Houston Fertility Institute

She was kind, empathetic, professional. She seemed young in her practice. Didn’t seem as evidence based- when discussing novel therapies would state that “the clinic had success with x,y,z” but wasn’t able to elaborate on the supporting evidence or mechanism of action. Sometimes she would get confused on my medical details or the things we discussed. I’m Sure it’s hard to juggle so many patients but this reminded me why people regard hfi as a factory rather than a personal experience. I did end up having success here and I am forever grateful for that but I felt that I had to come up with the ideas and adjustments that ultimately led to my success. She is overall very approachable, friendly, and accommodating. I really appreciated her bedside manner

Come with a lot of open ended questions and let her response (rather than you filling in what your specific ideas are).

Antagonist protocol with estrogen priming. Followed by second antagonist protocol going above max dose meds (above gonal/ menopur 300)

Don’t know. Didn’t like how money seemed to be the #1 thing though

We did fresh 3day transfer so 2 embryos Made more sense

I had a wonderful experience with Dr. Griffith. I had gone through my first IVF cycle with another clinic which resulted in 0 normal embryos to transfer and that doctor didn't seem to show any compassion or care in my results. Knowing that we could only afford to pay for one additional cycle, I did extensive research with varying clinics and met with 5 new RE's. Dr. Griffith was the last RE I met with and he immediately put me at ease. I had a long list of questions regarding my failed cycle and had done my own research regarding what may help in a second. He patiently answered all my questions and backed up all my research with data of his own. Once the cycle started, I only saw him at the key moments of my treatment but I never felt ignored. His nurses were there to help relay any questions I had quickly to him to answer. He was always positive and reassuring, even when I had doubts about my progress. He did not perform my egg retrieval but I knew that going into the cycle. I did have some minor complications after the retrieval which required a trip to the ER. I notified the clinic of my symptoms and ER visit and they quickly had me come in to be evaluated by Dr. Griffith even though everything had been resolved. He did perform my transfer and it couldn't have been a smoother procedure. He made both my husband and I feel comfortable and the transfer was a special experience. I couldn't have chosen a better doctor for my IVF journey. My only wish is that I had come to him the first time.

I think being understanding that you are not going to see Dr. Griffith at every appointment. I saw him for my consultation and during my stimulation period to confirm progress prior to retrieval. He did not perform my retrieval but I knew that beforehand so I was comfortable with it. He did perform my transfer and performed my US the day my pregnancy was confirmed in the clinic. He also performed my last US the day I graduated from the clinic. It was apparent to me that Dr. Griffith had a large amount of patients he was treating and that almost made me more comfortable in my decision to use him in that he was in such high demand. Even though I did not see him every appointment, I never had any issues in having my questions answered by him quickly.

Protocol was important to me and one of the reasons why I chose Dr. Griffith. After speaking with 5 different RE's, Dr. Griffith was one of two that offered a different protocol than the one I had previously used which resulted in a failed cycle. My first cycle was an antagonist protocol using a combination of Gonal-F and Menopur. I had a slow start (only a few follicles showing) so my Gonal dosage was increased on day 4. I ended up with 14 eggs retrieved, 12 mature. Of those, only 7 fertilized and I ended up with 4 embryos (3 abnormal, 1 low level mosaic). Since I did not have any normal embryos to transfer, the cycle ended. I took these results to Dr. Griffith and he suggested a Menopur only cycle which had been proven to result in more healthier/normal embryos, though it didn't produce as many eggs as with an added FSH injection such as Gonal. So in essence, we were looking for quality over quantity. He provided clinical trials I could reference to back up his recommendation. On the Menopur only cycle, I produced 7 eggs. 7 were mature, 5 fertilized, and resulted in with 3 PGS normal embryos. I elected to transfer one day 5 normal embryo and I am currently 12 weeks pregnant with a baby boy!

For one full cycle including PGS testing and medications, our costs were around $25K.

This was my choice really. I was against multiple embryo transfer and Dr. Griffith supported my choice and never suggested anything other than an eSET.

