Sher Fertility of St. Louis

My experiences with the clinic have been the only thing that has not been great about the process. Everyone is VERY warm and friendly, and a lot of the staff gets to know you personally, but they honestly can be a bit disorganized at times. Nothing major so far, but things like calling to cancel/reschedule an appointment and it not getting noted. Sometimes I feel like I am responsible for reminding them of details that I think the should have recorded. Like I said, not horrible! But there have been a few moments.

Dr. Dayal is very warm and compassionate. She remembers details about you when you visit (both medical and personal). While we were seeking a second opinion before doing IVF she called to get a check-up on our progress. Although she will give her medical opinion and guidance, she is 100% supportive of OUR decisions through the process. She treats us as intellectuals and explains ideas that need elaboration, but doesn't overexplain ideas that we've "got." She has never once rushed an appointment with us. She has made it clear that us having a successful pregnancy is her priority.

We've only met with Amy once so far (just starting out) but she seems kind, competent, and organized. I am relieved that she is our nurse.

Dr. Dayal is very warm and compassionate. She remembers details about you when you visit (both medical and personal). While we were seeking a second opinion before doing IVF she called to get a check-up on our progress. Although she will give her medical opinion and guidance, she is 100% supportive of OUR decisions through the process. She treats us as intellectuals and explains ideas that need elaboration, but doesn't overexplain ideas that we've "got." She has never once rushed an appointment with us. She has made it clear that us having a successful pregnancy is her priority.

Is it possible for a doctor to be too kind? I am struggling to come up with anything except that maybe at times I wish she was a little more forceful with her advice (ok, not really). But we may have made some different decisions to move quicker if she had guided us to. So have an idea of what your goals are when meeting with her.

If I remember correctly, IUIs were somewhere around $1,000 a piece (roughly), and we've been quoted about $10,000 for the first round of egg retrieval, $5,000 if we have to do a second round, $3,000-6,000 for meds (ours is $4,250), $450 for anesthetic, and approximately $5,000 for transfers.

We have not yet gone through the process of IVF, but in our preliminary discussions, she has mentioned the odds of success for single vs. multiple and does seem to have a medical bias towards single. It seems like she would allow us to do two if we chose two, but she is definitely recommending one (which we will likely follow!)

They did not offer late appointments available for those of us that work. Latest appointments were 3pm. When you live 60 miles away and work, it made it very frustrating for my employer to work around this doctor's schedule. The receptionist was very loud when talking about my appointment when I would arrive. Which I found very embarrassing. She was also very loud when asking for my payment at each appointment. Anyone sitting in the waiting room could hear the receptionist utter things like, 'So, we need your full payment for your 'IUI' or 'oh, you are here for your vaginal ultrasound?'. That's jus awful to blurt it all out right there. She never seemed to know what was going on and everytime Dr. Witten would tell me to schedule another appointment she had to ask me what it was for. I would think most places would just read the chart and make the appointment without asking 20 personal questions in the reception lobby for all to hear. Also, the clinic is extremely busy. Nurses speed walking everywhere, seems disorganized, phones ringing and only one person answering. Hard to get anyone's attention...

I usually was made to feel like a human being. There were times he was busy and I felt somewhat rushed but that was not the norm.

There were so many nurses running around. I had a different nurse at every appointment, especially once he permanently moved his office to Sher Institute. I had no idea who was coming and going in my room.

The right Reproductive Endocrinologist for you can be the difference between success or heartache. Therefore, I want my review to be as honest as possible so others can make an educated choice. My experience with Dr. Witten spans about a 2 year time frame and if I had to do it all over again, I would most definitely choose a different RE. We were struggling to conceive so I was instructed to see a RE by my Ob-Gyn. She gave me a list of RE's that came recommended but I settled on Dr. Witten, who was not on her list. We wanted to be seen by an older RE, thinking his years of experience would be an advantage. Under Dr. Witten's care, I received an HSG, which revealed one of my fallopian tubes was not spilling any dye. Dr. Witten said that he thought the other one was fine He recommended a laparoscopy surgery. Dr. Witten does not do surgery, he did not tell me this, I just figured it out after he advised me to have my Ob-Gyn do the surgery. My Ob-gyn said she preferred him to do the surgery so they went back and forth. I had been complaining for the majority of my life how awful my periods were but no one would ever listen. After 2 months in lingo, Dr. Witten referred me to the gynecological surgeon he apparently sends all of his patients to. So off I went to surgery with a different doctor, who ultimately discovered endometriosis and a damaged tube. He removed the tube and removed the endometriosis and sent me back to Dr. Witten. Dr. Witten continued to monitor me, we'd do ultra-sounds constantly but not much direction was given, other than he kept wanting us to do timed intercourse, which is what we'd been doing for the past 1.5 years with no luck without a RE. I felt like we needed medication but he wouldn't even discuss it. It took so many ultrasounds-2-3x a week, traveling 60 miles one way to his office and leaving work early just to hear the same old spiel. One day, during an ultrasound he mentioned IUI but he said I needed to do it right away because I was about to ovulate. I had not been on any medications but trusted him so I received 1 trigger shot and had an IUI the next day. It failed. I was told at his office that the IUI would cost $525 but once I got to Sher Institute, which is where he does the IUI, they told me the price was $1000. They did honor the original price I was told but informed me any future IUI's would be $1000 a piece. Then the next 2 cycles he put me on clomid, with no pregnancy resulting. He then suggested IVF, which is not in our budget no matter how bad we want to have a child. We were devastated and felt as though he did not give us enough time on medication early on to try an IUI again. He waited over a year to even attempt any medication, even after telling us that we had to rush because I have very low ovarian reserve. We are devastated and haven't been back. We are currently doing research to find a RE that better fits us.

