The Fertility Center of Michigan

Dr. Shavell is very good about clearly communicating all the variables that play into IVF, and remembering the specifics of my situation. She has supported me and my partner with knowledge to help us make the most informed decisions at each step of the way. I appreciate her bedside manner. The only drawback is that she has a very busy schedule and sometimes it can be difficult to get time with her - but when you do get time together she is very attentive and a good listener.

Come prepared with your own questions and research - Dr. Shavell will help guide you along the way. Work to get on her schedule early as Dr. Shavell and her entire clinic are very busy.

Karyotype Testing Hysteroscopy Endosee 3 IUI cycles with Femara and Ovidrel Trigger Receptive DX Test (diagnosed Silent Endo) Egg Retrieval with PGT Testing FET #1 - with Orilissa, Lupron, PIO in lead up (dealing with Silent Endo and a specific blood clotting condition)

Our situation is unique in that we've chosen to do a fair amount of elective diagnostic testing. Over one year of working with the clinic our total costs for all testing, procedures, medications, cycle management and storage fees have totaled $33K.

Dr. Dodds is very caring and experienced. He founded the clinic, and I believe he has been a reproductive endocrinologist for approximately 30 years. In addition, he specializes in PCOS, my fertility issue. Therefore, I have a great deal of confidence in his ability to maximize my potential to be a parent. The only negative comment I have about Dr. Dodds is that I think is so knowledgeable that he sometimes forgets that I (as a patient) am not. He is always happy to clarify any confusion, but the first time he explains something, it is not always clear (e.g., certain details are missing or he mentions a term we had not previously discussed).

If you have any questions or need clarification, please ask. Dr. Dodds wants to ensure all his patients have a clear understanding of their treatment.

I did 4 IUI cycles. 3 were with Femara (5 mg for 5 days) and Estrace (vaginally) because of a thin uterine lining on ultrasound. Estrace was taken before and after IUI. For one of the cycles, I did a stepwise Femara cycle, as the first 5 days did not produce mature follicles. This resulted in the production of mature follicles after the stepwise administration. For the 4th IUI, I took Femara (5 mg for 5 days) and Gonal-F (75 IU) injections prior to IUI. For all IUIs, I did an Ovidrel injection 48 hours prior to the IUI.

Each IUI was ~$250.

Dr. Dodds has a great communication style and bedside manner. After our first consultation, he adjusted how he spoke to us based on what we needed and expected (i.e. nice but to the point and fully explained). He always makes sure that we understand what the plan is while taking into consideration what we feel most comfortable doing and he has never tried to railroad through what we want to try something else. He really does listen and thoughtfully answers our questions, and he's really fair about giving his opinion both from a personal and professional perspective.

Do your research before going in for a consultation - not because he won't explain it, but because it'll allow you to ask better questions and have a more productive conversation about your fertility plan.

My AMH is low and I have a diminished egg reserve, so my body doesn't ovulate on its own without medication. The first thing he did was get a full blood workup and sperm sample so we had all of the information available. Once it became clear what the problem was, Dr. Dodds put us on oral medication first (Clomid/Femara) at a slightly higher dose than I had previously taken from my OBGYN. We tried that for 3 cycles and increased the dosage. For the next few cycles, they had me come in for mid-cycle ultrasounds to see if my body was responding to those medications and to see where we could adjust our treatment plan to work better for me. Given my history of PCOS, they also started doing bloodwork to keep an eye on my estrogen levels in case they saw a cyst and 2 cycles were cancelled for that reason, thankfully. When it became clear that the oral medication wasn't working by itself, Dr. Dodds scheduled an HSG (after discussing it with us obviously) to make sure that my tubes were open and despite how uncomfortable the procedure itself was, it was the most mentally-pain-free experience because he and his staff told me exactly what to be ready for and how to handle it. With clear HSG results, Dodds moved us forward into 2 hybrid cycles, with both oral meds and injections. I was still only producing 1-2 good eggs per cycle so he prescribed 2 injection-only cycles on a higher dose, which were also unsuccessful. He limited those treatments because he didn't want to continue pulling 1 egg at a time from a reserve that won't last forever and I appreciate that he was very upfront with his concerns about that. He was also honest about IUI and explained that he didn't think it would serve its purpose with our situation and straight up told us it would probably be a waste of our time and money to go for that route, despite it being next up on the strategy chain. We had already come to conclusion that IVF is probably going to be the best option for us and he agreed, but knowing that our insurance wasn't covering any of our fertility treatment costs, he gave us a plethora of information on grants, saving, and full cost breakdown step by step. We are now in the saving-for-IVF part of the plan and will move forward once we are ready/clinics are open!

