REACH

Lauren Johnson is a compassionate, driven, highly educated lady with a lot of experience. She has been through infertility herself. She is very thorough with her appointments and you never feel rushed in/out when seeing her. I would not recommend anyone else!

Don’t hesitate to make an appointment even if it’s just for a consultation with her! You will not be let down! We went in thinking there would be no way we could afford it or even do anything other than meet with her, I was overwhelmed before going and then we got there and she has a calm nature about her. She explained everything, even drew us pictures to make it make sense. She answers all our questions no matter how crazy and redundant.

Originally we went in for unexplained infertility and was also diagnosed with PCOS. She ran a very detailed bloodwork panel analyzing hormones, blood count, egg quality and count, numerous things as well as doing STD screenings on both of us and sperm analysis on my husband. We also had the option to do a test to check for abnormalities that may cause issues with a fetus long term prior to starting. Dr. Johnson goes through a detailed history of your medical history as well as your lifestyle and healthy changes you may need to partake in. After we go through that initial stuff she told us we would try an IUI first since my husband and I didn’t seem to have anything wrong other than me not ovulating on my own, he has a child so we shouldn’t have a problem on his side. We started the cycle by using progesterone to start my period followed up with a ultrasound and bloodwork to check my levels and to make sure I’m ready to start with the medicine to help me ovulate. (I had previously tried Clomid with my OBGYN with no success.) We started with Femara one pill a day for 5 days starting on cycle day 3-7. I did not respond and produce any mature follicles (I did have 25 cyst in one ovary and around 30 in the other) so we piggybacked and tripled up on Femara for the next 5 days with no luck and with one more piggy back we went back to Clomid and we had one mature follicle. After you confirm a mature follicle and bloodwork looked good we had to have do am Ovedril shot to help push the follicle out of the ovary and then have intercourse that night between 6-8. The next day we both had to go to the office for bloodwork (me) to check to make sure levels looked good as far at uterus lining and ovulation has or is currently taking place, my husband had to do a sperm deposit to be cleaned up and ready for use if I cleared with my bloodwork. They called us back in a few hours to report back at 11:45 and we had the IUI procedure. They walked us through it as it was our first one and explained everything in detail. The. You go on the dreaded two week wait to find out if you’re pregnant. In that time you still take your prenatal meds, any vitamins they put you on based on bloodwork and progesterone vaginal suppositories to help prevent first trimester miscarriage. We did become pregnant with a little girl with Dr. Johnson’s help then we were released from REACH at 10 weeks, however after being with my OBGYN We lost our little girl at 17 weeks and have currently been in for more IUI with maturing follicles in the first try with medication but no successful pregnancies yet.

For each IUI cycle we paid around $1800 including oral prescriptions, shots, ultrasounds, bloodwork, the semen deposit and cleaning and the procedure itself.

Not applicable to us

Dr Wing is very knowledgeable and has been around since the start of the center. I felt as though he knew what he was talking about and is able to explain treatment throughly. Dr Wing took time to answer all of our questions and did not seem rushed like other doctors in the past. He was also prompt to our appointment. I have waited in the waiting room before for other doctors for a long time, but not with Dr. Wing.

I would suggest that a patient do some research before on infertility treatment options and lingo prior to an appointment. Although Dr Wing breaks the info and terminology down, it is still a lot to take in and comprehend. Ask lots of questions. They are there to help you.

After 4 years of infertility and failed treatments at a different clinic, we spontaneously became pregnant with our son. He was born at 41 week and appeared perfect. He passed away at 3 days. He was diagnosed with a rare and often fatal metabolic condition. My husband and I found following his death that we are carriers for this condition. We require genetic testing PGT-M and IVF. We are currently in the genetic stage and will advance to the IVF steps once our genetic pieces are together. Dr Wing knew exactly the steps needed to give us hope for a healthy baby.

Our total estimate is between $25,000-33,000

Our Doctor recommended single embryo transfer to start with.

Strengths: knowledgeable, straightforward, informative, professional, medically trustworthy. Weaknesses: lack of connection, made to feel like just a number or that I should already know what to do/what to expect, rarely communicate or meet face-to-face.

Write down a list of questions to ask. And do not leave a consultation until they are answered and you are 100% comfortable.

