Mid-Iowa Fertility

Dr. Cooper is extremely knowledgeable and skilled. He also genuinely cares about a successful outcome and the patient's experience. He has a lot of patients and is very busy, and a lot is delegated to nurses, which at first felt too disconnected to us, but over the course of treatment, through follow-up calls, etc. we've realized that actually there is close oversight/supervision and Dr. Cooper is reviewing/seeing everything they're doing and putting in the charts and directing the course of treatment in an individualized way. We really like Dr. Cooper and trust him.

Come with questions, and throughout your care, be assertive in calling the nurse's number to seeking the information you need. They will call you back with information and are communicating with the Dr. The clinic could be better about proactively checking to make sure patients understand everything, but if you're willing to be more assertive than you might be comfortable with, it's easy to navigate.

We first started treatment following a miscarriage at 10 weeks, and two chemical pregnancies, over the course of 10 months. I have not had trouble getting pregnant, but have had recurrent losses. We then got pregnant again after the initial diagnostic labs/procedures, but that was another chemical pregnancy. Labs and everything came back showing everything looked good in terms of sperm, anatomically (me), and biochemically/hormonally, although my blood results showed FSH/AMH (egg reserve) was borderline. I am 38 (37 at the time), so not unexpected results. After that, we took Fremara to ovulate more than one egg to increase conception chance. That was successful on the first cycle, but we miscarried at 7 weeks. We tested the pregnancy and learned that a genetic issue was to blame, which is why we have now moved on to egg stimulation with planned ICSI/PGS testing. We are now mid-cycle fertility treatment to stimulate ovaries for egg retrieval. Given that we seem to be dealing with an egg quality issue, and not an issue with my ability to successfully carry a pregnancy, the hope is that will help us screen for a healthy embryo.

I think initial consult and diagnostic stuff (labs and procedure) was probably less than $1000, but I am not sure. Some was covered by insurance and some wasn't. Fremara: around $8/month without insurance IVF Cycle: (not covered by my insurance) Diagnostic (Pretesting day 3 labs, sonohysterogram, trial transfer, and IVF lab tests = $2750); ICSI/PGS IVF=$11,205; fertility drugs=$3500

He was personable at our initial consult. He and my husband talked candidly about their military experience. Dr. Young talked about his family. He was kind and attentive. After that appointment, I saw him one other time a week later, where he performed an HSG procedure at a different office. He was personable at that time as well, commenting on my nail polish. After that procedure, while I was still laying on the table in my medical gown, he gave me the test results for myself and husband. At that time, he recommended a treatment plan. I would have preferred he set up another appointment in his office to discuss all of that at a later date. It was very unprofessional, and seemed rushed. I did run into him in the hallway after one of my appointments with a nurse at his clinic, and he completely ignored me.

Don't even waste your time and money with him. He doesn't give his patients the time of day.

Dr. Young's clinic performed 3 artificial inseminations (IUI) on me. I took Clomid 100 MG, cycle days 3-7. I was diagnosed with unexplained infertility. The Clomid was prescribed so that I would release more than one egg, thereby increasing our odds.They recommended using a urine ovulation predictor kit (OPK) starting cycle day 12, and to call once a positive result was received to schedule the IUI for the next morning. There was no monitoring with ultrasound/bloodwork recommended along with it. However, I did request monitoring with ultrasound. I didn't feel comfortable taking Clomid and doing the IUI, without knowing how many follicles could potentially be releasing eggs. That carries way too much risk for higher order multiples in my opinion. I never did get a positive on the ovulation kit by cycle day 15, so they recommended I come to the office for an ultrasound to see where I was that first cycle. The ultrasound showed I had 3-4 follicles ready to ovulate, according to their size. They scheduled the IUI for the next morning, and a nurse performed it in the office. That IUI resulted in a negative urine pregnancy test (UPT). I took Clomid 100 MG cycle days 3-7 again the next cycle, and never received a positive OPK. I had to go to the clinic for another ultrasound on cycle day 15. The nurse performed the ultrasound, and confirmed I had already ovulated and could not do the IUI. The next cycle I did the same protocol, and they had me come in on cycle day 10 for an ultrasound since the OPKs weren't working for me with the Clomid, and I had been ovulating earlier than expected. The ultrasound was performed by a nurse. It showed I had 3 follicles ready to ovulate, according to their size. A nurse performed the IUI the next morning. I was told to take a UPT in 14 days, if I hadn't started my period by then. I got a negative result on the UPT 16 days later. When my period still hadn't started 20 days after the IUI, the clinic performed a beta hcg test. The result was negative for pregnancy. I took a UPT at home 22 days after the IUI, and got a very faint positive result. I went to the clinic 2 days later for an ultrasound. One of the nurses performed the ultrasound, didn't say anything about what she saw or show me the screen, and then left me in the room to go "talk" to Dr. Young. When she came back she told me they didn't know why I wasn't starting my period, especially since ovulation was confirmed with ultrasound and a progesterone blood draw on cycle day 21. They had me take another beta hcg test, and told me that if it was negative again they would have me take some medication to help induce my period. The beta hcg was negative, and the nurse was baffled as to what could be causing my period to be late. She wanted me to take a medication called Provera for 10 days, and said my period should start some time after those 10 days. She even went as far as to say some women take the Provera, and still don't start their periods only to find out later that they were in fact pregnant after all. I told the nurse I would rather just wait for my period to return naturally, and she agreed that would be fine. I had my OB/GYN give me another beta hcg test 2 days later, and the results were higher than they were at Dr. Young's office, but still negative for pregnancy clinically. I finally started my period 28 days after the IUI. I didn't end up taking the Provera, because I wasn't comfortable with that treatment plan. I took the next cycle off, and then started the same Clomid protocol for my 3rd and final IUI with Dr. Young's clinic. I had 2 mature follicles, based on the size with ultrasound on cycle day 12, and a nurse performed the IUI the next day. That resulted in another negative result. I decided at that point to seek a second opinion from another clinic, since I hadn't met with Dr. Young or talked to him a single time through the entire IUI process. I would have liked for him to discuss further treatment options at some point through all of the IUIs.

