Nashville Fertility Center

Dr. Eblen and her staff were extremely sweet, comforting, thorough, and supportive through our whole experience. I love the way my husband and I were treated as one patient and were thorough with him as well. We never once felt uncomfortable or like we were just being treated as a paycheck to their office. They treated us like family and it was the first time we've been treated so well at a doctor's office. They listened to everything we had to say and whatever concerns we had. They were always so positive even though we always had negative results. We will definitely refer Dr. Eblen and her staff to anyone we meet! Dr. Eblen never once rushed us out of the office, she genuinely listened to everything we had to say.

Make sure you tell her everything that you're concerned with and don't be afraid to express your emotions because she will answer every question you may have and will be sympathetic with you as well.

From what I can remember, she treated myself and my husband together. She asked what we had already tried before coming to see her. Dr. Eblen started me out on oral medications before going to injections then ultimately to IUI. She was very thorough with the ultrasounds as well. She explained to us the correct foods to eat and medications to take. Her and her staff always told us to treat ourselves like we're already pregnant that way our bodies, especially mine, will be in the right condition for if we were to get pregnant. She never forced any kind of treatment on us if we weren't comfortable with it.

All together we spent about $8,000 while we were recieving treatments under her care.

We never made it to IVF unfortunately. However, she did explain to us the safe number of eggs to try to get during each cycle and explained to us the dangers of over stimulation.

Strengths- She is award winning at Endometriosis surgery. She is very knowledgeable about the fertility world. She is thorough through test results. Weakness- She can come across as cold because she wants to tell you the facts and not sugar coat anything.

She knows what she is doing and stick with her plan! Don't be afraid to ask as many questions as you want.

The first step she did was to get a complete bloodwork, HSG done, ultrasound and semen analysis. She will give you a list of supplements to take as well. The next step is treat any problems that may have come to light. Then we started IUI with a sperm wash because my test came back positive for antibodies. After trying numerous IUI's we moved on to IVF. She did a plan specific for me and how I responded to medications prior. After the failed IVF cycle. She wanted i biopsy to check out inflammation in the uterus. It came back inflamed so she suspected Endometriosis. She recommend surgery or medication. She respected my decision to not be put on a medication but to have the surgery. She performed the surgery. We found out I had Silent Endo. She allowed me to have time to heal and process all the news. She then did a injectible IUI cycle that was another failed cycle. We were going to do more injectible cycles but the COVID-19 came into the picture. We stopped all treatments.

They only doing monitoring appointments for morning hours. The earliest you can be seen is 8am. I wish they had earlier times so that way I didn't have to go in late for work. I am a teacher so it's hard to get coverage multiple times a week when you are getting monitored.

With each IUI with oral medication and wash it was $538 dollars. With IUI with injectibles it was $1,500. IVF runs between $15,000-20,000

This is a large clinic, so I only saw him once for the initial consultation. After that, there was no way to get ahold of him- the communication from then on out was from various nurses and seemed unorganized (i.e. different nurses would tell my spouse and I different information). Dr. Hill seemed kind in our consultation, but we were told we would not see him again until egg retrieval and/or transfer.

Just know you will not being seeing him/speaking to him much throughout your treatment.

He recommended sperm freezing, IVF, and genetic testing of embryos. We went in and paid for sperm freezing and later found out the specimen was accidentally discarded instead of frozen. We are now moving forward with IVF but with a different clinic. It is also interesting that our new clinic/doctor did not feel genetic testing of embryos was necessary for our specific case (which will save us thousands).

$1,000+ for sperm freeze. We found out that freezing at another local clinic is half the cost. The clinic had a typical/average cost for IVF compared to other local clinics.

We are not moving forward with him, but he recommended IVF with ICSI plus genetic testing of embryos.

Dr. Weitzman is a very straight forward doctor. He's a no BS person, which if you have thick skin, you'll be just fine. If you're looking for compassion, he's not your guy. He doesn't beat around the bush when it comes to changes you or your spouse need to make (losing weight, etc). With his candid nature, he gives you straight forward answers of the likelihood of success with different treatment options. He will not put you through a treatment option he doesn't feel will work.

Be patient and have thick skin.

