REACH

I found Dr.Katz to be very warm and understanding. He was very compassionate to the issues we had been having and our fears. We brought a long list of questions to our consult and he answered everyone without ever making us feel rushed. He also was very LGTBQ friendly.

Make the most of your time with him and don’t be afraid to ask to speak with him when you are having issues. He will fix whatever problem for you.

We went to Dr. Katz for our second IVF cycle after being diagnosed with poor egg quality and not liking our previous doctor. He was wonderful and decided to do a very aggressive med protocol to try and get us as many eggs and possible. We didn’t do birth control like our previous cycle instead we did Lupron. We did gonal f, Omnitrope, low dose HCG, cetrotide and HCG trigger. We ended up with 15 eggs, 11mature, 9 fertilized, they all grew slow after that so we ended up with one day six and one day seven. We sent for pgs because we had no pgs normal our first retrieval. This time the day seven ended up being pgs normal. We transfer it in October! Dr. Katz felt the Omnitrope would be the big help with pgs results being improved so I am hoping that is what made the difference.

Long wait times depending on when you arrive in the monitoring window of 7am to 830 am. Efficient once you are seen.

The cost ranged quite a bit because I had medical coverage.

Dr. Katz was clear he would only transfer one embryo at a time.

He just didn’t really seem engaged and never prepared for our meetings. I felt unsupported like a burden to him. He just said everything will go as planned and never told us the potential complications. Which happened and then we felt blindsided.

Don’t expect warm and cuddly. You won’t see him again for any procedures or care because he is semi retired.

Dr. Wing used the standard protocol for all our care. He never changed the protocol for IUI even though we were unsuccessful. He also used standard protocol for Ivf. Birth control then gonal f, low dose HCG, cetrotide, HCG and Lupron trigger.

Long waits depended on what time you arrived in the monitoring period.

Unsure because I used insurance for some.

He said he only transfers one but I have heard he has transferred two before.

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.

L. Johnson is very is very knowledgeable. She reviewed all of my lab results and why she chose initial plan of treatment. She also brought me back in to talk about next steps after cycle failed. I don't know why L. Johnson has a lower score. As a doctor she was great.

Ask questions if you don't understand

stimulation involved gonal F 450, land low dose HCG, then added cetrotide , then lupron trigger. Had to stimulate an extra day due to follicles on one side not growing as big. Then progesterone in oil prior to transfer. 4 eggs retrieved, 3 mature, 2 fertilized via ISCI. 1 embryo arrested on day one. 2nd embryo slow to develop and arrested on day 6. Transfer cancelled.

1 ivf cycle was $12,295 plus about $5,500 for medications. Had to order an additional gonal F pen because ran out with unforeseen additional stimulation day added

after failed cycle, I was told to try vitamin supplements and testosterone cream to help with egg quality due to being at advanced age I wish this was suggested prior to first cycle to see if it would have made a difference.

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.

He is very thorough and knowledgeable. He will take the time to explain things. He will explain your options and give you time to decide what you want to do. He is very matter of fact and blunt, but does want the best for you. He isn't present at every monitoring visit and occasionally it may be hard to get a response.

Don't expect the warm and fuzziest, but expect honesty and answers.

I have done monitored medicated cycles with Clomid 50 mg and an Ovidrel trigger shot. We chose this due to our budget. Currently in my second cycle. My body has responded and follicles have grown after the Clomid. My first round I did take a progesterone test and confirmed that I did ovulate which means the trigger shot did it's job. However, we did not result in a pregnancy. So far this round, I had two mature follicles before triggering and now we're waiting for results. The doctor told us it may take 3-5 rounds to get pregnant using this method.

It's been about $220 plus $220 for meds each monitored medicated round. That includes ultrasound and copays. Before treatment, my HSG was about $2,000 because I had to do it at a hospital.

Dr Johnson has always taken the time to sit with us and go through each part of our diagnosis process. she takes the time to answer each question we have to the best of her ability and never rushes us though our appointments. she has always been very honest about outcomes and treatment options, even if it’s not what we want to hear

If it is important to you to have a Dr that treats you like more then just another patient, Dr Johnson is your Dr

I saw Dr. M Johnson for a second opinion after a cancelled IVF cycle with another clinic. Dr. M Johnson was very knowledgeable and gave me great information. She did an exam and made sure that she understood all details before making a decision.

There are 2 Dr. Johnson's at REACH. Be sure you are meeting with the correct one!

