would cry in his office from a negative test, he would listen to me and let me know he cared. Dr. Kim would listen to my concerns and was ready to try new things when we had failures.

The nurses here are absolutely amazing. I knew Rebecca and Vanessa the best. They had so much compassion when I was crying from negative results. They honestly cared about me and were extremely excited when I finally became pregnant. I cannot say enough wonderful things about these 2 women!!

Dr. Kim is a phenomenal doctor. He listened to all my concerns. We went over what the best treatment options were. If I wanted to discuss anything, he would give me his opinion on the topic and then let me ultimately decide what I wanted to do. He cared about me as a patient and truly wanted to see me get pregnant and have a baby. He definitely was not trying to push anything for money. He wanted to make sure we got the outcome we wanted (a baby) as fast as possible. He was honest and upfront about everything. He set realistic expectations, and had a positive demeanor.

Do your own research. Get as educated as you can. Understanding the process yourself will help you so much with outcomes. Dr. Kim will work to get you the baby you long for, but you also should understand the process and have realistic expectations for your diagnosis.

I have PCOS. My husband has no issues. I had used clomid for 4 cycles with my OB with no monitoring and no success. We met with Dr. Kim and he laid all our options out. First we did an HSG to make sure my tubes were open. My left tube showed a blockage, so we did a hysteroscopy and found polyps in my uterus, he cleaned them out and it opened up my left tube. He then recommended IUI with injections (since the pills didn't seem to help). I wasn't ready for that yet, so we did a cycle with Femara/Letrozole. Hardly any follicles grew. So we moved to IUI with injections as Dr. Kim had suggested. We got 2 mature follicles and did a double IUI (trigger shot, then IUI the next 2 days in a row). No success. Since no treatments were covered by our insurance, about 4 IUI cycles equal the cost of IVF. Dr. Kim said we could move in either direction. My husband and I decided to go forward with IVF as it has much better success rates and we didnt know how many IUIs it would take to work. We started with birth control to get my cycle regulated, then did injections for 11 days (stims for 11 days, cetrodide for 5 days to keep me from ovulating). We were doing an all freeze cycle, so my trigger shot was lupron (2 days of injections). 19 eggs retrieved, 11 mature follicles, 11 fertilized, and 9 made it to freeze (embryos). My husband and i decided to do PGS testing, even though Dr. Kim didnt think we needed it. Of the 9 blastocysts, 5 were gentically normal.

IUI with cost of meds - $4000 IVF doctor/clinic/embryologist/ICSI cost $12900 -- meds $5000 --PGS $5500 Frozen Transfer Cycle cost with meds - $4000

For the first transfer, Dr. Kim would only do 1 embryo. it was the safest option and we agreed. No success. For the 2nd transfer, we did 2 embryos at Dr. Kim's recommendation. No success. For the 3rd transfer, we did a different FET protocol and transferred our last 2 genetically normal embryos, and it resulted in a singleton pregnancy.

They've got a lot of locations which equals appointments available. The whole staff is polite and professional. I had trouble reaching the financial advisor that I was initially assigned to. I tried to get in touch with her via the office messenge system, but she did not respond. I had to call and speak with someone else. The lab, where the IUI was performed, moved very slowly. I didn't like having to go there to get the histoscopy and later the IUI.

Dr. Williams gave a great, clinical explanation but the whole time he never made a personal connection to our family. I felt like it was not very personal to him. I felt alone instead of feeling a partnership with the doctor's office. I blew it off thinking it was just my emotions.

Renee was kind of cold. I thought that she didn't like me. I started talking to her about her family to get a smile from her. She was available to answer my questions and responded to my messages when I complained about the BC pills making me feel bad. She taught me how to perform the shots. She was very helpful, but she lacked empathy.

He was professional, knowledgeable, trust worthy. I didn't feel that this was very special to him, just a part of his routine. He was aware of the fact that I needed him to manage my thyroid after conception. I saw his associates for my routine tests and ultrasounds on days that he was at other locations. We were not very intimate even though we had a similar background and ethnicity. And I was referred to him but my OBGYN.

Expect to get text book explanation. He can spend a lot of time with you and will answer any of your questions. He's polite and easy to talk to

First procedure that Dr. Williams recommended for me was a histoscopy. I took BC pills and his nurse performed a transvaginal ultrasound. After receiving my results I was informed that he recommended IUI or IVF and wanted to put me on BC pills until I was ready to proceed. I objected to that option because I took a few months to start the IUI process.

The IUI cost $2600, only the office expenses. That included the office performing blood tests and ultrasounds to monitor the follicle development then perform the IUI. The meds were $1500. That included Gonal F, the "trigger shot", and the progesterone suppositories.

NA

They truly love their patients! You don’t feel like just another $ and they make you feel like your dreams are possible. They comforted me when things didn’t go my way and always made sure to communicate promptly with test results.

Dr. Griffith is so kind and understanding, he always explained every step with detail and made sure I understood before moving on. Where the office really shines though is with the nurses. They did a lot of my scans if Dr. Griffith was in surgery and they became like family while I was there for both transfers.

My nurse was always so quick to answer questions and made sure I knew exactly what my protocol was for each step. She gave medication instructions 7 days at a time so I wouldn’t become confused and knew exactly which days to change medicine (patches) and was always available when I called. The other nurses who did my scans were so kind. They became like family and were so happy to see both of my transfers result in positives!

Dr. Griffith has such compassion and truly makes you feel like you are in it together. He cries when you cry and has joy when you have joy. He always explained everything to me and walked me through each step. During my retrieval and transfer, he made sure I was comfortable and calmed any nerves I had. He does have a lot of patients which means he is out of office a lot to do retrievals/transfers and so was not able to do every single one of my scans/appointments, but was always there for the important things.

Write down any questions or fears you have because he will answer and help to make you feel better! There’s so much uncertainty and fear surrouding infertility so it is amazing to let some of that go.

I had a high AMH during my initial consult so Dr. Griffith opted for a Menopur only cycle. I started at 175 Menopur and was bumped up to 275 because of a low response. Added ganirelix and my ovaries unexpectedly exploded into overtime. Because of this, we switched from HcG to a lupron trigger with the understanding I would do a freeze- all and wait to transfer. I then started protocol for a FET, 2 weeks of estradiol 3x a day, then added progesterone and transferred. I followed the exact same protocol when I did a second FET, 2 years later.

We were lucky to have insurance coverage so we paid our out of pocket max, which was around $3,800.

For my first transfer, he left the decision up to me and we decided to transfer 2, 1 stuck. For the second transfer, he strongly recommended 1 and I agreed. He has changed his standard practice in the 2 years between transfers but still let you transfer 2 if you sign releases.

