Alison Zimon

Dr. Zimon is caring and compassionate. She is exceptionally knowledgable in the world of reproductive medicine, and is able to explain intricate medical details in terms understandable by patients. She takes the time to get to know her patients, both medically and personally and is truly invested in their happiness and success.

Don't hesitate to be open and honest and forthcoming with your questions. Dr. Zimon will handle them with care and answer them thoroughly.

From the outset, Dr. Zimon prescribed Ovidrel trigger shots as needed prior to our IUI procedures. After the 6th failed IUI, her professional recommendation was that we move forward with IVF. Unfortuantely, due to limitations in our insurance coverage, we were forced to continue with 6 more cycles of IUI. At this point, Dr. Zimon prescribed a low dose (2.5 mg) of Letrozole. We then did 3 failed IUI cycles with a high dose (7.5 mg) of Letrizole. Our treatment is currently on hold due to the COVID-19 pandemic. We are anxiously awaiting to hear when it is safe for us to resume treatment.

All expenses have been paid out of pocket due to lack of insurance coverage for LGBT fertility treatments. Each cycle costs (at time of review) is $1360, which includes bloodwork, monitoring, sperm thaw, sperm wash, and the IUI procedure itself.

We had a communication issue midway through that caused a lot of anxiety on my part. When we finally met with her and talked about it she was very apologetic and has since made every effort to stay in touch.

Make sure the office is getting the messages to her, make sure you understand what information the office needs for insurance to go through seamlessly and don't assume they will keep track of all of that.

I have a thyroid issue and that complicated things a little with coordination and timing. The IVF stimulation phase went well, the retrieval and embryo results were better than expected. She was confident about doing a modified natural cycle for the first transfer which was unsuccessful. We will go ahead with another transfer attempt but with the full hormone replacement protocol as well as antihistamines and steroids.

The monitoring hours were all in the morning which was sometime very inconvenient for me. Most appointments went fast, sometimes there was a long wait and a sense of disorganization at the office.

Insurance "covers" IVF in MA, but we still had tons of costs, from co pays, to extra appointments outside of the actual IVF appointments. Medications were very expensive even with the insurance and we paid out of pocket for one since it would have been even more with insurance.

I trust her to do single embryo.

Dr. Zimon's enthusiasm for her work is evident, and you can tell her mind is always working while you communicate with her. I always leave feeling hopeful, but with realistic expectations. She seems to truly care about her patients and has great bedside manner. I have never once questioned the calls she has made about my care, and having seen two doctors before her, I am aware that having confidence in your physician makes all the difference with your comfort during the IVF process.

Ask lots of questions, and don't be afraid to confirm your understanding of the process. It's your body, and the entire process can feel daunting and overwhelming, but having knowledge is key.

With Dr Zimon I feel I am getting the best treatment possible. My only concern is whether she had accurately explained our likelihood of success. In the middle of treatment I understood that it was much lower than I thought. Also, nobody explained to me how long it would take.

I would recommend Dr Zimon. I am not sure what advice to give a prospective patient. Perhaps warn them about the time it will take -- but again it all depends on their numbers and luck. Every case is different.

The first protocol was antagonist and went pretty good. In the second one we introduced clomid (to reduce cost, because it was out of pocket) and that did not go well at all.

We had to pay out of pocket for genetic testing.

I don' t think they do multiple embryo transfer

Dr. Zimon is extremely thorough, highly intelligent, compassionate and was willing to work with my particular situation. She was willing to engage with my ideas (both from research and from my previous experiences with other doctors) and never made me feel like I was being difficult or stubborn. Even though she is compassionate and passionate about success, she never sugar-coated the situation and was always realistic about expectations (even when it wasn't the easiest thing to hear). She was rational about what results we might expect and most importantly, though confident and optimistic, never over promised on what could be delivered. I've had the experience of overly confident doctors and let downs, and I would much rather Dr. Zimon's approach. She absolutely made me feel like a partner during the whole process and I really appreciated it. She listened to my concerns and ideas, explained hers and worked to find a way we could meet in the middle if there were differences. I saw her at almost every appointment, she did all of my retrievals (not my IUI on my converted cycle - that was done by a wonderful nurse) and I always felt she was fully invested in my success. I highly recommend her.

Don't be afraid to ask questions or for what all of your options are, Dr. Zimon is always willing to explain the process and reasons behind the treatment process and protocol.