I saw Dr. M. Johnson for a workup and consult so we did not use any medication. She did an internal ultrasound in order to see better what was going on.

The cost for the consultation was $95.

None

Dr. Katz always made me feel like someone special. He would answer all of my questions honestly and would give me the answers that I needed to hear, not what I want to hear. He never let me leave feeling like I was just a number. I always left ready to come back for the next step.

Dont be afraid to ask him his opinion.

At the time of my transfer I was 21, and with that Dr. Katz wanted to only transfer 1 embryo. But I completely get it. They want to make sure you have 1 healthy embryo to make one healthy child.

He's a very attentive person who was very straight forward with me. He gave me the pros and cons. He gave me the chance to think everything over before I decided to make a decision. He never tried to push me to make a decision. That's what I loved about him.

He's very honest. Please be open minded.

He was very personable. Understood the frustrations of fertility. It’s been 4 years of trying and no success. 4 failed IUIs and 2 miscarriages before IUIs. Then he knew how it would be with endometriosis and told us IVF would be the safest and best way for us to be able to have a baby.

Have any prior information with you from other OBGYNs or previous fertility doctor and be prepared to love his caring ness.

It’s going to be around $15K for one cycle and goes up from there.

For the few times I did actually see Dr Katz he was very nice and didn't rush us when we were talking to him. He had a good bedside manner. Never made us feel bad. When our first round didn't cause successful ovulation he adjusted my meds.

Don't expect to always see him for follicle scans

We did Letrozole and ti the first round, after that we upped the Letrozole to 7.5 and added the Ovidrel trigger shots

I don't honestly remember

Didn't get that far

From the moment we became patients at REACH we felt like family. We have always been well taken care of and all of our questions have been answered appropriately. We trust this clinic and would recommend it to anyone.

Know that you are there to figure out your journey to growing your family. Dr. Whelan is honest, but kind. He wants to do what is safe and best for you.

My husband was diagnosed with Klinefelter syndrome from Dr. DeBord (a urologist in Concord, NC). This is a genetic syndrome that causes infertility. Our only option is now IVF. We have not started any treatments because we are trying to figure out our funds to be able to do so.

Most of my costs have been fully covered because we have only completed the testing portion of our infertility. IVF is our next step and our insurance will not cover it. We are struggling to figure out where we will find the funds.

Our doctor prefers eSET due to the higher risks with multiple embryo transfer.

He was very nice and professional but it seemed like he held back on additional information that he could have provided. After he told me everything he would have handled differently and expressed very vocally that he would be doing my next transfer. The person that did my transfer asked a lot of questions during it and it all seemed off.

Come with a lot of questions and do a lot of research on your own.

The medication and protocols used for me I would say the “standard” course of action for someone that doesn’t suffer from infertility, my husband does. He mentioned knowing I could handle more after the first round, we would “up the meds” if I wanted to do a second retrieval so we could get more eggs. He said he didn’t know how my body would react but now that he does we would take that course of action next time. We never had to stop treatment during my time.

It was a pretty long line that would start at a minimum of 30 minutes prior to the clinic even opening.

For checkups, egg retrevial, a transfer, and freezing two embryos we ended up paying a little over 20k.

Dr. Katz only wanted to do one because “they don’t really like doing more than one” and I had a high chance of getting pregnant so it wasn’t really an option. I have two frozen, one with a higher grade and one with a lower. That being the case he said he would transfer two next time if I wanted. I felt like I should have had more of an option with the first transfer.

She is an amazing doctor. She has done research specifically for my case, and changed treatment courses when things weren't working. I have no bad things to say about her. She even remembers things I tell her unrelated to treatment, and will chat with me during procedures! I can tell she truly cares about me

Be prepared to ask lots of questions!

I have done one egg retrieval and 5 transfer cycles. Two were cancelled. On both the cancelled cycles, Dr. Johnson adjusted the protocol and found a new thing to try. We are still getting it right, but we are getting closer and closer. She has also performed numerous testing on me, including a hysteroscopy.

Expensive. I think total cost so far is in the 40k area. Insurance covered a fair portion.

Dr. Johnson only wanted to transfer one for my first two transfers. Especially as I'm very small framed. After two failures, she let us elect to choose to transfer more if we wished.

I appreciate that she has to be firm and give the facts. That can sting at times and difficult to accept, even when it is the truth. It would be awesome to incorporate some of the real-life successes using non-traditional methods that I've discovered on my own, but maybe that's not how it works.

