Indiana University IVF Program

It can be difficult to communicate with the clinic by phone. It is easier to communicate via the patient portal. Because there are resident learners, the time spent for your appointment is often much longer than expected.

She takes the time to explain everything and often times goes into the science behind the process. As a physician myself, I like that and it is easy for me to follow.

Dottie is quick to respond to messages and is helpful throughout the process.

My husband and I both enjoy working with Dr. Shepard. She is caring and is the most knowledgeable person we have met. At the same time, I know that my husband has left some visits confused as a lot of the science went over his head. Also, visits take much longer than expected because of the tangential conversation. I feel that she does care about her patients a great deal.

Block off a few hours for your appointment. Don’t be afraid to ask her to slow down and not use so much medical terminology.

I came to Dr. Shepard specifically for IVF consult. She is the only REI specialist that sees patients downtown which was important for my schedule. For her protocol, she starts you on Lupron and birth control pills along with daily prenatal and baby aspirin. Then, she had me stim with Follistim only starting at 225 IU daily. There was a baseline ultrasound and estradiol level done on the day of starting Follistim. Then you do an ultrasound on day 6 of stim and every other day until egg retrieval.

Haven’t completed the process yet so unsure

Most of the staff seems to speak in very clinical terms. Doing your due diligence in terms of knowledge would benefit you. Keeping your own notes would be useful as well. They are transitioning into an online form of communication which seems to work a little more efficiently than trying to call. There is a voicemail system set up, but it just made me feel that it was a little one-sided. All I could do was talk to a machine and wait. Everyone is very knowledgeable and will thoroughly answer any question you have though without "beating around the bush" for sure.

Dr. Shepard was very personable and called me with updates personally. I do feel that she cares about the outcome, but she does speak in very clinical terms, which at times I appreciated more than others. Due to the fact that I have done my own studying I was able to keep up with her in conversations. Towards the end, right before my transfer, I wasn't given very much hope. I am still awaiting the outcome, but wish I could be feeling a little more optimistic. I don't know whether or not its a good or bad thing that she has prepared me for a negative outcome.

Dr. Shepard's office went through a quick turnover of a couple of nurses during the time that I was being treated so it was a little bit of a hodge podge which is why Dr. Shepard ended up being the one I communicated with the most.

I enjoyed my conversations with Dr. Shepard and felt she was very experienced and knowledgeable. Getting an undesirable outcome from the fertilization period of the 17 eggs that were retrieved, she started discussing "plan b protocols" even before the transfer of the one viable egg. This left me feeling a little hopeless about my current transfer, but I'm sure she doesn't want to give me false hope either. Her comments were that I wouldn't need down reg medications if we did another cycle or that my reserve could be low. I'm wondering why these weren't things that were already checked during my current cycle. I wonder if I was given the right medications or what could have caused a low development of all of my eggs. I do like Dr. Shepard, but wonder if I should get a second opinion before starting a second cycle.

Do your homework. She does tend to talk quickly and very clinically. If you are not educated already, it may be hard to keep up. She is very thorough though.

Once we established through an HSG that I had tubal blockage, she though she might be able to clear them with a laparoscopic surgery. I went that route first in July of 2015 and it was unsuccessful. She said the blockage was more severe than the HSG portrayed. I saved for IVF and she started me on birth control pills and Lupron injections. I also took Menopur injections to stimulate my follicles. She stopped the Lupron early and also decreased my Menopur because my hormone levels were getting too high. She retrieved 17 eggs. At the end of the week of fertilization there was only 1 viable egg for transfer that was still a slow developer. It had reached Morula stage by day 5. We were hoping for a blastocyst stage. She said that I may not have needed the Lupron to suppress my system. She mentioned that the results could also have been due to a low reserve, but that was tested the year before and was said my level was fine. I am still waiting for the results, but without much optimism. I was not expecting to have to go through the whole retrieval process again, especially if it was just a matter of the medications I was given suppressing my eggs too much to be able to develop.

The medications cost about $3200. The monitoring costs were between $1500-2000 billed to my insurance. There was a $3400 lab fee plus $974 fee for retrieval and $370 transfer fee to the facility it was done. Dr. Shepard's fee is $730 for her part of the procedure. Since my husband doesn't carry insurance (he is self-employed) and is not on my insurance it cost several hundred dollars more for him to get his STD screening and sperm analysis.

Dr. Shepard's office HIGHLY encourages a single embryo transfer. Due to my circumstances though (17 eggs retrieved, only 1 viable by day 5) she did say if there were any other decent quality embryos she would have transferred them as well, but there weren't any.

I like that they bill most things as diagnostic. This really helps keep the cost down. Sometimes I have to wait past my scheduled appointment time to see the doctor or NP, this is irritating since I take off work for my appointments.

Dr. Shepard's nurses are great! I felt like Dottie was compassionate and really cared about me during my care.

She always calls and explains the next step. She has a ton of compassion even though I am tough on the outside, she knows that I might be disappointed on the inside.

I am just beginning this process, but feel very confident that Dr. Shepard is going to get me where I need to be. I like that she uses the online myIUhealth portal to communicate, I feel like this method is faster.

I had to ask for a AMH test and that's how we figured out the my reserve was low. I think with any doctor its important to be your own advocate.

So far, everything has been billed as diagnostic and I have not received any bills. I will update as my treatments change.

It is in a hospital. Parking can be tricky, just park in the garage. It is not connected to the OBGYN clinic so you won't have to deal with pregnant patients in the waiting room.

She took a good deal of time explaining things. It was a teaching hospital so some of the procedures were observed by students, which can be uncomfortable.

I love Laurie. I wish I could take her with me to every clinic. Was also helpful in getting my information to my new clinic.

Dr. Shepard was recommended to me by a friend who saw her to manage PCOS symptoms. She took time to explain things. I did get the feeling some of her methods were out of date. She did two post-coital tests which most doctors no longer do.

I think she is best for diagnostic purposes and for managing illnesses but perhaps not for trying to get pregnant.

3 femara cycles, two of them with trigger injections. I was unexplained and that was standard protocol.

They billed everything they could as diagnostic, which was helpful for insurance coverage. Femara was about $10 or so per cycle.

Dr. Shepard's nurse Lauri is wonderful and does most of the patient care. She is professional and kind but also is honest. Dr. Shepard is fine but not as wonderful as Lauri.

She was on top of everything, helpful when I switched clinics, and compassionate.

I think her methods may be a bit outdated. She does post-coital exams which no other RE puts any stock in. She spends time with you and explains things well.

She's a good place to start but if you need further intervention, maybe look elsewhere. She'd be a good option if you simply need to manage disorders and not get pregnant.