Washington University School of Medicine

Dr. Omurtag is extremely knowledgeable about infertility and fertility treatment. He has thoroughly explained everything we can expect with both IUI and IVF-down to the timing of ultrasounds and bloodwork. He is personable to talk to and we look forward to working with him more. My one disappointment is that we have only met him virtually up to this point-he has not been the one to perform any tests or procedures.

I have had one IUI so far with Dr. Omurtag. I did two previous IUIs with my OB where I was on 50mg of Clomid, so he upped my dose to 100mg to see if that would have a better outcome. The other IUI protocol was standard- follicle scan on day 12 and based on that scan, I triggred with Ovidrel that night for the IUI on CD14. The IUI failed but he was very clear about the low success rates with IUIs. We just had our IVF consultation and he was clear down to the days of the week I'd come in for monitoring. I believe I will have the standard protocol of medication due to unexplained infertility, good sperm, good AMH levels and consistently good follicle counts.

Before I met my deductible, the cost of ultrasounds and diagnostics did seem higher than my first clinic.

I appreciate his approach to transferring one embryo. To me that means my safety and the health of my baby is a top priority.

Dr. Odem is very compassionate and competent. He has a lot of knowledge and experience and really cares about you as a patient. He takes his time and fully explains everything. He went out of his way to talk to me at length when the cycle did not go as planned due to my body’s response.

Ask questions for anything you don’t understand and he will explain things further!

For IVF he used an antagonist protocol due to me having PCOS. He had my medications at the lowest dose due to fear of OHSS but it took my ovaries longer than expected so I was stimulated for 16 days much longer than was expected. I think this was a downside to my cycle and I did not get as many follicles as I had hoped. The number of eggs was 20 but the number of mature really was only 11.

Monitoring appointments were super flexible and a well oiled machine.

IVF was 11,500 and a frozen transfer was $4,000 but BJC recently raised the prices to around $13,400 for IVF and $4,800 for FET. These are private pay prices

He really encourages only transferring one but will allow you to make that decision. We transferred one the first time and two the second.

Overall, he is a good and nice person. He seems to be very knowledgeable in the field. I think he wasn’t as aggressive as I wanted to be. It took two failed transfers to get there which was a lot to go through emotionally and financially to get there. The clinic itself is not as aggressive as other clinics in the St. Louis area.

I would say to be afraid to advocate for yourself. If the clinic has done something wrong to tell him because he won’t know. If it doesn’t work the first round, don’t keep doing the same thing.

I did 2 transfers with only one embryo. His rational was the technique was good enough that it would work. I had a miscarriage and then a negative result the second time. Then it was like maybe two is appropriate the next time. I wanted to do the second time and wished I would have pushed it.

About $600 for an iui. $12k for retrieval, 4K for transfers. I had a severe case of ohss which was not covered in Ivf package which I didn’t know.

I’ve done two single, one ended in a miscarriage at 7 weeks. The second was a negative. I wanted to do two the second time and wished I would’ve have pushed for it.

Dr. Jimenez is always thorough. She discovered my Ashermans when an OBGYN had completely missed it in a previous hysteroscopy. She addresses my concerns and is compassionate to our personal needs. When my symptoms of scarring returned she performed another SHG and found my scarring returned and promptly scheduled surgery.

Always do the research so that you can ask thorough questions and be part of the decision process.

Initially when I started treatments to find out why I was struggling to conceive I saw an OBGYN locally who performed a hysteroscopy/laparoscopy and prescribed Clomid. During the surgery she missed my Ashermans and was unable to treat the endometriosis. I had an allergic reaction to the Clomid. When seeing Dr. Jimenez she was thorough and performed an SHG due to my symptoms. She discovered my Ashermans that the previous doctor missed. She then performed a hysteroscopy and when she was on maternity leave Dr. Odem performed another. I then had 2 rounds of letrozole that I had reactions too. I had a migraine for 3 months from the letrozole. When the symptoms of scarring returned she performed another SHG and hysteroscopy to remove scarring that had reformed. I then had an unmedicated IUI which resulted in a possible chemical pregnancy as I had positive urine pregnancy test with negative labs. I have had a total of 5 SHG. My SHG protocol was to take 800mg of ibeprofun and then after 30minutes they perform an internal ultrasound for baseline measurements. They then follow with putting the catheter in and filling the saline in the cavity. They then take pictures with the internal wand. Following the test Dr. Jimenez discusses the results with me and my spouse. My hysteroscopy protocol was to arrive for the surgery and do the routine process. They use micro scissors guided by ultrasound to remove scarring. A stent was placed during 1 of the surgeries. Then following the surgery an estrogen protocol was followed to prevent scarring from reforming and then progesterone for a withdrawal bleed. The balloon stent was removed after a week to 10 days. I removed the stent at home. Letrozole was given 5 days of the cycle and I monitored at home with OPK kits. We had time intercourse. No pregnancy resulted. My unmedicated IUI was monitored at home with OPK kits and then the morning after my positive OPK I had the IUI. I had multiple positive FRER but negative lab work.