When my husband and I went for our initial consult, I was told to try a 2nd round of clomid (my gyno had me on it the previous month). We had only tested my husband's sperm once (through his GP) and he had been put on an antibiotic to clear up what he thought was an infection. Dr. Weitzman requested my husband be off his antibiotics for 3-4 weeks and to be retested. Once we did that, we were told to come back for another consult. Based on my husband's 2 sperm counts, we were told we could see a urologist (if we wanted) or he would highly recommend going straight to sperm freezing and IVF do to a high FSH level in my husband.

So far, we've only paid co-pays and sperm analysis test fees. The sperm analysis was approx $20 more than it was through my husband's GP.

My person preference would be multiple embryo transfer. Dr. Weitzman doesn't do multiple embryo transfer. This is a concern of mine, and my husband and I are weighing our options for what the next step is (moving forward with Dr. Weitzman or finding another doctor).

George he’ll take his time to go over your game plan. If there is a lot of information he also takes the time to go into individual details about what things you need to do in each step of the process. As a patient of always hated male gynecologist even specialist but he has made me feel so at ease as a patient that it does not bother me that he is a male.

If you have a lot of issues and you want answers and someone to believe you that something is going on I would highly suggest George Hill because I told him all of my issues and the very first meeting he literally put me through every test to find out what was going on. I would recommend him because he truly values his patients and wants to help everyone achieve the overall goal of beating in fertility.

Dr. he’ll used a lot of test to come up with a plan for me and we were supposed to start IVF however I wanted to wait and try a natural route. Since we went that way we ended up on Metformin And I ended up with a list of vitamins that I needed to take to help my body be as fertile as possible and that was the only medicines I really wanted to get into and I never really got to start the full IVF process because I decided that the money was too much. Now in my current new plan I will be starting medications to do the Iui Process but I have not got that information as of yet

Currently I am around $4000.00 for everything that has been done. Surgery, doctor visits, medications.

Dr. Hill said from the very beginning that he only transfers one embryo because a lot of study show that transferring multiple embryos Does not hold real value of it working any better than one embryo. So he he truly is a firm believer in one embryo but he did say that he may would do two under certain circumstances but in my case it was definitely be just one so that something you will have to talk with him about if you know that you want more than one embryo transferred then you might would want to look for another doctor

She is very informative and explains all options based on your diagnoses and will let you decide what you feel best for you and your body. She is all business and is not an emotional doctor. It took me a while to get use to this, as I am an emotional person. I did have to have surgery as well with Dr. Whitworth for endometriosis and I feel just took the best care and did the absolute best surgery. They do have a lot of patients, so until you see her a few times and get really established, it takes her a bit to put all the pieces of your history back together- that has been the only frustrating part to my husband and I. But, we have now been treated by her for over 1 year and this is not an issue now. Overall, we have been very happy with her and would recommend her to others.

Patience, even though it is SO hard!!! Fertility is such a variable practice of medicine and has to be specifically tailored to each person and sometimes, the answers take a while to uncover and sometimes, there are no answers, which is the most frustrating part of infertility.

I had a miscarriage the first month of trying in October of 2016. I switched OBGYN early 2017 and he sent me to Dr. Whitworth - in June of 2017 I had HSG done and my tubes were clear. In Sep we started Clomid- I developed a large cysts and the cycle failed. I then did 3 rounds of Femara. 2 of those rounds, I was able to do a trigger shot to release my egg/eggs. The other round, the follicle was too large and we were not able to do trigger shot. In Feb 2018, I started even more of an increase in pain with periods and had an ultrasound that showed possible endometriomas on both of my ovaries. I did 2 rounds of Lupron and then had surgery in June 2018 for endometriosis. I was diagnosed with stage 4 endo. Dr.Whitworth now wants us to try on our own for 3-4 months and then will will try medicated if I do not get pregnant before then. Dr. Whitworth gave us about a 35% of conceiving on our own. If we are not able to do so, we will start IVF next year.

We have been lucky, our insurance has picked up most of the ultrasounds as well as the surgery. We have had to come out of pocket for all medication, consultations and testing for my husband.

Dr. Whitworth is very easy to talk to. We would often have tons of questions and she would answer everyone, without making us feel like we were taking up too much time. We had one visit with her that lasted 3 hours, but that was by our choice because of all of the questions we had. She answered everyone. She explained everything g very well also to where we could understand. She was able to explain details about my husbands sperm and testosterone issues in a way we could understand.