Tracking my irregular cycle. Calling on the 1st day of my period. If I didnt have one, then calling to let them know. I was prescribed medications to help me start. Then I'd call once I did. On day 3, i would arrive for an ultrasound of my uterus to count my eggs. Depending on the #, I would be prescribed medication and come back a week a so later for an additional ultrasound and bloodwork. At that time, they would decide when the IUI would take place.

I waited for an exceptionally long time to get any information on my cost of care.

Strengths: strong communicator, kind bedside manner, very knowledgeable on alternative options, she is also realistic with her expectations. I could not imagine going through this experience with any other doctor, she has exceeded our expectations.

She does her best to try to see you every time you come in for an appointment but there may be times where other nurses or doctors will see you based on availability.

We were diagnosed with male factor infertility to start. We started with an egg retrieval, I was on Cetrotide, Gonal, Lupron and Synthroid. We got 25 eggs, 15 fertilized but only one made it to an embryo. After that first cycle she concluded that I have poor egg quality and it was unexplained. We did another egg retrieval and switched up the medications to see if we could get more and we ended up with no viable embryos. At that point we decided on transferring the one embryo we did have. We did get pregnant but ended up miscarrying at 8 weeks.

Never had too many issues, they had you come in between 7am-8:30am - there was a wait sometimes but they typically will get through relatively quickly.

With insurance coverage we paid roughly $5000 out of pocket for two egg retrievals. After we exceeded our maximum deductible our transfer out of pocket cost was roughly $2000.

She will only transfer one embryo, regardless of your age and likelihood of success.

Dr. Katz is very knowledgeable. He is honest from the beginning and tells you like it is. He is not there for the run around. He recommended IVF from the beginning but agreed to try IUI and see if we got lucky because it is what we chose to do first as IVF is expensive. He does what he can to help financially with his admin team. Dr. Katz is very straight to the point and I really like that about him. He is a very friendly man and knows exactly what he is doing. He gave me and always gives me hope each time. He is very patient and is always there for you.

Listen to everything he says for he is extremely knowledgeable and he has seen it all.

I started with comid for 5 days and a trigger shot to do an IUI. I did this for 2 rounds. I have mild PCOS and my husband has a low sperm count. He recommended IVF and not to waste more money on another IUI as we have no coverage for it and had to pay out of pocket.

IUI $800 and IVF $12,300

Dr. Katz has made me very comfortable. He explains the reality of my infertility. He also expressed the hope he has for us which makes me feel like it is possible. I would of course love to meet with him every visit but I do not think that is realistic as the amount of patients in the office would not allow for such one on one. Dr. Katz has also been very receptive to the information I have shared regarding my naturopath. He is not dismissing my hormone results she has provided to his office. I am confident that he will help us reach our end goal which is having a child

Trust the process

My first round of femara was a timed intercourse cycle which I was prescribed 5mg from days 3-7. My body did not respond well to that dosage so cycle two we moved it to days 3-9 which produced larger follicles sooner than Cycle day 18. We triggered 250mg of ovidrel. Last cycle was Femara CD3-9 and 2 ovidrel shots on CD 14.

Timed intercourse cycle was around $600 IUI was $1200

N/A

Dr. Johnson has been nothing but great since I’ve started my IVF journey. She always took the time to educate me on everything she did and why she was doing those things. I always felt she had my best interest at heart and never felt pressured to do anything that i didn’t want to do. She is always very professional and I’ve never felt it was about the money. From the time i walk into the facility to the time I leave it’s nothing but love.

She is very straight forward but don’t look at that as a negative thing. Sugar coating things aren’t always the best

I haven’t started my fertility medications yet but it is coming up soon. I’ve only had testing done and a surgery

During most of my testing bloodwork,surgery, and specific test out of pocket so far I have spent $2500 through reach. Most of the testing and bloodwork goes through my insurance due it not being listed as fertility. My fertility medications which i haven’t started yet cost 4000. Depending on your income you can apply for compassionate care which can give you a percentage off fertility medications.

Dr. Wing is thorough and friendly. He made me feel like I was his only patient. He studied my history and made me feel like he truly cared. He developed a plan for me and went over everything with me. When my body didn’t react to certain things, he adjusted methods and informed me along the way.

