The Fertility Center of Michigan

As a patient, I would highly recommend her. She is well educated and compassionate. She has an awesome bed sideanner and you truly feel like she is listening. She also has so e a great job of trying to figure our case out by tapping into the knowledge of her partners and other fertility clinic.

When you do get time with her, ensure you write down all of your questions before hand so you don't forget anything. She is great but you don't get a ton of one on one time with her.

Round 1 -Egg retrieval and fresh transfer using Gonal F, Menpur, and Cetrotide. - chemical pregnancy Round 2 Frozen embryo transfer using Lupron, Estrace, Progesterone. - negative Round 3 - Frozen embryo transfer using Lupron, Estrace, and resistant uterine protocol of ibuprofen, Xanax, prednisone. - negative Round 4 - Frozen embryo transfer, stimulation cycle using gonal. Thought was that I responded better to stimulation rather than suppression - negative Round 5 - Did an Endometrial Receptivity test prior to frozen embryo transfer. Showed I needed 12 less hours of prednisone if following previously used stimulation protocol. Negative Round 6 - Full retrieval with PGS testing of embryos followed by a frozen embryo transfer with previously suggested protocol from ERA. Negative Round 7 - yet to transfer. We are on our second round of testing through Yale doing the Endometrial Function Test. First round showed potential endometriosis and that I was taking too much progesterone. With this second round of testing we are treating the endometriosis by doing 2 months of Lupron prior to testing month. We are also adjusting estrogen and progesterone doses.

For all treatment thus far, we have spent almost $80,000.

Dr. Shavelle has always been very honest about how many embryos are recommended. It seems that the office has protocols as to how many they are willing to transfer in which situations.

I believe he is a very compassionate caring doctor. Very knowledgeable and truely cares. Will do what is best for the pt and he listens to what you have to say. Will come to a conclusion that works for everyone involved.

He is great. And easy to talk to. Do not be afraid to ask questions or tell him how you really feel about something.

I used Menopur 75,Gonal F, (do not rememberdose)and added cetrotide and then a trigger shot. On the first round we only ended up with 1 frozen embryo. So with the second and third round we did the same dosage of Menopur decreased the Gonal F and grew the follicles bigger due to the fact I had a more immature eggs duing the first round. The first round 5 retrieved 1 frozen. Second round 7 retrieved 3 frozen. Third round 14 retrieved 10 frozen.

Monitoring was always done in the morning so if medications needed to be changed they would call you in the afternoon to let you know. It went like a well oiled machine in my book.

Well we are around 24,000 which includes 3 rounds of IVF, monitoring, medications, and some of our gestational carriers things are paid for.

No he said it was up to me and my gestational carrier.

During my time at The Fertility Center - Grand Rapids, Dr. Thakur has take incredible care of me through the many delays I've experienced. There were multiple surprises along the way due to my health, not any reflection of my clinic or doctor, such as surgeries to better improve my chances of pregnancies (tube removal and endometriosis removal). These issues were diagnosed by Dr. Thakur and she was able to change my medical plan to suit those needs. Dr. Thakur has been incredibly informative and empathetic. I feel Dr. Thakur truly cares about me and my opinion with my best interest and safety in mind.

If you are looking for a fertility doctor that will cover all aspects of your health, (physical, mental and emotional) Dr. Mili Thakur is the right doctor for you. Her knowledge of the field and compassionate bedside manor will give you confidence that you are in the best hands. She wants nothing more than success for all her patients on the safest path.

Dr. Thakur encouraged me to take multiple vitamins such as prenatal, CoQ10, folic acid, vitamin C, fish oil, D-3, vitamin E and Metformin. There were multiple injections I used such as Lupron, Progesterone, and other standard medications for IVF treatment. We discussed ICSI and Blastocyst as the best options for my pregnancy success.

For an egg retrial, fresh embryo transfer and the medications associated with it, I spent roughly $14,000.

Dr. Mili Thakur has guided me through the process to the right decisions. Due to my age, medical diagnosis and preference, we have chosen to go the route of multiple embryo transfer with not more than 2 embryos.

Dr Dodds I did recommend to my best experiencing infertility. Reason is that he is knowledgeable and can run several test that may determine a solution. He always makes sure we fully understand the steps in the plan and what are options are .