Ask questions and demand answers. Do research before your appointments and ask about medication and treatment options starting with your first appointment and everyone thereafter. I regret that we didn't push harder, wasting valuable egg quality time.

IUI, with 1 trigger shot. Clomid with timed intercourse. His treatments are very reserved, not an aggressive go getter type.

At least $5000, maybe more for just doctor appointments, very little medicine and 1 IUI.

My biggest complaint would be that it was bought out by Intermed and was ran a little more aggressively when it came to money. This was not anyone at the clinics fault and you would never know they were switched to a more corporate type place.

I knew she was in the trenches with us and wanted us to have a child. She was sympathetic and understanding to our needs. She never made us feel like we were anything but family. I can not speak highly enough about her or her staff. These people created my twins and will forever hold a spot in our hearts.

Fantastic!! They never sugar coated which I greatly appreciated. I am a "give it to me straight" and they always did this. I formed relationships with all of the staff and I would get excited to see them during my appointments. I coined MaryKay "my woobie" she was my security blanket and she always made me feel calm and relaxed. Also Jamie was fantastic to my husband and I. She gave me her cell number because I was such a worry wart and would let me text her whenever.

Fantastic, compassionate, smart doctor. She would hug you on a bad day and be a cheerleader on a good day. She never made us feel like a patient but more like family. She cared whether we got pregnant or not.

Take each step of the fertility treatment one step at a time. I found it worked best for us by taking each hurdle of this process one at a time versus having everything thrown at you at once. Dr. Dayal always did this for us.

We did interlipid treatments before each transfer. When we had two miscarriages we added longer Interlipid treatments and more meds to ensure a positive test.

I want to say around 10,000.00 for a fresh cycle and 3,500 for a frozen.

The clinic is great, the appointments have good timing always doing ultra sounds and blood work before 10 am allowing me to get to work no problem. They have been able to answer all of my questions and have also assigned a doctor for my monitoring.

Dr Witten not only ensures timely and personal appointments, but he is committed to explaining the processes to both my husband and I - always ensuring we are both invested.

I've only had one meeting with Amanda (since we just moved onto ivf) but she was extremely organized and prepared. Alerting us of all our choices and answering all of out questions. She presented us with a calendar of medications and other appointments bringing some serious organization and dependency to this chaotic life challenge. She is positive and bubbly which makes a big difference!

Dr Witten is a pleasure to work with through this difficult life journey. Compassionate, knowledgeable, and personal he made this entire process so much better. He is dedicated to ensuring both my husband and I understand every step, but always makes sure we don't get ahead of ourselves. He is a rock during a very difficult time and I would recommend him to anyone.

I have PCOS and annovluation. I was not responding to clomid so he immediately switched me to low dose femara where we had great follicle growth. When he found out we weren't ovulating he adjusted our protocol by adding an hcg trigger shot to force ovulation. He performed all tests to ensure we didn't have any other problems but felt an IUi would still improve our chances of a positive cycle so we proceeded with that. After numerous failed cycles (just not the right genes!) he took us into the next step where we used follistim. He was very in tune with my bodies reactions and while we ultimately had 3 great eggs, none took and I showed signs of OHSS which has led us to begin ivf.

$10,000 is our estimated total cost to date which was composed of co pays, medications not covered by insurance, iui (also not covered by insurance).

Dr Witten is open to a single or double embryo transfer because I am young, have an optimal body weight, and in overall good health. We haven't made our decision yet but he has provided information so we feel very informed

I love Sher. They are friendly and kind. They greet me just like family when I walk in. They all communicate with me, not just my nurse. They all know me and what I'm going through. They have taken great care of us, I couldn't be any more blessed

They are like family. They knew who we were every time and remembered things we told them. Just made us feel comfortable and relaxed.

Friendly. Loving. Informative. There whenever I needed her

I was so scared and nervous to start the IVF process. As soon as I walked into my first appointment I knew that The Lord put Dr. Witten and his team in my life for a reason. They made me feel comfortable and happy every time I saw them. This is a very hard and long processto go through but I always felt so much better and so hopeful after every appointment. It's like I have a extended family that knows me and greets me like they see me everyday even when I haven't seen them in weeks. I absolutely loved my doctor and am so thankful to have found Dr. Witten and the other ladies at the Sher Institute. They truly have been a blessing to me and my family & have made this process so much easier.

Don't be afraid to ask questions. He will tell you everything and anything you want to know.

I started on birth control and Lipton gonal f and menopur for my egg retrieval. My dosage was very low because I'm so young and my body reacted fast and well. I had my egg retrieval and Dr. Witten retrieved 24 eggs. 15 made it to fertilization then we were able to freeze 8 day 5 blastocyst. I was very sore and in pain after my retrieval but Dr. Witten gave me antibiotics and pain meds that helped. I healed for the next month and started back on birth control and now I'm starting my transfer meds. Dexamethazon, Lupron again, Estrace, Prenatals, Folic Acid. My embryo transfer is scheduled for the end of this month. I couldn't be more excited and anxious.