The cost of the semen analysis was around $300.00. The cost of the IUI with sperm wash was $525, not including medication.

Dr. Young doesn't have much for a personality, which was fine, just know not to expect that you'll get someone who shows much emotion. My biggest complaint about Dr. Young and the Mid-Iowa clinic is the missed infertility diagnosis. We sought a second opinion to make sure the route we were headed was the best given our situation and the second opinion identified the issue. Had we stuck with Dr. Young, we likely would have never had success with any of the protocols we had been assigned. It didn't feel like they truly evaluated our individual case to determine best course of treatment but instead did the standard "Clomid and IUI for three months, followed be Femara and IUI for three months, then re-evaluate if we pursue IVF."

Get a second opinion to make sure you're going the best route. They may appear cheaper on the front side, but you may have success quicker at another clinic!

I was already ovulating naturally, however I was assigned 50 mg Clomid paired with IUI. Both rounds failed, at which point we had decided to stop treatments with Mid Iowa as we were in the middle of seeking our second opinion.

I am on a high deductible health plan that covers everything up to a transfer procedure, medications are excluded though. Amounts below are the insurance allowables I had to pay. Initial Consulation - $316 Semen Analysis - $202 HSG - $478.20 Clomid - $51.76 per month (not applied to deductible) x 2 IUI - $525 (not covered by insurance) x 2

We didn’t have any face to face interactions except for initial consult and egg retrieval. Following failed HSG revealing blocked tubes and semen analysis revealing extremely low sperm count we were told IVF was our option. When we inquired about difficulty obtaining sperm, we were assured it only takes a few. Come IVF cycle, no one was proactive about obtaining sperm and we got days from egg retrieval without any. Procedures were attempted and failed. We were told morning of egg retrieval we would have to use donor sperm and my eggs would be frozen. Dr. Young seemed unaware what our situation even was that AM and no conversation was going to be had about it until my husband requested we talk to him.

Think things through and ask all questions.

We went straight to IVF following initial consult where lab work, HSG, and semen analysis was completed. I have blocked tubes and my husband has male factor infertility.

No medications were covered by my insurance but up to $25,000 in procedures is.

We have not gotten to that point in our treatment.

He was always willing to answer any questions we had. He’s very knowledgeable & quirky but it actually calms the nerves & sadness around infertility when he cracks a joke. He truly wants what is best for you & is truly passionate about infertility & learning all he can.

Ask as many questions as you can! It’s good to take notes, & to take any of the notes home he writes down for you!

When we first transferred to him, I was so grateful he didn’t make us start over on just hormones like we’d been doing. He looked at my history, and said we could start IUIs straightaway or I could get a laparoscopy based on my symptoms all other doctors had seen but overlooked. I chose the laparoscopy. He performed the surgery and I was diagnosed with Stage 3 endo. After that, I got back on hormones (Femara) for a few months to see if I could get pregnant naturally. It didn’t work. So, we started IUIs 3 months post op by my and my husband’s personal choice. He said we could be as aggressive as we felt comfortable since I was healed by then, so we did 4 rounds of IUI with Femara but no trigger shot. I went in for ultrasounds several days prior to check my lining thickness, the size of the follicles, etc. none of the 4 we tried were successful. Our next step is IVF. Currently I’m still on Femara, but will be switching to birth control 1 month prior to IVF start date.