Dr. Hoff is a sweet person and extremely compassionate. After each loss she called me personally and seemed to commiserate with me and really feel my pain. During my "wins" (one chemical and one miscarriage) we celebrated together my positive betas and was always willing to talk to us if we didn't have positive betas. I felt that she was really on my team when it came to my results. As far as the not-so-good, she was not very proactive regarding our treatment. We had to bring a treatment option to her that was not offered to us and was extremely simple (freezing sperm to mix with a fresh sample for an IUI). Only after doing my own research with my own labs did I discover that I likely have PCOS but this was never diagnosed by Dr. Hoff, nor was it ever brought up in any conversation I ever had with her. Dr. Hoff is an extremely positive person so all of our conversations centered around what could go right in the future, and not what was going wrong right now. It was comforting to have her reassurance but I think I really could have used more professional guidance on the actual problems we were having.

Be your own advocate and research your own treatment options. Ask "why" ALWAYS because she won't tell you or give you a vague answer. A lot of times the answer really is vague, but sometimes it's not....but you aren't given any details.

Before cycling I had a hysteroscopy and my husband had a SA to determine where we were. Hoff said my hysteroscopy results came back perfect, but when I looked in my surgery report it said that the biopsy result they took was not positive for inflammation, but contained "pre-inflammation" or something. I was never told this by Hoff as she said everything looked good so I believed her. My husband's SA came back a little less than perfect but she said it was adequate for an IUI even though it had less than 1% morphology. IUI #1-- I used Clomid and regular monitoring. The last monitoring appointment I went to they said I had already ovulated and instructed me NOT to use my Ovidrel trigger but to have sex that evening and then come in for an IUI next day. I did so and during my TWW I used Endometrin vaginally 1x a day. after my TWW I had a positive beta of 16. The next beta it fell to 5, resulting in a chemical pregnancy. IUI #2- Same exact protocol as IUI #1 except I did use my Ovidrel trigger this time. Husband's sample day of IUI was extremely poor. We asked Hoff about this and she said he may have had an infection three months prior. Results were a negative beta. IUI #3- Changed protocols by switching to Letrozole with another Ovidrel trigger. I responded well to the Letrozole. This cycle we brought up the option of freezing samples beforehand and mixing them with fresh samples to get better counts. This resulted in better counts but ended in another negative beta. IUI #4- Protocol was not changed at all and ended in a missed chemical pregnancy (positive HPT but negative beta.) IUI #5- Same as previous protocol. In November of 2018 I became pregnant naturally. I went to see Hoff for my betas and eventual scans. My progesterone was not at the level they wanted so they kept increasing it. Eventually I was on Endometrin 3x daily and oral progesterone 3x daily. No heartbeat ever developed and I had a miscarriage.

IUIs were about $1,500 each and meds were another $300-400.

No embryo experience with Hoff.

Initially I went for a consultation about egg retrieval and Dr Williams fully explained the process and how it would work at HFI. A few months later I returned ready to move forward with the goal of having a baby on my own. We started with IUI's and ultimately moved on to IVF. He gave me my options and helped me to understand them fully so I could make the best decision possible given my circumstances. When the first transfer resulted in a chemical pregnancy (and I was sad/mad/confused), he displayed empathy, encouraged me and adjusted my plan to move forward. My second transfer was successful and he and his staff were elated for me and celebrated each week until I 'graduated' to my OB. I felt well cared for at every step and look forward to repeating the process with him in the next couple of years.

Communicate and Trust. There are a lot of options when you start the journey, talk to Dr Williams about your concerns and ask any questions. He will explain things to you so you can make the best decision for your family. Trust that he wants the same outcome that you do, and know that he's working to make your dreams come true.