It’s a new building or remodeled which is nice. It’s in a medical district which is very nice and close to many things. The front desk women are nice. You’ll need your id and insurance card and knowledge of your past history. It’s a smaller office and I love that I’m not seeing different doctors every visit like I did in Frisco, Texas.

She’s great, kind, knowledgeable & someone you can trust.

The staff was great! They were familiar faces. They looked out for me when one nurse noticed I was looking pale she looked after me which was caring and checked up on me throughout the appointment.

She’s great! She listens, remembers me, compassionate, knowledgeable, and has a hopeful attitude. As a patient she’s great at explaining what to expect. She’s caring. She’s open to repeating information and providing detailed notes and answers to specific questions.

She’s knowledgeable so come with questions if you have any. She’s be happy to explain them.

You’ll start off with paperwork of your history, discuss your history with the doctor, blood work, check egg size, get prescribed medicine to start period, get a period, check egg size, blood work, when they are a few in a good size you’ll take a trigger shot then timed sex or iui. Later you’ll go in for blood work & that’s as far as I’ve gotten. Met back with the doctor for review of what happened and what’s next option wise. Found out I have an unsolved mystery reason. Hoping to do IVF soon. As a pair of teachers we are looking for affordable options.

$800 timed pregnancy with a $100 shot & office visits.

I’d like multiple embryo but I know we have to sign something about the increase in multiples not being a good thing for women and doctors etc etc.

HFI strengths: VOLUME. They do this so much they know their stuff and have seen it all and can handle it all. Their embryologist communication was excellent post retrieval. they do retrievals on weekends. I was so pleased that they did not accelerate my cycle or downregulate my cycle to make it more convenient for them. Weaknesses: you do not get one on one time with your doctor at every monitoring appt unless you have some particularly unusual case. So get comfortable with nurses giving you answers and not doctors. Get the first AM appt at the woodlands office or else you will be waiting for a while. they use the portal a lot so get used to it. You may not have your doctor for every procedure. I had a hysteroscopy with another doctor but she truly was wonderful so I did not mind. I also wanted to keep on a schedule and not wait until my doctor had an available operating slot, so I am sure I Could have had him if I wanted to. They have call doctors for weekends so you may not have your retrieval with your exact doctor.

Whenever I was in Dr. Stewards presence, I felt like a person. He remembered specific stories we have shared or remembered to ask about recent vacations. When I was going through the actual monitoring appts at the clinic without interaction with him, I Felt more like a number

Jennice was super intelligent. She gave us a one on one IV injections class. Always called me in addition to sending messages to my portal and was caring and compassionate at appts. I had a few other ladies do some random monitoring on me during cycle and Jennice was by far the best.

My obgyn gave me two options in The Woodlands. Dr. Steward or Dr. Griffith. In doing research, I chose Dr. Steward because he was younger, native Texan, trained at Duke , had personal experience with multiple miscarriages with his wife (At the time of the appt I had three miscarriages in a row and was desperate for answers) and had a kind, empathetic face. I just had a second d and c three days prior to my appt with him, so I was very fragile at that time. At our first meeting he set out an exact plan for us to complete at our pace and never pressured us to rush through the work up. Everything he hypothesized was happening with us came true. He said this is not a sperm issue, no need to even do a sperm test, we have gotten pregnant three times on the first try on our own, sperm could not be involved. And of course I forced my husband to do the SA and it came back with off the chart stellar numbers. He hypothesized I may have some lackadaisical hormones and mild "garden variety ovulatory dysfunction" which does not fit in any type of diagnosis and because of that, I ovulate late and can't ramp up the hormone supply needed with pregnancy. Since my AMH levels were great (5) and age was 33, we could build my entire family at the age of 33 with PGS tested embryos and give ample hormone support as well as aspirin and lovenox to prevent miscarriage with a frozen embryo cycle. Well all the testing was normal including sperm, uterus, etc and my hormones were exactly as he said. We elected to proceed with IVF instead of an assisted monitoring cycle so we could build our family NOW and take off any pressure to have more kids in a rapid succession later. As he predicted, I did not need a ton of medication due to the great AMH at 5. with embryo retrieval we got 13 total. 12 mature. 12 fertilized. 8 have been sent to PGS testing as day 6 blastocysts and we are currently waiting on these results. The process has gone exactly as he said it would. He nailed the medications. I did not have ANY left over. I did NOT hyper stimulate. I feel like we got the most "bang for our buck" with the 8 embryos for pgs testing (the max amount allowed without paying extra) and spent 4k on meds without wasting/having leftovers. He has been blunt with delivery but so kind and warm and most importantly has been 100% accurate thus far. I am in the medical field and it's VERY difficult for me to be the patient and I have surrendered and trust him with every decision here on out. no questions asked. I highly recommend him!

He knows his stuff. If you bring research he will review it with you and weigh in. He does listen and consider what you have to say but without a doubt every question I had, or concern I had, his knowledge prevailed and he was right. Be prepared for very cut and dry black and white approach. He is warm with more visits and he does have a great bedside manner. I felt I was in extremely competent hands with someone who is very confident in his skills.

After suffering 3 miscarriages in 2017 and the work up was done from oct 2017-dec 2017 and was essentially negative and no causes found for miscarriages, I was presented with three options. 1) do what he have been doing and call when pregnant for hormone support 2)assisted cycle with Timed intercourse to really nail ovulation time and with climid maybe producing more than 1 follicle with more options for sperm to find egg and also use hormonal support with progerstone or do 3)IVF with PGS testing and build our entire family at 33 years old. He said he would leave it to us. We ultimately decided to skip to IVF as 2017 was a long hard year with three losses and we were ready to be parents and surrender a little bit of control bc what he had been doing had not yet produced a live birth. So in january after a much needed vacation, I downregulated with birth control for 2 weeks, stimulated with Gonal F 150 and Menopur 150 for 10 days (with ceteotride for ovulation prevention added in when my follicles got to 13). He stated I did not need many meds as I have a garden variety ovulatory dysfunction in the pcos family but not severe enough to be pcos with an AMH of 5. He nailed the medications. I did not have any left over so there was no money wasted. I only had two monitoring appts week one and two appts week 2, so 4 total and it was not a disruption to my life or full time work schedule. I got 13 retrieved, 12 mature, 12 fertilized, 8 made it to 6day blastocyst and we have sent those for PGS and waiting on results. I consider this very successful at this point.

workup, including hysteroscopy, was billed under Recurrent pregnancy loss and was covered under insurance without any out of pocket cost, except for Sperm analysis which was 100$ doctor fee/cycle monitoring 6900$ anesthesia for retrieval 250$ surgery center cost for retrieval 2800$ pgs testing and other lab fees 7,750$ medications 4,100$ have not ordered medications for transfer yet but I think about 1,000$ FIRST transfer is included in the original costs. subsequent transfers of frozen embryos will be around 2,000$

Dr. Steward only recommended FET after PGS testing for me given that our goal was to not have any more miscarriages (we already had 3).