My insurance told us that I was covered until two days before I started medication. We were going to cancel the entire thing but my mom decided to pay it on a credit card. She paid $8,000. Luckily my insurance paid most of my medication fees, we only paid about $200 out of pocket for those and probably less than $500 all together for other tests like bloodwork and ultrasounds. We live 3 hours away from clinic and it's the closest one so we did have to stay in hotels so that is about $500 in hotel costs through the entire process.

I agree with what Dr. Witten wants to do. If he feels like he should just do one I trust him.

They are very compassionate and caring. Great communication. Negatives are it's a very very small clinic in a large hospital.

He always remembered my name and the name of others who came with me and the recreational activities I talked about during small talk from the previous visits. He always asked how each of my family members were doing.

They were all very accommodating to my needs and requests. They got back in touch with you very promptly and with the answers you needed.

He is very thorough and wants to make sure his patient understands fully what is happening inside their body. He was always very optimistic and had just a great overall energy about him. He was extra caring and accommodating for different circumstances that arose along the way.

He does have an accent because he is from New Zealand I believe so just keep that in mind. But I don't think it negatively affects his communication.

He wanted to make sure I was ovulating so we started out the first few cycles with just clomid and timed intercourse. Those all resulted in negative pregnancy results, but after the first few cycles of my body not responding, he decided to do a tubal X-ray to make sure my tubes were open. He determined they were open and I was in fact ovulating. So the 4th cycle I was on clomid and timed trigger shot. This was also negative. The next three cycles have been clomid, timed trigger shot, and IUI. The first two resulted in negatives and I am currently in the last cycle in the two week waiting period. If this results in a negative he wants to move on and do other tests and for me to lose weight.

An IUI costs $525 there and it was not covered by our insurance. It could be covered under another's. $50 for each visit. $89-110 for each trigger shot About $400 to test for tubal blockage.

I love that they offer discounts for law enforcement and teachera. I love the small office feel and how quickly you can get an apppintment. I love that Dr Dayal does all the ultrasounds and procedures herself. Sometimes the lady in the finance department can be a bit harsh. I also wish we could get bloodwork done in the office

Dr. Fatal suffers from infertility herself so that alone ups the "human factor." She's so thorough and body language and communication skills truly make you feel like you are her only patient for the whole day. There is no rushed feeling.

It's a smaller office and everyone is so caring. You really feel like you're the only patient. They after hours call back is fast and they answer email on the weekends. A NA, Jamie, at the clinic even started a Facebook group for our clinic as a extra place to get support. They go above and beyond!!

It sounds cliche, but you can just tell she wants the best for you. She's quiet and thorough without being worrisome. She's open to input on cycles from her patients and makes sure everyone in on the same page at each step in the process. I never left confused or frsutrated; she talked through every step.

Sit down and talk with her! Ask questions and get her opinion.

Before we started out FET ahe redid most testing which I appreciated. She redid the saline sonogram, blood Work, and did a new test for natural killer cells. Based on results I had polyps removed again, did intralipids, baby asprin, lovonox, etc. We ended up having to move to a fresh cycle and based on previous success and test results we did a micro-ivf cycle. We did lower doses of meds gonal-f and menopur.

Everyone had an appointment and everything was quick and on time!

With the discount for teachers, our FET was $2995. Our mini was $7995 (plus meds). Our next cycle, without help, is about $9000

I appreciated that a 5dt of 2 embryos was pretty much a given!

I truly love this clinic. I have been tonothers and here is where we have felt the most comfortable and actually like they care about us, from the receptionists all the way to the Dr!

The whole SIRM -St. Louis staff is amazing, they ask about how you are doing personally. Dr. Dayal takes the time to sit and talk to you before your appointment. Very personable!

MerryKay is our primary nurse and she has always shown compassion during our cycles. Recently with finally coming to the terms of making the decision to use donor eggs, she us been nothing short of excellent in helping us and making us feel comfortable!

I feel like Dr. Dayal takes the time to get to know my husband and I and really cares about us and wants to do whatever she can to help us succeed in becoming parents. She is very knowledgeable, but also takes our ideas and feelings into consideration. She will always do what is best for us!

Listen to her! She is very knowledgeable and she herself has been through Infertility.

My first protocol with Dr. Dayal was very aggressive, inhave endo, adeno, fibroids, blocked tubes & DOR, so she went aggressive. Unfortunately there were only 2 eggs not even mature enough to retrieve. Our cycle was cancelled. We tried again, she went with a different protocol of low and slow and we ended up getting 5 eggs, but only 4 mature and fertilized. Day 5 nothing good enough to transfer and they said we could wait one more day. They called and our one little fighter had gone to a pre blast, so we got to transfer! Thought it was our miracle, but again ended in a negative outcome. We now are currently in the process of a Donor cycle that we will hopefully be retrieving in June!

They will give you a package price, you pay a deposit to hold your place for the cycle.

I have never had this option

The staff is their biggest strength. They all are wonderful and very friendly. Weaknesses are that they are so busy that they sometimes seem very rushed.