In 2019, we spent a total of $6,000 on treatments and co-pays. My oral medications were very affordable, I want to say probably less than $30 per cycle. Consultations are about $350, standard ultrasounds are around $275, a mid-cycle ultrasound + bloodwork was $315, and out-of-pocket injections were $600 per cycle through Freedom Fertility since our insurance wouldn't cover those. All other bloodwork and procedure co-pays were dependent on insurance coverage.

Dr. Young treated me like a human being and not like a broken patient. He took time to ensure that I understood ad agreed with each of my treatment plan. When I felt frustrated he sensed it and took extra time to reassure and educate me. When a doctor is passionate and authentic about their chosen field it's obvious. And Dr. Young is one of those doctors.

Don't be afraid to come with questions because he will spend the time to explain and review with you.

I kept developing uterine polyps from the estrogen prime while we attempted to prepare for FET. After multiple removals I consulted with Dr. Young. We stopped estrogen and did a Femara protocol to shut down my estrogen. This worked and I was able to do a FET weeks later.

We did a multi cycle IVF for around $12,000 add in what insurance didn't cover and it's closer to $20,000

The quality of my embryos were suspect so we we froze all, each cycle, on day 2. We did not take them to day 5 prior to transfer and instead chose to transfer 2 good quality embroys.

Dr. Shavell is so empathetic she almost comes off as meek in the consult room, which might be good for some people, but I prefer a doctor to be blunt and tell me like it is. She did perform surgery when I had an ectopic pregnancy and she's much more to the point in the operating room so I was happy with that and she did a great job.

I would suggest going into an appointment prepared with lots of questions to ask. I've done a lot of my own research and make lists of things I want to ask her about.

I've done 4 IUI's under Dr. Shavell's primary care. At the Fertility Center you basically see whichever doctor or nurse is available during your procedures though so a lot of these protocols were assigned by other providers. Each IUI cycle started with Clomid cycle days 3-5, midcycle ultrasound ~day 10-12, IUI ~day 13-15. The first two were negative. The third IUI was positive, but resulted in an ectopic pregnancy found at the 6 week ultrasound. Dr. Shavell recommended methotrexate to terminate the pregnancy. That was followed by two weeks of Beta HCG blood tests every few days and my numbers weren't going down. She recommended a second dose of methotrexate over surgery and that was also ineffective. Two weeks later I finally had surgery to remove the ectopic pregnancy and my fallopian tube. After methotrexate you have to wait 3 months to conceive so we did a 4th and final IUI that was negative. At that point we jumped into IVF and prepping for egg retrieval. I can't remember the protocol, but it involved Menopur and Ganirelix, etc. The ER was very successful with 18 eggs retrieved, 17 mature and fertilized, 14 made it to day 3. We did a 3 day fresh transfer with 2 embryos and froze the remaining 12. The result was negative. We waited a month or so and then began to prep for frozen embryo transfer. It was a long lupron protocol. We transferred 2 embryos, which resulted in miscarriage at ~5.5 weeks. We waited another month and began the same long lupron protocol again. We decided to thaw all frozen 10 embryos to grow them out to blastocyst with the goal of weeding out some that may be weaker. They all survived thaw and made it to blast. We transferred 2 and refroze the remaining 8. This cycle ended in a chemical pregnancy. We were getting ready to do some additional testing (hysteroscopy to check for fibroids, etc. and chromosome mapping) before moving forward with the next cycle, but everything is now on hold due to Covid-19. We will also do an ERA cycle prior to the next FET.

I would estimate that each IUI costs around $1500 including drugs, ultrasounds, and procedure. They don't bill insurance for the male portion, but they've billed my insurance for everything else and majority of it has been covered by Blue Care Network. We've paid 100% out of pocket for IVF as our insurance does not cover. We paid around $35K in 2019 for 1 IUI, 1 egg retrieval + fresh transfer, 2 FET's, meds, labs, etc., etc.

Dr. Shavell has had no problem transferring two embryos each time, but has made sure to ask that we are ok with the higher chance of having multiples.