It’s harder to get someone on the phone now vs our first cycle in 2016. But overall, everyone is friendly and ready to help. Strength - multiple locations and for most visits you are able to go to one you choose

Friendly staff, always felt personal during visits I was hospitalized for 6 days due to hyperstimulation and Dr Skorupski was available to us around the clock

Always friendly, answered all questions in a timely manner. Showed compassion for us

I would (and do) highly recommend Dr Skorupski. Very good communicator, patient with questions, used non-medical terms to help me understand, and was always open with risks. He never guaranteed success (something no one should promise) but was always optimistic.

Ask questions and trust the process.

2016 cycle: can’t remember the medication but we used injections and had an egg retrieval. Due to hyperstimulation, we froze all embryos. We transferred two (we picked boy/girl) after hormone prep (estrogen patch, estrogen pill, and PIO) and had a successful pregnancy/Delivery. 2018: first cycle was cancelled after I did not respond to hormone prep. Second cycle we used gonal f for stimulation, then added estrogen and PIO after trigger shot. Transfer of one tested embryo results in negative preganancy test. Third cycle, we went back to hormone prep but added a viagra vaginal suppository. Transfer of one tested embryo resulted in negative pregnancy test. Fourth cycle, we have done a miscarriage panel and discovered Factor 2 mutation. We went back to gonal f for stimulation plus viagra suppository, Plaquenil, lovenox, and baby aspirin. We transferred two untested embryos and are in the two week wait

2016 cycle: approximately $22k for retrieval and transfer 2018: approx $5k per cycle with medication. The physician fees for the cycle after the cancelled cycle were waived

Yes, the guidance had changed between our 2016 and 2018 cycles. He updated us and helped us decide what was right for us after several failed transfers

Front desk ladies lacked patience and were sometimes rude. Just be prepared to take your sperm sample and sit in the lobby for 15-30 mins on the day of your IUI. You would think they would push you through right away to see a nurse when you have valuable cargo! Nope! That’s when you feel like a number.

Dr. Williams was very friendly, I just didn’t feel like we got 100% of his full attention. Our first consultation, I had sent the clinic my prior medical records and at our consultation I had to resend them because he hadn’t received them, so that means he didn’t have time to review the 30 page file prior to meeting. I felt a little rush during our first meeting, waited over an hour in the waiting room and had two other couples behind us. HFI has really good satistics so we stayed with Dr. Williams and try 3 IUIs that we’re all BFN.

See prior note. Dr. Williams was very nice but he did not preform any of my IUIs, nor did he do any of my ultrasounds or check up. The only time we met was after each failed IUI. I’m not sure if that is standard with all doctors at HFI. I did feel confident with all of the nurses and doctors.

I believe he goes back and forth to two locations. I only seemed to be able to make appointments at 4 pm on certain days.

1st IUI femara- and trigger shot body responded really good with 3 follicles. And endometrian. 2nd IUI femara and Trigger shout only one follicle. And endometrian. 3rd IUI injection. Gonal F, Trigger shot and endometrian

My insurance covered most of my medications and IUIs so the costs were pretty good

Initially we saw another doctor in the clinic. We felt like they did not give us the individualized attention that Dr. Hoff did. We never saw that doctor again, even though we saw several doctors before transferring our care to Dr. Hoff. If the other doctor was our impression, we would have been very disappointing in the clinic, but Dr. Hoff was redeeming. It also takes a while to get records to other providers.

Dr. Hoff took the time to explain all information to us. The biggest benefit was that she called me personally (not her nurse) to go over lab results as well as check on me after surgery. Many doctors do not take the time to do that.

We have had very little interaction with nursing staff. However, the interactions we did have were average. The nurse who called initially about my husband's SA was very rushed and had little time to explain the results to us. We had to do most of the research on our own.

Dr. Hoff is very personable. She took the time to explain all information and answer all questions. She really made you feel like you were her primary priority and didn't rush you. She also was good at explaining the science behind her answers instead of just giving you the answer.

Make sure to come with your list of questions prior to the appointment.

I am currently in the process of treatments. We did a cystectomy and further testing recommended IVF as our course of action. Currently in the planning stages for IVF.

We pay a copay for standard visits (including labs). I had a surgery with Dr. Hoff (cystectomy and tubal analysis) that cost $40K (total cost not including insurance). This was more expensive due to extensive pathology. IVF is projected to cost 13K not including medications.

Facility in Beaumont and Houston were top notch. Very up to date on technology and equipment. Facility is very modern and clean. Very comfortable atmosphere. I was able to everything with exception of transfer st the Beaumont office which closest to me.

The office staff and nurses were very caring and involved in making sure I understood all instructions. Doctor is always available for my many questions during appointments and I never felt rushed.

Nurse staff was excellent. Always made time to ensure I understood all instructions.

Dr is very knowledgeable, knows how to communicate the process, what to expect, both the good and potential bad. He was very involved from start until now. For any challenges I was having, the doctor would call me personally if the news was not good. He as always very supportive and happy to say, I am 6 weeks pregnant.

He is very patient and understanding.

Because I was already in peri menopause, doc was very deliberate in everything knowing my age was a huge factor in timing. I did a total of 4 transfers, the first resulting in a chemical pregnancy, the next two resulted in no implantation at all. With each attempt, he adjusted or added to my meds. For our fourth and last attempt , we decided to include Neupogen shot and it worked. I am on Estrace, Mineville patch, Plaqinel, baby aspirin, Lovunox shots, progesterone in oil shots.

$10,450 for the donor for eggs, $5,500 for PGS testing. This was not covered by insurance. $1300 for medications not covered by insurance. Each transfer was approximately $6,000. Insurance covered all after deductible and out of pocket were met.

Due to my donors age, there concerns about more than one transfer, higher % of embryo splitting. So first two attempts we only transferred one. Knowing my timing was limited , we decided to transfer two on our third attempt which did not work. We had two embryos left so transferred both on our fourth attempt and we had one that did implant. Currently six weeks pregnant.

No weaknesses in my book. Location was perfect for getting the league city area patients. Clean and updated and seemed to have all the tools they needed. Wish they had the ability to do procedures there but with the few times I needed them it was okay having to drive into Houston, just prefer not to.

All staff was very friendly and addressed you as if you were family. They tried to remember (and were successful) on what we were up to in our personal lives. There was no "sugar-coating" things and Dr. Nurudeen spoke to me as a patient and not another doctor when using medical terms. Step-by-step processes were given so I wasn't waiting to see what was next in the process.

Welcoming, compassionate and knowledgeable .

The best, hands down. Wouldn't let any of my friends go anywhere else. Professional, friendly, caring, knowledgeable. All the staff included. Biggest plus is having a clinic in Webster since I live in League City.