My husband had low sperm count and no motility. She suggested HCG shots, but due to the cost we first tried clomid. He did well with this and 3 months later had above normal numbers! He still had some white blood cells so Dr. Whitworth prescribes antibiotics for that. I was diagnosed with PCOS and put on Metformin. I was put on one cycle of clomid, but this thinned my lining. I came in for an US to confirm that, and was then switched to Letrozole for 3 months. I ovulated each cycle. Before starting the Letrozole I had an HSG test also.

With our BCBS insurance we had to pay our specialty copay of $45 for our visit. If both my husband and I were being seen that would be the fee for each of us. Our insurance is not in network with their lab, so sperm analysis cost us $130. My first transvaginal ultrasound cost us $60. But the next 2 I had were covered by our insurance and we paid nothing.

Dr. Hill was so kind when he walked into the exam room to talk with me and my husband. He asked us our background, what we like to do and really got to know us before going into why we were there. Once we got to the “why we were there”, he went through hundreds of pages of previous records to figure out what was going on before to see where he needed to pick up. Since our first consult, he has ordered labs and ultrasounds. Dr. Hill was very calm and patient with us as he knew how stressed we were about trying to have a baby for the last 7 years. He made sure we knew all the risks of the medications and how much everything was going to cost and went through every step before we get to IVF. He made us feel hopeful and comfortable. Like we are real people and not just his patients.

Write down all of the questions you have. Dr. Hill is very through in his answers and so, so very helpful.

I am currently starting my first treatment with Dr. Hill. We are hoping to start in January of 2019. So far, he has had me have a couple of ultrasounds to check my tubes, ovaries, and uterus. I have also had a couple labs done to see if I am lacking any hormones.

Our total is going to be around $17,470. Egg retrieval with PHT-A is $13,590 Frozen Embryo transfer is $3880

He went over what would happen if we had elective or multiple. He told us our chances are higher of conceiving if we chose to have multiple embryo transfer. With how long we have been TTC, we would choose multiple.

Through our 3 IUI cycles and our IVF consult he seemed to be more than supportive of our ideal course of treatment. He was good answering any questions we had and being thorough. However during the cycles we never saw him, it was always other doctors doing our monitoring.

Be more involved with each cycle as opposed to letting other Doctors and NP's be there in your place.

2 IUI cycles were done with Letrozole days 3-5, trigger shots, and insemination to follow, labs to check beta levels. 1 IUI cycle with Gonal F 75 iu for about a week, trigger shots and insemination, labs to check estrogen & beta levels.

Most of my costs were through the pharmacies, which they provided a discount program for. All diagnostic testing was covered by our insurance and the only things out of pocket charged at the clinic were sperm washing and insemination, those costs were relatively low compared to stories I've heard of other clinics charging. Without medications, IUI cycles were under $500 with insurance, and with medications total costs $590-900.

He didn't seem deadset on the amount of embryos to transfer in the consultation, he did go over both sides of the spectrum for the two possible outcomes. He did suggest with our situation that a singleton would be ideal, but 2 wouldn't be out of the question either.

When I first went to Dr. Hill I was very nervous. My husband and I had tried for several years to get pregnant and never did. Dr. Hill explained the tests he wanted to run on both my husband and myself. I waited a while before deciding on whether or not to move further. About a year later we decided IUI was the right step for us. Dr. Hill explained the process and everything that would happen leading up to the procedure. After two failed IUIs, we went in for one last time and discovered that I most likely had endometriosis. I couldn’t afford surgery at the time, so we stopped treatments until we decided what to do next.

Ask questions! Dr. Hill was very informative and very helpful. He explained things in a way that I understood, and he never made me feel bad for asking questions. He acted like I was the only patient in the office and had all the time in the world for me.

Dr. Hill gave us our options, and we decided that IUI was a good start. I was given my fertility pills and ordered my injection. He ordered an ultrasound at the right time and advised me on when to take the shot and when to come back for the IUI procedure. We did this for two cycles with no positive results. Before starting my third IUI, Dr. Hill recommended that I look into having surgery for endometriosis. He told me that if I wished to do to one more IUI then he would, but he was honest and up front and told me it most likely wouldn’t work.

For the IUI procedures that I had done, I paid less than $500. It was very affordable, which is why we could afford more than I round. The medications were not very expensive either. It was more affordable than I thought it would be.