I believe an SHG was around $800 after insurance. The clinic was good at getting diagnostic treatment covered under insurance. My SHG was $550, but I paid $1200 because I had to pay up all I had on payment plans.

Our next step is IVF. My nurse has discussed they limit the number of embryos transferred. They also do not offer mini IVF. Due to my Ashermans I would not want extra embryos that I may not be able to transfer. So mini IVF would offer less medication reactions and less embryos. My hope is to limit the eggs fertilized and freeze remaining eggs to fertilize later if I am able to carry another pregnancy.

I love have Dr. Rattes for a doctor. I wish a cycle would have worked, but she continues to look for ways to adjust the cycle. She is a caring human being would will have the difficult conversations when needed.

You will not see her for ever visit during an actual treatment cycle. The doctors work on rotation so any of the doctors could be doing the retrieval and transfer. I always fell on a different doctors rotation and absolutely loved them all.

My first cycle was a fresh 3 day transfer. I went in for many visits to monitor egg growth and lining checks. Once I had the retrieval, I was called in for a 3 day transfer to transfer 2 embryos. They gave us the option for 1, but we chose 2 on the doctors recommendations. The cycle failed. The next cycle was a frozen transfer. Not all our embryos made it to day 5. We had 1 left. Cycle was much easier. Took estradiol before and then progesterone after transfer. The cycle also failed. I did a second retrieval, 3rd transfer (2nd fresh). Cycle was much like the First only the stemmed harder to try for more eggs. More eggs were immature and didn’t get to be fertilized. 2 embryos transferred on fresh cycle day 3. Failed. No embryos survived to 5 days.

Costs for IVF range from 12-15,000 for a retrieval and fresh transfer. I went through a place in CA to finance and provide cost for 1 fresh, 1 frozen for less than in office. The second fresh, frozen we purchased I lost out on some of the $ I had paid in due to not having any embryos survive to 5 days for a frozen transfer. The clinic had the money but since it was contractually linked to the fresh cycle, it is not allowed to be applied to future cycles.

Dr. Jungheim was very friendly and explained everything to me in terms I could understand. She even drew pictures to explain various steps. Before meeting with her, she reviewed my file very thoroughly and didn't offer any procedure she didn't think I would need considering I had been through so much before going to this specific clinic.

Know that you work with all doctors and not with just the one you see the first time. A different doctor did my retrieval and transfer because they work as a team. She is very understanding and will answer any of your questions without reservation.

I was on the long agonist protocol. I started Dec. 24 with my first shot and triggered Jan. 14. I started taking all 3 shots by Dec. 31 I believe. I felt bloated at times and had one headache, but overall I wasn't miserable. I am currently in the TWW so I don't have results.

It was efficient and I loved that they were first thing in the morning so I could still make it to work on time.

$325 just for the initial appointment consultation. $130 for the trial embryo transfer.... Those are the only two bills I remember the amounts of.

I felt rushed in this decision. We were thinking initially that it would be a single embryo, and when I went in for my egg retrieval and saw a different doctor, he said he was worried there is a cause other than my endometriosis and would recommend ICSI just to increase our chances of being successful this first round. At transfer and showed me two embryos and said the 3 wasn't looking good and probably wouldn't freeze. He said of the two was was a really good 7 cell and the other was a 6 cell but it appeared the cells were starting to merge so he wasn't as sure of it. Using the amendment logic he had with retrieval, and not wanting to live with regrets, we went with 2.

Again, I appreciate the time she took to explain treatments to me. She came to the appointments prepared. I also appreciated that she called me after my 3rd IUI (I wasn't even home yet) to touch base.