When i had the phone consultation we spent the first 20 minutes talking about life. She was asking qurstions about me, not just my medical histoey. The first time I met her she gave me a huge hug. At my second appt I bawled my eyes out while she hugged me because I had gotten upsetting news about a family member. The next time I came in she had gotten a card and had the staff sign it. She texts me to make sure I'm doing ok too.

Everyone is very sweet and caring. My nurse wasn't always that responsive. I sent her an email while she was on vacation and it wasn't all an urgent matter (the part that was I just text dr zarek). So I waited to hear from her. It's been over a week since she got back and I still haven't heard from except that she sent me my paperwork for my fet.

Dr Zarek is amazing. She genuinely cares about her patients. She always asked me questions to really make sure I was doing ok and how my husband and I were doing. Very personal care. You can really feel that she wants you to have a successful cycle.

Ask her questions about anything and everything. Utilize her helpfulness. Be prepared to have hard conversations. She is up front and honest about every possibility.

I started with lupron and prednisone. Then swapped lupron for Ganirelix. The day I started stims I added folic acid, 450 follistim (for just 2 days then 300 after that), lovenox and kept Ganirelix and prednisone. On day 3 of stims I added .5ml of menopur. I was on all of that until trigger. The day of my first ultrasound I also had 1 bag of intralipids.

The fresh retrieval and transfer was 8284, plus anesthesia, plus freezing, plus meds. The FET normally is 3700 but because a freeze all was medically necessary and I did not have a transfer with my paid cycle they are not charing me. We also added PGS testing. Its 1625 for biopsy and freezing, 385 for the first embryo and 250 for every embryo after that.

My dr was very straight forward ND said she usually only ever recommends 1 embryo. That way if it doesn't work you have the most chances to do everything you can. I.e. adding meds, changing meds,doing an era test, etc.

This clinic is amazing g. This is our 2nd fertility clinic, and compared to the last one, we are over the moon happy with our plan to have a baby. We feel so at ease and welcome when we go in for appointments. Everyone from the receptionist to the doctor are so friendly and call you by name. You never have to wait for an appointment like at some offices, and our very first appointment Dr Zarek came to the waiting room herself to take us to her office. That is true customer service.

Dr Zarek sat down with my husband and I and went in depth with us about our history, our previous fertility treatments, and our options and plan for further treatment under her care. We never felt like a burden, or that she wasn't interested. She is warm and has a positive outlook for our care.

Merry Kay was so warm and compassionate. She further explained what we would be going through and how the process works. She's called promptly with lab results, and really took the time to listen to us. My husband and I are both nurses ourselves, but this is new territory for us and we were glad to have her as our nurse.

Dr Zarek went over every past treatment with our previous doctor and she went in depth as to what treatments we would be doing under hercare, what tests we'd undergo, how the process goes for an IVF cycle, we met with her nurse and the financial coordinator all in our initial appointment with her so we knew what to expect. She's warm and friendly and has an amazing bedside manner. After my unsuccessful HSG, and very painful fluid US, she hugged me and told me it will be ok, we will be successful. She told me to be positive, even after finding out my tubes are closed. She has such faith in what she does, plus her success in the past truly speaks for itself.

I've had no negative experience under her care, so I'd say my advice would be to expect to sit down for a lengthy meeting with her and it's not a fast process, it takes time to get your plan together.

Currently, she is treating me for critically low Vit D levels and I'm taking 50,000 Units once a week, also my thyroid is low so I'm on 75 mcg Synthroid once a day. We are finishing up initial testing so we can start an IVF cycle in July. We just found out that my tubes are closed, so my only option to ever carry my own child is via IVF. So we will start further meds in a couple months.

As of currently, we've paid $50 per appointment under our insurance and we've went to facilities appropriate for our labs and HSG testing, meaning no out of pocket costs yet. As far as IVF costs, we will have $4000 lifetime covered by insurance and we will put $4000 down as deposit, with the rest of costs to be discussed as we go through the process.

We have not done this yet, however, she does prefer to only transfer 1 embryo the first try, but will transfer 2 if we desire, but no more than that.

Sometimes the front desk staff didn't answer the phone and would have to leave a VM which could get annoying. The staff was always very nice and helpful wether it's the front desk, insurance ladies or the embryologist (first babysitter).

When we came in for our first meeting with her she spent a long time with us and went over everything including what haooens to your eggs over your lifetime. Our previous infertility doctor would only spend 5 minutes with us and let his staff do everything else.

They always called with results as soon as they got them from the lab. Always answered emails or messages I left if I had issues or questions quickly. Only bad thing was our nurse/case coordinator moved away so we were left in limbo for a little bit without a direct point of contact.

Dr Dayal was very compassionate and had great bedside manner. She always explained everything in great detail. Spent an hour with us on our first consult visit. We conceived on our 3 IVF try and we never felt like just another statistic with her like with other clinics we had used.

Ask questions if you don't understand a procedure or the course of treatment. She is great about explaining everything.

Dr Dayal had us try ourselves first with just meds since the success rate was similar with IUI and waiting on insurance. That was not successful. We then moved to IVF due to my age and history and my husband's sperm issues. First time was a lower protocol to see how my body reacted to it. It did not succeed. We then moved to a very high protocol since we didn't get very many eggs at all with low one. 2nd time we did not succeed either due to egg quality. 3rd time we tried with high protocol, acupuncture, and reduced stressed and we where successful. Dr Dayal did suggest acupuncture and that my stress levels were to high.