This process is overwhelming . Your head is foggy with anxiety , sadness and negativity. Before you go to the appointment, write down your goals and questions

when we first met Dr Dodds, I had miscarried three times. he understood getting pregnant was not an issue for us , but staying pregnant was . He had us try clomid for 6 rounds. unsuccessful. we then trying to set my body my body up for ivf, where my body did not respond to the drugs . this is when we found out that the D&C damaged uterus lining. he did everything to make sure we could have our family. he performed a surgery to attempt to restore my lining . unsuccessful.

I think that being drugs for me, ultrsounds, tests, consultations,egg donor. We are well over 50k

He was very good at describing our treatment in easy to understand terms also providing pictures when necessary. He always made sure we understood before moving on to the next area. He took time to ask about what we do and got to know us a little bit and also joked around with us. It helped for us to both feel comfortable and we left feeling like we had some control over the situation again.

Doctor Young will go over everything you need but I think it is always good to know a little background on fertility treatments.

Before we had met Dr. Young my obgyn had already had me try 4 rounds of clomid because of my irregular cycles. With that and my husband's low motility, he had us start with IUI, first having me take Femera so I would ovulate on time and possibly produce more then one egg, then going to an ultrasound to make sure an egg had formed, and then using ovidrel so they could time the IUI treatment even closer to ovulation. He also gave us ways to increase our chances such as reduce alcohol use, exercise, eat well, etc.

I don't remember the cost of the initial consultation appointment but the ultrasound and meet up with the nurse was around $250 and the actual IUI was $600. They gave me resources to get the ovidrel at a more reasonable cost, which was around $35.

Strengths-I do believe he truly wants to help his patients achieve the end goal of bringing home a baby Weakness-I believe he is a very busy man and I didn't feel as supported by him as I would have liked. I think he focuses the majority of his support on IVF patients

Speak up about your wants and if something doesn't sound right or applicable to your case

We did 2 rounds of IUI with femara and Ovidrel. The rationale was that due to my husband's lower sperm count and motility, having more eggs and putting the sperm closer to them would increase the chance of pregnancy. I had one negative cycle and one pregnancy that ended in a miscarriage/ possible ectopic

Each round of IUI ended up being around $800. IVF is expected to cost around $10,000 plus meds, anesthesia, etc.

N/A we did not do IVF

We felt she was thorough and helping us identify the issues as well as solutions. She followed up with us personally when she found out from the nurse that I was hesitant about the retrieval based on tests. She followed up directly when I had some slight concern of overstimulation (turned out I wasn’t ohss but she wanted to call to chat anyway). She called when she’d heard I was sick from the meds to see about adjusting them even though I’d commented I’d tough it out. She was available when we needed her by phone or office visit and was just really great to work with.

Don’t hold back on questions because she will draw pictures and explain everything you just have to ask. In the beginning I don’t think I asked as much, with nerves etc and so wish I had as she was so great at taking the time to explain things to us.

We started with femara lightly and an IUI because we weren’t sure how severe the sperm motility was. She switched us to clomid and objectively gonalf to grow additional eggs and grow them more friendly to penetration by softer sperm as we didn’t have a lot of strength on our side. We tried different variations of that. We learned I react very very poorly to any progesterone and in the end canceled my retrieval to see what else could be tried safely before we did a retrieval and transfer.

Iui’s were broken between the lab and the insemination itself. Lab was $350, procedure $250 for a total of $600. Meds were usually sent to freedom pharmacy unless you requested otherwise. Consults were $350ish even though the nurse will always say on the phone 200 they always bill at the higher coding rate. Sperm analysis are $200, genetic testing is $100 for each spouse.

We had heard the field was cutting back on transfers but our doctor said that they still transfer two if we really wanted it or if we’ve down more than one IVF already.

Dr. Dodds made me feel very comfortable and confident with his treatment plan. He told me all of the details and made me hopeful. The only thing that I wish could have done differently is that he would have suggested the hsg test before I started the Femara.

Ask every question you can think of! There are no stupid questions!