Trust him but never be afraid to ask questions because it’s YOUR journey!

My prolactin levels were very high so he started me on Cabergoline to lower them. It worked for that purpose and I still take it currently. He also put me on Femara to grow my follicles but my body didn’t react at all to it. My first IUI cycle failed because the medicine didn’t work. Next cycle, he put me on gonal-f injections to grow my follicles and low dose hcg. He started me at 75iu of gonal-f each cycle. Sometimes he had to increase to 100 and the last cycle he increased to 125. I did a total of 2 injection cycles for IUI and neither was successful. The last cycle resulted in a chemical pregnancy.

IUI cycle was $1000 without insurance. That includes monitoring ultrasounds, bloodwork and the insemination. Medication is not included.

His strength is looking at the previous test that I had done and wanting to confirm everything on his own. He said good things about my previous doctors but explained that some additional testing should be done to find a cause instead of going straight into a resolution. No weaknesses have been shown yet. I honestly feel like I will be able to trust him and his expertise.

With him everything is based around your period. This is when he will do most of his recommended testing. So I would try to book an appointment around cycle day 3 so that you can get started immediately.

Birth control will be used, he explained that it angers a lot of women because they feel that it’s a step in the wrong direction. However it’s so he can control your body and how it responds when you officially start treatment.

Actual cost would be determined after the prior authorization sent to my insurance. Out of pocket people would probably spend about 15,000 with medication included.

This will be discussed at our next appointment. I would love to transfer multiple but I do know some doctors aren’t comfortable with that. Which would be ok just wishful thinking.

Dr. Johnson is very knowledgeable about fertility and quickly assessed me as a patient and my personality. She is direct but passionate and solution-oriented. I felt well cared for even on my first visit. It was completely different in a positive way from an experience I had with a previous doctor in SC. She broke things down to make them easy to understand and even put together a sports analogy regarding the fertility process so my sports-fanatic husband could understand. She is genuinely the best and made me feel at ease every step of the way.

Ask questions if you don't understand something. Dr. Johnson checked in periodically during her discussions to make sure we had a full understanding so don't be shy. All questions are good and will help Dr. Johnson assess you as a patient to provide customized care.

I am still in the initial stages but I had to complete an HSG and blood work. She also provided me with a list of supplements to begin taking to help with fertility. Vitamin D, Prenatal, NeoQ10, DHEA 25. I am also going to have a hysteroscopy to detect if there is a polyp or fibroid in my uterus.

So far, I've had to may for the HSG (less than $500) and deductibles for blood-work/labs. Upcoming surgery will be less than $1500. Then we need to pay for treatments.

Dr. Wing was exactly the doctor that we needed. Even though he has a ton of patients and at times I felt like more of a number, the truth is that his care over me was excellent. His review of my history was thorough, as was his diagnostic procedures. I felt like he left no stone unturned and did everything possible to set us up for success with our first IVF. His work is excellent and he is a brilliant doctor. He is also kind and warm. No doctor is perfect, and even if I can pinpoint little things about him or the clinic that I may not have preferred, I would not have traded the care I received for anything else. He knows his stuff and does everything he can to succeed. He is also knowledge and on-top of recent cutting edge research and tests in the field, so I felt like the care I got was top notch and in line with best practice. We loved Dr Wing and hope to use him again for our next transfer!

Hmm the only thing I can think of is to ask a lot of questions and if you have the urge to question what he is doing, try to trust that he really does know his stuff and closely paying attention to your case even if you didn’t see him in person at any given appointment.

I did 3 ovulation induction cycles with clomid or letrozole + ovidrel trigger shot, and once used Gonal F; 1 out of 3 resulted in a pregnancy, but unfortunately it ended up being an early miscarriage. With IVF, we did a Receptiva Dx biopsy which came back positive and therefore I was put on Lupron for 3 months prior to our frozen transfer. I don't remember all the stimulation drugs for IVF, unfortunately. Once transfer time came, I was given intralipid infusions 4 times before and after the transfer; I was also placed on 1mL intramuscular injection of progesterone in oil, 0.1mg estradiol (estrogen patches); heparin injections twice per day, and baby aspirin, as well as extra folic acid and vitamin D (in addition to my PNV).