1. Hysteroscopy: Found that both of my tubes were blocked, but they were able to get them unblocked during the procedure. This was crucial prior to moving onto my IUI treatment. 2. IUI's (2 times): Femara (oral med) + Ovidrel (injectible): Neither one was successful 3. Egg Retrieval: Menopur (150iu); Cetrotide .(.25 mg) Ovidrel (250 mcg) Follistim AQ (150IU ) - 19 eggs retrieved, 13 mature, 9 fertilized, 6 blastocysts; PGS testing - 3 normal, 2 abnormal, 1 inconclusive 4. FET #1: Desogen; Prednisone 10mg (2 x/day x 4 days starting 1 day before ET); Minivelle Patch 0.1mg (place 3 patch on the skin and change every 3 days); Estrace 2 mg - Tablets; PIO Shots. Once chemical pregnancy was confirmed, I had to take methotrexate to stop cell division. My HCG numbers were crawling upwards, but absolutely not to the point that it could've at all been a viable pregnancy. It took at least two weeks to confirm (which was the worst period of the entire journey), because he didn't want to call it too soon. My number never went above 400 though, so they couldn't see anything on an ultrasound, but with the numbers creeping up, cell division was happening somewhere, and we needed to end it in case it was an eptopic pregnancy. I then had to wait until my HCG numbers came back down to 0 for us to begin discussing how to best move forward. I was very frustrated because I'd transferred PGS tested embryo and it implanted, so I didn't understand why the pregnancy wasn't successful. Dr Williams explained that I was in a very low percentage of people that unfortunately experience a chemical pregnancy for an unknown reason. 4. FET #2: I used the same protocol as FET #1, but added Lovenox 40mg/0.4ml mg/dl - Injection. His reasoning was that it could potentially help, but certainly couldn't hurt. And he knew I wanted to do something more in hopes of a successful outcome with FET #2. This one worked! I stayed on PIO and estrogen through Week 10 of my pregnancy. I went for weekly visits with Dr Williams through Week 12.

IUI's (including medications covered by insurance): $1700 IVF (including medications covered by insurance, egg retrieval, FET #1 and monitoring): $13k PGS Testing: $5k FET #2 (including medications covered by insurance and monitoring): $5k

I preferred a single transfer as I did not want to chance having multiples, so there was never a debate as to how many to transfer. He preferred transferring a single embryo, as did I.

I felt like he has been the only Dr. who was able to find my problem. He was the 1st fertility Dr. i saw but since i was little ihad signs of PCOS and my Drs never seemed to figure it out. HE was amazing!!!! I have recomended him to a few friends.

NO matter how dumb your questions sound, don't worry DR. Yeh has patience for us and will not let you leave unless all your questions are answered.

Since day 1 it was clear my cycles were irregular, we went straight to ultrasounds. He said it was recommended to have a hysteroscopy done before we tried any kind of treatment. While waiting for my hysteroscopy appointment we did blood and urine tests and found out i had PCOS, which made it hard for me to ovulate, after that my husband and i wanted IUI treatment but unfortunately when dong the hysteroscopy we found out my tubes were blocked, leaving us with only IVF as our only option. Due to the pandemic i haven't worked for a few months and in order to gather such an amount of money for IVF makes me feel sad. Already knowing i need such a treatment to conceive makes me feel less of a woman!

IUI cost between 1200-4000 IVF cost 14000-30000. That was not including the medication needed

He mentioned i was high on egg production. He said while taking the eggs out they would try to take as many as they can at once in case it did't work the 1st time.

Dr Clapp is a wonderful specialist. She is extremely knowledgeable and always happy to explain any procedure to what ever detail made us comfortable. She personally called the lab when we had questions about laboratory equipment and procedures. If I had questions the nurses couldn’t answer she would personally call back. Sometimes she can be matter of fact, but she does care about her patients greatly.

she Works at multiple facilities, so don’t be concerned if you can’t see her every visit. She reviews all the results and works with the other doctors in her practice and ultimately makes the recommendations for your treatment

We started with androgen Hormone priming (estrogen & testosterone) to promote better quality eggs since I am older than 35 & previous 2 retrievals resulted in Poor quality embryos. We planned on a 10 day ovarian stimulation with max doses of menopur and gonal F. She adjusted to 12 days of stimulation to allow the eggs to further mature. We had planned on fresh day 3 transfer. Dr clapp recommended against this as my progesterone rose to a level where fresh transfers are unsuccessful. She explained everything and we moved to a freeze all. By day 5 we only had 1 blast embryo, but 5 still growing. We let them mature to day 6 and got one more blast. We then did a frozen transfer of both embryos (one excellent quality the other fair). We had a live singleton birth as the result. No complications during pregnancy. Easy birth.