I had an ultrasound done and Dr. Dodds could tell that I had pcos. Because of the multiple cysts on my ovaries and infertility as well as some other symptoms he was confident with the diagnosis. He started me on Femara 5 mg for the first cycle. It worked but the second cycle we decided to add the trigger shot to take out the guess work of when I ovulate. Now this third cycle because I only had one follicle the previous two we increased my dosage to 7.5 of Femara with the trigger shot. I had one large follicle again. I have a consultation scheduled in a couple weeks if I am not pregnant to go over the next options.

I paid everything out of pocket. Consultation $250. Ultrasound $200 Nurse consultation $75

Dr. Shavell was very thorough from the very first consultation. There was a lot of information to take in but it provided me with everything I needed to know and to further research myself. Any questions resulting from my research and conversations with others in similar situations were always received positively and answered appropriately no matter how silly some questions may have sounded. She was more available to the nurses than me, however. She did not conduct the 7 IUIs but still communicated with the nurses before starting the next round. Although she was not available to conduct my laparoscopy, she did my pre-op and post-op and made sure I was very comfortable and doing well. Most recently she did my sonohysterogram and mock embryo transfer and was very gentle and calming through the discomfort. She ensured all parts were in working fashion to proceed with IVF in the coming month.

If you feel like you need a face to face meeting, do not be scared to call and make the appointment. It can be difficult playing phone tag with the nurses who have to communicate with the doctors and then back to you. It can be time consuming, especially if you miss phone calls due to work or other daily activities.

The first test I had completed was an HSG. Everything looked perfect with no signs of obstructions. Dr. Shavell mentioned there is some research showing women getting pregnant in the following three months. Unfortunately that was not the case for me. We started a cycle of clomid in December 2017 with a trigger shot of Ovidrel followed with an IUI. A negative pregnancy was the result. We continued with the same protocol for 3 more IUIs. Dr. Shavell provided statistics that show IUIs increasing positive outcomes after 3 IUIs, again they all resulted in negative pregnancy tests. We had a meeting with Dr. Shavell to discuss the next steps. She stated she would like to see my egg quantity and quality response with a protocol of pills and injectables with IUI. We switched to letrozole pills as I started having very bad headaches and long lasting nausea with clomid, and added Gonal F 75 IU daily, triggered with ovidrel followed with IUI. We did this for 2 rounds and both resulted in negative pregnancy tests. However, there was an increase in the number of follicles and size. At this point I could not continue to see negative tests and chose to take a month off. We met again and discussed having a laparoscopy to inspect the outside of my anatomy. We had a good pre-op conversation consisting of laparoscopy information and IVF information. The laparoscopy resulted in finding and removing stage 2 endometriosis. Dr. Shavell wanted to try IUI again now that we found a potential cause. We did IUI with letrozole, gonal f, and ovidrel. Another negative pregnancy test. That was the final IUI. Being that I was provided with IVF information a few months prior, I decided to schedule an IVF consultation in January 2019. The meeting was with an IVF nurse and she provided all the procedures,medication, and protocol information Dr. Shavell wants me to do. I was scheduled for a Sonohysterogram and mock embryo transfer with Dr. Shavell February 7, 2019. Here she wanted to get a better view of inside the uterus to ensure there weren't fibroids, polyps, scar tissue or other abnormalities that would prevent implantation. Everything looked just fine for implantation and the mock transfer went smoothly as well. Dr. Shavell will carry out my egg retrieval and embryo transfer in March 2019.

We do not have infertility insurance, however we do have coverage for monitoring and some procedures such as the HSG and laparoscopy which resulted in significant savings. Ultrasounds performed at one of their smaller locations (Mason) were typically $180 or $75 after insurance. However, if it was one of the Doctors that did the ultrasound as an ultrasound technician wasn't available, an extra $30 was added. If they were done at the Grand Rapids office, regardless of who did it, an extra $30 was tacked on. The bill would show it as a meeting, even though no meeting took place, it was just the ultrasound. IUIs were out of pocket. For the semen wash and the procedure it was $500 per IUI, we did this 4 times. Pricing changed and the IUIs were then $600 per, we did this 3 more times. The laparoscopy was a reasonable and fair price. For IVF, we will be paying $9,867 just for the procedures. This price includes the $1,850 we paid for a case management fee. We have a $8,017 balance due at the end of February 2019.