IUIs themselves were about $270 but with sperm collection & ultrasound it was about $550 without trigger shots (I don’t think they use them), consults were about $140 with insurance, ultrasounds alone were about $200, & IVF is about $11,000 up front not including the extra stuff- like medications, etc.

Dr Cooper was very optimistic and open about chances of things working for us. He did well at giving positive news and about trying the next step. He does not deliver negative news well and was not as optimistic about things when the eggs from the egg retrieval did not make it successfully to embryos.

Dr Cooper is willing to let you try what you feel comfortable with and has great knowledge in his field. You need to advocate for what you want when you want changes though.

When we stated we just had to do iuis because of sperm morphology issues. We were successful after four times which resulted in our son. Then we tried again a couple years later. I was put on thyroid meds and Femara to help with timing of ovulation. Again we had did 3 rounds of iui, which resulted in a pregnancy. This pregnancy resulted in a miscarriage due to triplody. Then we stated injectable meds with iui, did this 3 times. Not successful. Moved on to ivf. I was on follistem and menopur for 9 days and did ganirelix. Then did a trigger shot before planning egg retrieval. The egg retrieval was painful because my iv did not work so I did not have meds during this time. They retrieved 9 follicles, 6 were mature eggs, and 2 were fertilized. Neither made it to day 5 blasts so transfer was canceled.

IUI cost just over $500. IVF is estimated around $10000. I have insurance that covers a lot of the costs.

We never made it to the transfer stage.

As I said earlier, our experience was great. He sat and talked to us for a while about us - he didn't just jump right into the nitty gritty. Then, when we relaxed, he started in on the process. He eased my mind (and my husband's) when he said he had successfully treated patients with Addison's Disease and seemed very knowledgeable about the disease itself, which is rare. He was relaxed which made us relax. He seemed confident, but not arrogant.

It takes him a minute to warm up. Once we started talking, it was like we were old friends.

The treatment strategies we established was to use a donor egg (in this case my sister) and then do an embryo transfer. My sister would complete the IVF, then make the embryo's with my husband's sperm and then transfer to myself to carry. He also suggested switching from estradiol to regular birth control to help with my hot flashes and uncomfortable sex. He made the entire process seem so relaxed and like he's done it 1,000 times (which I'm sure he has!:) which in turn made us relax. We're going to start the process soon, so I can't comment on results (yet!).

We had to pay the $35 co-pay. Out of pocket, with insurance, we will pay around $6000-$6500 total, start to finish.

Dr. Young's approach for me was to do a single embryo transfer, especially with my Addison's Disease. Although I disagree, he was keeping my health in mind. My body can't handle stress and carrying multiples would be extremely hard on my body. My husband and I appreciated his honesty.

Dr. Cooper has been there for us throughout our entire journey. He has been very upfront about everything but he has shown compassion when we had some tough times that we went through. He explained everything in great detail and then let us decide what would be right for us. We have done IUI with pills, IUI with injectables, and most recently an IVF cycle. He has also performed a small surgery on me when an adhesion was found in my uterus following my miscarriage. If he wouldn’t have been through we might not have found that.

Make sure to have all of you questions written out when you go in for a visit/ consultation. It gets very overwhelming because it’s a lot of information and I always left having more questions.

We spent the first little bit figuring out what worked for me. I ended up being on 12.5 mg of provera because we found that worked for me. After 5 cycles of that it was showing that I wasn’t reacting to it like I first had so we moved on to injectables. We did 2 rounds of injectables using follisitm and then ovidrel for the trigger. The second cycle worked. I got pregnant with multiples, but sadly miscarried at 18 weeks with them. After that we were hoping my body would reset and I would get my period back naturally but it didn’t. My husband and I were reaching our breaking point so we decided to start IVF. We went through one retrieval and retrieved 11 eggs and 4 made it to day 5. We were planning on doing a fresh transfer but my body was not in good shape. I was very bloated and my chest felt tight and hard to breathe. So we decided to wait and do a frozen transfer. We just had that done and are waiting on the results.

We didn’t have any insurance coverage so we paid out of pocket. IUIs were $500. When I was doing them with provera that was less than $10. When I did the IUI with injectables we had to do some monitoring ultrasounds which I think ran around $300 each. Then the injectables were around $3,500. I was able to get a discount through a program that the clinic gave me information on so that was very helpful and reduced my injectable medication to around $1,500. For IVF with medication I believe it was around $15,000.