Don't worry, you're in good hands.

I do not remember the names of the medications and the step by step process is a bit blurry but I can do my best: Had a consult including my ultrasound and notice my follicles not fully developing to ovulate, had my husband do a sperm sample as well. Results came back which called for IVF for best chance of pregnancy. Histerscopy (spelling), shots in the belly to develop follicles, egg retrieval, progesterone shots for ~12 weeks in the hip with the embryo placement within the 12 weeks.

Mostly OOP. Insurance did cover a substantial amount of cost for medication.

she told us the risks and benefits of a singleton vs multiples but told me I would be fine carrying either. She was opposed to putting in more than 2 embryos

This clinic is efficient and has definite procedures and protocol in place. It operates very smoothly, and the doctors work as a team. I got the impression that they provided the same course of testing for each patient rather than looking at each patients specific issues. I also felt that the pricing was high. After I changed doctors, I received an email from someone in the main office. When I explained I had changed clinics, this is when they said they will price match. Overall, I was thankful I switched clinics, although this clinic was more convenient location wise.

The office was always busy. Dr. Griffith was definitely kind but always pushed IVF. I always felt like they were just rotating through patients. I wanted him to find answers as to why my body could not hold the pregnancies, and I knew that he hadn’t come to that conclusion. I was afraid to do IVF and have another miscarriage.

The nursing staff is efficient and gets the job done. I was most bothered by the way they delivered bad news. I felt a lack of empathy, although it could have also been my emotion due to the trauma of each miscarriage.

I was pleased with Dr. Griffith at the beginning of my treatment. After 1 miscarriage, his associate performed a hysteroscopy, and I learned about pre cancerous cells in my body. Dr, Griffith treated me for 2 months and a colleague performed a second hysteroscopy. The pre cancerous cells were gone. I was hopeful that this was the treatment I needed. My husband and I opted for an IUI. Dr. Griffith was extremely optimistic, so I was disappointed when I started my cycle prior to the pregnancy test. The office still had me go in for this test even though I already knew the outcome. We took a break in treatment and got pregnant twice on our own. Both ended in miscarriage, unfortunately. Dr. Griffith told me later the pregnancies were considered chemical pregnancies but did not explain that to me. We went back to Dr. Griffith to discuss IVF. He was ready to start the process. I asked about my thyroid and other tests that could be performed to figure out why these miscarriages occurred. Dr. Griffith did not feel that looking into anything else would be of benefit.

Always get a second opinion.

For the IUI, I took Gonal F injections. The meds did provide multiple eggs being in play during the IUI. We did the ovidrel trigger shot for ovulation. For whatever reason, the IUI was unsuccessful.

I spent $7,000 on fertility diagnostic testing and treatments with this doctor. This includes 2 hysteroscopies, genetic testing, prescription medications, and 1 IUI round.

Dr. Griffith would only transfer 1 healthy embryo (after PGS testing). If we did not have PGS, then he would transfer up to 3.

Overall we really enjoyed being at HFI- The Woodlands. I would say the only down fall to HFI having so many offices is that for our IUI transfers and IVF procedures (retrieval and transfer) we would have to drive downtown to a different location to have these done because they only do them out of one office/hospital. Also if I had an appointment that would fall on a Saturday or Sunday (you have to go every so many days so these are required) they would be downtown as well. It wasn't a huge issue, but make sure that you have the time to do this if you go forward.

He always knew what was going on in our lives and was interested in knowing how we were doing through the whole process.

I absolutely loved the nursing staff at HFI- The Woodlands. They were constantly answering questions we had, no matter how many times a day I would call. They would take the time to explain in detail and if they weren't sure they would consult Dr. Griffith and I would hear back by the end of the day. When we had negative pregnancy tests they were extremely cautious and sensitive as to how they would deliver the message to us.

Dr. Griffith was very good about listening. He would answer the 1,000s of questions we had and would tell us what he honestly thought was best for us to do next. He would have consultations with us when we weren't sure about something.

Listen to the Doctor. He is the expert in the area of infertility. Do NOT search the web for what you think would be best. There is a reason they do everything in the order that they do it. I got very frustrated at first because I didn't understand the process, but now that I do it all makes sense.

We did Clomid with our OBGYN, so when we got to Dr. Griffith we went to IUI. He told us the differences in success rates and price between IUI and IVF and since we were unexplained infertility we decided to do IUI and use IVF as a last resort. Before doing an IUI I had to have a hyteroscopy to make sure that my uterus was in good condition and clear of fibroids. After 2 rounds of IUI he still wasn't sure why things weren't happening. Everything was perfect with our IUI, but the sperm wasn't meeting the egg. We took a break after this because it was emotionally and physically draining. We went back to see what we should do next. Since I took a break, he went ahead and did another hysterocopy to make sure that nothing had formed over the last year. After this we began stims to start IVF. Through IVF we used a number of injection prescriptions which resulted in 27 eggs being retrieved. After ICSI we had 18 embryos frozen. We transfered 2 embryos about a month and a half later (after my body healed from retrieval) and one survived.

IUI- about $4,000/round (without medication) IVF- about $13,000 for retrieval and transfer (without medication) IVF Frozen Transfer- about $4,000 (without medication)

Dr. Griffith Highly suggested that we only transfer 1 embryo because I was so young. I fought it and pushed for 2. He did transfer 2 because that was what I wanted, but he warned me of the risks that can come with multiples.

Once you get your treatment they send you to the main location in Houston. For Iui you get which ever doctor is available. Basically, you get anyone you do t have a rapport with. That’s one thing I didn’t like. I do like my doctor.

When I went to Houston go get my IUI I felt like a number. They messed up my procedure because they forgot to defrost my husband’s sperm. Therefore, an appointment that was scheduled for 10am wasn’t until 1:30p. Then, I had to go inthe next day at 8:30a so they could defrost the sperm, didn’t get seen u til 11:20a. I was one of the first patients there and was the last one to leave. By the way, those two procedures were not done by my doctor. When the Dr. Skropuski saw me in Beaumont I was treated like a human.

Tammi was working with another nurse that she was training. That nurse was immature, interrupting Tammi when we were trying to scheduled. She was so rude that when I called to let them know that I had taken my trigger shot 30 mins late she just answered cross your finger and pray it works. I was so mad because I had just paid a lot of money and it was a bit stressful situation for her to be telling me that.

I liked him because he explained my diagnose, but not the procedure because i didn’t know what to expect. He does show compassion, and listened to my question and complains. When my husband and I went we asked him to fill our some forms for a grant and he said he would, but at the end we didn’t qualify for it.

Make sure he explains the procedure you’ll be getting done. And whatever you do try to avoid Dr. Bello in Houston.