Dr. Shavell provided statistics on the success rates of single vs. Multiple embryo transfer along with specific criteria as to why a two embryo transfer is ideal for me. As I do not meat criteria for increased high risk pregnancy, we both agreed a two embryo transfer is ideal. She made sure to discuss the possibility of selective aborting if there were more than 2 or 3 developing babies.

Upon meeting Dr. Dodds, he quickly explained to me that I had two options due to my age (39y.o.): 1) The "European method". He explained this as "...if you want a baby ASAP, I can get you one using IVF. I call it the European method because it's cheaper and used more often in Europe. It's like the deluxe package". Or we could go the 2). Conservative route. Which would be try more medicated cycles and then IUIs and see what we could get to happen. But that we had maybe a 15-30% chance of ever conceiving this way. I was, and still am, diagnosed as Unexplained Infertility. I do not have PCOS, endometriosis, or diminished ovarian reserve, I ovulate regularly, am healthy, and all tests have come back in good range. I believe the only reason he said IVF was my best option is my age. He in no way was interested in discovering why we are unable to conceive. At one time he used the phrase "Well it's a good thing that's how the good Lord made you!" when discussing female reproductive anatomy. He commented on how "great" my husband's sperm analysis was several times. He called him an "overachiever". I left feeling hopeless, pressured to spend anywhere from $10-25,000 for IVF with them, and that my body was a complete failure. I never met with him in person again. I went through 4 IUI cycles in which he supposedly read the monitoring reports and made recommendations. It took me changing Drs to get a new protocol. He would have kept running the same thing over and over, even though we got no better results each time.

Go in confident. Do not let him pressure you to make decisions. Ask questions, and ask them again. Ask that you see him in person once in awhile to check in. Ask if he personally is monitoring your cycle. I doubt he will, but I wish I had demanded it more.

My first medicated cycle, he had me do 100mg of Clomid days 3-7. I produced 6-8 mature follicles. They recommended we switch to timed intercourse rather than IUI to avoid multiples. Then, I used 50 and 100 mg of Clomid days 3-7 (alternating days), with transvaginal monitoring on Day 1, and then closer to ovulation. We hoped to get 3-5 follicles of good size. I produced these each time, with some of them getting to a very large size---38mm was my largest. Ovidril was used to trigger ovulation and IUI was performed around 24-36 hrs later. I used progesterone the day following and for the next 14 days. I was not told that progesterone could stop my period from coming and I needed to stop after a negative test in order to allow myself to bleed. This lead to quite a bit of disappointment and heartache right off the bat. By the time we came to IUI #3, my lining was severely thinning due to the Clomid. I then started using estradiol to help build my lining. No pregnancies resulted from all 4 IUIs I had done.

With medications, consults, 4 IUIs, etc. about $7,000. A 10 min conversation with the Dr following my ultrasound would cost me about $150 each time. Ultrasound: $120 ea. IUI: $1200 +.

N/A

He is very friendly and compassionate. Blunt but not too blunt. Good bedside manner. We haven’t gotten the results we have been hoping for yet but he is always very understanding and always adjusting my plan and listening to my needs/wants.

Don’t be afraid to ask questions and tell him what you would prefer/want-he is good at listening to your preferences and then adding in his professional advice.

They were always in the morning and usually very quick. It worked for me because of my drive and then I just went to work afterwards.

Retrieval with transferring 5 day embryo with ICSI and embryo glue was roughly $10,000. My meds were around $3,000 and my montoring was roughly $2,500

We wanted to transfer 2 and he was okay with that, he never questioned it but I think it was because he knew I had poor egg quality and wanted to better our chances.

Dr. Young is slightly deadpan in his delivery or information. If you’re looking for someone who will tell you his honest opinion, he definitely will. It was comforting to me that he would tell me his thoughts or what would be beat for our treatment instead of laying out all the options and having me decide.

Know that you will not see him at every appointment. The clinic works so that whichever doctor is available is the one that sees you. They are all extremely capable.

I am in the middle of my IVF cycle now, so I am not sure the results yet. But I have appreciated that the medicine they wanted me to buy was almost exactly what I needed.