They were a very efficient and well-oiled machine. I never had to wait super long, even if there were a lot of people there for monitoring as well.

Our insurance didn't cover any fertility interventions, so it was quite expensive for us. However, it was helpful to have things packaged under one bundle, whether that be our Ovulation Induction Cycle or IVF package - this way we mostly just paid a one-time lump payment and that included all the monitoring and bloodwork, so we rarely got additional bills to worry about.

My doctor suggested we do 1 embryo transfer since I'm still semi-young (under 35) and we have no reason to think it won't be successful. I'm sure if this pregnancy fails (I'm 10 weeks now), and/or for future transfers as I get older, he may want to transfer more than 1 to increase our odds of success. Our clinic's goal is to give us "one healthy baby", rather than multiples which increase chances of complications.

Dr. Katz is one of the leading fertility doctors in Charlotte. He is supportive and understanding, and I would recommend him to anyone. I appreciate his attention to current research, and the encouragement he provided to me in becoming a single parent. I am also a doctor, practicing in a different field, and Dr. Katz has a way with patients that cannot be taught...it comes with exprerience as well as a born-with-it talent. He listens to his patients! When you truly listen to someone as a doctor, the problem, diagnosis and treatment becomes obvious.

Do not be afraid of a consult. Information is key, and why not be more informed? This doctor has done his homework, so just show up, tell him your concerns and issues, and trust him.

I have low AMH and am 34 years old. I have undergone an egg freezing procedure at another clinic where we retrieved 5 eggs. I was ok with my care, but knew I did not want to go through this again. Dr. Katz has known me for a few years (i had an hsg after an ectopic pregnancy 2 years ago) at his clinic. He can recommended to me because he is encouraging to single mothers and families with various dynamics...in other words he is not judgemental, only encouraging. I found this to be true in his manner as well as the staff at Reach.

The cost of an IUi is about 960. The cost of egg freezing through Reach is about 6,000 not counting medication.

Dr. Johnson has always been very caring and honest with us. I think that a lot of times, doctors at this clinic are a bit more hands off with the IUI process, not for a lack of caring, but because it is not as costly, nor is it as complicated/complex. Dr. Johnson sets the treatment course and monitors progress, but a nurse actually completed the insemination. However, since we have been having conversations and getting prepared for the IVF process, if she was not present at my ultrasounds, then it was another doctor who completed the appointment. = Dr. Johnson has incredible bedside manner. She is warm and welcoming and you can tell she truly cares about her patients and gets to know them very well. Our personalities are very similar and it really helps us click with her in the patient/doctor relationship.

Sometimes she can move a little fast when describing things, but it is because she is trying to be efficient with time and not rush. Do not be afraid to ask questions, she will always answer them. She is very sweet and caring and you will love having her as a doctor.

We completed two IUI cycles with Clomid, based on my husband's sperm count. However, after 2 IUI cycles, it was noticed that his count significantly decreased, which is why IUI did not work either time. After this IVF became our next course of treatment. We will be starting the IVF process soon. Dr. Johnson has told us that with how low my husband's sperm count it, natural conception is not likely to every happen for us.

IUI was about 1200 per cycle. An IVF cycle with egg retrieval was 13500, and a frozen embryo transfer is about 3000. None of these costs include medication. Any visits that have to do with the treatment cycle are covered through the cost of treatment.

Dr. Johnson mentioned that given my age, she would like to only transfer one embryo. However, we have discussed that if we have to do another cycle, that we would transfer 2 embryos. She said that as women get older, they are more likely to always implant more than one embryo.

Dr. Wing is great at explaining everything in detail. He breaks everything down into terms that my husband and I can understand. Dr. Wing is also very realistic and has been honest with us of his opinion on how likely we are to conceive with different treatments.

Keep all of your records from any previous fertility treatments/doctors. Dr. Wing is able to look at those records and possibly see things that other doctors did not see.

I have not gone through a cycle with Dr. Wing yet due to him finding that I have endometrial cancer during a surgery that he performed to remove a polyp on my ovary. We planned on doing an IVF cycle using my own eggs right after the surgery. Sadly, I wasn't able to do a cycle right away because the cancer had to be treated first. The cancer has now been treated and my oncologist has given us 6 months to try to get pregnant before having to have a hysterectomy.