I did three cycles with Dr. Zimon at CCRM. I have fairly significant DOR as well as male-factor, because of this, the first two were banking cycles, and the third was intended to be a fresh transfer. We agreed to an early freeze on the first two cycles. For the first cycle I did estrogen priming with micro-dose lupron cycle with max stims of Menopur and Follistim and omnitrope. We retrieved 5 eggs, of which 3 were mature and 2 fertilized and were frozen. The second cycle (another banking) was again estrogen priming with max doses of Menopur, Follistim and omnitrope, but we used clomid instead of the micro-dose lupron. We retrieved 5 eggs on that cycle of which 3 were mature all fertilized and were frozen. The following cycle was to be a complete cycle with fresh transfer. We went back to the micro-dose lurpon cycle and dropped the Menupur and Follistim down to 225/225. Unfortunately, due to my DOR I didn't respond as well and only one follicle developed. We planned to retrieve it, but it became ready to ovulate so instead we did an IUI - which worked!

Because of our insurance we had treatments mostly covered, but had to pay out of pocket for medications. I believe they were approximately $8000 per cycle.

I didn't make it to a transfer, but Dr. Zimon is a proponent of elective single embryo transfer.

Dr. Zimon creates specifically individualized treatments for me and I know I was not treated like everyone else. She evaluated my PCO(S) and explained what it means to not have the (S) Syndrome. She works very hard to help me out to the best of her ability and even reached out to the Colorado headquarters of CCRM to ask about clinical trials they are doing for PCOS and whether I could participate.

Dr. Zimon will truly listen and take your thoughts into account before creating an IVF or embryo transfer plan so please share all of your thoughts and any research you have done.

She used very low dose for egg retrieval IVF cycle and each time she has lowered the doses as I respond dramatically to the medications. During embryo transfer she did a histamine protocol which included Claritin, Pepcid, baby aspirin and vitamin A.

$15,000 - $20,000 IVF cycle w/ ICSI, Genetic Testing, etc.

My embryo's were genetically tested therefore they should have worked. Putting two embryos in could have put me at a high risk pregnancy carrying twins.

She is very easy to talk to and explains all details of your treatment. The care I've received from her is so much more than my pervious clinic. She actually listens to my concerns and is willing to try other protocols. My first cycle with her resulted in the most embroys making it to freeze out of the 3 cycles I've had! I have not had a transfer yet but I am very hopeful that she will help us get our miracle baby.

Don't be afraid to advocate for yourself. She will listen!

My stim protocol started with 150 follistim & 150 menopur for the first 2 days, then tapered down after each monitoring appointment. I stated cetrotide on day 4 and did a dual trigger of hgc & lupron. She monitored my cycles very closely, aso to not over stim me, which happened in the past. I respond very well to stims and we were trying to avoid OHSS. We had 36 retrieved, 24 mature, 18 fertilized & 8 blasts to biopsy & freeze. Currently waiting on chromosome testing results.

Dr. Zimon is phenomenal. She was patient, compassionate, explained everything well, and was confident yet realistic. The difference in her practice (as opposed to the ivf factory style practices) was most pronounced at the retrievals and transfers. The retrievals were calm and smooth. Once I was the only patient there for retrieval, and the other time I was one of two. This is a world of difference from the factory clinics where you feel like you are on an assembly line. During transfers at the factory clinics, I was told I had a weird bend in my cervix and they had a difficult time and used various catheters, which made the process stressful and uncomfortable, and had us leave right after. At Dr. Zimon’s practice, she noted that the bend was due to my bladder being too full, removed all the equipment, she and the embryologist waited in the room while the nurse took me to the bathroom to partially empty, and then started anew and the procedure was easy, then they let us stay in the room (reclined) for as long as we wanted. The factory clinic didn’t have the time to do what was needed to correct the situation and let me suffer instead.

Don’t hesitate to make an appointment!

I had previously done three rounds of ivf at another practice resulting in few (1-3) mature eggs each cycle, fresh 3 day transfers due to the low number of embryos, and none that made it to day 5 to test/freeze, resulting in a single clinical pregnancy. Dr. Zimon expressed great confidence in CCRM’s lab (which they are known for) and I reluctantly agreed to a five day freeze all cycle to test, even though historically that meant no embryos for me. We got two chromosomically normal embryos from the first retrieval, and did a second freeze all retrieval before doing a transfer for fertility preservation, with the same results! Dr. Zimon did a frozen single transfer of the best quality embryo of the four and it resulted in my daughter, and we have three more embryos in storage .