IVF with FET was 13,000 at the fertility center, 4,000 for meds (not including meds for FET), and 6,000 to do genetic testing with an outside location.

Dr. Dodd’s is a great person and doctor. He doesn’t rush through the appointment and thoroughly answers each question with years of experience clearly behind each thoughtful answer. He is understanding that this is a difficult and sensitive time for patients, especially the woman. He is kind and detailed, with every script and note written, never missing one single fact. At the first appointment we talked about our personal lives, careers, and families including both his own and ours - which set the tone for each future appointment, making it feel like we were just meeting with a friend. We also met in casual settings that didn’t feel like a “doctor’s office” which contributed to our comfort. He is clearly close with his staff, which helped us trust him and all the staff at the fertility clinic, knowing they were a team all together supporting us.

Great doctor- he has perfect bedside Manner and is excellent at his profession.

I had tried clomid prior to seeing Dr. Dodd, and he explained that IN femara studies it have been shown to work better than clomid for pcos which I have. We tried femara twice which I ovulated with based on occupations tests and a progesterone level. On the second round I didn’t get a positive ovulation test so I added ovidrel in the third and fourth cycles to ensure good ovulation. On the third and fourth cycles we did a mid cycles ultrasound Which showed that my uterine lining was getting smaller, and on the fourth round, which I had increased the dose of femara on, I was still only getting one follicle, so we have decided to move on to injectable with ovidrel and IUI which I am doing now. He explained that injectables will stimulate more eggs and thus increase chances of pregnancy. He also said iui doesn’t increase your chances by much, but we still wanted to try this during these injectable cycles as we will do 3 of them and then move to IVF.

$300 for each ultrasound - which were multiple in some cycles. $600 -iui. $500 - first months dose of gonal f. $50 - femara. $50- metformin.

Dr. Dodd’s suggested a 2 embryo transfer as that will increase our chances of success, with a reasonable chance of a multiple pregnancy. Also is it obviously a very expensive procedure, so that is to be considered.

I think Dr. Shavell is knowledgable and realistic with fertility expectations and outcomes. She spent a significant amount of time with us at our initial consultation but did not actually perform any of my procedures herself. She was an overseer of my case. She did communicate well with me when she called on the phone and she did call to check up on me after our negative result.

Be prepared to communicate more with the Nurses and make sure you are given both your red and your green folders. Read everything they provide.

We did an egg retrieval with a long cycle. We did injectable hormones. We retrieved 13 eggs, 5 fertilized, 2 survived to freeze. We had to do a freeze-all cycle because I needed a polypectomy the following cycle. The cycle after the surgery, we did a frozen transfer with both embryos. They did not take.

The IVF procedures are expensive and they require payment for a deposit and then payment in full before the cycle. I was unprepared for this as my clinic in NJ billed me as we went along. This delayed us getting started since all the money was required up front.

In my age bracket, they recommended 2-3 embryos at a transfer. I understand the risks with that and opted to proceed with the multiple embryo transfer.

I had no idea what to expect at my first appt for a consult. My husband's urologist said nothing was wrong with his sperm so I wasn't sure why we weren't getting pregnant. I also had a very short leutal phase and my own OB said it was only because my TSH levels were off. Dr. Shavell listened to our stories and looked closely at everything we had presented her with. She fixed my leutal phase with progesterone and had given us the blunt info that we needed to see that my husband's sperm was fine but definitely needs some help. She performed my first IUI and she was calm and explained everything. She is great

Make sure you listen, she's soft spoken and calm so you could miss something :)

I take Femara to help with producing more mature follicles I take progesterone 3 days after IUI to lengthen my leutal phase I was just prescribed a trigger shot this cycle in which I'll use in the next few days to make sure I ovulate all mature follicles She has me doing IUI once I get a positive OPK (when I wasn't using a trigger shot) So far IUI's #1 and #2 did not work. I am hopeful for #3, it's all a waiting game.