They had a wide variety of financial options. They range from single egg retrieval to multiple retrievals and transfers.

Dr Clapp makes her recommendations on a case by case basis. I really felt like she was tailoring our treatment to us vs blindly following a protocol.

Dr. Williams has an all around professional demeanor. He wants to make sure you truly understand what is going to happen. He doesn’t mind re-explaining things and is very patient. Dr. Williams is also compassionate. I am very emotional and some days the tears would get the best of me and Dr. Williams would always be kind and try to make me feel better about the stresses of going through IVF. When our IUI and IVF pregnancy tests were negative he was very compassionate. It was like the results hurt him too. Makes you feel like you are his only patient and that says a lot to me. Especially when you’re going through something as emotional as IVF. I would and have suggested Dr. Williams to several of my friends. He’s great!!

Take notes and ask every question, even if it feels stupid or if he has already answered it. Be transparent.

I can’t remember.

I cannot remember.

Dr. Williams prefers to implant one embryo but will do two if requested.

He was very compassionate about my recent ruptured ectopic pregnancy and made my husband and I feel Like we would be taken care of very well. We felt safe after having issues with trust from doctors. He explained all the statistics for each procedure and answered every question I had. Unfortunately, they don’t perform their own tests due to scheduling/timing, so another physician has to do some diagnostic testing. I had To have a hysteroscopy and tubal catheterization (like an hsg) with dr. Sandra bello and when I had My follow up with dr. Yeh, I was Told that my uterus and tubes looked normal. I thought Maybe he had a slip of the tongue (since I had Just had a left salpingectomy 2 weeks prior to seeing him for the first time) and didn’t think anything of it. I decided To schedule a consult with another fertility clinic due to costs of IVF and picked up a copy of my report to fax. That’s when I realized That dr. Bello had documented that I had two normal appearing tubes with normal fill and spill. I called dr. Yehs office immediately and expected a phone call the same day (it was a Friday) and didn’t receive a call until Monday at 5:30pm. I have zero trust in my report and in my doctors and now I have To repeat the entire test again. It was a horrible experience and I will Never go back.

Make sure to get copies of all of your reports to verify accuracy.

He had recommended a estrogen antagonist (I believe) priming instead of a birth control pill start. I was Told that bcp can cause sleepy ovaries and in diminished ovarian reserve it’s not the best, which is why they use an estrogen priming. That’s all we really discussed because I didn't Continue treatment with his office and am going elsewhere.

IVF would have cost $13,600 but that’s all I can Remember. I had met my out of pocket max already, so I had Zero copays or out of pocket costs for the initial consult or diagnostic testing, but have zero fertility coverage so that would have been out of pocket.

None since I did Not continue treatment with him.

He was very open about results and expectations. He didn’t perform the retrievals nor prelim HSG but performed implantation. He is very pleasant and suggested egg donor from the beginning based on my age and MFI. Definitely was realistic. If I had good results I would recommend him 9/10. In order to see him during my ultrasounds I had to schedule specific days at specific clinics otherwise would have gotten stuck with random nurses.

Ask for him to perform majority of your ultrasounds. Ask for dedicated nurse. Ask lots of questions. Love Sugarland office as the wait was non-existent for blood work and appointments.

I had maximum dosage of GonalF 300iu, Menopur 300ml, cetrotide and birth control for 2wks. Didn’t respond to injections in stomach so shots switched to arm. 16 days of shots with retrieval in CD18. Medical insurance covered nothing. Very stressful. 600mg CoQ10, 100mg DHEA and prenatal vitamins for 6 wks. Acupuncture for 4 wks. 1st Cycle fertilized 4 of 5 eggs. 2nd cycle fertilized 2 of 11 eggs. Not sure why quality diminished so extensively.

Although I paid 100% out of pocket for everything including medication the first round was expensive $15k + meds but subsequent rounds I only paid $1050 admin fee + surgery fee + meds which helped make it affordable.