Since we lived over 90 mins away I liked to be there first thing in the morning and they almost always got me in then. It never felt like a "cattle call".

I have insurance which covered most of my treatment. Still waiting to figure out my out of pockets/deductibles from insurance.

The office staff is great, hey answer calls quickly and efficiently. Emails are returned quickly as well. Wait times are minimal and appts are not hard to coordinate. Everyone was friendly and treated us like family. It always gelt like they genuinely cared about our cycles. It's also very clean.

Dr Dayal talks to you in a friendly manner and seems to want to know your story. She remembers you and isn't just "reading from your chart". She is genuinely happy when you get good news and sad when you don't

Amy was our nurse and Jamie our Care Coordinator. Both had excellent bedside manner. Amy was knowledgeable and explained things in terms we could understand. Jamie helped keep us on track and plan our schedule. She is very friendly and makes you feel comfortable when going through such a scary process. Both were easy to get in contact with even after hours/weekends

I can not say enough good about Dr Dayal. She is not only knowledgeable about infertility and treatments but she treats you like family. They're up to date on new options and willing to dig deeper to find a treatment that works. Dr Dayal still checks in on us and our son is 6 months old.

Ask questions, she will answer then in a way you understand

I don't remember everything. I do remember we used lupron, menopur, and gonal-f. Also dexamethasone & progesterone in oil. I took heparin 2x daily for a clotting disorder and did Intralipid Infusion for Elevated Natural Killer Cells

It was on par with what we were quoted other places.

I think there are a lot of strengths with this clinic. Their front office staff is always smiling when they greet me, I was always able to make appointments that worked with my schedule. They are super organized, know what their doing and run it like a well oiled machine. That makes me feel great, as I tend to be a very organized person. I didn't get a lot of interaction with the lab directly but they definitely took good care of my embryos, so that's fine with me!

Dr. Dayal never made me feel like I was a number. I saw her at every single appointment and she talked to me so kindly. I never was talked down to, any of my questions dismissed, or thought to be inferior to her. Her entire office was like this. They became like family to me.

My main nurse as well as the entire nursing staff were amazing to me. I had most of their email addresses and would email them at all hours (literally, I emailed some of them at 10 pm and got responses back). I had to call the on-call nurse once and got to talk to them late at night as well when I had a medication question. I had no hesitation in her voice as she helped me and walked me through a mini-freak out. The girls who brought me back for all the ultrasounds were always smiling and so excited to see me!

From the very first appointment, Dr. Dayal was always there. She came out and greeted us at the initial consultation and brought us back to her office. She thoroughly explained everything about infertility, our issues, possibly plans, testing, and everything else. During all of the initial testing, I always saw her. She was quick to give back results, even the ones that were abnormal. I always felt so at ease with her and it helped me to stay positive in the struggle of infertility.

Stay with her! She will work wonders for you! Trust her. She knows what she's doing!

I was on an agonist protocol with Lupron as my suppressant because my labs came back pretty good. I was on a medium protocol, Dr. Dayal said. I ended up getting 25 eggs, so it worked well for me and the maturity and embryo production was great! I didn't feel like it was a "cookie cutter" protocol at all!

I paid

There is very little flexibility with appointment times. It is also important to know that they provide preferential treatment times to those that are 'in cycle.' Whether a patient is in cycle receiving a treatment or receiving an ultrasound after a cycle - they should be treated with the same level of importance and respect.

It was fantastic to see Dr. Dayal at all of my visits and have ultrasounds interpreted in real time. As the clinic started to build a larger patient base, it became much harder to schedule timely appointments.

Amy is smart, kind, and compassionate. Often times her patient load seemed to be on the heavy side though.

Dr. Dayal is an extremely intelligent and compassionate healthcare provider. If anything, some of her talents in more complex cases may be limited by the protocols of belonging to a large organization like SIRM.

Research, research, research. For any fertility patient - you are your best advocate. The best way to partner with Dr. Dayal (and any doctor) is to educate yourself, ask questions, and understand the realities and difficulties of fertility treatment.

Under the care of Dr. Dayal I completed 1 fresh cycle - resulting in a miscarriage and 1 frozen embryo. 1 Frozen transfer - resulting in a chemical pregnancy. 1 egg retrieval with ICSI for CGH testing - resulting in 1 CGH normal pregnancy. 1 cancelled cycle - intended for banking more CGH screened embryos. 1 Frozen transfer of 1 CGH normal embryo - resulting in a current Mo-Di twin pregnancy.

Ultrasounds, visits, etc. were included in the treatment pricing packages. Medications and any extra procedures were not.

Strengths: Short waiting times for appointments. Weaknesses: Poor communication. Generic protocol that does not work for everyone (our only infertility is male factor, yet my protocol yielded MANY immature eggs). We also paid for services in advance that we did not receive, and our refund for that is still "in process" several months later.

Dr. Witten seemed kind and enthusiastic about our treatment. He was very encouraging when we saw him. I do want to point out though that, during my stimming for retrieval, I did not see him but was monitored by Dr. Dayal.

Mickey at Dr. Witten's office in the hospital was very informative and kind. She always returned our phone calls and explained our steps for each process. The staff at Sher were also kind, but difficult to reach and took days to return phone calls.