Insurance covered all but the genetic testing

Dr. Zimon felt strongly (it may have been a requirement, I can’t remember) that only a single embryo be transferred if it was a day 5 with genetic testing because the likelihood of pregnancy was relatively good and the potential complications that could result from a transfer of multiples was too great. I was convinced.

Allison is very attentive and is present at every appointment. She even performed my hysteroscopy herself. She has provided legal referrals for managing fertility options during a divorce. Allison has been very supportive and her vast experience is apparent at every interaction.

Be transparent about your needs and concerns.

Not yet initiated

$15000 for out of pocket IVF cycle (not yet completed)

Due to my bicornuate uterus, eSET is the safest option for me and the fetus.

Dr. Zimon is an incredible and brilliant physician! We sought her help after a horrible experience at Boston IVF. We had such a personal experience throughout the entire process at CCRM. We had drastically better results after switching to her and am now pregnant!

Maintain hope

Injections included gonal-f, menopur, dexamethasone, and cetritide. She adjusted dosages based on my morning ultrasounds. She also put me on metformin for PCOS which my prior physician said I did not need. For trigger, I used Lupron and hcg.

Our questions were met with thoughtful, thorough answers, as Dr. Zimon made herself available to my husband and me both during and in between appointments. What was most important to me was how genuinely invested Dr. Zimon was in us—not just in our success, but also in our experience leading up to it.

Don't be afraid to ask questions, even if it means asking Dr. Zimon to repeat herself; she is incredibly patient and wants you to understand and be comfortable with every step of the process.

I have no complaints! She has been wonderful to work with! She has been incredibly supportive throughout this process. It is clear that she has a deep understanding of the impact of infertility on clients.

I would suggest asking as many questions as possible!

$25 copay for visits with Dr. Zimon and procedures

We cannot say enough about the incredible experience that we had at CCRM Boston. From the moment we walked into the office, we felt supported, understood, and encouraged that Dr. Zimon and her staff would work tirelessly to help us to achieve our goal of having a baby. As we began our process, we were continuously impressed with each member of the CCRM Boston team: from Liz at the front desk who always greeted us with a smile, to the nurses who made themselves available to answer our questions big or small, to the lab technicians who promptly provided critical information to us and to our doctors, to our embryologist whose excitement about the growth and development of our embryos may have surpassed our own, and of course, Dr. Zimon, who approached her care for us with a sense of optimism and realism. We feel forever indebted to the entire team for helping us to achieve our biggest dream of having a healthy child. We are honored that our son Charlie is CCRM Boston's first baby and look forward to supporting CCRM Boston as they provide the best care for couples who are also trying to have a child. Dr. Zimon told us early on, the process of trying to overcome infertility can bring any couple to their knees, and she could not have been more accurate; however, we feel so lucky to have had Dr. Zimon and her staff help pick us back up after every challenge we faced. "Thank you" will never, ever, be enough for making our most important dream and the best adventure of our life become a reality.

Alison Zimon is a smart, kind and honest medical professional who truly loves what she does each day. I believe that she has our best interests at heart and wants to see us through a successful pregnancy. I would recommend anyone I know to her.

If you prefer to shy away from all of the details or the what if's, say so up front. Otherwise, Dr. Zimon will share every piece of information she has with you (which I prefer, but I know not everyone does).

Dr. Zimon takes the time to listed to her patients. She is brilliant, thoughtful, and caring. She thinks outside the box when it comes to treatment and takes the patient's situation, feelings, and preferences into account when making recommendations. Treatment plans are designed as a patient-doctor team with compassion and kindness.

Be honest and forthcoming. She will actually listen and consider you as a person.

Dr Zimon is very thorough and takes the time to meet personally with her patients. During our initial consult she spent more time with us than our previous doctor did. I was pleasantly surprised that she took the time to do my 3 day ultrasound and hysterscopy to see for herself how everything looked.

Don't be afraid to ask questions.

We have not yet completed a cycle.

I saw Dr. Zimon when she was at Boston IVF. I waited for her to get into CCRM and made an appt. I wanted to continue to my fertility treatment with her. I didn't see her for 2 years and when we met again, it was like we didn't skip a beat. I walked into her office and she remembered every little detail there was.

Make an appointment

500 per iui

Dr. Zimon was knowledgeable, caring and matter of fact. When our results for trying for our second child were not optimal and not expected - she completely adjusted plans and worked with us to determine the level of aggression we wished to pursue. Very satisfied with out results.