Only 1 7 cell embryo on fresh day 3 transfer. No other choice.

He was upfront with everything we could expect with the treatment and willing and available to answer questions. He had a great personality, was professional and patient. Seemed invested in our success and us being comfortable with the treatment. We didn't see him at every single appt, but felt comfortable with any of the nurses, staff, other Dr's we interacted with.

Ask questions - he is willing to take the time to explain and make you feel comfortable.

Medicated cycle for egg retrieval, frozen transfer with 1 5-day embryo

We paid for everything out of pocket for the treatment , procedures and medication. zero insurance coverage until our prenatal coverage kicked in for the monitoring until i graduated to my regular OB. I dont remember the exact amount but it was between $15-$20k for our treatment cycle.

He had a conversation with us, explaining the rationale behind transferring one embryo and gave us the option to ask questions. Said we had the ultimate say in the decision but that this was his professional recommendation and we agreed.

Dr. Steward was very kind and compassionate. He took the time to answer all of my questions no matter how over the top they were. He seemed knowledgeable. During monitoring I didn’t see him very often. He didn’t do my retrieval but did my transfers and followed up with me after negative tests. He worked to adjust treatment and listened when we had our second negative outcome but still didn’t have any clear answers to why we were not successful.

Don’t be afraid to ask questions and take your time in making decisions. Get other opinions just so you feel educated when you decide to start treatment.

6900 dr fees 3000 facility fees $250 anesthesia 3000 meds 3700 2nd transfer 4750 pgs testing

We have only consulted with the doctor, however he was very honest about %'s and expectations. He is open minded to our preference to begin with IUI while IVF may be a more effective method he was not at all discouraging.

If it pops into your head, ask. He qill put all your questions at ease.

We have not started cycles. I previously did clomid and estrogen with my last doctor. My husband has provided 2 samples 3 yrs ago. Dr. Griffith has obtained all of my testing and imagining as qell as those samples, he has requested an additional sample and I am to return for my sono and blood work at the beginning of my next cycle. From there we will discuss the steps my husband and I are most comfortable with.

Our testing and diagnostic treatments are covered by insurance. However noncovered other costs would not exceed about 600. I believe IUI was just over $1000 for a round. However, IVF is much more expensive but we were told that if the first transfer doesn't take, the will not charge for the next transfer.

I believe the Dr will only transfer one embryo at a time. While I respect that this is for the safety and success of the embryo, and I know if unsuccessful the next transfer is not at cost, I have a difficult time qith

Dr.Yeh was very compassionate when addressing all my concerns. He took as much time as I needed to feel comfortable about my treatment plan. He also called himself throughout the process to check on me to see how I was feeling. I haven’t had a doctor call to check on me before and it made me feel like he cares about his patients. I was impressed with how through the treatment was and I would recommend him to anyone.

Be on time and allow yourself extra time to talk to the doctor. He will give you as much time as you need to address all questions and concerns.

I took Gonal-f and menopur for 10 days. On day 5 I had to add Centritide to prevent ovulation. I responded very well to the medication. I went 3 days a week to get blood work and a follicle ultrasound to make sure everything was growing the was he wanted it to. I triggered with Lupron and Novarel on day 11 and proceeded with me egg retrieval on day 13. He was able to get 32 eggs and we fertilized 22 embryos for a future FET. Unfortunately I ended up with OHSS which he took very serious and checked on me every day and had me come in for testing to make sure it wasn’t severe. I am looking forward to the transfer as soon as the OHSS symptoms go away.

My total costs that included all tests, appointments, egg retrieval, freezing embryos and embryo transfer were $11,430. This was after their military discount which it made it even better that they recognize the military.

He explained to me that it is better to just implant a single embryo instead of multiple. He will test the embryos to see which ones are more likely to implant. I trust his approach and know he has my health in mind with this course of treatment.

He is open & available- often calling me on off hours & using his cell phone. We had a tough road and he never oversold with lofty expectations. He knows the research & was able to present us with facts and honest medical advice for us to make the most informed decision we could.