I would tell them to recognize that this is a practice and not a single doctor clinic. You may not see Dr. Jungheim for the procedures but they want to do things on each patient's time table and not the doctor's.

We started with ultrasounds, HSG, and blood work. After that it was determined I wasn't ovulating consistently. (I had also previously had surgery to remove cyst, ovary, and Fallopian tube. I had also previously been diagnosed with endometriosis). We did 3 rounds of Letrozole and IUI. All 3 resulted in negative pregnancy tests. We are now in the process of beginning IVF.

IUIs have ran around $500. The IVF quote including medicine is roughly $14,000

Dr Cooper is the most compassionate and empathetic physician I have ever had. Her knowledge and expertise on infertility related disease states are well shown through the research and studies she partakes in within the reproductive/endocrinology field. She treats each patient like a person and not as a statistic that will increase/decrease her facilities success rates. She never rushes you and thoroughly answers all questions during all phone and in person interactions.

Make an in person consultation ASAP to see for yourself what a wonderful physician she is. You will leave feeling loved, cared about, and that your best interest is her number one priority.

After being diagnosed with premature ovarian insiffiency, I wanted to know that I tried everything I could before opting for donor eggs. I tried high doses of gonadotropins such as follistim and menopur, but still did not produce follicles of sufficient size to proceed to a trigger and a retrieval. I tried this 2 different times, both times with the same results. I am currently in the process of persueing donor eggs.

After my deductible is met, insurance picks up a majority of my visit cost. Prior to my deductible being met, a consultation was around $250, all of which was being applied to my deductible.

Dr. Keller is very candid which I appreciate. She gets right to the point. She doesn't sugar coat. I feel that she absolutely has my best interests at heart. I know she has a lot of other patients but I don’t really feel like “just a number” to her. I wish I could see Dr. Keller at every procedure but Washington University rotates doctors doing procedure. However, I think there are many pros to this system. I have had egg retrievals and transfers on holidays, weekends, even Sunday. I appreciate that they have a large group of doctors for this reason. And they meet every week to discuss cases and bounce ideas off of each other.

I would just warn them that they might feel overwhelmed at first or feel like “just a number” but Dr. Keller really cares.

Dr. K switched my to an antagonist for my second retrieval. Therefore I could do a Lupron trigger since the first egg retrieval resulted in mild OHSS. Antagonist with the Lupron trigger was soooo much easier on my body. She also suggested freezing my embryos at 2PN (right after fertilization) rather than grow them to blast and then freeze. I didn’t have luck getting embryos to blast stage during the first IVF. So this way I can still do a frozen transfer (let my body calm down for a couple months) and still have the option of a 3 day transfer if necessary.

For my first cycle (monitoring, retrieval, and transfer), insurance was billed $21,000. This was MORE than I was originally told. Meds were $3,800. Luckily I have fairly good insurance. For my second cycle (monitoring and retrieval - no transfer yet), insurance has been billed $17,862. Meds were about the same.

I've done one transfer so far. We transferred 2 embryos at her suggestion. This was because it was day 5 and they were not quite blasts yet so she thought 2 would be better than 1.

He was very straight forward during our tele conference. He was very friendly and seemed postive that we would have success without any issues. That was the only time we met Dr. Odem. Our phsycial visits to the office, which is a 3 hour drive, was always pleasant however we never met Dr. Odem face to face.

I was frustrated that because I have had a postive pregnancy in the past, that Dr. Odem and other doctor's I have seen, thought it would be easy for me to get pregnant, even after having multiple unsuccessful attempts.

The only treatment startegies we tried after my miscarriage were to try Clomid. Although I have always ovulated every month, we thought this might give the sperm an extra target. However, after several unsuccessful months of IUIs, Dr. Odem was unwilling to further evaluations because I have had a positive pregnancy.

There was a fee for our teleconference with Dr Odem, although I do not remember exactly how much, maybe around $100. The IUI itself was more expensive around $450.

Dr. Omurtag was very patient and kind, very understanding. He does the initial consult, but works with a team of doctors to decide treatments. He was very responsive when there was a problem. He didn't seem to have a sense of urgency with the situation, and did not suggest any supplements or outside procedures that have shown to maybe contribute to success, just the basic medical IVF treatment.

Definitely do your own research into any supplemental treatments, vitamins, etc. that might provide some benefit. This clinic is much more of a hospital setting than some other clinics.