Be prepared to hear the truth. But also know that she will help you achieve your dream of being a parent.

I am still undergoing treatment. I am taking prenatals and other meds to prep for pregnancy soon.

Don't remember, but nothing I didn't expect.

N/A

She makes me feel as though she is only working with me and doesn't generalize things that are specific to me....I appreciate her approach and her outlook. When I broke down she talked me through it....she made it clear whatever she can do to make me a mother she will.

Dont be afraid to ask questions because she will answer them for you.

N/a

I have awesome insurance so thus far my cost have been pretty minimal I'm just nervous for the IVF to start I've only had tests and noth my tubes removed

That step is coming soon

He really took them time to go through previous treatments and testing and explain what he would do and why. I felt as he was trying to explain why we should do this test and for what reason not just to waste money.

He really cares about his patients.

WE only did testing and a few medicated cycles. WE could not afford IVF.

Went in for a consultation and had ultrasound, blood work. Given treatment options. Everything look good, given numbers and I am just waiting to proceed financially. I also have some medical issues such as low iron and some immunization that I need to take care of and my partner needs a sperm analysis

He is great have your questions ready

He thought a normal IVF cycle would be best.

I have fertility under my insurance there was no upfront cost initially. Once I reach my deductible it will work like medical insurance

N/A

He was a well trained and experienced doctor who I feel did all he could to help us have a baby. He was very straight forward and informative on what to expect. He did exactly as he said he would. We would use him again!

Be ready to hear exactly what is going to happen and although he can be very forward he is a knowledgeable and well trained.

Two egg retrieval’s after rounds of fertility drugs. Had embryos frozen to take Lupron from enrodemetrosis for three months then did embryo transfer and had a full term healthy baby boy. :)

They were fast and you knew what to expect. They were respectful of your time.

25,000

My experience overall with Dr. Johnson has been good. I wish that she had performed all my IUI’s but only did 1 out of the 6. She was good at explaining the treatments but I really felt like she was not good at maneuvering through every Tilly treatment and that is not going according to textbook. I had polyps growing in my uterus that they were monitoring during the first 3 IUI’s and I think a lot fell through the cracks because it took 3 IUI’s to determine if the polyps were growing or not. I feel like we wasted those 3 IUI’s. She also didn’t mention anything about an injectable IUI till we had done 5 IUI’s and were discussing with her about moving forward with IVF. I feel like some things fell through the cracks because she wasn’t there performing all my IUI’s. I see now how important that was to me. I think things would have been caught and resolved a lot sooner. She is very thorough when it comes to explaining all that the fertility treatments will entail. I would t say that she’s compassionate but more to the point. Very type A personality. During one of our appointments we had to wait for 2 hours because someone misscheduled our appointment with her to discuss IVF. They kept giving us he run around for 2 hours saying that she’s almost ready for us but they were just stalling us. I feel like that was more fault on the clinic and not the Dr. but it would’ve been nice for her to offer to not have us pay for our appointment since we had to wait so long.

Do your research before going to see any RE because I feel once you know what the fertility treatments are all about then you can ask the right questions. I feel like I went in not knowing much and wish I did so that I could ask more targeted questions.

For the first 5 IUI’s we did the following protocol: clomid (only for the 1st IUI because both my husband and I had horrible dry eyes from it — they switched me to letrozole and my husband to anastrozole. I haven’t noticed any severe symptoms on these medications.) We both came into the clinic for bloodwork and I did an internal ultrasound. I came back into the clinic 2 more times for bloodwork and internal ultrasound before the actual IUI procedure. I would take the letrozole for 5 days and then do an ovidrel injection (trigger shot) 2 days before the IUI. They would call and tell me based on my bloodwork and ultrasound when I would need to come in for the IUI. For our last fertility treatment we did an injectable IUI. It’s like a regular IUI but with more injections. We had very similar monitoring but I had to keep coming back every other day for them to monitor my follicles because they were growing a little slower. They originally said that I would have 4 injections total but did 7 total because my follicles were growing slowly. I did 6 gonal-f infections at 50mg each and one ovidrel injection. All my IUI’s were unsuccessful.