I felt like, once moving from IUI to IVF, Dr. Witten did not have much input on my treatment. He does his IVF through Sher, and so I believe he is bound to their medication protocol and monitoring. Dr. Witten seemed genuinely disappointed by my results. He was honest though in that IUI would not work for us and did not waste our time with months of IUI's. He did not prescribe me unnecessary medication as all of my levels were good and I ovulate without meds.

He is good for testing and IUI.

Dr. Witten does IVF through Sher and so he is bound to their treatment protocols. I do not believe he had any input on my medication protocol.

The monitoring appointments went very smoothly. They got me in quickly and I did not have to wait long for Dr. Dayal. She explained what she saw during each appointment.

We have insurance coverage. We had to pay up-front for the treatment and were told we would be refunded for what insurance covered. I believe we paid around $7,000 and are owed a refund of around $6,000. Still waiting on that to process.

Dr. Witten is not located at the Sher Institute so you sometines have to juggle two different offices. But the comnunication the Sher Institute has with his office is fantastic. The clinic does a lot to reach out to the community so you know you are not alone. They hold talks and seminars, and just recently started a private facebook group where people can get answers to questions, receive support from current and past patients and watch videos (both live and recorded). Everyone knows you at the clinic and you feel like part if a family. It is very clean and organized. And they follow procedure throughout. My husband did say that the room he had to use was a little awkward, but really what room would not be awkward. A big plus is that there is a lab right next door that they use for all the blood work, making it really handy to go to one location for two appointments.

After our chemical pregnancy, he personally called me to give his condolences. Then he dug through all the data to figure out what went wrong. He then had an appointment for my husband and me to discuss everything and to assess our mental status to assess when we would be ready for a next round.

All if the nurses were amazing. They are not just doing their job, but they are walking with along the way. MerryKay made sure all my calendars were up to date. She stayed in touch with me during the critical days and made sure I did not miss anything. After the emplantation, I was handed off to Mickey in Dr. Witten's office. She helped me through the first failing pregnancy, calling me every day to amke sure I was ok and to inform me if what is going on. During my successful pregnancy, Mickey was my personal cheerleader and she was so excited during every ultrasound. She also remembered me when I visited after giving birth, and made such a big deal about seeing my daughter.

Dr. Barry Witten was vary compassionate from the beginning. He understood the long journey we had already been on and was very realistic while also giving us optimism that we could achieve our dream of a family. I enjoyed his analytical approach to the science side, but he always said they can get everything there, but God has the final say. When we had a chemical pregnancy, he could not find the words and his nurse stepped in and comforted us. But later he was able to give us his condolence. On the second round when we got a positive blood test, Dr. Witten personally called me to congratulate me. He saw us through 8 weeks and then handed us off to my obgyn. But when I brought my daugter by two weeks after giving birth, he remembered us and was so delighted that we visited.

He might be short on words but he makes it up with his genuine caring of you physically and mentally.

The cost was not covered by my insurance. The first thing Sher Institute did was have you meet with the financial person. She explained the set cost and the varible costs. She detailed all of the companies that help with the cost and showed us what we needed to supply those companies with. She made sure we were ready financially before proceeding. I had and HRA through my work and she helped me figure out if that would be able to cover some of the cost. Everthing had to be paid in full before the treatment could begin.

The clinic is very well ran and everyone works together as a team to help you in anyway possible. Wouldn't go anywhere else.

Dr Zarek personally called me to check to see how I was doing. We had her personal contact info during treatments and after. She still messages me to check in and it has been a year since we were under her care. She made sure all questions were answered and always talked in terms we understood. Absolutely loved Dr Zarek.

Amy was excellent. Always returned calls promptly and answered any questions we had. Always assured us to call if we needed anything and that's what she was there for. Also stopped into to see us every time we were at the office. Amy loves her job and it shows.

Dr Zarek was very thorough from the day we met her. She always explained things in ways we could understand and tested for things no once else did. She is very passionate about her job and it truly shows.

I would say trust her with your full heart because she has you best interest at heart. She will not put you through testing etc tgat is not needed.

Do to previous testing we had been through and our histories Dr Zarek recommended IVF for best results. This was not the case with previous Dr and we had wasted TONS of money and meds etc on multiple IUI. She also tested and treated myself for killer cells before and after each transfer. This was done because of positive blood test for killer cells. After 1st ivf which ended in chemical pregnancy my meds were adjusted and 2nd 1vf was successful.

I would recommend this clinic to anyone! They are all around amazing facility.

My husband and I felt like we were part of her family, not just her patients. She is very caring, down to earth, blunt and funny.

Everyone was nice and polite and had an awsimd bed side manner.

She is very down to earth. She laid all possibilities and procedures. Where they were going to start first with testing and move on from what they find in testing. She explains things very clearly and makes sure if you have any questions you can get ahold of her at any time. She always gets back to you in a timely manner. She treats you like your part of her family but also keeps things professional at the same time. She is very sensitive to your individual needs as a person. She was very sucsessful in my personal treatment and was always eager to move on to the next step to success.

Make sure you keep in touch about instructions about each cycle. Personally I forgot to call on day one of cycle and missed a whole cycle because of it. So it was personal not because of anything the doctor or center did.