Dr. Shavell is very nice and soft spoken, easy to talk to. We were diagnosed with unexplained infertility though and given a packet of pre-determined steps with none ever working for us. Our care is really left in the hands of nurses, we never hear from the doctor or see her during/after procedures and ultrasounds unless we want to pay out of pocket for another consult.

You're just one of many. She is kind and knowledgeable but don't plan for her to actually be involved in your care unless you're doing IVF.

HSG that came back normal, 3 rounds of clomid, 4 rounds of Femara in attempt to see if any of these things would produce more follicles to increase chances of pregnancy. I was already ovulating on my own and ended up with multiple follicles twice. Also went on estrogen and progesterone to thicken lining when Femara thinned it. No success from any treatments.

Expensive, my insurance doesn't cover most of it. Ultrasounds are frequent and usually cost $175-250 depending on limited or complete (although even when charging for complete ultrasound the cervix isn't evaluated and a VERY fast sweep of the uterus is performed that's not very diagnostic). IUIs were around 700 each time, the HSG was probably closer to 1000 but I can't remember the exact numbers for sure. Consults are over 100, and then another 50 every time I talk to a nurse in the clinic after ultrasounds.

Not to that point yet

Dr. Giuliani was very personable and took a thorough history from me. We have met 3 times via virtual appointments and she even called me personally after I had sent a patient portal message. Dr. Giuliani sent my husband to get checked out which led to us learning he had a pituitary tumor, no one else had even thought of this. Dr. Giuliani has been honest about next steps in treatment.

Take notes during the appointment and don’t be afraid to ask any questions.

Dr. Giuliani suggested we start with timed intercourse cycles with the option to add IUI at any time. We opted to do several timed intercourse cycles first. Dr. Giuliani suggest we try clomid as I had done several cycles with femara previously. She also suggested a mid cycle ultrasound and trigger shot with the timed cycle which I hadn’t done previously. When we were ready to add IUI Dr. Giuliani met with us to discuss that in further detail and answer any questions we had. She was also very honest that we may need to consider IVF and provided some information on that as well, since we have some male factor issues as well as PCOS.

My ultrasounds and office visits were billed to insurance, although I was not aware of the cost associated with speaking with the nurse after some of my ultrasounds so that was an extra cost. My portion of my first IUI was billed to insurance as I had asked, we did pay out of pocket for the semen was which was $375. Total cash price for each IUI is currently $800, up from $650 last year.

We have not reached this step in treatment.

I think Dr G is really nice, and we’ll intentioned. I think overall the clinic runs poorly with lack of communication between the departments— which probably makes it hard for her to do her job. I do find speaking on the phone with her difficult as it’s sometimes hard to understand what she’s saying. More in person meetings would be valuable. I also think we should have a set meeting after each retrieval to go over what worked and what didn’t. And what if anything we need to change.

Do a lot of your own research, and demand time.

I was on the highest dose of meds she said she could prescribe. We added HGH for the second retrieval to help with embryo survival. Still waiting on results for that. Was never given much explanation for anything else really.

Close to 20K just for the three retrievals. Medicine, ultrasounds and bloodwork are all separate. When we complete our third retrieval we will have spent close to 75,000

Dr. Shavell seems like a great doctor. She does seem to be very busy, but there's a lot of support staff on call to help with the treatment plan. So far I have been very happy with the outcomes of her treatment plans and in carefully adjusting them for what's going on with me.

It takes a very long time to get an initial consult so reach out as soon as you think you may be interested.

I was put on Orilissa for several months before treatment to help reduce inflammation from endometriosis and fibroids. It seemed to work.

We have out of state insurance, so it was mostly covered. However, the costs would have been extremely prohibitive without insurance.

She wanted to push for a single embryo transfer, but we asked for two given my age. We did end up with two transferred the first time.

She is always, kind, compassionate, takes her time with me, values what I have to say, and she never makes me feel stupid. (In comparison to her male counterparts at the office, it’s night and day difference).

Don’t be afraid to ask many questions!

She did a full evaluation of me and my partner. We got 2 diagnoses of septum uterus and mild male factor. I had surgical intervention, my husband was sent to a specialist (urologist). We then came up with a plan of a medicated cycle (letrozol, mid cycle ultrasound, and trigger shot). The first cycle resulted in a chemical pregnancy. We naturally conceived right after that miscarriage, she put me on progesterone, but that ended in a blighted ovum diagnosed at our first 6w ultrasound. After D&C and genetic testing that baby was found to have a genetic anomaly. We were advised to wait at least one cycle before we try again. We did a recurrent miscarriage blood panel, every thing was fine. She added baby aspirin to my daily vitamins. We did 3 more medicated cycles with the same dosage of letrozol for me because my body always responded well. This last cycle we conceived! We are 5 weeks today so hoping for our rainbow baby. We had met with Giuliani a few weeks ago to come up with a plan if this didn’t work, we had a plan in place to move onto IUI.