Dr. Wing performed the surgery to remove the polyp on mg ovaries which was very costly (around $6k out of pocket). I have paid a co-pay for my other appointments with him. The cost for my IVF treatment was estimated at $14k, plus the cost of medications (which could not be determined until the time of treatment).

Dr. Whelan always listens to me and takes my concerns and feelings into consideration. He doesn’t try to sugar coat things but he isn’t blunt about it. He treats me like a human and wants to do what I want to do when it comes to treatment.

He knows what he’s talking about. If he says IVF is your best bet, he’s not out to get your money. He told us we could continue to try IUI and we would hopefully get pregnant eventually if that’s the way we wanted to go but that IVF was really what I needed and he was right.

We did an egg retrieval with a freeze-all. I have PCOS but according to Dr. Whelan, my brain also doesn’t communicate properly with my hormones. He said attempting to go directly into a fresh transfer would be too confusing for my system and I would likely not get pregnant. We did a freeze all and went back on birth control to start a FET and managed to get pregnant the first FET round.

Monitoring appointments take place between 7 and 9am. It’s first come, first serve and the appointments are pretty quick and easy.

I do not remember my egg retrieval costs but my last FET was approximately $7500

My first FET, I had been trying to get pregnant for a year and a half with no success, not even a chemical pregnancy. Dr. Whelan knew how desperate we were to get pregnant and allowed us to transfer two embryos despite being 25 at the time. This past FET cycle, he said I could choose again whether to do two embryos or an eSET and I choose eSET as I now have a living child and was not as comfortable with the prospect of twins. This cycle was unsuccessful and our next FET we will be transferring two again, with his blessing

Dr J is a young, vibrant doctor who made me feel like there was always hope. She is thorough, direct and still lighthearted. She made it a point to get to know me and my husband as people and as a couple. She listened to all of our questions and concerns and would even adjust her plan to compromise if ever needed. Dr J is an amazing doctor and person who made our journey amazing.

Be prepared not to have sugar coated information. She likes to get to the point, solve the current hiccup and figure out the best way to have a positive result!

There was a general monitoring window first thing in the morning. Yes if you showed up at 7am there would be a line at the door (usually the same 3-4 women). However, if you go around 730, you miss the rush. Either way, they know what they’re doing and it is well run and timely. They don’t rush you out of your room either if you have questions about your ultrasound. They make sure you understand prior to heading to the next patient.

Due to our insurance coverage, the most cost for us ended up being my medications. Unfortunately the pharmacy they suggest (encompassRx) wasn’t covered fully but with the customer service they provided, it was totally worth the extra few dollars. My insurance covers more under Freedom Fertility but when I couldn’t even get someone to answer the phone there or leave a message, I went straight to encompass.

My husband and I had tossed around an idea to have a multiple embryo transfer. Dr J was against it and explained the risks and complications for someone of my size. I had complications at 31 weeks with just one so I am very thankful for her sticking to her guns!

Dr. Johnson was very personable. She also woke up in the middle of the night to call me in another prescription when I left mine out of town. We had some unexpected complications and she adjusted accordingly.

Trust her judgement.

Dr. Johnson gave me a hysteroscopy in order to remove polyps. She also did my complete retrieval. I had many good eggs, but my husband's sperm were less than stellar. (We didn't even know he had them until right then when they did sperm aspiration.) When we only ended up with one embryo, she highly suggested we go ahead and do a three day fresh transfer instead of our planned frozen transfer. I ended up with a chemical pregnancy, but Dr. Johnson did everything she could. She also met with us afterwards to come up with our next game plan, which included a varicoselectomy for my husband. (She had suggested it before, but we had chosen to go ahead without it.)

Monitoring was offered first thing in the morning. I had to drive 2 hours each way, and was always in and out very quickly!

Normal IVF costs; we compared multiple clinics and REACH had lower pricing than all of the clinics in our area.

She counseled us about the difference, and highly suggested single embryo transfer for our particular situation.

Dr. Katz is very personable. He is understanding of the emotional, physical and financial toll fertility treatment can take on a person and couple. He is very knowledgeable about different medical conditions and honest about potential outcomes. He is no nonsense, which I appreciate.

If you have a question, ask. Don't be embarrassed or ashamed that you need something clarified or explained differently.