I guessed that our costs would be a lot higher than they ended up being. I wish they mapped out procedure costs a little better. I have pretty good insurance so that definitely helps with my journey

N/A

We love Dr. Dodd’s he was able to change up our transfer each time it didn’t work to try something different to try and set us up for success. After a failed fresh transfer and a failed frozen transfer he never made us feel like we wouldn’t conceive. After our 2nd frozen transfer we conceived and carrier our son to term. The phone calls he makes when the news isn’t always great is so sincere and positive. I really appreciate the time he takes during appointments and phone calls he makes.

Ask questions he is more then willing to answer them

We used the resistant uterine protocol on our last frozen cycle. I believe that is what worked for us. Unfortunately I can’t remember the entire process or meds that were prescribed

There was not ever a line we waited in the waiting room as if it was a regular appointment. We scheduled the time we were able to make it

Around $14000 I believe with the retrieval and 3 transfers (1 fresh 2 frozen)

He was very set on not transferring more then 2. He did say the odds of successful pregnancy were slightly higher when transferring 2.

Valerie has always been very warm anf compassionate. In the beginning we did state we wanted to do embryo adoption right off the bat and were told to do 3 iuis first, which all failed which was discouraging. We wasted a lot of money and time for it not to work. But shavell has always been reassuring and positive!

She is almost overly kind sometimes, but thats important when dealing with such sensitive topics.

First IUI was a natural cycle and it failed. Second cycle we used clomid and trigger shot, it was very hard to get through my uterus and ended up having to do an ultrasound, that cycle failed. Third cycle was clomid, estrace, and trigger shot with ultrasound guidance, that failed as well. All 3 cycles were with donor sperm. I just started week 2 of lupron shots as we start our frozen embryo adoption cycle.

Expensive! But in Michigan most insurance doesn't over anything for infertility. Ive had 4 or 5 ultrasounds each being between $275-$350. 3 iuis each $550, multiple appointments ranging from $200-500 each time. Medications have been about $900 so far, male factor testing has been almost $2,000, my testing has been about the same at $2,000. We just paid almost $10,000 for embryo adoption.

Valerie recommended a single transfer due to my age but was VERY receptive that we wanted to transfer 2, and we will be transfering 2 hopefully in May

She gave sympathetic gestures and comments when appropriate, but they did not seem genuine. We were very upset when we asked questions even concerning but husband on cycle 5 (looking to start cycle 6 with more injections and visits) we asked about checking him and why we haven’t after doing so much with me. We were brushed off and my husband wasn’t ever checked by them. Took my PCP/obgyn to actually order the test for us. Very very disappointed after spending so much time and money there

Be firm on what you feel you need as a patient. If you ever feel dissatisfied, get another drs opinion before continuing your journey.

It has been a few years, but she tested my blood and put me on thyroid meds. Then I would be on femara and go in often for ultrasounds to see my cycle progress and timing for ovidril shots. Then we wait 16 days and take a pregnancy test. 2nd cycle we conceived but then had a very early misscarriage. There was so much going on in each treatment that it is hard to remmeber

My insurance covered some of the cost. I think it was between $100-$200 per visit after insurance.

We never explored either option

Dr. Dodd’s was very friendly and informative every step of the way. He was very compassionate when we had a miscarriage. He did adjust our meds protocol for our second retrieval which we had wonderful results with. However, I did always feel rushed during our consults.

Be prepared with all your questions for him. So you feel informed of the process you are about to endure.

We started with IUI and gonal f shots. All resulting in a negative pregnancy test. We moved onto IVF and the first retrieval gave us 4 embryos. We transferred two and I became pregnant with a singleton resulting in a miscarriage at 9weeks pregnant. We then transferred the last two 4 months laters, which resulted in a negative pregnancy test. A year later we started the retrieval process again and this time the started the drugs at a stronger dose to jump start my follicles and we received 9 embryos at a 3 day blast. We transferred 2 and one embryo split and I was pregnant with triplets. Unfortunately at 10 weeks I lost the faturnal Twins. However my 3rd baby grew strong and we now have a 6 week beautiful baby girl!

8,000 for the ART program. 5,000 medication 2,000 blood work /ultrasounds, etc.

We felt like family with Dr. Dodds. I think he truly cares about our story and knows how badly we wanted a family. On the visits we didn't see Dr. Dodds, we saw exceptional and caring Drs I felt like if I ever needed to talk to Dr. Dodds about something he would make sure he was there for me. You can tell he has been doing this for a long time and creating families is his passion.