Reach out to him directly if you ever need to! He will respond & you’ll get good information.

We did a low dose protocol with omnitrope. I overly respond to stimulation but my eggs are not strong so we went with low dose and omnitrope to attempt to boost the egg strength. Dr. Witz has only ever done single embryo transfers with rationale of it being a better environment for the fetus and better for the mom’s overall health.

My first round was all cash pay- all in probably $35-40. Next rounds have been partially covered- all in $15-20

I really like how nice is Dr. Hoff. I am not sure the treatment always makes a lot of sense.. but maybe it is too early to tell. As a researcher, I tend to read many peer-review articles about fertility so sometimes I have hard time understanding some of the decision Dr. Hoff makes.

Make sure to ask for all the potential negative effects of using a drug or a specific treatment.

Last cycle we decided to use drugs to enhance the size of the eggs... my body did totally the opposite but Dr. Hoff still went ahead with IUI (even though my follicles were really small). In this current cycle, we are not using any drugs to get a sense of what my baseline is but we are dealing with a cyst likely due to the drug we used in the first cycle... so it is a little frustrating at the moment.

a Natural IUI cycle is 1400$, a drug-assisted IUI cycle is 1700$. None of these prices include drugs. I also had various procedure done at the clinic (dye and so on) which costs around 2000$.

Dr. Kim does a good job explaining procedures and the risks behind them. I've never felt uncomfortable in his care. He does split his time between the Katy and Sugarland clinics so I have not seen him at every appointment but this has not been an issue in my case. He was very compassionate when I experienced my chemical pregnancy.

Feel free to ask lots of questions. Dr. Kim will answer to the best of his ability and you won't feel rushed.

My first IUI utilized Clomid (100mg over 5 days). I only had one follicle develop and did not have a successful outcome utilizing donor sperm. Post IUI I took 1 progesterone suppository per day. The second IUI utilized Clomid (50 mg over 5 days) and Gonal injections (3 days of 75 iu). This generated two mature follicles and a 3rd that also had a chance of developing in time for my IUI. I took 1 progesterone suppository per day until I had HCG testing on Day 13 post IUI when progesterone was increased to 2 suppositories per day. I experience a chemical pregnancy on this try.

Oral Medication IUI -$1700 Combo Oral Medication + Injectable Medication IUI - $2200 $50 sperm storage fee from HFI $950 donor sperm per vial $285 donor sperm shipping $295 Cost of prescription medications

Dr nurudeen is always positive and really explains what is going on with my body. After meeting with her my husband and I always feel optimistic and reassured. From the very beginning we felt we could trust her and her recommendation for treatment.

Advice I would give to a prospective patient is to come prepared with your questions as she will answer them without making you feel inadequate.

I have completed one round of ivf. The first round included the following medications: Lupron 40 ml, gonal F 300, menopur 300. Injections were given in my lower abdomen and found that my follicles were not responding as well as originally thought. Switched injections to the arm and at the next ultrasound they were growing better. Retrieved 6 eggs, 4 fertilized, 3 embryos, 2 arrested, 1 blastocyst. Pgs tested abnormal. I am on my 2nd round, long protocol. Estrogen priming with Estrace and Aygestin and androgel. After priming phase will start certotide, gonal f 300, menopur 300, and omnitrope. I have also been taking a supplement. L Arginine.

$22,000

The thing both my spouse and I liked about Dr. Witz was that he asked a lot of questions and we really felt he knew us. He was there for every visit and any procedure we needed to do. He explained things and when I didn't quite understand took the time to explain it a bit differently. We always felt that he took the time needed in order to get our questions answered.

Always be ready with your questions. Knowing that we had to pay full price (our insurance didn't cover our IVF) we did our research and had a list of questions for every visit which helped it go faster. He also has a good sense of humor; so, if you want someone more serious; he is not however, that was our favorite thing about him!