First, we tried three cycles of injections and timed intercourse. Next, we tried two cycles of injections and IUI. My gut said it was time to move on and Dr. Katz agreed. Then, we did an IVF cycle with retrieval and intent to freeze. Unfortunately, none of my embryos make it far enough for freezing. Finally, Dr. Katz presented my case to his fellow doctors and decided to alter my medications and do another cycle without egg donation. Even though other doctors in the practice felt my first IVF cycle was a clear indication that my eggs were of poor quality and unable to be successful in the future, he wasn't convinced. We proceeded with a new, aggressive protocol. The result was four embryos that made it to freezing. All four were thawed and transferred (also a risky decision) and today I have one amazing and healthy daughter. Today, we are trying for another child. We began with two IUIs. One resulted in a negative and one in a six-week miscarriage (likely due to poor egg quality). We are currently in the process of beginning another round of IVF.

You wait in line, get paperwork, go for either blood work first or ultrasound first. It's a quick appointment and if you need to get into your workplace, this is great. This is not the time to ask questions of your nursing team.

Fertility treatment is VERY expensive. IUI was approximately $2000 including medication (purchased elsewhere). IVF was approximately $12000 for all procedures, tests, appointments and medication (purchased from a separate place).

Dr. Whelan was very through from our first meeting with him and spent as much time with us as required. We never felt rushed or that he wasn't willing to answer our questions. Our experience with Dr. Whelan was that at times we may have had to wait a bit to see him, but he would spend as much time with us as we needed. His approach is very factual and realistic, which my husband and I appreciated.

If you are a patient at REACH, do not expect to see your primary doctor once you start monitoring as they work as a team on rotation for monitoring. Your primary doctor will perform your embryo transfers and other procedures but may not perform your egg retrieval depending on your scheduled retrieval date. In addition, most of your communication once you start your cycle will go through your nursing team.

IVF cycle # 1: oral BC suppression, gonal-f, low dose hcg, cetrotide and ovidrel trigger. Resulted in 10 eggs retrieved, 7 fertilized with ICSI, At time of Day 5 transfer, only 1 early blastocyst and 1 morula remained; both were transferred. Positive pregnancy of 1 embryo resulting in miscarriage at approximately 9 weeks. IVF cycle #2: oral BC suppression, gonal-f, low dose hcg, omnitrope (for entire stim cycle), cetrotide and ovidrel trigger. Resulted in 14 eggs retrieved (all 14 mature) and fertilized via ICSI. At Day 5, 2 hatching blastocysts were transferred. 2 were watched for continued growth but arrested and were not frozen. Positive pregnancy of 1 embryo.

Monitoring appointments will be done from 7-10am and you can go in at any time during that window. If you arrive at 7am there will be a line but REACH is very efficient at moving people through who are there for monitoring. I did not feel that this approach ruined my schedule as I typically could get in and out very quickly first thing in the morning.

I felt she was invested in our treatment plan and very much wanted to aid us in growing our family. She was also excited when we conceived. She let us know that it would be best to skip just medication and move straight to IUI which felt good since we had been trying for a year and were very ready to start our family.

She is competent and personal and will customize a plan to your individual needs. She is passionate about fertility and infertility and can rattle off a lot of knowledge but still have a good laugh with you.

I was given medication to help my fertility and then nearing my time of ovulation, I was to take injections directly into my stomach (which was scary at first). I then had to take Ovidril so that I would actually ovulate. My cycle and eggs were monitored via intravaginal ultrasounds and blood draw. She recommended going straight to IUI rather than take Clomid or another medicine due to my age and ovarian reserve. The results were a pregnancy with multiples in 2 cycles rather than 5-6 cycles.

I had to pay a cycle fee each time we did IUI so that they monitored my cycle. This was not covered by my insurance. The medications were a bit pricey even with insurance. The procedures themselves were covered by insurance. The cycle fee was $160, I believe.

This did not apply to me.

Lauren had a plan in place every step of the way. From start to finish, she made clear expectations and results expected. Although our IVF did not succeed, we knew where to go next. We ironically had a spontaneous pregnancy 4 months after our failed cycle. We were planning on tying again the following year with her recommendation for the updated protocol.

let her handle it, and trust her knowledge on getting you on the right path to your fertility needs.