Oh who knows! In 2021 we met our deductible bc of costs associated with going there but luckily our insurance covered a good amount.

NA

Our experience with Dr. Dodds was nothing but exceptional care. He took his time explaining treatment and educating us with possible issues or complications. He was very honest but encouraging regarding the odds of a successful pregnancy. He reached out personally with results and to make sure we had any follow up questions answered that may have come up. When he called to tell us we were pregnant, he was excited. He shared this victory with us. We always felt like this was as important to him as it was to us. That's what we wanted and needed in a fertility doctor.

Make a list of questions. Don't be afraid to ask a million of 'em. He will answer every one of them and keep explaing it to you until you understand every bit of your diagnosis, results or treatment. He is a very patient Doctor and will walk you through all the steps.

I had already seen a previous IVF doctors and specialists over our 9+ years of infertility and numerous miscarriages. Dr. Dodd went through all of those results prior to suggesting IVF. Some testing was eliminated due to an egg donation I had made over 13 years ago, prior to knowing I myself would have issues. (Both of the women that chose me as their egg donor were successful.) I had already had genetics and chromosomes checked as well. My husband had his chromosomes checked and everything came back normal. I can't really describe anything further, I had so much testing done prior by so many different doctors and specialists that Dr. Dodd had to go through it and come up with a game plan based on those. We were successful with our first round of IVF. Unfortunately I developed pre-eclampsia at 20 weeks and my placenta had back flow and my son was experiencing growth restriction. I was admitted into the hospital at that point.The maternal fetal doctor was able to hold off delivery until 23 weeks and 4 days. My son lived for 5 days, but unfortunately his lungs weren't strong enough and we lost him. We plan on discussing risks and possibly another round of IVF when the time is right.

Without medications, we spent under $9,000. There were a few extra services that we had requested to increase our chances.

Dr Dodd felt pretty strongly about transferring only two. I've never had an issue getting pregnant, just staying pregnant so he felt like this was a safer approach than the three I requested. After hearing his reasoning, I was more than happy to just transfer two of them.

Dr. Young is very dry, so if you need a touchy feely person, he is not the doctor for you. However, I like that personality, and I appreciated how matter of fact he was. While he didn't sugar coat anything, I felt he cared about me as a person and the heartbreak I was going through.

He truly cares about his patients.

Oh man, what didn't we do? Dr. Young was always very upfront with the results and didn't sugar coat anything. After two failed IUIs, he ordered more testing for the sperm. Instead of allowing us to continue with IUIs, even though there was a chance, he recommended IVF as the best option. I feel he always did what was best for us but allowed us to make the decisions.

We were lucky and during our first procedure our insurance covered 50% of procedures. However, even with that, I'm certain we have spent over $20,000 over the course of our treatment.

Dodds was wonderful in explaining the procedures that I would undergo. He was friendly and relate able. It seemed like he truly cared about us and our goals. Despite non of my cycles working, he changed plans each to hopefully give us a better outcome.

He was my favorite out of all the doctors there.

First we completed a few rounds of clomid resulting in negatives tests. Then we moved to IUI's. We completed 3 IUI's on femara and ovidrel and one on Gonal-F. I took a few months off after that. Next, we completed 2 egg retrievals. 1 egg retrieval resulted in 5 eggs, and 2 embryos sadly they didn't make it past day 2. That cycle included a prime of birth control and then increasing dosages of Gonal-F, Menopur and Cetrotide. The second egg retrieval was a mini dose IVF which included a prime of femara and low dosages of Gonal-F, Menopur and Cetrotide. On the day of the egg retrieval, I ovulated 5 hours before my retrieval. We did an IUI that morning. All resulted in negative pregnancy tests. Currently we are doing a couple rounds of Femara while clinics are closed.

Our first cycle was around 15K, but alot of that were medications. Since our 1 round never made it to a transfer, we were refunded the amount a transfer would cost. Our next IVF round was $3500.