I’m sorry I don’t remember.

With medicines and freezing of the sperm about 6500-7000

One weakness is that you don't personally see your doctor every appointment. You will usually see a doctor just not yours always. Hfi is truly the best clinic in Houston, so I don't think it's much of a drawback. My nurses have been so kind. They give me meds if I really need them since I'm a cash pay patient (so expensive!) I would recommend my doctor, and others I have encountered through my time with hfi, a million timers over. They don't treat you like a number. My doctor knows every woman is different. I love them all at hfi!

Dr Bello always is very personal. She gave me her phone number and told me to text her anytime (when I was going through an ectopic pregnancy following an iui). She always takes the time to explain things to me. She calls me when she is concerned with something, and she is always telling me that she is praying for me.

They are super busy at this clinic - there are only 2 of them, and a lot of times they're in charge when no doctor is there. They are easy to reach by phone or patient portal. The only thing I have a complaint about is how quickly I get my prescriptions sent. I think this also has something to do with cvs. They're so slow, so I can't completely blame the nurses. They're sweet ladies who really care about you!

Dr Bello is amazing. She is a great surgeon. This can be a downfall because she is at the main hfi location a lot for surgery. She is in cypress in Wednesday afternoons and thursdays. She looks over all of your labs and ultrasounds after each visit and tells the nurses what to do next. She is pretty conservative which I appreciate. I would recommend her to everyone.

She is blunt and tells things the way they are, but she is also very compassionate. She will be honest with you.

I have pcos so I respond very strongly to meds. She had me trigger with different medicine when my estradiol went over a certain level. This saved me from having ohss too bad when I had my egg retrieval (42 mature eggs!) she is just an amazing doctor who knows my body and knows what will work.

Each iui was $2800 up front. This did not include meds. Meds were about $1,000. I had zero coverage. For Ivf, it was $12950 up front not including meds. It was $5900 additional for pgs. We decided not to do the pgs testing.

She doesn't have a strong preference. She is letting me transfer 2 and I am young and healthy.

HFI was always very easy to work with. Doctors, nurses, and the finance department was very kind and organized. They always promptly returned calls, answered any questions, and were easy to work with and schedule appointments with.

Dr. Kim was amazing. I was so incredibly nervous during the entire IVF process and he always took the time to listen to my concerns and fears. Many times after becoming pregnant I would call feeling very anxious and he had me come in for an ultrasound just to calm my fears.

Vanessa was always so kind and understanding. I called very often and she always calmed my nerves and was very knowledgeable.

Dr. Kim was such an amazing doctor. We had gone through several years of infertility, a surgery, and 7 IUI’s prior to meeting with him. By the time we had our appointment with him I had little hope left at conceiving. When I met with him I instantly felt hope. He was so easy to talk to and explained everything in a way that we were able to understand. He was honest through the entire process and always took the time at every single appointment to sit down with us and discuss our treatment. He went above and beyond to ensure that everything went as planned. I honestly cannot say enough wonderful things about him. We now have a healthy little boy as a result of IVF as his patient and we just took him to meet the dr that helped us conceive our little miracle.

Put all of your other fertility experiences in the past and go into your appointment with an open mind. I am so thankful I did not give up before finding Dr. Kim

Dr. Kim found that I had a thryroid issue so I was put on thyroid medication before beginning my cycle. I also did injections and progesterone

Our total cost for IVF, freezing embryos, and the transfer was around $20,000.

I was appreciative that Dr. Kim knew what my body was able to handle in regards to medication and doing a frozen cycle.

There are multiple branches, but I frequented the Willowbrook location. It's clean, and seems to be run pretty efficiently. There's never a long wait. Unfortunately, the billing department leaves a lot to be desired. If your cycle fails, you're supposed to be covered by the HFI Assurance - meaning that your next cycle will be free of physician's fees. Both of my cycles failed, by the way. Before my second cycle (Sept. '16), the billing department tried to charge us for the full amount including the doctor's fees. I spoke to a couple of people, and eventually, it was straightened out. I was assured that it was the last we'd hear of the extra fees. Fast forward to March '17 when I received more bills for the physician's fees. I had to talk to two more people to get things straightened out. I was told that I do not owe any physician's fees, and hopefully this will be the last time I get billed. We'll see...

Dr. Griffith is very warm. He truly seems to care about my husband and me. He never became annoyed by our barrage of questions, and he was always happy to explain processes.

The phlebotomists and the nurses were great. Especially, Daisy. My care coordinator was sometimes very short with me without provocation.

I didn't see Dr. Griffith as often as I would've liked. The times I did see him, he was fully present and always kind. I do wish he had performed the egg retrievals, however. Despite two failed IVF cycles, we did learn so much from the tests Dr. Griffith insisted we undergo. We learned that I have MTHFR and a clotting disorder. That information has helped us maintain my current natural (completely spontaneous) pregnancy that occurred mere months after our last failed cycle. I'm so grateful!

Don't be afraid to ask lots of questions. Dr. Griffith will address them all, and he's remarkably comforting.

I don't recall the exact protocol, but I took Bravelle, Menopur, and Ovidrel before my retrieval. I had approximately 11 follicles that looked promising, but only 5 eggs were retrieved. Three of the eggs were mature, and only two fertilized. Only one egg made it to day 5, and it was frozen. I had responded well to stims for an IUI at another clinic so he thought it would go well. After the failed transfer, Dr. Griffith spoke to us again and said he'd introduce Lupron and an antagonist protocol should we decide on round 2. With round 2, we used Lupron, Menopur, and Gonal-f. We had 10 follicles. We ended up with 2 poor quality 3-day embryos. Unfortunately, they didn't take.

$25k - this includes one IVF cycle and unlimited frozen transfers as well as meds.

HFI is a well respected clinic. I wish there was a separate waiting area for women receiving fertility treatment from the women who are already pregnant or who were having to have D&Cs. I was always stressed out seeing all of the different emotions. I also wish there was a way to get in at your appointment time. Most appointments took less than 10 minutes, but it could take an hour or more to get into a treatment room. Saturdays & the days after holidays were the worst.

Every visit was to a jammed pack waiting room full of women trying to have babies, women pregnant, and women with small children. I rarely saw the same nurse twice. I only saw the doctor at the beginning of each cycle. Rarely did I ever get in & out near my appointment time. The only constant people were the people taking my blood.

The nursing staff seemed to have a high turn-over ratio. The only constant staff were the women who took the blood. When I went back 6 months after completing & failing 3 cycles, there was not a single nurse that i had seen before.

Dr. Witz seems like a great doctor. When I met with him, I felt like he answered all of my questions candidly. However, I rarely saw him. I would see him for a meeting before I started a round of IUI. He never performed any of my IUI procedures, as he has colleagues that take different shifts. Maybe my cycles just didn't coincide with his work schedule. He was highly recommended by my gynecologist.