Dr. Cooper is very smart but for the average non-medical professional I found it very hard to follow and understand him and the lingo he used. I often times had to follow up with one of the nurses or the front desk to understand his notes. I think there are a TON of patients at this facility and it was hard for just two doctors to take them all in. We often times left confused and needing more answers.

I would ask a lot of questions and follow up questions. If you don't understand, don't leave until you do. This may require you following up with another staff member.

I started with IUI's using famara. After those failed I moved onto IVF (full dose goal f (225IU) + menopur (225 IU) My first cycle was canceled the day after I took my two shots of cetrotide. I ovulated early and my cycle was canceled. The clinic did give me some donated medications to start the next round, which was appreciated since I didn't have insurance and was paying out of pocket. The clinic said it could have been a fluke or an allergic reaction that caused me to ovulate early. Next round everything was the same but this time I did micro-lupron the whole time and avoided cetrotide. This resulted in 6 eggs being retrieved and although 5/6 fertilized only 2 made it to day 5. We put in both and no go. Second full IVF round we did same meds for gonal f and menopur but did regular lupron. This resulted in 5 eggs and 4/5 fertilized and 2 made it to day 5. We put in both and it didn't work. We were then told our odds were not good to do another round and are seeking a second opinon.

These are scheduled and you're given a calendar. You don't have a say on when these appointments are and have to hope your employer understands. Most of the daily monitoring were around the same time each day.

I spent around $35,000 on three IUI's and two IVF's. I think IUI's were around $600-700 each. IVF's were $11,000 plus medication which for us ran around $5,000 plus we were billed for additional testing as needed. Only things covered were consultations and some blood tests.

I know the clinic won't do more than two but were open to doing two for higher odds when you didn't test the embryos.

Dr.Cooper is sometimes a little distant and speaks above patients, but his intentions are good. He means well and wants to see you have a successful pregnancy. He's even gone above and beyond to make things work for us financially.

Be patient and understanding that some things are out of his control. He's fighting for you.

We've undergone 6 IUIs, nothing out of the normal. 2 IVF cycles. We used regular injections and retrieval procedures. The first round we did 2 fresh transfers at day 5, then attempted a frozen transfer but none survived the thaw. Most recently, none of our embryos made it to day 5 in treatment #2.

All IUI cycles were primarily covered under insurance. The first IVF cycle was primarily covered under insurance, but out of pocket cost in the $15,000-19,000 range. The second IVF treatment he offered us a one time discount I'd rather not disclose. He offered this to us as my insurance had recently dropped fertility coverage.

He was open to us trying to 2 embryos, but did advise not doing any more than that.

Dr Cooper was always super friendly and made us feel like a human and not a number. He always made my wife and I feel comfortable like we could talk to him about anything going on good or bad and he would have a answer for us. We switched from a dr that we really didn’t like to Dr Cooper years ago and it was a night and day difference on the way he made us feel. The only time that I can say we had any issue with Dr Cooper is my wife had asked multiple times if there was anything else that could be causing the infertility and was always told no. After we decided to move forward with IVF he then said there was some polyps that had to be surgically removed from my wife’s uterus that could cause infertility and cause the IVF to not work. Other than that one issue Dr Cooper has been absolutely fantastic. I would recommend him to anyone having the unfortunate problem of infertility that my wife and I have dealt with for so many years now. Dr Cooper is an excellent fertility dr in my opinion and has a great bedside manner.

To definitely go see Dr Cooper and be open with everything you have going on wether it be good or bad. Listen to what he has to say. He will not make you feel bad no matter what your situation is.

Dr Cooper had us do 8 inseminations with the rational of if you follow up with intercourse there is a good chance of a pregnancy. All 8 Times they produced negative pregnancy tests.

The costs under Dr Cooper were pretty on par with other infertility treatment center that we checked into and in some cases a little cheaper.

He is always upbeat, and even made me feel positive no matter how I went into the clinic feeling. He truly makes you feel like he will do everything he can to help you expand your family. We met with Dr. Cooper after having a not so great consult with our first fertility doctor. After meeting Dr. Cooper for the first time, my husband and I both felt a huge sense of relief! He has always made us feel so comfortable, so much that we drive over 3 hours to his clinc when we could go to closer ones.

Just sit and talk to Dr. Cooper one time! He is so easy to talk to, and you will leave feeling that he will do everything he can to get you to your goal!