Dr. Whitworth went into great detail with possible causes for our infertility. She thoroughly explained every detail and assisted us throughout the treatment process. She was able to recommend certain blood tests which revealed an underlying issue with myself.

Be prepared to look more in-depth at what could be the cause of infertility. She leaves no stone unturned and explores every option throughly and respectfully.

I was placed on ovulation stimulators along with trigger shots prior to IUI treatments.

Dr. Whitworth was very knowledgeable. She was great at breaking stuff down for me and explaining the technical things in a way I could understand. Specifically how testosterone works in the body. One weakness would be that sometimes I wasn’t clear on future plans or future visits.

Write all your questions down so you remember everything.

I was on testosterone shots when I started seeing her. Her first immediate plan was for me to stop those as they caused a very low sperm count and zero motility. She recommended HCG shots, but due to cost we tried clomid instead. She had me come in 3 months later to test again and the results were great. Dr. Whitworth gave me the results right away.

I had to pay my specialist $45 copay. Blood work and SA were expensive because our insurance didn’t cover their lab. About $80 for blood work and $140 for SA.

Dr Hill was always very descriptive, professional, and informative. He always listened to our concerns and what we had to say as patients. The only downfall was that we never seen him unless we had a consultation

Be open and honest with everything. Voice all of your concerns and ask questions

We used 50mg of clomid for 3 months with timed intercourse. We then moved onto 50mg of clomid and a trigger shot of ovidrel with an IUI

My ultrasounds were around $200, meds were $150, sperm wash was $220 and the insemination was $200. Each of our consultations were $250

I don’t have any comments.

I felt like she genuinely cared and helped calm my worries. After the first treatments were unsuccessful, she changed me right to IVF instead of making me continue with the other. It was not too hard to get a consultation appointment when I felt a different approach was needed.

Be sure to bring a pen and paper to each appointment. she covers a lot of information pretty fast and it's hard to remember everything.

After being diagnosed with a low egg number, she decided we would do 2-3 IUI and then move onto IVF. She didn't want to waste time.

Not a lot of interaction Expected more involvement. Talked more to her staff and other doctors whom she referred me to for fibroid removal. A lot of times I felt unsure of the next steps and plan towards conception. Just felt that more communication was needed.

Get an established plan of action right from beginning

She wanted to go through a series of tests, to assess my current situation. This included various tests for my husband. Discovered issues with fibroids.

We were very lucky to receive Dr. Hill as our physician since we took the earliest available appointment. He started our treatment after the first meeting. When those treatments didn't work after 3 months, we went through further testing. At every roadblock, Dr. Hill prescribed a different medication and also sent us to a male infertility specialist (also the best of the best). He gave us real expectations and cautious optimism. He was never rushed and never seemed bothered by our numerous questions. I would recommend him to anyone and everyone.

He is kind but also to the point. He won't sugarcoat things, so be prepared for what he has to say. He is the expert.

Since I was 36, he started me on Clomid and trigger shots immediately. While waiting testing results for my husband, we tried these methods for 3 months with no success. Once we found it was 100% male factor, he referred us to a specialty urologist, who provided the next step with sperm retrieval, making IVF our next step and only option for genetic children. Once we had frozen sperm, we moved forward with IVF. I had one round of meds, one egg retrieval, and had 4 embryos created and tested. Dr. Hill suggested ICSI for fertilization since we had such low sperm count. He also suggested PGT testing since we were trying to only do one round, and the fact that I was in my late 30's and husband in his 50's. Once we had normal results, Dr. Hill insisted (backed by research and stats) that we do a single egg transfer. I was under 40 and had PGT healthy embryo, so his goal is one healthy baby and one healthy mom. And it worked! We have a healthy baby girl. We also have one other normal embryo and 2 mosaic embryos in storage if we chose to use them.

I feel the cost was very "market price." They provided a flat fee that you paid for the entire process in one lump sum and it was at a discounted rate. This was nice so you didn't have to worry about paying each time you went. Once you embarked on IVF, the cost was paid on the first monitoring visit and then you were finished. They give you a very detailed breakdown of all the costs and educate you. We paid approximately $13,900 for the IVF cycle, which included the retrieval, ICSI fertilization, and PGT testing. The transfer was then a separate $3,980. There are less expensive options, but we wanted to do everything we could with the ICSI and testing to ensure success.