Long agonist protocol, a month of birth control, 2 weeks of lupron treatment before the stimulation phase began. Wgg retrieval is very much in a hospital surgical room setting. No change after the 1st failed cycle except increase dosages of gonal F and menopure. No planned change after 2nd failed cycle.

Monitoring is done in the very early morning and usually can be accomplished within 10 to 30 min, depending on if you are having bloodwork or a scan as well. It is very efficent but they do not make you feel like it is an assembly at all.

A long agonist cycle with transfer and medication cost about 15,000$. ICSI was around another 1000$.

Dr. Omurtag was fine with transfering 2 untested embryos and after age 35 and previously failed cycles would transfer 3 untested embryos.

I really appreciated that Dr. Omurtag was willing to take my husband and I's concerns/opinions into account. He performed a scratch test, which at the time, had only been researched on women who had failed IVF cycles. Knowing the benefits of the scratch test I was adamant that I wanted it done. Dr. Omurtag explained the risks and research but respected our feelings. He was always positive but sure to explain the realistic side of things. He took the time to meet with my husband and I multiple times after our initial doctor left the practice without warning.

To not be afraid to explain your opinions or feelings on the procedure. It is ultimately your body and baby and he is very cognizant of that and won't make you feel intimated about asking questions.

All of the procedures, aside from the scratch test, were used specifically for someone with my diagnoses and age.

I dont remember, somewhere in the range of $15,000 with medication

WASHU's goal is one healthy singleton but there are considerations when making the decision on how many embryos to transfer. In our situation we had one that wasn't a great quality and the embryologist did not think would make to freeze but had a slight chance with transfer.

Dr. Cooper is such an amazing Dr. She truly cares for her patients. You might have to wait a little bit at your appointment but it's only because she is taking her time with her patients just as she does with you. She didnt ever tell me I was crazy or emotional or anything else when I would have anxiety about what was going on at that point, she understood how much it meant to us to have a family. She would be the one that called me to give me test results.

Hang in there, you've got the best Dr taking care of you. She is going to try her hardest and do her very best for you, like she does with all of her patients!

It's been almost 6 years since my treatment, I don't really remember the specifics. I just know that IVF was our best option.

It was around $10,000 with the ARC program for 1 fresh and 1 frozen cycle. Medication was between $5,000-$6,000 for both cycles

Kenan explained everything in detail and was interested everything we had done before meeting with him. He got to know my husband and I in detail and gave us a reassuring feeling when we left his office.

He is on it and will want to be aggressive with treatment. I think this is a good thing!

He wanted to start us with IUI because we had one miscarriage prior to meeting with him. It was possible for us to get pregnant but had been challenging. IUI was the more affordable option and we had a good chance of success. He stated to do 3 rounds and if one did not work we would meet again and decide the next steps. Most likely IVF.

First visit was covered with copay and we never were charged for all of our blood work, so insurance covered that. Our IUI’s were $383 each time and the ovidrel shot was $107

N/A

She was knowledgeable and easy to talk to. She explained things thoroughly to make sure I understood well. She listened to me, heard my questions and concerns and took time to understand us well. She intentionally asked us what our goals and expectations were which relieved us right away.

Know what you are willing to do to get what you want and have questions ready.

We used Letrozole and timed intercourse. I had two chemical pregnancies and miscarriages.

No concerns

Not applicable

We are still in the middle of treatment but so far he has been honest and encouraging with us. We had some setbacks in not getting the number of follicles we hoped for and he talked us through our options. He was honest but also hopeful.

Don't be afraid to ask all your questions. Big and small. As patients we are allowed to advocate for ourselves and Dr. Omurtag is willing to answer all questions.

We paid out of pocket and cost without meds was around 13,00

Kenan was a good doctor. I felt he could have been more willing to really Go for tailoring my meds but held back. He is honest and trustworthy with a good sense of humor. My only criticism really was he seemed a little passive at times.

Be pushy and stay on him about what you really want!! Hes a great guy.

I doubt I could accurately recall the details

Exuberant

He agrees with multiples which was awesome but didn't work for us.

Dr Jungheim explained every detail of the IVF process and the steps we would be taking next. She was very knowledgeable and transparent. She was compassionate and had great bedside manner. She looks at all treatment options and decides what would work best for you. When a test result showed something we weren’t expecting, she had a plan be to use if needed. I am not through my IVF cycle, but have had a great experience with Dr. Jungheim this far.