Houston Fertility Institute

The clinic has multiple locations that are very convenient. Flexible schedule. Hfi assurance program is the incentive that led me to go with this clinic. Since my first cycle failed I am relieved of some of the fees that I paid for during my first cycle. Overall, I would recommend this clinic to those struggling with infertility.

Communication between nursing staff. I had to request prolactin test and results were elevated. Dr prescribed medication. I feel I should not have to think of tests to run it adds to my stress level throughout the process.

She was very compassionate, thought outside of the box and always answered my questions to her full understanding. Made me feel comfortable.

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

One thing I really loved about the clinic in general was that they knew our insurance wasn't going to cover IVF however, any other procedures we had to have done they always made sure it was done somewhere our insurance would cover and our doctor was always willing to travel to that clinic to be there. The only thing I didn't like was that we had to pay for the entire IVF upfront vs a payment plan but understand that this may happen at any clinic.

Both the office and Dr. Witz were very patient with us. They were never pushy on any of the treatment, educated us on the options we had and left it up to us to make the choices. Receiving a positive pregnancy test was extremely exciting and both Dr. Witz and our Nurse Meghan celebrated with us and when we found out we were going to miscarry; they gave us time in the room and even though it's been 2 years; have never rushed us for our 2nd transfer.

The only nurse we interacted with was Morgan and she was phenomenal! She was extremely positive throughout the entire process, always made sure to ask if there were any other questions and was very patient.

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.

Warm environment. There is very rarely a wait as your appointment is on time. Since you have so many appointments, HFi makes sure you are in and out in a timely manner. Everyone from the receptionist to the phlebotomist is kind and compassionate.

Dr Yeh has a warm bedside manner. He was able to listen to all of our concerns and answer all of our questions. I always felt the goal was to get me pregnant and have a successful pregnancy.

Yadira and Whitney cried with me and celebrated with me. I truly felt they cared about our treatment and the goal of having a baby. Dream team of nurses and care at HFI Kingwood.

Dr Yeh is an amazing doctor. He is extremely knowledgeable and up to date on all new procedures and protocols. My fourth transfer was successful with the birth of my son. After each setback, we had a meeting to discuss the results and any changes for future transfers. I always felt supported in these decisions. Dr Yeh is very involved with his patients, even doing all the ultrasounds when he is in the office instead of deferring to a nurse. This kept the communication ongoing especially when Dr Google consumes your thoughts. I would highly recommend him and will use him again to give try to give our son a sibling.

My advice is to always ask questions. Infertility sends you down an internet rabbit hole looking for answers, Dr Yeh is able to give advice based on solid medical research and success.

After initial bloodwork and saline ultrasound, started 150mg Menapor and 150mg Follistim for 13 days. Day 14 had 32 eggs retrieved, 10 PGS tested and 9 Day 6 frozen. Frozen ALL cycle. The cycle that was successful had me on 4 estrogen pills per day, 3-4 patches of estrogen, 150mg progesterone, baby aspirin, Lovenox starting after transfer and Prednisone for 5 days starting before transfer. Transferred 2 day 5 PGS embryos ending up with one live birth of our son!

IVF freeze all was $6000; FET was $2500; Piney Point Surgery Center was about $2100 for FET. All medications went through insurance or paid out of pocket.

One embryo to transfer was always the recommended protocol except after two failed transfers, we were allowed to transfer two embryos. My fourth transfer of two embryos was a success.

This clinic was very close to my home. They provided early morning bloodwork/ultrasounds so I could still make it to work on time. It's a very nice and cozy facility. Only thing negative i can think to say about it is the lack of cell service.

Dr. Yeh has been open about expectations and available as needed throughout our IVF cycle. He is very personable.

Yadira and Whitney have always been quick to respond to any questions we had. They gave us their direct extension and they always answered quickly as well as through email. They both are very caring and I wouldn't have wanted any other nurses on our team.

Dr. Yeh has been informative and helpful. He lays out pros and cons of decisions and isn't pushy if you want to choose something other than suggested. He really listens unlike other doctors. He is quite busy so sometimes getting a time to meet can be a little difficult.

Don't be afraid to ask any questions and state your expectations. Dr. Yeh is very understanding.