I do not recall at the moment but would be happy to provide this information after contacting my clinic for the information

$10,000 through work compensation for IVF, and another 5-10K on top of that out of our pocket for IVF (this excludes any other treatments we saw under other doctors)

We chose two embryos for the likelihood of pregnancy after transfer as well as our ability to financially support multiples of that should happen.

Dr. Whelan was a great doctor. He explained the science behind everything and outlined what to expect each time we saw him. I would say if you are looking for someone to tell you what you want to hear, that would not be him. He tells you the facts in a professional and compassionate way, and communicated the understanding as to what he thought. He was a great doctor and made me feel extremely comfortable to leave my care in his hands.

Ask questions if you do not understand. He will explain things until you understand them.

We started with Clomid the lowest dosage and ovidrel shot. He mentioned that he started with the lowest dosage to try and control how many eggs were released and decrease the chance of multiples as best he could. I really appreciated this. We did 3 IUIs which was what he recommended before IVF. Fortunately we were successful with the 3rd IUI. With Each IUI he adjusted the timing of the shot and IUI procedure in accordance with the information he gathered from blood tests.

It was expensive and we had insurance that helped pay 80% after a deductible. But they work with you to figure out what you can do. They were really helpful in making it somewhat affordable.

Dr. Katz was compassionate and upfront about what we would be dealing with in order to conceive. He never "talked down" to us, like some doctors can do. He always made sure we understood what was going on, why he recommended certain treatments and what the next steps would be. He never gave us false hope but always made sure we knew he would do everything he could to help us conceive. He cried both happy and sad tears with us and never made us feel pressured to do anything we weren't ready for. I never once questioned if my care was in the right hands.

Go in willing to listen to what he recommends. He is a very competent doctor who knows what the best treatment plan is for different fertility issues.

Our first step was trying to figure out why we weren't getting pregnant on our own. A blood test and hcg were done. During the hcg he discovered I had blocked/infected fallopian tubes as well as a low ovarian reserve. The next step was surgery to attempt to clear the blockage and infection from the tubes. He was upfront about the likelihood of removing one (and possibly both) of the tubes due to scar tissue and damage from the infected fluid. The end result was one tube was removed and the other, now cleared of infection, was in poor condition from scar tissue. He advised us our next step should be IVF since that was the only treatment option that completely bypassed the fallopian tube. Once we were ready (about a year later) we began IVF injections and monitoring. Our first cycle was canceled due to poor response to medications. Some adjustments were made to dosages and we began a second cycle. This cycle resulted in 6 eggs being retrieved, 5 were fertilized, two were transferred at 5 days and the remaining three were monitored for possible freezing. Of those three only one was viable to freeze, which we did. The two which were transferred resulted in a healthy twin pregnancy and live twin birth.

initial diagnostic testing and procedures - $800 roughly surgery - $2,500 roughly IVF medications - $5000 roughly IVF procedure - $14,000

I always felt informed and understood what my next step would be. Dr. Johnson was very kind and was able to give me hope and explain what my challenges were and how we were going to go about it. Although I wish I was able to see her more at the appointments, the portal was a great way I was able to check message and ask questions.

Take notes and come with questions ahead of time

She started with iui. The first one worked and I had my son in 2016. 6 months after his birth we did an IUI again and had a chemical pregnancy. Then 5 more iui’s that failed. I went on to get pregnant natural and it was ectopic. Dr. Johnson performed the surgery to remove the tube. I tried ivf with another doctor due to cost. Then after that fail went back to reach for embryo adoption.

$6,000 for embryo adoption, $2,500 for 2nd transfer. $4,000 for iui

She said due to my age and health, I would only have one transfer at a time.

He is extremely descriptive, goes through all details with you and is willing to answer all questions. I feel like he is very up on research and is willing to discuss it with you throughly to give you all the information you could need.

He can be very technical so just be prepared for that. He isn’t going to sugarcoat anything.

We began our treatment with multiple tests and met with Dr. Whelan to go over the results. He laid out multiple options based on the results. Original testing showed our sperm numbers slightly low but so we decided to try IUI. When the first one failed we re-evaluated and determined the next step of IVF

Our IUI was about $700 and per visit about $50. Insurance was taken.