If you meet a certain criteria (under 40, have PGT tested normal embryos), Dr. Hill wants a single embryo transfer to occur. I never considered questioning this method, since I also wanted to carry a singleton.

Dr. Eblen is a seasoned professional, and we could tell that immediately. She gave us ample information, but also translated information into both knowledge and action. She is not only an excellent doctor, she is a considerate and compassionate human being.

Come with your own questions, listen intently, don't be afraid to ask a question, repeat a question, or ask her to repeat an answer. She wants to make absolutely sure you know everything you need to know.

We were interested in embryo adoption, so it's a little different than the usual IVF process, but she went over medical/hormonal treatments, the implantation plan and schedule, honest odds of a successful pregnancy, and when our first attempt failed, a plan of action moving forward. (Unfortunately, our second attempt has been interrupted by the Covid-19 epidemic, but we are going back to continue when we can.)

We actually did all of the monitoring with our local endocrinologist, Dr. Michael Doody. The results were conveyed to Nashville. We had to do some blood work at Nashville, but it was not the usual monitoring.

I don't remember the exact amounts, but everything was made very clear to us BEFORE we started working with Dr. Eblen and the Nashville Fertility Clinic. There were no surprises.

One hurdle for my wife and me, being Christians, was respect for and protection of the lives embodied in the embryos. Giving us the option to implant a single embryo instead of "going with the numbers" and attempting multiple allowed us to proceed with this form of treatment.

Dr. Whitworth did take the time to discuss results of our failed cycle with me which I did appreciate. Questions I had that she was not able to answer she contacted the lab directly and sent me the answers. She was courteous and professional but I only met with her once throughout my 2-3 months receiving care from NFC.

If you expect that one provider will take care of you and see you through your entire treatment, that will not occur. You will potentially be seen by all 4 providers and Dr. Eblen and Weitzman are great! There were a few hiccups with my voicemail not working but they seemed to correct most errors quickly. Do your research and have a list of questions early and don't be afraid to go through every single question!

This is one issue I have, I wish more thought would have gone into my particular cycle rather than getting the "cookie cutter first timer" regimen. I received 225 of Gonal-F and this was increased to 300 when I was found to only have four follicles on day 3 of stims. I eventually caught up and went down to 225 + menopur + cetrotide. I triggered with lupron even though I was not planning a fresh transfer and there was minimal chance for OHSS. I would advocate triggering with HCG if you are not planning a fresh transfer.

I had partial coverage with insurance and my out of pocket cost was ~8K for IVF and ~3K for medications.

The clinic as a whole prefers single embryo transfer in patients 38 and younger I believe? Approaching 40 the number of embryos recommended for transfer increases. They prefer frozen to fresh transfer.

We did 4 IUI’s none worked, I was disappointed but knew it was a less than 5% chance. She let me know if it didn’t work I would have to use donor eggs or get an embryo if I wanted to conceive. I appreciated the honesty and took her advice. I had my FET at another clinic (embryos stored at this clinic) but NFC and Dr. Whitworth did all my monitoring locally

Ask a lot of questions and learn as much as you can. It’s a lot of information and sometimes hard to understand

I took Ovidrel, Cetrotide, Novarel and Follistim before my 4 IUI’s. The other clinic prescribed Estrace and Crinone before my FET

Since my embryos were tested and highly graded I was only allowed to transfer one due to higher chance of multiples

She was involved, gentle, and effective. At times I had to follow up with more questions or self-advocate, as she didn't always remember all the details we'd agreed on for my treatment, but she was responsive to my feedback and considered me thoughtfully when we were making decisions about our IUI. We conceived on our second unmedicated IUI, and transferred to my OB after our first 6wk visit with Dr Van Heertum, who offered (due to COVID-19) to see us for a couple more appointments if necessary (depending on our OB's practices - we weren't sure at the time) to ensure the continued health of our baby. She was compassionate and nonjudgmental.

Ask for clarity when you aren't sure about next steps.

We went in for my initial consultation in January, where I opted for genetic testing and general bloodwork. She also gave us sperm bank recommendations. Due to our use of donor sperm, we were then required to see a reproductive counselor for one session before continuing treatment. We also had a saline sonogram done, and found no cause to suspect any potential fertility issues, so Dr Van Heertum recommended we try a few cycles with an unmedicated IUI. There were nurses scheduled to perform the actual IUI, but the first IUI was trickier than expected to Dr Van Heertum came in to do it herself. That one didn't pan out, but I came back a month later and we got our successful IUI. We did all our bloodwork at the clinic and then had a 6wk ultrasound and appointment with Dr Van Heertum.