Our first time with Dr Cooper was in 2013. We had been trying for 2.5 years and another fertility doctor tried to send us straight to IVF. Dr Cooper gave us different options. We started with 3 IUI’s with femara because we had no known fertility issues (after testing on both my husband and I). When those 3 IUI’s failed, he suggested a laparoscopic surgery to check for endometriosis, sure enough I had it. He removed the endometriosis and felt confident that I would become pregnant, and I did the following cycle. Now we have been on this journey for 2 years again for our second child. Unfortunately, we removed endometriosis again, but we have not been able to get pregnant again. We tried 5 IUI’s with femara, then moved on to IVF. I responded well to the injections and my estrogen levels were fine. The egg retrieval went well, we got 15 eggs and 8 fertilized. By day 5, we only had 1 embryo which we transferred. This week we confirmed that the transfer failed. We will be following up with Dr Cooper to discuss what may have happened and what are options are for the future. Hopefully we will finally find the real reason for our infertility through this failed IVF

When I received my calendar, all of my monitoring appointments were scheduled for me ahead of time. However I needed to change some times for my own convenience and they were always able to accommodate me.

I believe the IUI’s were around $500. Our IVF cycle cost $10,900 up front. We also spend around $3,500 for our medications that cycle. We do not have any insurance coverage for fertility treatments. My laparoscopic surgeries were covered by insurance, and labs can typically be billed to insurance.

Dr. Young is very knowledgeable and to the point. He doesn’t try to sugarcoat what’s happening and gives you options while providing information to make an informed decision. I trust him as a doctor and am so grateful for his help in conceiving our first child.

Think of any questions you have before you go and write them down. The information can feel overwhelming and so it’s good to have an idea of what you want to get out of the appointment.

To get pregnant with our first we did 3 cycles of IUI on clomid, followed by 3 on Femara. We were using donor sperm with no known fertility for me. After 6 attempts we did laparoscopic surgery and Dr Young diagnosed endometriosis at that time. With my next cycle we tried clomid again and I got pregnant and had our first child. For baby number too we have done 7 IUI’s with clomid of varying doses. After 5 failed attempts we ran bloodwork again and I was diagnosed hypothyroid and started medication. We are now waiting to start IVF.

IUI’s were around $500 plus the cost of donor sperm. I can’t remember the cost for ultrasounds and consultations but around $100-$200 each. We haven’t started IVF yet so I don’t have those costs.

I feel that the nurses are very helpful and caring at this clinic. Dr young is a good doctor but needs to work on individual care plans for each patient based on their diagnosis. My last frozen transfer failed and prior to my next transfer I asked for a trail transfer. It was found that I had an endometrial polyp that wasn’t caught previously. It should have been caught if they did a trial transfer prior to each transfer.

Make sure you speak up for yourself and say what you are wanting for you own care. Be knowledgeable and do your research.

We started with three Iui’s while on clomid. All tests were negative. Our first ivf cycle in 2013 wa successful and we had our twins. Starting in 2017 we did a frozen transfer and got a positive hcg level. Our ultrasound revealed a blighted ovum and I ended with a D&c. In January 2018 we did a fresh transfer and got another positive hcg level. That ultrasound showed a blighted ovum as well and resulted in a D&c. After that dr young did blood tests for recurrent loss and suggested we send the remaining five embryos off for genetic testing. Al blood work came back normal but 3 of the five embryos came back with chromosome issues. In August 2018 we transferred one embryo and it ended in a negative test. We only have one embryo and they left to have another baby. I asked for a trial transfer and they said it wasn’t necessary but would do it. During the trial transfer I was found to have an endometrial Polyp. I had surgery to have it removed at the beginning of this month. Our next transfer is set for October 25th, 2018.

Iui’s were around 300 dollars a time. Our first round of ivf was around 8,000 for the procedures and 5,000 for meds. Each frozen transfer is around 3,500 and meds around 1,200. This last round of ivf was closer to 10,000 and meds were 5,000. The genetic testing was around 5,000.

