Sanford Reproductive Medicine

From the start of meeting Dr. Hansen, we had a lot of trust with him. He has a way of entering the room and helping to ease any anxiety you may have. Our treatment course included 4 IUIs, 1 FET with unfortunately no success yet. Even though we haven't had the outcome that we of course are looking for, we have trust in Dr. Hansen that we will meet that outcome. Dr. Hansen's strengths include his ease with communication, his experience with so many different types of patients, his sense of humor to help calm the room, and his all around trustworthiness. In regards to his weaknesses, we can honestly say we have not seen any weaknesses from him thus far which is always comforting.

Do your own research. There were of course times that I would bring up other tests or treatment options that I had researched online and that had not been presented to me in our clinic. Dr. Hansen was always open to trying different tests or options but we would always first discuss the pros and cons.

With our 4 IUIs, each time we increased my medication protocol to increase our chances. There was one month that we were on track to having an IUI done but we had too many follicles that matured and Dr. Hansen didn't feel comfortable with the high risk of multiples that could occur. Our clinic advised us to not pursue the IUI for that month and to also not try naturally to conceive. We did perform our trigger shot so that we would not have numerous cysts form from the follicles not releasing the eggs. Despite Dr. Hansen's advice to not progress further, we ended up doing our trigger shot and tried naturally for the month. We did end up getting pregnant (most likely with multiples based on how high my HCG was) but it resulted in a chemical pregnancy. It was a hard loss so I can definitely see why we were advised not to try on our own. Months later we had an egg retrieval done with Dr. Hansen. We ended up getting excellent results with the medication protocol we were put on and it resulted in 18 embryos frozen. The goal at the beginning was to have a fresh transfer done but with my PCOS diagnosis, we ended up having way more follicles than anticipated. With the risk of ovarian hyper stimulation syndrome, we were advised to just end the egg retrieval in a freeze all. We then transferred one embryo a couple months later which unfortunately ended in a miscarriage.

For ultrasound monitoring appointments, Sanford was efficient but they didn't make it feel like they were rushing you on your way. They always took their time to be thorough and they are very well versed in their duties.

IUI treatment cycles cost roughly $3100 (with medications) IVF retrieval and fresh transfer cost roughly $20,000 (with medications) IVF frozen transfer cost roughly $4,500-7,000 (7,000 if you had to redo additionally testing such as SIS or TET)

For our first embryo transfer we had a very lengthy discussion about this with Dr. Hansen. Based on my age and the fact that we had conceived naturally one time, we made a joint decision to only transfer one day 5 4AA embryo. We do not regret that decision even though it resulted in a miscarriage. Next transfer, we have decided we want to attempt transferring two embryos simply to increase our chances. Dr. Hansen was very supportive for both cases.

She’s a genuine person and shows compassion. She explains things well and usually remembered who we were at each appointment. She was great with our IUI and explained outcomes and have the knowledge base to answer questions. She was also very experienced in her line of work. The only downfall is that she is leaving the clinic. However, she did make sure to tell us in person before we got the mail notification.

Have questions ready at your consult appointment and be ready for lots of testing even if your OBGYN has started baseline testing, they will likely re do it all.

She allowed us to choose and since I was having a regular cycle we opted out of medications and did natural cycle. She was open to doing things how we wanted.

I think costs are all very similar from clinic to clinic. We have some insurance coverage but still paid a majority out of pocket I feel. Labs have cost about 200-400, baseline testing was around 200, I had a saline sonogram which was about 400 and our IUI was close to 500. Like I said these are all estimates and with some insurance coverage.

We did not have to go through that.

Dr. Steffen Christensen is very personable and makes you feel like he really cares about you. In 2012, I went through some treatments and they were unsuccessful. I know that he would adjust my treatments each month. It was very frustrating to continually have a negative test but Dr Christensen always keep it positive. We ended up pausing our treatments due to having insurance that didn't cover anything. One this that was very nice was that many time Dr C would give us free samples of some of the injectable medication. This was very helpful to us at the time.

He is an awesome Dr and very personable. This is a stressful time and he helps to put you at ease.

I started out with clomid but my lining was thin so I was switched to another med but I cant remember the name. My lining was still thin so we started injectable medication. Follistum and did this for 3 months. Everything seemed to be good but I didn't get pregnancy so we did the follistum with an IUI for 3 months and still no pregnancy. We decided to take a break and ended up getting pregnant on our own. We will be starting with the injectable medication again as soon as I start my cycle. We will not be doing the IUI as he doesn't think I have a problem getting pregnant. Had a miscarriage a year ago. He thinks it a quality of egg issue. I'm not ready to do IVF.

the main cost I remember was the injectable medications and the going to many ultrasounds per cycle. The IUI was also expensive and needed to be paid before the procedure

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Stephanie was the 1st doctor to really sit down with us and assess our situation in a way that we weren't even sure we were able to experience she explained a new medication and looked into our insurance helping us understand how this medication could help and that is covered by our insurance

Doctor Dahl is very understanding and compassionate she is kind and easy to speak with I would highly recommend her

Most treatment protocols were similar to my experience with another doctor at the same hospital at this point she just reviewed my medications last and discussed any changes that we are comfortable way she also identified some changes to our medical intervention and next steps if this was unsuccessful

Most medicated cycles were covered by my insurance as far as timed intercourse I you I was about 3000 for the 1st time due to additional labs and 2500 every time after IVF was 20000 and up

Dr. Christensen has a kind of quirky personality. He tends to give you all the information, and yet is still able to be lighthearted with you. The only thing he ever did that bothered me was an offhand remark about having two kids in one bedroom when we were first trying for our second baby. But other than that, he was a really great guy.

With our first child we use Clomid and a trigger shot and was pregnant with the first cycle. With our second child we did Clomid for 3 months, my body didn't respond to it. So he switched me to Femara and the trigger shot. We got pregnant on our fourth cycle, which was the first with Femara. For third baby we tried Femara, my body didn't respond and so he gave me a second round of Femara within that cycle. My body ended up ovulating on its own, but having sensed that my husband and I were together and it resulted in a pregnancy.

She’s very kind. We had seen her from the start, we did seek another opinion after the IUIs failed and went back to her because we felt more comfortable with her decisions. At Sanford she was one of the 3 doctors we felt with- she is no longer there now.

Be honest with yourself and her and don’t be afraid to ask questions.

Diagnosis was unknown fertility the first time in 2012 I believe and she said some day we’d most likely have to have do IVF. We’ve had dialed round of clomid, IUIs, and IVF took but we miscarried.

Dr. Hansen is thorough, warm, and empathetic. He spends ample time reviewing information in a complete and understandable manner. He is knowledgeable and nonjudgmental. Of all of the providers in the clinic, he is the one I prefer and trust most.

Come with questions and expect them to be answered fully and completely.

Letrozole (7.5mg) and Menopur before trigger shot and IUI. 2/4 IUI resulted in pregnancy, but unfortunately both resulted in miscarriage. Dr. Hansen conducted extensive testing (blood work, endometrial biopsy) related to the losses, but all results were appropriate.