Dr. Hill was very clear in his descriptions of our situation and the potential treatments. He is also obviously very knowledgeable and has had a lot of experience with fertility treatments. I would consider going back to Dr. Hill for future treatments for these reasons; however, it sometimes felt like he didn't see me or my partner as people with a nuanced history. It felt like he diagnosed our problem and laid out an action plan before even meeting us.

I tell a prospective patient that although Dr. Hill may not be warm, he will be clear and upfront. Additionally, I would recommend a prospective patient write out her/his questions ahead of time and ask Dr. Hill to answer all of them before leaving the consultation or appointment.

We did two IUIs with Femara and a trigger shot. Both were unsuccessful. We started a third round of IUI using Clomid and planned to use the trigger shot, but we were unable to complete that cycle because my follicles weren't cooperating with the protocol used.

Approximately $2,000

n/a

I liked her as a provider. I didn't see her very often, just for consults, so 2 visits I think. But she seemed to explained things well and answered all my questions. Maybe not as warm of other doctors I've seen but I liked her. I didn't feel like she rushed me.

This is more about the clinic - if you think the doctor needs to review your chart again or they say they will give it to your doctor to review- call and remind them! They forgot once to have her look at it and another she changed my plan but they almost forgot to tell me.

I tried medication with TI first for a couple cycles, then moved to IUI. IUI with clomid then letrazole. I tried 3 of those cycles, then moved to IUI with letrazole and FSH injections. The last cycle of IUI was just FSH injections.

It depends on insurance. So my insurance didn't really cover much, but the clinic would submit certain procedures to them.

I don't think we really talked about that.

I am so thankful for the opportunity to have been a patient of Doctor Whitworth! I felt very loved and welcomed and the entire staff, doctors and my amazing IVF nurse Martha became like family to me. fertility issues and treatments can be very emotional and I was older when I got to Nashville fertility. I had just turned 41 and was learning as I went that my odds were very low for viable embryos. But we all nicknamed my eggs the little eggs they could and I was very slow to stimulate with a lot of ovarian cyst complications to work around. If it wasn’t for Doctor Whitworth I would not have a viable egg now that we are so ready to transfer using a gestational carrier. Dr. Whitworth fought for me and gave my body time to do what it needed. She was a true Angel and God send to me and so was Martha! Martha, my IVF nurse walked hand and hand with me through the entire process. I didn’t always get the news I wanted but I did always get the news presented in a loving and kind way. The entire staff and all the doctors and IVF nurses at Nashville fertility are amazing! They are compassionate, caring and they are cheering for you and your future baby! I am so thankful to have had them all in my corner and I know my embryo is a miracle from God but they were the angles who helped get me one. I wish so bad I could carry my baby but I am so thankful to have found a beautiful gestational carrier and we pray for our little miracle embryo every day! Praying she is tough and can make it through all she has to make it through to be in our arms. I will forever be grateful to Dr. Whitworth and her expertise and guidance. She, personally stepped in several times when I had complications to help me get through the obstacles. As they say great leaders are able to address obstacles and adjust through to the victory and Dr. Whitworth did just that. She was able to get me to egg retrieval twice and that was after several stopped cycles. She is a truly a brilliant leader and rock star doctor!

To be patient and to express her desires and communicate your needs and fears. To rely on them to do everything they can to get you a healthy baby. To know it is going to be a very emotional journey with a lot of highs and lows but also one where you just have to keep your eye on the prize!!!!

Dr, Whitworth was amazing because due to my auto-immune and pre -existing medical issues she had to work around a lot of my medications! She explained to me that we had 3 protocols we could try. The first one didn’t work as I didn’t stimulate at all like I needed too so we moved to the second option. This included daily injections of gonal -f and every other day HCG injection and certrotide and then double trigger shots

The ultrasound techs were amazing and honestly you never had to wait long! They were kind and loving as I was having a hard time stimulating so these appointments were very important and I always felt like I was a top concern

I thankfully was able to have progeny insurance through my employer. Unfortunately none of my husbands labs or test or procedures were covered but we thankfully only had to spend 6-10k for this process which is the only way we could have done this. Unfortunately, there is nothing that covers gestational carrier and legal work so that will all be out of pocket expenses.