Dr young prefers to only transfer one embryo at a time

From the get-go Dr. Cooper was extremely open and honest. i always knew what we could expect going into any test or treatment. He explains everything in full detail. The only constructive criticism I would have is that he talks very fast. He is obviously very smart and this shows, but when you're hearing life-altering information for the first time, he may go through it rather quickly. But, we got used to his style quickly and I learned to always ask any and all questions or ask that he repeat something he said. He would answer everything to the absolute best of his ability and never showed any impatient behaviors during conversations. He shows so much compassion for the people he treats, you honestly walk away feeling like family. I felt that I was in great hands with someone who knew what they were doing but was always willing to adjust when necessary. Through each test or treatment, I never felt overwhelmed and I always felt like I was being heard. We would take it one treatment at a time and then convene to discuss next steps. During the initial testing process, it was determined that I had about 22 resting follicles. At 31, I was very happy with this number as was Dr. Cooper. After going to three unsuccessful IUI's (all of which I had at least 2-4 mature follicles), we moved onto IVF. Both Dr. Cooper and I (including my husband), felt like we had a really great chance to retrieve a high number of eggs that would result in at least a handful of embryos. All the testing we underwent showed that both my husband and I were very healthy and there was no scientific reason as to why we weren't able to get pregnant after four years of trying. All in all, this was great news as our insurance doesn't cover fertility treatments, so all fertility treatments were out of pocket and we felt like we were going to have great results with IVF. During the IVF process, Dr. Cooper was great. Before egg retrieval it was determined that I had 12 mature follicles with a few smaller ones that might also be candidates for retrieval. I remember sitting in the recovery room after the retrieval anxiously awaiting the good news. I thought for sure we would get at least 12 eggs. Unfortunately, Dr. Cooper had to deliver the news that we only got 5. He wasn't expecting the low number just as much as were weren't expecting the low number. But, he was so kind to me. It was obviously a blow. We had just spent thousands of dollars hoping to create our family with one retrieval. I never expected that, that wouldn't be the case. We suspect that I may have low ovarian reserve. Although my body created a large number of follicles, the majority of my follicles either contained cysts or were empty. Resulting in the 5 eggs. I was devastated. Dr. Cooper remained hopeful though and really gave me the hope that I needed to get through the next five days. On day 5 we had our transfer. From those 5 eggs, only one great embryo was created. This embryo decided to stick and now we have our beautiful daughter. Although we will have to go through the entire IVF process all over again, which may result in the same number of eggs or less, I wouldn't want to be under anyone else's care except for Dr. Cooper. We was just so incredibly warm and kind throughout all of our treatments, failures and ultimate success.

Be prepared to take notes, write really fast and always stop to ask him questions or have him repeat himself. He does not find this annoying at all and always welcomes an honest and open discussion. It's scary walking into a fertility clinic for the first time, but you'll walk away feeling heard, understood and taken care of.

IUI: Femara days 5-9 with ultrasounds to watch for approaching ovulation starting on day 14. IVF: Birth control: 14 days Flagyl (500mg): Twice per day for 7 days Augmentin (875mg): Twice per day for 7 days Baby aspirin (81mg): Daily with the start of birth control to my 6 week ultrasound Menopur (75IU): Once per day in the evening for 8 days Follistim (150IU): Once per day in the morning for 8 days Dexamethasone (1mg): daily for 8 days GnRH-antagonist: Ganirelix for 2 days Recombinant hCG: Ovidrel x2 for trigger The rationale behind the protocol and the amounts I was prescribed were used because as far as we could find there was no reasonable explanation as to why I couldn't get pregnant and stay pregnant. Dr. Cooper wanted to use a soft method as he thought I would respond well. He was right. I responded very well to the treatment, we just didn't know that my follicles weren't actually producing anything. When we go back for round two, there will be discussion about what we can do differently this time around to ensure that we retrieve more eggs that could potentially go to become good quality embryos. During IVF round one, we had the following results: Follicles to retrieve: at least 12 (we were hoping that the smaller ones would catch up by retrieval day) Eggs collected: 5 Eggs mature: 4 (ICSI was used on all four eggs) Eggs fertilized: 2 Embryos created: 1 day 5 embryo was created We went ahead with a fresh transfer with no PGS testing. This transfer resulted in a successful pregnancy and live birth of our daughter at 40 weeks + 3 days. Although we were initially disappointed with our retrieval results, we were obviously thrilled with the ultimate end result of a successful pregnancy and our little girl. We don't have any other embryos frozen, so another round of IVF will be taking place in the near future to hopefully expand our family.

Pre-testing: Any testing that was done before treatment could begin, including IUI and IVF cost roughly ~$1500 IUI: ~$1000 per IUI. I don't respond to OPK's, so I needed ultrasounds to determine when an IUI should be performed. This increased the cost to us as we had to pay out of pocket for each ultrasound. An IUI without ultrasound cost ~$500 per IUI. IVF: ~$14,500 (including medications) IVF pre-testing: ~$2000 IVF (baseline, stims monitoring, egg retrieval, embryo transfer): ~11000 IVF meds: ~$1500

We only had one embryo available for transfer, but we did discuss the possibility of transferring one or two embryos during our initial IVF consultation. Dr. Cooper recommends transferring only one embryo at a time, but would follow our lead. If we wanted to transfer two embryos, then he would leave that decision up to us. We really felt like we had a say in all of this and he understands both sides of the argument.