After testing in 2015; we found out we would only be able to conceive via IVF and started on meds right away once we were ready. We started with Follistim 150 units, Dial pen to 150 & Menopur 150 IU, Take 2 vials as directed for 3 days then went back for bloodwork. After every blood draw; they would adjust my medication. After that I took, Follistim 225 units, Dial pen to 225 and Menopur 150 IU, Take 2 vials as directed. Then Cetrotide 0.25 mg was added. We had the egg retrieval and did a fresh transfer soon after that where I was prescribed o Estrace 2 mg, Take one by mouth to dissolve under your tongue THREE times per day; Prometrium 200mg mg/dl, oral 3x/day, Endometrin 100 mg/dl, Pleace two vaginally with applicator twice daily, Progesterone in Sesame Oil 50 mg/ml, give 50mg (1cc) IM each day (check to see if mixture is 100mg/1cc or 50mg/1cc) and was also adjusted as needed depending on my bloodwork. Once they did the BETA test and it was positive meds were adjusted depending on my blookwork as well. On our 6 week visit; was when the baby's heartbeat completely slowed down and BETA levels started to stall which was when we had a conversation with Dr. Witz and said we were going to just stop all of the meds and gave us the option to have a DND or have it happen naturally. I went with naturally which happened 2 weeks later.

Total: 12, 950 (without meds) Physician Fee: $6, 900 Lab & Facility Fees: $3,000 Anesthesia Fee: $250 IVF Meds: about $2, 500

I have none as we were on the same page with transferring 2.

I liked that he didn’t shy away from the realistic outcomes (sch, heartbeat being low, miscarriage) he was honest and up front about about sch and that it could be normal but it did increase miscarriage chance slightly. I saw another doctor there for an ultrasound that we found the heartbeat to be lower then the last ultrasound and I felt he skirted the obvious concern until asked several times and still wasn’t completely open. When dr Kim called he said the chances at miscarriage at that point was 85% but that it could be from the trauma of the sch. Of course I hate hearing bad news but I would rather not be blindsided and have a realistic expectation. I do wish I saw him more at each appointment, but I was glad to be able to hear directly from him if we wanted after the appointment.

That he is really nice, honest, straightforward, smart, and will explain thing fairly detailed. You won’t see him every time since he is at different locations.

We did blood work first as I came in for baseline at cycle day 3. I was put on birth control To do a Hysteroscopy. Before I started B/C I took a pregnancy test. It was slightly positive. (Which was weird since I had a pretty normal period) I looked at blood work from a few days prior and hcg was very low and “not pregnant” I called and told them, doctor called and said it was likely a chemical since progesterone was less then one, but he had me come kind roe blood work. Hcg did not double and progesterone was still very low, less then 1. He called and updated me again saying it would be ectopic again. He had me come in 4days later. I started bleeding after appointment later dr Kim called and said Hcg more then doubled progesterone had raised, but was still very low(3). He was now very concerned that it was ectopic. He had me come in a day or two later. I was having pain and had fluid in my abdomen at the ultrasound. He then scheduled a laparoscopy due to likely ectopic and rupture. He went in and took his time he saw no rupture, my remaining tube was fine, but did remove blood from abdomen, he followed that with a d&c so that he could confirm if the pregnancy was in the uterus or if I needed the methotrexate to keep tube safe. He had me in a couple days later and hcg did not drop like he had hoped after d&c so it was confirmed ectopic and was proscribed methotrexate. Becasue of yet another loss(3), second confirmed ectopic, and one tube he concluded that there was likely a tubal functionality issue (nothing physically wrong with remaining tube and it was not blocked he looked at the hsg I had done with OBGYN previously) we did the eggretrival first before the Hysteroscopy. We were on gonal f(150), menopur(75), centrotide, and luprolide(sp?) . He did change is up a bit towards the end increasing menopure and lowering gonal. He also added a day or two. I had to order more menopure and centrotide. We were seeing about 20-24 sizable follicles on ultrasound. Egg retrieval resulted in 15 eggs, 15 mature, 7 made it blast and 5 pgs tested normal embryos. Hysteroscopy found a few small Polups they were removed, but everything else looked good. We had to wait a bit financially before transfer. I was on estrodiol 2mg tablets orally 3 times a day. The lining was not progressing as much as he wanted so he switched me to vaginaly 3 times a day. Started 2ml pio injections. I got a positive hpt at 5dp5dt. Blood test was at 9dp hcg was more then doubling on schedule. First ultrasound confirmed it was in the uterus, I started bleeding red blood 6w4days they had me come in the next day. Heartbeat was 91(a little low) and we were measuring a couple day behind and he saw a hematoma twice the size of the gestational sack. He told us it could be normal as 20% of IVF patients get them. He said once we see a heartbeat miscarriage drops to 5%, but the miscarriage rate raises to 15%. He said we just need to keep an eye on it and he increased my progesterone to 3ml for three days. He did let me know that I may pass a clot. At 7w3d I started bleeding red blood and a rather large clot. They had me come in the next day this is wen we saw a different doc and heartbeat dropped to 75 and size wise it was only 6w3days. We asked dr Kim to call us and he said they it was not a good sign that likelyhood at this point of miscarriage was 85% but that it could be a trauma from the hematoma maybe why it dropped. Two days later there was no heartbeat. I was given the choice of d&c or meds to start contractions. I chose the medicine in hopes of seeing the baby. I was warned of the “pain” side effects from meds vs d&c process.