We did 2 iui's one with famara. I think that's what it's called. It's an alternative to clomid. She wrote a blog on the comparison between the two. Then we moved on to IVF. We did one cycle retrieved 22 eggs. I think 8 were good but only 5 turned into embryos. I was a big candidate for having hoss. I decided to skip a cycle to avoid this. So we did a 2 frozen embryo transfer the next month and rusulted in our twins who were born at 35w2d, because of preeclampsia.

My husbands insurance covered everything we only had a co pay.

I loved it there. Always greeted with a smile and were very nice.

He always called us by name and had a great sense of humor. He made it a lot less stressful.

Everyone was so friendly and when I was panicked and wasn't sure about a medicine they walked me through it.

Dr. Witten was always kind and put things in terms we could understand. When our first round didn't work he sat down with us and explained our options and what he felt was best. Never once discouraged us or made it feel impossible. He gave us hope.

Get as much information as you can. Be prepared for anything and no matter what keep trying.

I started out on birth control pills then had the intralipids infusion for the Natural Killer Cells. Started with the Dexamethasone then went to the injections. Cant remember the names of all of them but I know I did Gonal-F, Progesterone in oil, Estradiol Valerate, Menopur and Vaginal Suppositories. Then once I got a positive test I started Prenatal Vitamins and did another round of Intralipid Infusion.

We were lucky, our insurance covered a lot. We had to pay for the intralipid infusions which were $300.00 a piece so a total of $600.00. Also had to meet our $300.00 deductible for both so that was $600.00 total. We paid for a portion of the medications which with both treatments came to about $800.00. We also had to pay for the anesthesia twice so that was $590.00 a piece so a total of $1180.00. We may receive more bills from different tests we have had done but we haven't received a bill yet.

Thecinic is nicely furnished, clean and inviting. The staff is helpful and there is an on call nurse for any after hours medication questions. Sedation for egg retrieval is through an outside contractor and she doesn't accept insurance, so if you have insurance coverage you will have to submit the claim yourself which is a huge pain. The anesthesiologist is also somewhat flippant and didn't care about my comfort. She pushed drugs through my IV quickly and it burned horribly. She just laughed it off when she noticed she had hurt me. If Dr. Witten is your primary, some of your ultrasounds will be done with Dr. Dayal who also practices at Sher. She is sweet and very knowledgeable.

The support staff in both his Mercy and Sher offices were very nice and helpful. Dr. Witten himself was friendly, but cryptic in his wording and didn't seem to want to answer my questions. He brushed them off most of the time.

Nutsing staff was always friendly and helpful. Sher nurses weren't the best at placing IV catheters and I usually had to be stuck 2-4 times when I needed IV treatments.

Dr. Witten is obviously a very intelligent and experienced fertility doctor. I felt he had a very specific way he liked to do things and he didn't stray from that very much. When I would bring up questions or concerns, my concerns weren't heard or I was told I didn't need to worry about them. I felt like he would hear what I was saying but didn't want to listen.

Be prepared to do a lot of self research. He isn't an overly empathetic person and isn't great at answering questions.

My stim cycle was an agonist protocol. I have normal ovarian reserve but we were only able to get 5 eggs out of about 16 follicles. 4 were mature and all fertilized with ICSI, one arrested a day 4. My fresh cycle resulted in a chemical pregnancy, and my 2 subsequent frozen transfers resulted in negative pregnancies. I was never given any rationale for the protocol chosen for me.

I have full insurance coverage. This covered all my diagnostic workup, IVF cycles and most medications. We had to pay out of pocket for my egg retrieval sedation as well as cryopreservation services associated with embryo freezing.

For me the main strength and the reason I'd never go anywhere else is the fact that you actually see the RE at each appointment, she does your monitoring ultrasound so there's no waiting around for a phone call later, you get your answer straight away. Half way through my time there a place opened right next door to get your blood work, they would send over your lab request so you could go there first, it's very efficient. Even Stephanie the receptionist would greet you by name and know why you were there, from the moment you walk in you feel welcome. I would like to see prices on the Website but I'm very happy that they have recently joined up with a medical loan company. Even if we were to move away if we ever do another cycle we would travel back to Missouri to use Dr Dayal.

Dr Dayal would talk to us about our cycle and what was happening, she never talked in general terms of treatment, it was always about our specific cycle.

Jamie was my co ordinator and MerryKay was my nurse, I think they have very different styles, with Jamie making friends more and being the shoulder to cry on and MK being the cool and collected one that gave the answers and could pull you back to earth when the hormones are making you crazy. They both answered emails very quickly and made me feel not alone, they are a great team.

Dr Dayal took over my treatment half way through, Dr Sher had done my egg retrieval and first two transfers then he went back to Las Vegas and Dr Dayal took over. The first real time she saw us was for our first ultrasound of our very first pregnancy, I was 7 weeks pregnant, our baby had stopped growing at 6 weeks and she had to tell us there was no heartbeat, I could not have asked for a better experience at a horrible time, it was clear she was upset for us and she hugged me before I left. When we had issues getting my lining to grow for frozen transfers she was willing to try different things and never gave up. Our son is two and we've had some losses since he was born, Dr Dayal has still been there for us whenever we had questions or needed help. She is a very special person who is great at her job, I know you want objective comments but I genuinely don't have a bad thing to say.

Be honest with her, about your fears or goals, she will listen and even if it seems like you're asking a stupid question she will never make you feel that way.