He is a very nice guy but sometimes I feel as if he goes through this all the time and doesn't show empathy. I feel as his nurses and the lab techs do more than he does to comfort. He is very too the point and basically is kind of short but always takes the time to explain things.

Don't take it personally if he is kind of dry I think he is that way with everyone.

When I first saw Doctor Young he had me do a test where they shoot dye in your tubes. My results came back that I had a tub blocked on one end. But he thought it was close enough to one end that putting me on clomid would help. Tried clomid 2 months as I could not handle the side effect. I had every side effect. So I had an opportunity to have surgery, laproscopy. Had laproscopy and there was some scar tissue around left tube and I thought he said that it was so far gone that he had to do something to make that tube not work. Also found out I have 3 ovaries. After the surgery he put me on femera and went through 3 cycles. 3rd cycle was pregnant which ended in miscarriage which I had d&c. Waited a boutique a month started fermera again and took 2 cycles and pregnant again. Did not have early ultrasound and tube erupted had emergency surgery another laproscopy. Stopped trying for near a year and wanted to try acupuncture and had to have dye test again to see if right tube was good which it was. He wanted me to do clomid again but I wanted to try acupuncture. So gave acupuncture a try and 1 month and pregnant but eptopic again. Did early ultrasound. Now waiting for my hcg to go to zero. Then going to talk about in vitro.

I paid for one of the laproscopy, two dye tests, $10 each time blood drawn to watch hcg levels drop from both eptopic, bills from 2 emergency rooms, ambulance, meds. This was a few thousand dollars.

He talks to you like a friend. He jokes around sometimes, but tells you like it is. We always feel he is on our side cheering us on. I have had many issues and setbacks in my journey so far, and he has taken each issue as it arose and found the best line of treatment for us each time. He even stopped while I was praying before surgery and bowed his head for me to finish. That is respect!

Be open and honest about everything. Don't hide an issue, because he wants to find a way to fix you. Listen to his advice and give him your thoughts as well.

Prenatal Vitamins- for prepping body; HSG- found blocked tubes; Provera- made me very anemic first time, had to go on birth control for 2 weeks to stop bleeding, because I almost passed out at work; Metformin 1500mg- for PCOS and weight issues; Vitamin D 2000ui- for deficiency; Hystereoscopy/Laproscopic surgery- found septummed uterus, one tube blocked by polyps, other tube was kinked and attached to uterus from scar tissue (fixed all); Provera (2nd time)- to start period; Femara (letrozole) 7.5 mg- day 3-7 of each cycle for 4 months, resulted in very heavy day 2 and 3; Sonohystegram- to check on the tubes and see what the heavy cycle days were doing; Femara (letrozole) 10 mg- just finished 2nd month

Dr. Cooper was awesome! He was patient when I had a million questions. He was positive and encouraging. He was thorough and explained everything. When we had miscarriages he was sensitive to that. He was helpful when going through options. He would leave decisions up to me and my husband after going over all options. He was current on research.

He will do everything he can to help you create a family. Stay open minded.

We went straight to ivf due to severe male factor infertility. We did a fresh transfer of one embryo. I had severe ohss and needed a pigtail catheter for two weeks. I lost the baby at 10.5 weeks after seeing and hearing heartbeat twice. I then did a frozen transfer of 2 embryos which resulted in a positive beta thT didn’t rise properly. We still had one frozen embryo but decided to do another retrieval with pgs testing. We only had two embryos to send so decided to do another retrieval to get more embryos. We ended up sending four to test and three were normal. We transferred one who is now our daughter. We did a frozen transfer next and miscarried again at 10 weeks. We did another RPL panel and found I had antiphospholipid. We did another retrieval that resulted in one embryo and decided to fresh transfer. That resulted in our son. I was in blood thinners entire pregnancy. We still have two frozen embryos - one tested and one not.

He gave us stats on both and let us decide.

Dr. Young is very professional. He's understandably very busy, which means I didn't see or speak to him much during our actual treatments. He was great at answering all of our questions at our consultation and I felt comfortable. I was thankful when he did have the time to communicate with me personally. He was very straightforward and honest. At times he seemed compassionate. When our current treatment plan was again unsuccessful, he discussed what our options were and suggested what he would recommend next.

The whole fertility process can be very daunting and emotional, so try not to get too discouraged if it seems that you're not receiving as much communication from the doctor personally as you may have hoped for. Don't be afraid to ask questions. He is professional.