Cash price 6900 for physician, Lab 3000 Facility 2800 Anesthesiologists 250 Meds 4000-7000 Additional FET Doctor 1750 Lab 725 Facility 1400 Meds 300-1000

I believe he mentioned and suggested 1 embryo and that one healthy baby, mother, pregnancy and birth was the goal. Although, I never had an doubt that I wanted to only transfer 1. Now I might consider using two, but unlikely.

She is a great doctor for me. I especially felt comfortable with her because she is Black and I just did not see many black women REs around. She was understanding and extremely encouraging. She is thorough as well.

Go see her. She is really good. It be diligent with the staff I. The office and in the group, they have a central number so it’s hard to know who you will reach at what facility or who is taking care of what.

The thing that changed for me when I saw her as opposed to my first doctor was not only was I on metformin and vite for my metabolic disorder, but she added ancillary treatment such as acupuncture, dhea, and other prenatal elements to help with follicle development

My insurance took care of diagnostic things but I had to meet the deductible. I really don’t remember what I paid to see her, but they do give military /vet discount. The co pay was horrible. 35 every visit and if you talked to the doctors over the phone it was 50.

It was more of a “we will see when we get there” but she did prefer single transfer

She did not seem very empathetic to me as a patient who was new to the treatment procedures. I did not like her way of communicating. She made it seem like it was a open shut case and when it didn’t work she just wanted to try more expensive treatments. She didn’t seem to like all my questions. But if I’m paying money that is from our savings, I want to know you have an understanding of my case and care to help me the most affordable way.

Find a doctor who loves their job because of the patients and not the income.

We did IUI with injections and progesterone suppositories.

I think $3000 for treatment but that didn’t include my hysteroscopy procedure and medications.

She suggested single embryos transfer but would do double if the patient wanted it.

Dr Griffith took the time to get to know us and made sure we were always comfortable with whatever he was recommending. I have never seen a doctor (and very few human beings) with more compassion than he showed to us. He is truly an amazing doctor and person. I couldn't recommend him enough!!

Be honest with him and don't be afraid to ask questions. He will never make you feel as though he doesn't have the time to answer, and is happy to explain things in as much detail as you need.

For egg retrieval #1 he did more of a "typical" protocol with Menopur and Gonal-f. This resulted in 4 eggs and 2 embryos. Both were abnormal. For egg retrieval #2 we did Androgen priming and higher dosages of meds plus we added in an HGH and Micro-dose Lupron. This round resulted in 7 eggs which made 2 embryos and both were abnormal. For round 3 we did Androgen priming and then only did Menopur. This was our most successful cycle with 5 eggs and 4 embryos. I am now 33 weeks pregnant with one of those (and a mosaic embryo from round 2)!

First cycle was around $20,000. Each cycle after was around $6-7,000 and transfers were $4,500

He really took this on a case by case basis, which I appreciated. I never felt that he had a strong opinion one way or another... It really depended on the situation.