Because of my age (35) two embryo transfers were recommended. Those that were younger than I, a single embryo transfer was recommended.

Knowledgeable and compassionate. She is always available for consultation and answers all questions/messages in a timely manner. I feel she is very trustworthy. I feel that I am in good hands with her as my doctor.

Don’t be worried to call and make consultation appointment.

Started with 2 rounds of IUI because it is less invasive. My husband had cancer and chemo treatments so we only had 1 vial of his sperm. Those did not result in pregnancy so now I am going through treatment for IVF. I started injections for egg retrieval but I had a dominant follicle so we ended the infections, I went on hormone therapy and we will begin again as soon as we can (based on COVID)

$2000 to be scheduled for IVF. Most of my other costs are covered by my insurance.

She prefers single transfer.

Dr. Thakur is very kind, gentle and confident. When our first transfer was unsuccessful she very thoughtfully came up with a new treatment plan that made sense for my condition. She reached out after our second transfer to extend her sympathy and already had an idea of what our next steps would be. She’s never forced us into procedures we weren’t comfortable with and always takes the time to listen and answer our questions. She is concerned with my wellbeing as a whole, not just my fertility.

Ask lots of questions, do your own research so you know what she is talking about, but know that is she very smart and capable and you are in great hands.

For our first transfer we did a long lupron protocol with PIO. For my second transfer, we did a Femara cycle with progesterone suppositories as I have PCOS and I responded very well. Unfortunately, both were not successful.

For IUIs the out of pocket cost for the procedure is about $600. IVF for a retrieval and transfer is about $10,000, a FET is about $4,000.

Because we got a large number of embryos, she recommended one embryo at a time. We did not want to transfer more then one.

Dr. Dodd’s is very knowledgeable and honest about RE care. We only have endometriosis and while that’s all we have standing in our way he didn’t down play the severity of my case. He has made me feel top priority with just one ovary remaining. A family is important to us and he was very blunt as far as success may go when involving financial means. It’s unfortunate we have not met him in person as our initial was a televisit as we live a few hours away, and he was not the one who actually did our procedure. However, I respect all of his decisions and appreciate his time and guidance throughout our first cycle. While it didn’t work for us, we are biting at the bullet to try again.

Just make sure you’re comfortable with your RE and their decisions because you may not have them when come procedure day.

We had a very basic IVF cycle as it was our first time. It started with birth control, blood work and then waiting. It then turned into other stimulating injections, and trigger. We then had our retrieval 36 hours later in their GR office. And a transfer two days later.

I had my monitoring appointments at home locally which was very helpful. Results were called to me no later than 4pm

We have spent about 12k total on treatment and another 4K on meds.

I appreciated Dr Dodd’s allowing us to transfer 2 embryos as we would be ecstatic with multiples. Being fairly young and healthy, we felt it was a good decision he helped us make.

Dr Young is very professional he has good knowledge of endometriosis and the paths to take to pregnancy. I am confidant I will get where I want to be with him as my doctor. He is dry and witty and has a way of making you feel comfortable

ask lots of questions

we started with famera and were going to move on to IUI. When an endometrioma was discovered before my first IUI cycle, we pivoted to egg retrieval. This proved difficult, as I needed higher and higher doses to get my follicles to develop. My first cycle i had 5 follicles, got one egg and one embryo. Thankfully, TFC has a multi egg retrieval program where for only 3 thousand dollars more than one cycle and transfer you can do 3 revivals, bank your eggs and do a transfer after your third retrieval. Eventually we got 6 embryos and froze them all. I then had endo surgery and had a transfer that failed. We tried for another transfer but canceled it due to a hormone producing ovarian cyst. We treated that with birth control, and while waiting we decided to do the recurrent pregnancy loss workup where we found polyps in my uterus. I had surgery scheduled to remove the polyps but that was canceled due to Corona virus.

17k plus meds so far

I asked to do one in our next transfer, he had no problem with it, but it was not offered

Dr. Shavell was fantastic from the very beginning. I've done three IUIs, one egg retrieval, and three transfers that have resulted in my two children. We are currently under her care for another transfer for hopefully baby #3. She doesn't rush to the next treatment unless she feels it's the right move, included us in the decisions as well. She's performed two laparoscopy surgeries on me and has been very attentive to an issues or questions.

She is a bit softer spoken. But she answers all questions thoroughly and is extremely empathetic.