When I first met with Dr. Young, he explained to me that my condition is very rare and what he thought would be the best course of treatment. After initial testing and what seems like a long process to even begin the actual protocol, we began double injections daily with labwork and ultrasounds every other day. After the first few days, he tripled our injections. I had 4 follicles each time and they just wouldn't reach the size needed to be viable before my hormone levels dropped and I'd have to stop. The second time we began, he started with the triple daily injections as well as testosterone priming the month before starting injections. The 3rd attempt, he had me try a hormone patch prior to injections. The 4th attempt, I took birth control pills prior to see if my body would react as hoped for. We began with triple dose of injections again. My follicles just wouldn't grow big enough to continue. We tried different medications throughout, including menopur, Chlomid. His recommendation for our next course of treatment is IVF with egg donation.

I believe consultations and direct appointments with Dr. Young cost about $250. For our treatment protocol, ultrasounds and lab work cost approximately $2,700 and medications cost approximately $3,000. Ultrasounds approximately $250. Our next course of treatment is IVF with egg donation with a cost of approximately $23,000-$28,000

He took the time to explain everything that was happening and why it was happening. He asked all of our questions and never made us feel dumb for asking them or like we were wasting his time. He always tried to make light of the situation or make us feel like there was still hope. He was very compassionate when we had a miscarriage and didn't make me feel crazy when I mentioned I had been feeling anxiety and depression afterward. He always made me laugh during the embryo transfers.

I would say be patient, he is a good doctor and he is hard to get into but he is worth the wait.

When we first went to see Dr. Cooper, we had been trying for about 2 years. My previous OB had done a few tests including the BRACA gene, but nothing much beyond that. He immediately had me doing several labs, testing my husbands sperm and had me go in for an HSG. We found several things wrong with my right tube from my appendix bursting 5 years previous. He immediately scheduled a laparoscopy for the next month. He suggested we try on our own for a few months after that and see if we corrected the problem and we did get pregnant, but it ended in a tragic miscarriage. He suggested IUI so we did 3 rounds of that and it didn't work. We moved right into IVF right after. There are several appointments they have you do leading up to IVF. Blood work, STD screening, a class that teaches you how to give yourself the shots and what to expect, and lots of ultrasounds. remember the doses of anything but they give you a nice calendar with everything laid out when you need to stop and start medications and when your appointments will be. I cannot We only had to do 1 egg retrieval but 2 transfers. The first transfer was not successful and the second one ended in a beautiful baby girl.

I believe gentic testing was $2500 and a transfer was $3000. I can't remember many costs because we had a lifetime maximum policy on our insurance. My husband switched jobs in between but we used his first policy that was $25,000 and have used half of his $15,000. Genetic testing and embryo storage is not included. Embryo storage is $600/year.

The dr. prefers single transfers. He says there are more complications with 2 ie going early harder on the mom etc. If you are over 35 I think it is they will do 2 unless you ask for 1.

Pros: He was polite, professional, and made himself available for questions (I just didn't feel that comfortable asking them because I felt annoying/stupid). Cons: Didn't get to know us well. Treatment felt very cookie-cutter.

Be an advocate for yourself and ask the questions that you need answered. Don't expect an overly compassionate or warm interaction at any time.

Egg retrieval with PGS testing and a single frozen transfer cost approximately $15,000, excluding initial diagnostics and mediations.

Dr. Young ordered the tests and gave me the results. That's pretty much it. Not a lot of explanation.

Find someone else -

I can't remember specifics, but each test found nothing wrong. Dr. Young actually gave me a brochure in my initial consultation that listed the series of tests they did for everyone and explained that they did each one until they found what was wrong.

Co-pays. Just co-pays.

Brian Cooper is excellent at what he does. He is very honest and makes you feel very comfortable no matter the situation. I had a brief experience with another fertility specialist that was cold and made you feel like you were a number and the experience with Dr Brian Cooper was just the opposite of that. He made you feel like a human being and let you control the timing and course you took within reason. I highly recommend him!

Trust him. He knows what he is doing and will take excellent care of you!

It has been too long to remember what all the different strategies were. But basically I went through testing to make sure I had no issues, I did several rounds of donor insemination, when things weren't working out I would consult with Brian Cooper and he would maybe change a med or we would discuss other alternatives. This went on until I had several donor inseminations that didn't take or didn't make it past the very early stages and one miscarriage and then I decided to use donor embryos. But because of how he handled my consultations I knew all my options so I could review those as everything else was going on and not working. Then my one and only donor embryo produced a live birth.

For the time I believe they seemed reasonable to me.

I don't recall for sure if he transferred one or two, but I am almost certain he didn't transfer any more than that.