I unfortunately was only able to get one embryo after 2 rounds of egg retrieval. First round, they got 5 mature eggs from me and 5 fertilized and 3 grew to embryos and after genetic testing only one female was viable. We lost two other male ones. Then the second egg retrieval, they got 8 eggs , 6 fertilized and only 2 grew to embryos that we genetically tested and none came back viable so we lost two more male embryos that time. But I often thought if I got three viable embryos I would have really liked to have been able to try 2 embryos at a time. Because I am older and having to use a gestational carrier and it’s so expensive! We are not trying to figure out every way we can to pay and get our embryo here and transferred. Even exploring go fund me. So after all you have to pay to go through everything I think multiple egg transfer should be an option. I do understand that if you only have two embryo that the chances of survival are better for single embryo transfer at a time and I do understand why Dr. Whitworth only likes to do one at a time. However, I think in certain circumstances, multiple embryo transfer could be best

Dr. Whitworth has been very kind and helpful. She has always been very informative and had no problem answering any questions that we have had. If you're looking for a doctor who is super bubbly then Dr. Whitworth is probably not your gal. She has the most calming presence but she is also very straightforward.

Don't expect to see or hear from Dr. Whitworth too often. After three cycles and several appointments at NFC, we have only seen her once at our first appointment. Also, do your research and don't be afraid to self advocate. If you don't understand something or if things seem a bit off then don't be afraid to speak up. That's advice for any fertility patient though.

For our first IUI, Dr. Whitworth put me on Clomid. I had previously had three cycles where I had taken Femara and they were all unsuccessful so we decided to try a different medication. I only produced one follicle and by the time the IUI came around it was massive. She decided that we should proceed with the IUI. It proved to be unsuccessful. Then we switched to IUI with femara. Dr. Whitworth also decided to have a couple extra monitoring visits to make sure that my follicles didn't grow too quickly again. I had four follicles that round but it was still unsuccessful. This past round we did a hybrid cycle. I used follistim, menopur, and cetrotide. I responded well to the medication. Unfortunately that cycle ended with the same result.

Our insurance doesn't cover any sort of fertility treatments. We've probably spent around $6000 on three IUIs.

We were very green at our initial consultation. We had been trying on our own for a few years-- we even tried another clinic before finding Dr. Monteville-- but we still had so much to learn. Dr. Monteville was very patient, never patronizing or overwhelming in his approach as an educator. He stays and explains until he knows you are comfortable and well-informed. I am a realist who relies on facts, and my husband is a dreamer who needs an optimistic outlook. As opposites attract, I imagine most couples need a balance of compassion and truth, and Dr. Monteville has been the physician we both needed.

Take very good notes, and don't be afraid to ask the same question more than once. It's a lot of information to digest, and they are more than willing to repeat it.

I have been fortunate in that I have had a really good response to most treatments. During our first IUI, I experienced a lot of side effects to Clomid, so Dr.Monteville switched to Letrozole and I had a much more pleasant response. We just finished our first retrieval for IVF and did not get as many eggs as we would have liked, but the quality was good. It is important to work with a physician that believes in quality over quantity. Dr. Monteville was careful to alter the medication protocol for this next cycle to maintain quality but hopefully capture a few more eggs.

We paid out of pocket for the IUIs as our insurance at the time did not cover. Approx. cost of each IUI was $1k. My husband took a job so that we could have the fertility insurance coverage that the company offered as we go through IVF. The clinic is in-network, but unfortunately, there are no in-network labs in our area. That alone was over $7k out of pocket. Our insurance offered a lifetime prescription coverage of $5k, which was exhausted with one cycle of injectables-plus some. One cycle of medication is about $7.5k, so we are nervous about being able to keep up. Since the clinic was in-network, our cost for retrieval after insurance is about $400, $81 for transfer. We chose to do PGS testing which was another $6k out of pocket. It was a hard choice as insurance also does not cover unless you have had at least three failed IVFs. I am glad we chose to do this, as we had two quality blastocysts from our first retrieval, but neither were genetically viable. We were quoted about $19k for IVF at our initial consult, which we are on target to hit. A $10k grant would be an unimaginable blessing. Thank you for providing this gift to whoever should receive it.

We have not been fortunate enough to experience a transfer yet.