My lining doesn't grow well for frozen cycles so I was on terbutaline and viagra, on my final cycle my lining still wasn't as good as she wanted so we added vaginal estrace, it worked in two days. I was also on intra lipid infusions for elevated nk cells and a partial dq alpha match.

We paid for the two cycle plan which included two fresh cycles and unlimited frozen transfers, we didn't get to use the second fresh because we had our son from the final frozen embryo, because we done four frozen cycles it saved us money. We had to pay separately for anesthesia and blood work.

Due to our partial dq alpha match we were only allowed to transfer one embryo at a time because of the belief if we put one back that was a match it could cause it's to lose both of them, I personally don't see a need to transfer more than one, out of 5 set we had 3 positive tests with one live birth.

Strengths-bed side manner, dr Dayal is in every appointment so you can always ask her questions. You don’t feel like a number and the care is very good. Weaknesses-for me it was the huge miss of my uterus. It was such an easy thing to catch and I honestly think she overlooked it bc it had been previously evaluated. If this hadn’t been missed things would be very different for us.

Dr Dayal has very good bedside manner and the staff is fantastic.

They were all fantastic. I had one issue once with a receptionist and brought it up to my nurse and never had the issue again. In fact she was then pleasant the next time we came in. I also can not say enough good things about the coordinator Jamie. She is amazing

I really liked dr Dayal. My issue is that I was misdiagnosed with a bicornuate uterus when I actually had a separate uterus and she did 3 transfers before another dr found the mistake. That mistake cost us years of grief and 3 precious embryos

Advocate for yourself. Ask every question you can and come prepared to your visit

I honestly can’t remember the protocol but we did do it twice and I was and am disappointed with the results. Each time we got over 20 eggs and each time only 3 made it to day 6 embryos. I feel like we should have made some changes the second tune around

I had some insurance coverage and we got a discount for my husband being military each retrieval was around 6000 and meds about 5000

I had surgery on my uterus due to the septum so multiple embryo transfer was never even a thought for us or a discussion. As the patient I don’t want it

Absolutely nothing is negative about SIRM. In fact, you can now do both your ultrasounds and your blood work in their office! It's not only great care, it's incredibly convenient.

Dr. Molina and her staff have a wonderful bedside manner. This is my 2nd center and I'm shocked at the difference in care between the two.

The care coordinators and nursing staff at SIRM-St. Louis are fantastic. For example, in my previous cycle prior to coming to SIRM, I was in my RE doctor's office once. I only communicated via email with my coordinator. I felt like a number. It's a completely different scenario at SIRM...and much for the better. It's a sense of compassion and of comradery.

If Dr. Dayal has a weakness, I've not noted it yet. She has been encouraging, yet realistic. I feel as if I get a sufficient amount of her time and she does not rush appointments. I've not yet had a question posed to her that wasn't answered in detail. Her compassion is evident...you can tell that it's not just a numbers game to her.

Try Dr. Dayal FIRST. Oh I wish someone had told me that prior to doing my first IVF round. Dr. Dayal's focus is on a customized plan that works best for YOUR body, not a one-size-fits-all approach that I've experienced elsewhere.

I have insurance coverage, but I have to say that without coverage, my cost would be around 11k/cycle. Note that I'm on an estrogen priming cycle, so my meds are expensive.

Appointments ran smoothly and on time. Small office made visits more comfortable

From the first consult, she explained things in detail while making them easy to understand. She was open about our course of treatment and made sure we had realistic expectations while showing true empathy for us.

All of the staff was excellent! The majority of my visits were with Dr Dayal 1:1, but the nurses were always available to answer questions and provide medication instructions as well as warm wishes

Dr Dayal understands how hard infertility is not only physically, but emotionally. She always made sure we were comfortable with the course of treatment and that we understood each step of the process. This was our first experience with fertility treatments, and she respected how overwhelming the whole process can be.

Be patient, and trust her

Cycle monitoring, femara (increasing dosages through cycles to achieve optimal follicle counts), hmg injections to stimulate follicle growth as needed, ovidrel trigger shot to induce ovulation. Positive, viable pregnancy occurred in the 6th cycle

IUI cycle and monitoring was $1000 plus meds, insurance covered all by $25 copay for visits during medicated cycles. Medications cost between $150-500 per cycle

None

Dr. Zarek was very caring and made sure to always explain everything. She gave me good solid facts and good reasonable expectations.

The nursing staff was very good. My only complaint was that although they have a separate waiting room for women with children, the nurses paraded babies around the halls once you were brought back. I know they are proud of their work but I do not want to watch everyone squee over new babies while finding out that my cycle failed.

Dr. Zarek was very involved. She texted and emailed to check on us and made me feel like she really, really cared about my care. I liked that she was able to be realistic but also positive. We never had false hope but she never suggested that we weren't going to be parents someday!

Dr. Zarek is wonderful (if you have Fertility coverage, we did not and they need everything paid up front which is no fault of Dr. Zarek' did course)

I took 5 mg of Letrozole. I used progesterone, folate, and vitamin D. It worked the first time but ended in miscarriage. We tried it four more times because I responded well and ovulated nicely. My husband's SA looked good. Dr. Zarek suggested IUI but I declined due to the cost of imjectables.

I do not remember exact costs but I do know that it added up really, really quickly!