I was on a mostly menopur protocol because of my age and response to the medication. I had 10 days of 5 vials of menopur and the 11th day 3 vials. Started cetrotide on day 6 to day 10. Did a Lupron trigger on the 11th day and again 12 hours later. Started a zpack on day 11. Egg retrieval was on day 13. We had 25 eggs retrieved, of which, 21 were mature. 19 Fertilized. 17 made it to day 5 or 6 for freeze. I started progesterone in oil shots, estradiol tablets, and patches before the frozen embryo transfer. We transferred 2 embryos. I am currently 5 weeks pregnant.

Monitoring appointments always went quickly and smoothly. They were very convenient.

IVF Cycle: $13,600 excluding medication. Medication could run from $4,000-$7,000.

Dr. Yeh preferred to transfer one embryo because of my age and embryo quality/quantity. We had a meeting to go over the risks of transferring 2 embryos and to sign a deviation consent form.

Clinic is beautiful, clean, modern, and very relaxing/inviting. They do not over book appointments so there’s never more than just a few people in the waiting room. All staff members are very sweet. The staff in the busin as office have gone above and beyond to help us with financial concerns and paperwork. All the nurses are helpful and make you feel comfortable especially during vagina ultrasounds. Great clinic.

Office visits were more brief than I would have preferred. Dr. Witz is very nice and personable but I wish he would chat with us more at each visit. We sometimes felt he was rushing to the next patient.

Cecelia is very sweet and easy to talk to. She got a few my protocol dates and medication dosages wrong during my last cycle which delayed everything a few weeks. She also referred to my frozen embryos as “fair” grade and questioned why I didn’t get pregnant at my last cycle because of not having my embryos tested. She is overall a good nurse, just doesn’t communicate well at times. It is not at all that she doesn’t care- maybe she just gets busy with a large patient number.

Dr.Witz is very straight forward, laid back, and has an excellent bedside manner. He is honest and doesn’t sugar coat anything. He is a great doctor, and had a very warm friendly personality. He answers your questions and does not waste your time allowing you to worry about irrelevant factors. He is highly experienced and very confident in his course of treatment for you.

Write down your questions beforehand and bring them with you so you don’t forget to ask him everything. He can sometimes be very booked and will breeze through the appointment- if you write your questions down than you can have them answered even if he seems to be rushing.

Dr Witz uses Labetalol to help me manage my blood pressure and keep it stable for transfer. He does not promote supplements at all, just healthy diet.

$1800 doctors fee. $1500 laboratory fee. Embryo cryopreservation yearly fee of $500.

Strengths of the clinic include the experience of the doctors, variety of doctors and staff, level of expertise, and high success rates. In addition, they value their patients as humans and are encouraging. One weakness was that there were sometimes long waits to be seen for appointments. I found that scheduling appointments right away in the morning (eg., 8 am) resulted in less wait time than later day appointments (11 am).

Dr. Steward is caring and compassionate. I truly believe he is as hopeful as his clients that treatment will be successful.

The first nurse I had was brand new and required a lot of prompting and support from the other staff. However, they were all compassionate and caring overall. Additionally, I always received a message in my portal and a phone call (if protocols changed).

Dr. Steward is caring and compassionate, but also honest and open. He has been very optimistic with respect to the likelihood of success with treatment. However, he provided statistics and risks, and made adjustments based on data. Dr. Steward called personally following a negative pregnancy test to check on me, and was very comforting during a miscarriage. I would recommend him to anyone because even through very difficult times, he made us feel comfortable and hopeful.

Do not be afraid to ask questions or call outside of office hours.

My protocol for egg retrieval included Gonal-F 225 IU, Menopur 150 IU, and Cetrotide 0.25 mg. My trigger shot was Ovidrel. The protocol produced 14 eggs, 9 mature. We did PGS testing, which resulted in 3 normal embryos. For the first FET, we used estrogen tablets, Minivelle patches, and progesterone in oil shots, which resulted in a negative pregnancy test. For the second FET, Dr. Steward revised the protocol to have the PIO shots in the morning (instead of the evening) and a daily baby aspirin. The protocol resulted in a pregnancy with surprise identical twins. The pregnancy ended at 8.5 weeks in miscarriage.