Be honest with yourself and Dr. Zimon about how you tolerate pain, and know what your expectations are. (I know - it is to have a baby!) But how aggressive do you want to be? Understand your financial ramifications as well. We only could do one full cycle of IVF and knowing that - we chose the upper level of medical interventions rather than starting out at lower doses.

Insurance covered the majority of or IUI cycles for our first child - copay was around 400 for Dr. Zimon and maybe 300 for the drugs? For our IVF cycle we maxed out our drug benefit after the initial cycle and had to pay out of pocket for all drugs to sustain the pregnancy. I would say Dr. Zimon's co-pay was around 400-500; and the out of pockets cost on drugs was easily over 2000

Dr Zimon is very personable and does her best to work with you to understand your needs. What she could do better is be more decisive instead of always being diplomatic. Sometimes she needs to be the doctor and take charge.

She gives options. You have to make decisions. She is very good. Her staff is very sloppy and needs constant follow up.

All agonist protocols. Donor eggs with estrace and crinone.

65k

Alison was kind, patient & detailed. The situations she deals with are usually stressful, personal and potentially painful, but she did a very good job of maintaining professionalism while also being empathetic.

Be patient & don't lose hope!

I didn't have to do much since I used a donor egg, but the prep work towasn't terribly difficult.

No insurance, so very high.

I came to Dr. Zimon after already being treated by another doctor in another state. I wasn't new to infertility or treatments, so we hit the ground running. We had some insurance hoops to jump through (like trying IUI one more time) and she was patient through all that. She explained everything we needed to know about IVF, the risks, the benefits, and the odds of it working for us. She was cautious going into our first cycle (maybe too cautious) and we found out I was a poor responder to meds. She was open to adjusting my protocol and she was open to trying different things. I met with her several times and she always listened to my concerns and took the time to answer all my questions. She did my first egg retrieval, and we only had one egg retrieved, but she took the time to talk to me about everything and called me personally when that egg didn't fertilize. She celebrated with me when we had successes and shared my disappointment with failed cycles. I felt like she was a good balance between honest and direct but also compassionate. We ultimately ended up with twins after our third retrieval and second transfer, so I'm glad she was willing to try different protocols until we found what worked.

Come to appointments prepared with a list of questions and be ready to take notes. It can be a lot of information at once.

First cycle: antagonist protocol. Started low and slow, very little response to meds (Bravelle and Menopur). Tried upping the dosage, with some response. I have some symptoms of PCOS, so I think she was worried I would over-stim, but since I have DOR, that wasn't an issue. Only 1 egg was retrieved and it didn't fertilize, so nothing to transfer that round. Second cycle: no birth control pills taken prior to cycle start, since I was over-suppressed. Switched to an estrogen priming protocol with much better response and upped my dosage of Bravelle, continued Menopur. 8 eggs were retrieved, 5 fertilized. Elective single embryo transfer on day 5, 2 embryos were frozen. Negative pregnancy test. Third cycle: Dr. Zimon recommended another fresh cycle, so we left 2 embryos frozen and did the EPP again. My dose of Bravelle was upped again, I think to the max recommended dose. 6 eggs were retrieved, 4 mature, 2 fertilized. Dr. Zimon recommended a 3 day transfer (clinic policy with less than 4 embryos on day 2). We transferred both embryos on day 3, both were 8 cells. One was good quality and the other was showing some fragmentation. They told us that embryo likely wouldn't survive to day 5, and if it did, wouldn't meet the freeze criteria, so we decided to transfer both. Both embryos implanted and I gave birth to twin girls at 37 weeks 4 days.

Monitoring was done first thing in the morning, I liked the early appointments. It was organized and the wait time was never long.

I think the total cost for the cycle was around $12.500. We had insurance coverage, so our OOP was around $1500. I know ICSI was going to cost us an extra $1500, but our insurance ended up covering it. We were quoted $4500 for PGS, but didn't ended up using it (not recommended based on our diagnosis, but cost would have been prohibitive). Retail for meds was over $6K per cycle, I paid about $1K in co-pays per cycle for meds.

The clinic policy was eSET if patient was under 35 and first IVF cycle, so we followed that recommendation for our first transfer. She seemed very supportive of eSET, especially because we were concerned with the risks of multiples. She explained that the cost of multiple transfers would be potentially less that the cost of a high risk pregnancy and/or premature babies. After our eSET transfer failed, she was open to us transfering 2, but she let us know that the risk of multiples went up more than the probability of pregnancy.