IUI — $1000 Ovidrel — $100 Letrozole — $10 or under Gonal-f — $300-400

I love doctor Johnson, she is always compassionate, positive, and knowledgeable. She is very careful to move your treatment along in the least invasive but thorough fashion possible. She helped us conceive our son, and is currently working with us to conceive another. My only complaint is that I don't see her often in the course of treatment and scheduling a meeting with her can take awhile.

Schedule ahead of time if you need a consultation! She's very busy!

Our over all strategy for treatment was to be as minimal as possible because my partner and I are not high income. We did several medicated and monitored cycles with letrozole and clomid (during different cycles) we also used an ovidrel shot for each of those. When they didn't work we moved up to IUI with Clomid and Ovidrel. Our first try did not work, nor the second. Our third was cancelled because I only developed an egg on a blocked tube, but I actually got pregnant that cycle! This time around I tried 4 medicated cycles, then we moved up to IUI with letrozole, Gonal F, and Ovidrel. The first was a fail, the second we added progesterone and a higher dose of Gonal F. It resulted in a chemical pregnancy. We took a month off after, and are planning to do one more IUI before moving on to IVF because of my age.

We were completely out of pocket with cost. A medicated cycle cost $675 I think, plus the cost of medication which added another $200 or so. IUI was about $1200 with about $600 in medication. There's also bloodwork that may be covered by insurance and the cost of HSG test which was covered by our insurance.

I'm so lucky that I was paired with Dr Whelan at my first visit to REACH! I honestly felt like I had done a ton of research on my PCOS condition before meeting with Dr Whelan, but he provided so much more information than I was able to find on my own online. I was so grateful that he was able to provide me with exact causation, through blood panels, to explain the physiological changes I had undergone since I had stopped taking my birth control . My regular OB wanted me to just keep trying naturally to have a baby, even after diagnosing the PCOS, but luckily I used my gut instinct and made an appointment at REACH because we found out that we also had a male infertility factor at play, and some of my hormones were so off the chart, that conceiving naturally just wouldn't have been an option. He has a great way of explaining things in such detail that you can tell he's really knowledgeable on the subject, but also isn't throwing jargon at you to make it confusing. I have had a pretty lengthy period of just getting from my first visit at REACH to the start of the stimulants for IVF, so I have seen Dr Whelan a decent amount of times, but not each visit is with him personally, which is okay because he doesn't necessarily need to be by my side for each ultrasound. Anytime we met with Dr Whelan, I never left feeling confused about our next steps.

He loves to talk. So make time in your schedule. Don't be rushed.

IVF with Frozen egg transfer and ICSI Prescribed Gonal-F (150units to start then upped to 225 for the last 3 days), Cetrotide (used 6 boxes), and HCG (20ml). Ended up with 31 eggs retrieved, 15 mature, 8 fertilized with ICSI procedure.

The monitoring portion experience was really hit or miss. Sometimes I'd go in right when they'd open and have only a few people in front of me in line, and sometime's I'd go in and there'd be 25 people there. They only see people from 7-9 (sometimes I was quoted 8:30) to ensure they get same day results back (which I understand), but they should have more staff available to get people in and out. With my job, sometimes I didn't have the option to be at work past 8am, which made it difficult. My first visit I got there around 7:20 (as I thought they opened at 7:15) and didn't make it to work until 8:40am. They do things so quickly that I wish they had a little more time to be more personable about your visit. On my 13th day of stimulants,I was greeted by the same limp-wristed handshake of a PA and her standardized questions ("How are you today? I'm ____ and I'll be doing your ultrasound today. How are the medications going?"), and at that point, I just felt like crying. I didn't feel like a person but a number, and I was already stressed and uninformed about why I was not ready for my trigger shot for egg retrieval, and the fact that she didn't even pretend to remember who I was, since I had just seen her less than 24 hours before, was frustrating.

My insurance coverage is 90/10 after a $1500 deductible. I spent almost $1200 out of my HRA account for all of my visits before even starting the first IVF cycle. I was originally quoted around $2900 for my out of pocket portion, including a $1K non-billable piece. However, what I was quoted as my coinsurance and remaining deductible was not correct. It should have been more around $1900. At this point, instead of correcting it before making the payment to start my treatment, they told me to just pay the $1K non-billable and they'll bill the rest, so I'll just owe a balance at the end. I was encouraged to pay for my medications out of pocket versus using insurance as they'd likely jack up the price on the meds, and I only have a $15K lifetime maximum on infertility treatments. The total cost of my medications was $2400 purchased from SMP Pharmacy.

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.