Monitoring appointments were always conducted in the mornings, which worked well with my work schedule. Unfortunately, the pregnancy ultrasound appointments were also in the mornings which did not fit my husband's schedule.

Egg retrieval and first FET: $13,000 Medication for egg retrieval: $5,000 PGS testing: $5000 Additional FETs: $5,000 plus medications

We were encouraged to do eSET, but the ultimate decision was ours. We scheduled a consultation with Dr. Steward to discuss this issue, and he provided data and suggestions.

They are very organized and use the patient portal very effectively. Weakness is that they seem to overbook patients because afternoon appoints ALWAYS run behind. Once we had to wait two hours past our appointment.

The nurses and all doctors that I saw were incredibly kind and also knowledgeable. But they are a very busy clinic, so most of them do not know me by name and aren't familiar with my case or treatment protocol without accessing my patient history.

Most of them are absolutely wonderful. Very knowledgeable, patient, and always willing to get answers to your questions, even if that means waiting to discuss it with the doctor. I wish I had been assigned a single nurse so they are more familiar with my case.

Dr Steward is incredibly knowledgeable about his field. He explains everything in detail, leaving nothing out (which is what I like). He is not afraid to be honest about expectations and I have never felt like he has been misleading with what to expect with our treatments. He is also not afraid to combine both Eastern and Western approaches to treatment (though he made sure to ask if I was open to it). His bedside manner is a little bit rough, but I have always appreciated his honesty. At first I think our treatments were a little too "cookie cutter" and not specialized for our specific needs, but he has since adjusted and I think our current treatment protocol is absolutely catered to our needs and with our history in mind. We are definitely on the same page and I am confident he is in my corner rooting us on.

Be open, honest, and not afraid to ask questions.

First two rounds were medicated cycles with timed intercourse. First round used 300 iu of Gonal-F, 2nd round was 200 iu of Gonal-F. Third round was IVF with 225 Gonal-F and 225 Menopur. Currently IVF with 225 Gonal-F, microdose Lupron, 225 Menopur, Omnitrope and viagra. We have also incorporated acupuncture this cycle and did androgen priming while preparing for stims.

We were completely out of pocket. Our medicated cycles (including all medication) was approximately $4K each cycle. IVF was around $25K (including medication, transfer and retrieval costs).

Dr Steward definitely encourages single embryo transfer most. He seems to want to avoid pregnancy with multiples if possible.

I love everything about them. When we started with them in 2014 they were small and it was easy to reach your office. They have really grown since then. My only complaint is to reach your office you have to go through the call center and some times that can be a hassle. But you do always get a call back from your nurse or doctor.

He truly cares about his patients. He has sat with me many, many times and let me just cry. After this last go where I had had the 3rd transfer canceled because my body wasn’t responding how he wanted it to. He held my hand and said “ you deserve the perfect conditions and I’m going to help you get that.” He understood all my anxieties and helped me through them.

The Woodlands nurses are hands down the best. They are all so caring and they will sit with you and make sure you understand everything. They will cry and celebrate with you.

He truly cared about making my dreams a reality. He comfort me when I was down and celebrated all my highs. Egg retrieval was hard on my body. It’s seriously the hardest thing next to carrying twins I’ve ever done. He would stay after hrs to see me to check and makes sure I wasn’t going through OHS. When the 3rd IVF transfer was cancelled because my body was not responding he promised we would get there and said I deserved the perfect conditions. After we had to fake a 4th IVF cycle to do a FET he donated meds to us because we couldn’t afford another $1000 on injections. He said, this will work, we just have to get the right timing. When we we unsuccessful he personally called me and let me just cry and offered consoling words. He is hands down the best doctor that cares about his patients.

IVF is hard you start with a plan but that plan doesn’t always happen. You have to be mentally prepared that it’s going to be hard and it’s most likely not going to go as planned.