We did three IUIs while knowing that one tube was blocked and the other was damaged. It felt okay trying this before going to IVF. Before IVF, she removed the blocked tub because it had hydro in it. We did an egg retrieval and fresh transfer of two embryos that resulted in a singleton pregnancy that resulted in a miscarriage at 11 weeks. We did a fresh transfer of two embryos that resulted in a twin pregnancy, but we lost one baby at 9 weeks, but it resulted in my healthy first born daughter. We returned two years later and did another frozen transfer of two embryos that resulted in my second healthy daughter. We are currently under care for another transfer. One week before the transfer, we discovered my remaining tube now was blocked and had hydro. She did another laparoscopy to remove it. And we are waiting for Covid to be stable before doing the transfer our last two remaining embryos.

IUIs - a couple hundred each IVF retrieval with fresh - $8000 plus meds frozen transfer - $4500 plus meds

She seems to prefer two embryos while giving the risks of multiple pregnancies but letting us know that the success rates are higher with transferring two vs one.

We met Dr. Thakur at our initial consultation, but since then I've only dealt with the nurses. I was surprised that she was not the one who performed my IUI's. The one time I met her I thought she was nice, but I felt rushed and did not have an opportunity to have all my questions answered.

Don't let her rush you and stay until all of your questions get answered.

Our diagnosis is male factor infertility. Dr. Thakur did one medicated cycle that was unsuccessful. Next I had an IUI that resulted in pregnancy, but the pregnancy was not viable so I miscarried. I did a second IUI that was unsuccessful. My third IUI was scheduled, but had to be cancelled due to illness.

Each IUI cost $600 out of pocket. My insurance does not cover anything dealing with infertility.

I don't have any experience with this yet.

Dr. Shavell was very compassionate and encouraging during the consults. However, she did not perform any of my procedures or other follow up visits which was not fully explained to me during the consultation. During the second consultation I asked about a IUI protocol used at a another highly related clinic in Arizona and she all but dismissed the request without offering other suggestions or supporting reasons as to why she wouldn't at least consider that protocol. I was disappointed. But this is the only fertility clinic in my area so I am stuck. I considered going to a clinic in New York but then COVID happened. So hopefully once the travel restrictions are released I can go to a different clinic.

If you are able to travel the distance to a different clinic would be my recommendation. Dr. Shavell is a decent doctor with nice bedside manner during the consult then you never see her again. Doesn't feel very personal when you don't have the doctor more involved.

Clomid, trigger shot, IUI, estrogen and progesterone. Second round did Femara instead of clomid. Changed to Femara due to side effect of clomid- peripheral vision flashes of light.

Approximately $3000 for 2 IUI procedures, medications, ultrasounds, and office visit co-pays.

Na

Dr. Young has always taken us seriously from our first meeting. He encouraged us to try options that were not as financially difficult since we were so young and had only tried clomid before meeting him. He made us feel like we had control over what treatments we would be doing, yet we knew he would not put us in a situation that did not make sense. His humor and social skills are a bit dry, but he is so smart and knows what he is doing. He took time to get to know us and made sure we left the office knowing exactly what to do and what to expect. For our IVF cycle, he would not add more treatments to our plan without asking us and explaining the benefits. We have always trusted Dr. Young to help us make the best decisions for us to start our family. Although we did not see him at every visit, he was always available via phone if needed.

Trust that he will help you make the best decisions for your personal and unique situation. Also, that he may not seem as personable/warm in person, however his actions speak wonders of how much he cares and desires for his patients to start their families.

Dr. Young started me on metformin right away due to my pcos. I started at 1000mg and worked up to 1500mg. I continue to receive 6 month blood work checks for this med. When we first started at the fertility center, we had only tried 50mg, 100mg, and 150mg of clomid at our OBGYN. Dr Young suggested clomid along with metformin and ovidrel. We tried 100mg and 150mg, not timed intercourse with no success due to no follicle growth. He then suggested femara 7.5mg with ovidrel. I responded to that and tried that for a few months with timed intercourse. Eventually I did femara, ovidrel and IUI with no success for about 2 months. I then moved to injections (gonal f) and did this for a couple months with IUI with no success. When then decided on IVF. I had my retrieval but was close to overstimulation, so my fresh transfer was cancelled. Our frozen transfer is in October. Dr. Young told us after the first few months of IUIs, that we may need to look into IVF, but he never made us feel pressured to jump into it until we gave it a few more tries.