Infertility is a vicious cycle. Be prepared to see lots of women crying. Every appointment was full of women crying because they lost a baby, because they got pregnant, or because they found out they weren't pregnant. Dr. Witz was never there when I got my pregnancy test results.

Dr. Witz prescribed a small dosage of clomid followed by IUI. One of his colleagues questioned my treatment strategy when he performed an initial exam as I started a cycle however, he went with the orders left by Dr. Witz. It made me concerned that perhaps there were newer ideas that may work better.

$1500 per medicated IUI cycle plus drugs.

Strengths: ease of scheduling; can always communicate via the portal; nice to see all lab results, instructions, and consent forms on the portal; personal staff; on time every time with appointments; professional; financial counselor was good at clarifying what was covered by insurance and what was not; treatment costs were very transparent. Weaknesses: don't take phone calls during lunch; make sure you read the consent forms ahead of time because front office staff expects you to sign without reading (they did offer to print the consent form when I complained that I was just signing electronic pages without reading, but it turned out that it was really really long and would have made me super late for my appointment to read it at that time)

Dr. Kim remembered every detail about my health and care with every visit. He always took the time to answer all of my questions and encouraged me to contact his office if I thought of others after the visit. He took time to explain the ultrasounds and test results. The one time I had a concern, he made time in his clinic schedule to see me immediately and verified that everything was going well.

Great caring staff! We bonded since we were seeing each other so often. I got to know them on a personal level. They were very good at clarifying instructions and responding in a timely manner. I could send an email to them at 7pm and would often get a reply email the following morning at 8am. They were always able to accommodate my crazy personal schedule. Vanessa Jones even offered to come to my house to teach my husband how to do the IM shots since he could not make it to the clinic for instruction. I was impressed she cared so much.

Dr. Kim is very personable and very knowledgeable in his field. He practices evidence-based medicine based on our many discussions about recent fertility advancements. I appreciated his realistic statistics which helped me shape realistic expectations. His bedside manner is very gentle and genuine. I wish that he could continue to be my OB/Gyn throughout my entire pregnancy. He wanted to personally participate in my IVF procedures and even did the implantation on a Saturday because that was when my body was ready. He listened to my concerns and needs every step of the way. It was important to me to transfer only one embryo, as I am personally fearful of twins. Our first singleton transfer was a success! I could tell he really enjoyed sharing listening to the first heartbeats with us. It was special to him, not just the 1000th time for him.

Feel free to ask your questions. Bring as much prior fertility workup information with you to your consultation so that he can review it with you and start the ground running from there.

My issue is PCOS and anovulation. So we first tried a clomid cycle, confirmed that 2 follicles were ready, triggered their release, and had intercourse for 3 days as directed. This was a cheaper option than starting with IVF, although he projected a success rate of about 9%. Thus, we were not especially let down when we had a negative pregnancy test, but we were happy that we had started with the easiest and cheapest option. We then tried a different hormone (can't remember the name), found that 1 follicle was ready, triggered ovulation, and did IUI twice (on 2 consecutive days). We knew again that our projected success rate was still low, and we had a negative pregnancy test. At this point Dr. Kim had a discussion with us. We could choose to increase the aggressiveness of the hormones and try IUI again or we could proceed to IVF. Dr. Kim mentioned that trying the more aggressive IUI cycle had a higher risk of multiples and a much lower success rate than IVF. We decided to proceed with IVF. I underwent the egg retrieval process. I produced 50+ follicles since I had such a high ovarian reserve (PCOS). He harvested 29 and then inactivated the others (because who needs that many eggs?). I never had to take any pain medication afterwards. He was very careful to make sure that I did not experience ovarian hyperstimulation syndrome (OHSS) by changing to a lupron trigger shot. After the retrieval, I was concerned that I could be developing OHSS, so I called his office and he had me come in immediately. He examined my right away (I don't think I even finished signing in at the front) and found that I was doing okay and gave me some directions. I recovered quickly. Back to the eggs. 29 eggs were harvested, 19 fertilized, and 12 reached the 5 day blastocyst stage. We did genetic testing. 6 had normal chromosomes. We were very glad we did the genetic testing. The nonviable embryos would have likely resulted in miscarriages and disappointment. So even though the genetic testing was expensive, we felt we probably saved money, time, and heartache by avoiding futile IVF cycles. We waited a month for my body to recover from the retrieval, and then we implanted a single genetically normal 5-day blastocyst. Dr. Kim showed us our first baby photo - a picture of our embryo hatching - before the procedure. He came in on a Saturday to do the implantation, as that was the best day for my body. He showed how he was placing the embryo on the ultrasound and took a photo for us. We felt that he made the process special for us. We did the bed rest thing for 3 days and then the waiting game began. Dr. Kim told me when I could cheat with a home urine pregnancy test if I wanted. So I did cheat and it was positive! But of course, I waited to get excited until the official blood test was done. Dr. Kim monitored our very early pregnancy up until we were 10 weeks along. I did an estrogen patch, estrogen sublingual pills, and IM progesterone shots up until 10 weeks. Everything progressed as usual. Hearing our daughter's heartbeat for the first time was so special for all of us in the room, including Dr. Kim. He was genuinely excited for us. We can't wait to send him our birth announcement in the future! I have recommended Dr. Kim to all friends having fertility issues. As a physician myself, I have also recommended him to my patients as well.

The cost was comparable to other fertility locations.

My only complaint with HFI was an over-reliance on the Patient Portal, though I understand that a clinic as big as HFI needs a communication tool such as this. Everything else. From staff to facilities was superb and probably a huge reason for our first cycle being successful.

The over-reliance on the patient portal was the in,y thing that made me "feel like a number," though whenever I called the office to speak someone, they were there to help.

These women were such an important aspect of my treatment; they were compassionate, encouraging, and knew exactly the right thing to say at the right time. When we were exited from the office at 12 weeks, after seeing them 1-3x per week for 4 months, I was sad to leave these ladies.

Dr. Steward is very confident. Our treatment went exactly as planned, even as far as having extra embryos to freeze to come back to for more children down the road. My husband loved his confidence, whereas I felt put-off by it. Sometimes I felt Dr. Steward was dismissive of my concerns (like in a discussion of how many embryos to transfer) or even placed blame upon me over miscommunications (Asking if I "misunderstood" instructions over post-transfer bed rest, as if someone would forget to request 3 days off from work.) Generally, Dr. Steward was kind, warm, encouraging and always had a smile on his face, which really put my at ease despite what may have been a minor personality conflict.

As a lot of questions, document answers, request clarification if needed, but trust that he is very good at his job.