I’ll try my best on this question. First round IVF. We used menphor (sp) and gonal-f, pills and patches. Right after egg retrieval I bagan to bleed and I bled so much that he canceled the fresh transfer. It was the best decision. I was in too much pain from retrieval for two weeks after. A month later we did a normal FET with pills and patches and PIO. We transfered two embryos. A week later I took a pregnancy test and I was pregnant. We had our first son at 27 weeks. He is now a very healthy 4 year old. 3 years later we were ready to add a sibling we started a FET cycle normal FET with pills and patches. Halfway through the first time we canceled because there was fluid buildup in my uterus. We started another FET a few weeks later and again halfway through same issue. After next cycle we change things up and decided to fake an IVF cycle. We used a small amount of final-f to stimulate my ovaries for 21 days. Right before you’re going to transfer the pocket of fluid made its appearance and we had to cancel. Next round we changed some things and I started stimulating for 17 days. This time no fluid build up. We transfered everything looked perfect but the transfer was unsuccessful. A month later we decided to try the same thing but this time instead of transferring one we did two embryos. It was successful and at the first ultrasound I was pregnant with twins. We now have three perfect children thanks to Dr Griffith.

First go was 20k Second go when all added up close to 15k

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).

Over all communication was good until it wasn't. After my cycle failed I received two phone calls because in a months time my insurance became in network and the finance office called to update the information. The second call was from the surgery center calling to schedule my procedure, a month after I had already had a retrieval. This was the only time I felt communication could have been better.

We had several conversation before starting treatment where she answered our questions throughly. Even when our cycle failed we had answers and a new plan. When she didn't have the answers she openly talked about consulting her colleagues and sent me studies to answer the questions I did have.

There are two main nurses on the office and although you have one that is assigned to your doctor each nurse is familiar with your case and can sub in for each other as needed.

She mentioned on two occasions once over the phone during our conversation re our cycle failing and in office how she reached out to other doctors in the office to assist our case. Although it was hard to hear that our retrieval failed she understood our need to take time before trying again and had a plan for when we were ready. She also performed my sis in office and walked me through every part of the procedure to but me at ease.

Even if you don't have many questions during consult she was always easily reachable via email to answer questions I had later.

After all of test results appeared to be normal and on the right track we used birth control to bring my levels down. Once my endocrinologist ok'd my A1c level to start it was gonal and menopur with ovidril starting half way through our tx. Growth via ultrasound was consist although there was concern my estrogen wasn't rising as expected. Before retrieval there were an estimated 4 eggs. Day of retrieval a different Dr performed my procedure, she found 2 eggs but was only able to reach one due to location.

I could schedule before work as needed sometimes I could be seen before the official open hours.

We paid out of pocket the first round about 17000 medication was cheaper with the clinic discount verses my insurance.

Due to being high risk due to age and being diabetic single embryo transfer was our best option for the safety and health for me and future baby.

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

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.

The Beaumont office is basically brand new. Location is easily accessible. Office was always clean & nice. They do have an onset phlebotomists but she’s only their on certain days. It was difficult at time for my husband to go in because they only do sperm samples or testing on certain days. Same with Dr Skorupski. He was only available on certain days because he works both in Houston & Beaumont offices.

While I did feel like I was treated with grace & dignity during my first encounter with Dr Skorupski & his office back in 2013 when I came back to his office & staff I was treated cordially but felt like I was being fat shamed because I’m overweight.

When I first became a patient with Dr Skorupski (in 2013) I loved his nurses & staff. Heather was my nurse & she was so kind & helpful, even the receptionist/office manager was amazing. Always so kind & helpful. When I returned in 2017 the staff left something to be desired. They came off as cold & unwelcoming, like I was a nuisance. The on site phlebotomist was always kind & the one time I had a nurse do an ultrasound she was pleasant but overall it wasn’t a great experience going into the office. I hope maybe they were just having a bad day when I happened to be there but who knows.

I felt like he did care about the well-being of my overall health as well as my husband but still felt like all of my problems were being blamed on my weight rather than doing more testing. He is a very kind doctor & I believe he wants the best for his patients but I just couldn’t get over the fat shaming I felt. He was thorough when explaining problems or what he believed were our problems conceiving as well as my multiple miscarriages but I never felt like we had a real plan besides the constant comment of “I need to lose weight”.

Be prepared before going in to your appointments. Write down questions, concerns, anything you can think of, that way you don’t get flustered & forget in the moment. Bring someone to advocate for you if you need. It can help tremendously.

Most of my testing was done out of pocket. I can’t remember if insurance covered anything specific.

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.