My ultrasound and blood work was covered by insurance. IUIs were about $500-$600. And IVF cost roughly $9,000 with the extra cost of FET at $2,000 and meds around $3,000. Time lapse photography was around the upper hundreds to $1,000.

Dr. Young told us the benefits and pros/cons of transferring 2 vs. 1. He let us decided based on our preference after educating us on our options.

I think she is compassionate and caring, but until you are a committed patient and on the schedule I did not feel taken seriously. Now that I’ve gone through a few cycles I feel that we have a doctor patient relationship built.

Ask questions.

I feel the protocols for cycles are explained but not alternatives or other options. It’s more of a this is it unless I were to press. I also have yet to hear risks associated except regarding OHSS and multiples.

They seem competitive, although I wish the ‘case management’ fee was explained more because it seems quite steep without explanation. They do give a discount on FET’s following a failed cycle.

Simply told me that I could have no more than 2 transferred but I was given many many handouts on single embryo transfer.

We had to cancel an egg retrieval which was so disheartening after finishing half of our shots/medications. She personally took time out of her day to call me and apologize for the situation even though it was not any fault of her own.

Be open minded through the process as things change often. Be more prepared to talk to all of the staff and nurses and ask many questions. You truly don't talk to the Dr often.

We decided to do a full IVF cycle. My body decided to produce one very large egg (many other small eggs that just would not be able to catch up) which resulted in having to postpone our IVF. After 3 failed IUI attempts and 2 additional rounds of femara that also failed, it was so heartbreaking! We just started our 2nd round of IVF. We will be doubling all of our dosages for injections and taking a stronger approach. Nothing like watching your dreams being crushed 6 different times. Still we remain positive and continue on. We are definitely praying for a healthy miracle.

We have personally spent over $25,000 and counting for fertility treatments. It is extremely overwhelming financially when you're constantly getting a bill for treatment plans and services. It hits harder after a failed attempt where you have to pay for more injections or medications. IVF and fertility are extremely expensive at this center. It is our closest option for being able to make appointments on a regular routine basis.

We thought it best to do a multiple embryo transfer after much discussion with our Dr. This next month feels like a standstill for time.

Dr. Shavell has always honestly and thoroughly discussed my treatment options with me while demonstrating kindness and compassion. I was impressed by how thoroughly she reviewed and understood my particular infertility history prior to my initial consultation. She keeps in close communication with me and has always made me feel I could speak openly with her about my treatment plan.

Dr. Shavell has a very gentle and patient bedside manner. She has a way of putting the anxious mind at ease and is very accommodating to any special needs.

Overall we had a great experience with Dr. Shavell. She has a very calming personality which is a huge positive for those undergoing something that is already anxiety-provoking, such as fertility treatments. She is thorough, knowledgeable, and always took the time to speak with us. She answered all questions no matter how big or small. We left every appointment feeling like we knew what was happening. Anytime we didn't get the result we wanted, she immediately came up with a plan of action which left us feeling confident, and in the end, got the result we wanted.

If you are looking for a doctor who is calm, warm, sympathetic, and attentive, Dr. Shavell would be a great fit for you. Her quiet nature is immediately calming and reassuring. If you prefer a doctor who is a little more firm or hard-lined, she would not be a good fit.

We tried a natural cycle for our first IUI. Actually, I miscalculated my ovulation and when we went in for our mid-cycle ultrasound, we learned that I had already ovulated and it was too late. Dr. Shavell reassured us that we could try again the following cycle, which we did. She had me come in earlier, and quite often throughout the week, to track follicle growth to ensure we didn't miss the window of opportunity this time. I was prescribed the trigger shot (Ovidrell) to administer at midnight on a Saturday so that we could do the IUI on a Monday. Dr. Shavell was the one to perform the IUI. It was a simple and quick procedure. Unfortunately we did not get pregnant from that try. A few months later we tried for the 2nd time with similar protocol - ovulation tracking through an OPK in the mornings and then tracking follicle growth via ultrasound as the time grew closer. There was no need for a trigger shot this time; I ovulated on a Thursday morning and went in right away for the IUI (which was performed by a nurse, not Dr. Shavell). The nurse inserted a mesh plug after the procedure. Two weeks later we got our positive result!

We used all of the money from our wedding to cover our costs, so we did not have to pay out of pocket. If I had to do an overall estimate of the total cost, it would be about $10,000.