Keep going. What you are doing is a team effort with Dr. Dodd's. He will do his part and you will need to do your part.

My husband and I had been trying to conceive for 4 years prior to seeing Dr. Dodd's. We had tried several IUI's with my OBGYN. One resulted in a pregnancy that ended in a stillbirth at 30 weeks. We never got pregnant on our own or any other time trying IUI with my OBGYN. In the consult with Dr. Dodd's, he talked about trying IUI twice with Clomyd before moving to more intensive treatment. I got pregnant and then miscarried with my first IUI treatment with Dr. Dodds. He then allowed me to try more than 2 IUI's, knowing I was able to get pregnant with the first round. After the 4th or 6th (can't remember how many we did) IUI that year, he then suggested we move to IVF due to my age of 38. My husband and I were hesitant due to the cost. We soon realized we needed to take the next step to IVF. We contacted Dr. Dodd's to let him know we wanted to take the next step and then it moved fast from there. We did the egg retrieval a couple of months later and did a live embryo transfer (3 embryos) two days later. We froze the 5 remaining. I had a successful pregnancy and gave birth to our son at 36 weeks and 5 days in May 2017. We then did an embryo transfer of 3 frozen embryos in March/April 2018 that resulted in a negative pregnancy test. Then in August 2018 we transferred our last 2 frozen embryos with a IUI two days prior to the embryo transfer. This round resulted in a positive pregnancy test. We soon found out we were pregnant with twins. Then I miscarried the twins at 7 weeks. At that point I was done trying due to my age and all that we had been through. We are happy with our son in heaven and our son on this earth. We are so grateful to Dr. Dodds, Dr. Shavell and Dr. Thakur for all their support and care they provided through our treatments. They showed compassion and humanity and some of their own personal stories. I can not say enough good things about The Fertility Center's team of doctors.

We were very happy Dr. Dodds allowed us to transfer 3 embryos on two separate occasions due to my age and my biological clock running out.

Dr. Shavell is to the point, and obviously extremely intelligent and well educated. I'm a person that wants everything explained in detail as I want to absorb all the information I can. I could have asked more questions, but I wish she had approached us without thinking we were as familiar as why she would suggest some of the procedures. I wanted the detailed reasons why. She is very kind, which is very important to me. I have met with her twice, and am scheduled with her in 1.5 weeks.

Ask your questions, she gives you time.

I'm diagnosed with recurrent pregnancy loss after three miscarriages. Dr. Shavell suggested a saline sonohysterogram and a endometrial biopsy. The SHG was to check for scar tissue after two D&C's 7 days apart. The biopsy was to make sure the infection (endometritis) in my endometrium was resolved. Both came back normal and great, thankfully.

Cost has been fine as my insurance has covered appointments and procedures. Thanks to the staff that scheduled the two procedures, she made sure they were scheduled on two different days. Otherwise my insurance only would have covered one. That was a great experience. One negative experience was the Counsyl genetic testing they recommended; I had already had karyotype testing; so, I don't know if it was even necessary, but the MA gave me inaccurate information about being able to cancel the testing when I received an email from Counsyl. Thankfully Counsyl worked with me. I am slightly irritated they do not accept Tricare. My husband is a veteran and in the national guard and soon I will be on his insurance.

does not apply

Dr. Dodd’s is a great doctor. He didn’t beat around the bush. He told us where we were at and what we needed to do straight up, all while maintaining a warm and open approach. He made us feel very confident in him and of The Fertility Center as a whole.

Come with lots of questions and ask about anything you are unsure or confused about.

IVF - ART consultation, egg retrieval, embryo transfer = $8,000 Sperm analysis, wash, and storage = $1000 Ultrasounds = $225 (before insurance) Storage of embryos $400 a year. $100 charged per quarter

For the fresh embryo transfer they prefer to transfer 2 embryos.

We are in the middle of our fertility journey so I haven't had too many encounters with Dr Dodds yet, however the ones I have had been positive. Upon meeting him he was very informative, but in a way thats easy to understand. He let us know what he thought the best plan for us was and also took some time getting to know us. He is professional but understanding and compassionate. He also called me personally the day of our IUI to discuss how it went and his thoughts for moving forward. We are confident and happy with the care we are receiving.