I was started off on two different stim medications; Dr. Steward was very thorough in reading blood work and ultrasound results after each monitoring appointment. He made many adjustments, such as changing injection spot and upping dosages. (It turns out that we were affected by a recall of one of the medicines, which is why we constantly had to use more.) I give him so much credit for having to change our course of action so often and doing it so accurately that we still had such a successful cycle. Another interesting aspect was that Dr. Steward insisted upon a frozen transfer, not fresh. While it was frustrating to go through so much pain and stress only to take a month off before transfer, he was totally right. Taking a month off gave my body time to regulate and for me to fully recover from the retrieval.

$6000 for course-of-treatment only; all procedures and medication was additional.

The number one strength of the HFI- Katy office is that it is small! :) That means they really get to know you... and you RARELY wait more than 10 minutes to get in. They are kind and funny and very helpful! You are definitely more than just a patient at this office. I really don't have weaknesses.

He was great! When we first came in I wasn't 100% sure because he is a FAST talker but if there was ever something I wasn't sure about all I had to do was ask and he would explain again. If we ever had ANY questions about why a treatment hasn't worked he is always available. Yes he will have to take a message and call us back but usually that is within an hour or two. When you have a negative result the nurses will call and give you the results but often schedule your consult with him to talk about what might have gone wrong and what our next steps should possibly be. We had unexplained infertility when we started a year ago but now my egg reserve is starting to diminish and he has been with us through this. He is very caring and if you need him to slow down and talk you through things again and again he is MORE than happy to do so. I don't think we would have made it as far without him. I know there is a light coming for us.

I LOVE MY NURSES!!! HFI - Katy is a small office and I know EVERY SINGLE person who works there by name and they know me! They are so wonderful and caring and amazing and there aren't enough good words for them. They laugh with me and they hug me when I just cry! I was always tough but disappointed when IUI didn't work or we had setbacks but the first major meltdown was going in for Beta and I had taken a Home Pregnancy Test before I came in. I knew it was going to be a BFN and just broke down as I walked in because they always ask "how are you today." I lost it. Vanessa just hugged me so tight and said "I'm so sorry sweetie!" I knew my test was going to be negative but I was utterly devastated. She called me later that morning with the official results and asked if I wanted to talk to Dr Kim that day. I said no because I couldn't keep anything together. Instead we went in to talk to him the next day. They go so above and beyond! My husband is now working out of town during the week and the progesterone injections had to be given in my butt daily at an angle that was not going to work for me! I went in every day and they did them for me and it became the "butt" of all our jokes. :) I LOVE the nurses there! Vanessa, Joy, Rebecca and Lisa are all AMAZING!

Some may not like his style of communication. He is VERY fast talker and will even admit it himself but all you ever have to do is say wait slow down I don't get this and he will immediately do so or explain in a different way with drawings or other helpful things. He is so warm and caring and when you are truly struggling he is there. My last round my follicles were not responding to the HEAVY drugs we were using. (previously I used Bravelle and Menopur and got 7 eggs). This time we only had 3 follicles. I was at my ultimate lowest and just cried and said I felt like a failure. Dr Kim NEVER rushed me out but instead was there saying you are definitely NOT a failure and that WE will figure this out together! He cancelled the expensive IVF procedure planned as we would then get our clinical fees credited for our next attempt at IVF and also went out of his way to find some free drugs for us to help us with the costs. So that failed cycle really has only cost us the price for drugs. He's very direct but also very optimistic person and makes you feel like you are more than just another patient!

If you think he is talking too fast at any point just straight up tell him or if you don't understand something ask him. He knows he's a fast talker and in his first consult with that this was his advice to us! Also I find taking notes when he talks sometimes helps as when he does talk fast I can forget what he told me after.

We have unexplained infertility that over the last year is also turning into a diminished egg reserve. Since we didn't know what was wrong we started at the bottom and worked our way up. 1st Treatment - Clomid and IUI - BFN (Big Fat Negative) 2nd Treatment - Injections and IUI - BFN 3rd Treatment - Injections but started bleeding - Cancelled IUI 4th Treatment - Injections and IVF - 7 eggs, 6 embryos, 4-5 day embryos. Transferred 1 with BFN. Froze other 3. 5th Treatment - Frozen Embryo Transfer - Endometrin but started bleeding - Cancelled cycle and saved eggs. 6th Treatment - FET - Projesterone in Sesame Oil - Transferred 2 frozen - Chemical pregnancy. 7th Treatment - IVF - Injections resulted in low follicle stimulation - Timed Intercourse - BFN 8th Treatment - TBD :) Still have one snowflake baby but want to transfer at least 2 so will try IVF again after a month or two off for our sanity, my body to relax and our wallets to refill.

We had insurance that covered most of the costs through the IVF procedure the first time. The total cycles probably cost us about $10-12K for the 3 IUI's and the 1 IVF. The FET was $2500 max. This last round of IVF (which was cancelled)was $6600 for dr's fees which are credited back to us. $11K for Facility Fees (which we hadn't paid for yet) and then another $5500 for Genetic Testing (optional) and finally our actual out of pocket expenses for Meds were $7500. The meds were higher due to high stimulation amount and # of days I was on. Previous IVF cost us about $3-4K in meds. Due to these steep costs we have been given drugs donated by mom's who don't need them anymore to help combat the costs for this next attempt. :) They are there to help you have a baby not go bankrupt! :)

Clinic was clean, i loved that they all services (blood tests, etc) were on site. They do a good job of explaining costs and working with a financial counselor. Wait time is very short

Dr. Kim seemed impatient in spending time to explain the process. He seemed rushed and sometimes defensive when we asked questions about our treatment plan and things we wanted him clarify. Meetings with him seemed rushed. After the first transfer that did not end up in a pregnancy, Dr. Kim (nor staff) did not call to inform us of the results. We went in for the beta test in the morning and waited all day as they promised to call with the results. We logged on to the clinic's portal and found that the results were posted. When we called later in the day, a Medical Assistant told us "I thought you already knew". A few months later when we went through several rounds of tests, the office did not call to inform of us of the results again. After waiting almost a month, we again found the results through the patient portal and called the office. Another Medical Assistant tried to explain the results to us and recommended a treatment plan which was totally different from what we had discussed with Dr. Kim. Clearly, there isn't good coordination with the staff and Dr. The service provided wasn't personal.

1- There was bad communication between the Dr and Medical Assistants. MAs need to show more compassion and be more patient when working with insurance companies in placing orders and verifying insurance information. They just fax the order and don't confirm that the drug company received it. I had to call the office several times and do a 3-way call with the Medical Assistant and drug company. MA seemed annoyed. 2- They need to better coordinate with hospitals for surgery scheduling. 3- MAs/Staff should be professional when dealing with patients. Do not address patients as "sweetie, hun, etc."

Please show more compassion and understand that patients are already going through a lot. Spend more time answering their questions. Staff needs more training in dealing with patients

I would not recommend

Drugs - $7-8K Facility Costs - $8K Insurance Covered Costs - > $13k

Dr. Williams and his staff are top quality. It's clear that they run a professional and organized office. The patient portal makes it crystal clear to the patient regarding test results and instructions. His office staff was quick to respond to any questions that I had as well. Also a very clean facility. (Weakness: the lady that drew the blood was not very friendly.)

He was very prepared to review my case when I went in to meet him (after I had submit medical information online). He asked the right questions, explained his recommendations clearly, and gave me optimistic feedback.

Great communication through the patient portal. Answered all of my MANY questions very willingly.

He diagnosed my issue right away and set a course of action that was followed. He adjusted my medication along the way, and in the end, I had healthy twins after my first embryo transfer with him. Also he shared good stats with me regarding what my outcome would likely entail.

Show up prepared with your information because he needs to know everything in order to set an appropriate course of action. Ask questions - he will take the time to answer them!

Dr. Williams was adamant that we use frozen embryos, which I had, and highly recommended genetic testing. We did that and found that 3 of the 4 embryos were normal (one was thrown out due to abnormality). I don't remember the pre-transfer medications exactly but I think I did estrogen patches, Lupron and progesterone shots. Post-transfer, I took baby aspirin, heparin shots, estrogen patches and progesterone shots for up to 12 weeks. We placed two 5-days blastocysts in and I delivered to 2 healthy baby boys at 37 weeks.

$5000 for genetic testing. Approximately $2000 for medication. $2000 Hysteroscopy (removal of polyp) TOTAL COST: Approximately $20,000 (using a frozen embryo; he did not do the egg retrieval)

He had a strong preference to using 2 embryos

Strong on nursing staff and communication through the patient portal. Weakness in personal care of the patient that is spending a lot of money and emotion. I have felt like they did not know me and I had spent several years in their offices under treatment. When going through infertility you need compassion and this office lacks this. It almost felt like it was a society of people and who you knew.

This office has some pros and cons. The office you could get in and out of the office quickly, but you almost never saw the Dr. that was in charge of your cycle.

At this office you deal with the nursing staff more so than ANY of the Dr.'s. I have been to several of the offices and they all work in a similar fashion. The nurses is whom you always were in contact with for treatment guidelines, questions and overall details.

The office's were in great location and easy to get in and out. Dr. Haddad was nice, but you never saw him during your visits during your treatment. You feel like you are just a person on a piece of paper. No real personal care. Although I like this office and the nurses their was not a lot of personal interest.

Understand the expectation of this office prior. If you want personal touch and experience this is not the office for you. The procedures and communication with electric options are clear, but you are disconnect through the process in its entire dealings. I have had many procedures with costly out of pocket costs but they do not care.

Overall the treatment plan was easy to follow and communicated when they said they would. I believe the protocol was much improved compared to my previous IVF dr. You do not have input, but it appeared to be effective.

Very expensive but expect this is a normal expectation.

It was a nice clinic but the staff seemed overworked.

The clinic was extremely busy and did a poor job of communicating the process to me or displaying that they cared about what we were going through. In particular, I think they do a poor job of communicating with out of town patient. Maybe an in town patient experience would be better. I frequently could not get through to the nurse to ask questions in a timely manner.

We were initially assigned a relatively new nurse who was horrible - she was not compassionate and over-worked. She also didn't have answers to our basic questions but always stated that the doctor wasn't available to answer them. The 2nd nurse was someone who had been at the clinic a long time and was much more understanding and knowledgable. Although you could tell she was also overworked and had limited time.

This clinic was a complete waste of time and we felt misguided throughout the process. On our first round of IVF, we had a lot of eggs retrieved (~12 embryos) but then very low quality. Most eggs stopped growing after day 3. Only one egg passed genetic testing and it was a 7 day egg. Now we know most clinics would not have transferred this egg due to low quality. Instead, Dr. Witz encouraged us to do so. When this was unsuccessful, he told us on the next attempt, we could add growth hormone to improve egg quality. Once the next procedure protocol was established, Dr. Witz did not prescribe growth hormone. When we discussed this with him, he told us due to FDA scrutiny, fertility clinics were no longer using growth hormone and we'd have to go to Europe to get it. So we proceeded with a 2nd round of egg retrieval without it. Again, we had a large number of eggs / embryos, but they did not make it past day 3. We were left with only one 7 day embryo that passed genetic testing. Again, Dr. Witz encouraged us to transfer this egg. So we went through the time/stress/expense to transfer it with yet again a bad result. We have since learned that most other fertility clinics across the U.S. still use growth hormone. We used it on our next egg retrieval round in Colorado and had excellent results (6 very high quality embryos resulting in one live birth - our daughter). I believe HFI is now using growth hormone again. During procedures, Dr. Witz seemed more interested in the music we wanted played than explaining the procedure itself. He may have been trying to get us to relax but it felt strange.

If you are older or have egg quality issues, ask him to use growth hormone during the first attempt. If you have a 7 day egg that passes genetic testing (or a low quality egg), don't bother to transfer it. Freeze it and go for another retrieval.

Our protocol felt very cookie cutter. He didn't make adjustments during the process based on how fast our eggs were growing or that were specific to our issue - poor egg quality.

The first round of IVF was between $15 and $20k, I can't remember exactly. If you get genetic testing (PGS), I think it was $5k and that covered 10 eggs. If your first round doesn't work, you get a discount on the 2nd round, so I think that was more about $10k to $12k.

We knew for certain we only wanted to transfer one embryo (and we never had more than one at HFI) so this wasn't discussed.

This clinic is busy- schedule your appointments as far in advance as you can and very early in the day if possible. They tend to run late once it gets closer to lunch time. The patient portal provides quick access to your test and lab results and provides instructions for all your procedures.

The support staff at HFI is amazing, caring, and warm. All were eager to answer all my questions and were incredibly patient. Frankly you spend a lot more time with them than the doctor so I think the nurses are what most positively affected my experience at HFI.

Dr. Steward's nursing staff deserves an A+. They are compassionate, kind, patient, and warm. They actually answer the phone to answer questions and are quick to respond on the patient portal.

I generally prefer my doctors/surgeons to be near retirement age. Experience is so important in medicine. Dr. Steward was an exception. He is young but extremely bright and current on research and new techniques (which is very important in fertility medicine). While with some patients his confidence may be a turn-off, I found that the more we worked with him the warmer he became. His bedside manner improved significantly throughout the course of our treatments. If we need to do fertility treatments again I will 100% go back to him.

Do not be afraid to push back or ask for more clarification on your treatment plan or progress. Dr. Steward knows his stuff and if you have informed and thoughtful questions he is more than eager to answer them with as much detail as you might want.