Don't be afraid to ask questions! He is more than happy to elaborate if you don't understand. Also don't be afraid to ask for a different option if you're not comfortable with the one he gives. For example, he thought we may be better off trying IVF but we decided to exhaust the IUI option first. He was supportive of this decision.

We have done one round of IUI Femara Protocol so far. We are using Femara, a mid cycle ultrasound, and ovidril injection. We have not conceived yet so are trying another round of that same protocol and increasing the dose of Femara

We are only beginning. Our first patient visit we just paid a copay because our insurance covers diagnostic costs. The cost of IUI was $600 (not including our medication, that was an additional $120)

James is a good doctor. He explains the good and the bad. He gives guidance on what to change and his knowledge on how to move on to the next step when the last IUI’s failed. He has improved being relational sense 2014 vists.

Confident.

First cycle- femara 2.5mg pills cycle day 3-7. Had four mature eggs. I have one daughter from this cycle. Sencond cycle I was put on femara 2.5mg cycle day 3-7 only produce ONE egg. We backed out of the IUI. Third cycle dr young bumped my femara as I only produced one egg last time using 5mg cycle day 3-7 and had four mature eggs. IUI failed Fourth cycle femara 7.5 cycle day 3-7 had four mature eggs. IUI failed.

$500 for IUI

Even though we haven't had our miracle baby yet, I still am so thankful for having Dr. Dodds as our doctor. He has stuck with us and has kept us hopeful during a tough journey. He is always comprehensive in his treatment planning and when a treatment hasn't proven to be successful, he is great about tweaking things or offering other options. He is direct and very smart. He is also caring and empathetic. If I had to start treatment over, I would absolutely stick with him as my doctor.

Schedule to meet with him if you have questions and make sure to bring a list of questions! He is great about explaining options and also great about listening to you.

He first ordered blood work, sperm analysis, and HSG for diagnostic testing. It was determined I have a heart-shaped (bicornuate) uterus, otherwise we were unexplained. Multiples is a big risk with this condition, so he made sure to start me out on the lowest dose of Femara when I started medicated cycles. He had me come in for one midcycle US and we were able to adjust meds to get the anywhere from 1-3 follicles. After 4 cycles on femara, we met with him and he offered IUI or IVF. I was close to overproducing follicles a couple times (and again multiples is risky for me), so IVF would be more predictable. But, due to cost, we decided to do IUIs first and he was very understanding. We added in injectables to help with egg quality and ended up having to cancel our first month due to overproducing. After that, he had me come in a lot earlier and more frequent to monitor closely. The next 3 IUIs went smoothly (except for not getting a positive pregnancy test!). We then moved on to IVF. Before starting, I was on birth control for 6 weeks to quiet everything. We had a great retrieval with 17 eggs retrieved, 16 mature, all 16 fertilized, and 12 made it to day 2 freeze. I had to do a freeze-all because of risk of hyperstimulation. After our first day 3 embryo FET, I got pregnant, but miscarried at 10 weeks. I then went on to do 3 more FETs, all failed. We met with him after each FET to discuss next steps. He did try an immune protocol for resistant uterus for the last two FETs due to some indications that I may have autoimmune issues. This last FET we ended up transferring two embryos, as we hadn't had luck with single embryo transfers. After 4 transfers and 5 embryos transferred, we met again and Dr. Dodds had discussed our case with the other three doctors at the practice and gave us several options moving forward. We are now considering doing a fresh round of IVF and PGS testing all embryos, new and old. We got karyotyping done on me and are waiting on results. I also have a hysteroscopy scheduled for next week to look at the inside of the uterus to determine if anything obvious could be preventing implantation.

IVF without PGS for healthy 28-30y.o. was about 8-10K. With PGS clinic cost is about 12.5K and seperate PGS fee is 5.8K. IUI ended up being about 1.5K per cycle. Medicated cycles alone were pretty cheap, usually $100-200.

With a bicornuate uterus, we were encouraged to transfer one embryo. Not until our fourth transfer did we end up transferring two. Dr. Dodds went over all the pros/cons with us.