Antoni Duleba

Dr Duleba was always kind and courteous, had great bedside manners. He explained things in detail and made me feel like he really cared. He’s very optimistic, maybe a little too optimistic. He was always honest with me and prepared me for what to expect, even if it was potential bad news

Don’t be afraid to ask questions

Dr Duleba was always kind and courteous and had good bedside manners. However, the clinic is busy and appointments were brief and fast.

When I started seeing Dr Duleba I was only 26 and struggled to conceive for 6 months. I always had inconsistent periods so I knew I should get checked out sooner than most people. Dr Duleba suggested I continue to try to conceive because after the initial consultation and ultrasound, he did not see any problems with either me or my husband. However, I decided I wanted to proceed with IUI. We did 2 cycles with Clomid and when I did not respond well to the meds and did not get pregnant, Dr Duleba switched me to letrozole for 3 more rounds of IUI which were also unsuccessful. At this point we decided to move on to IVF. Dr Duleba put me on a very low dose of meds for stimulation because I had a lot of follicles and he did not want to overstimulate me and create more problems. If I remember correctly I had over 20 eggs retrieved and eventually ended up with 4 surviving embryos.

Everyone was compassionate, caring, and sensitive every time that I experienced a setback or a miscarriage. The nursing staff made up for any confusion or frustrations I may have had during this difficult time

The clinic had great rates of success with IVF. Also, it is next door to a women’s surgery center which made the retrieval very easy and smooth. Weakness would be that they don’t take insurance but they do provide you with some resources to help out financially.

I’m glad Dr Duleba decided to do SET because having twins come with so many risks. Given my age(mid to late 20s) and no preexisting medical history that would affect fertility, I believe Dr Duleba made the right choice

The experience with him was not the best. He’s more focused into research rather than clinical work. He is only at the office seeing patients twice a week. Therefore, it’s hard to get a consistent care from him. At times he gets us mixed up with another couple. During the first cycle we rarely saw him. On our 2nd cycle, we saw him more frequently. He seemed confused with PGD and PGS. Failed to communicate correctly with his nurse coordinator. We had to do our own research and figure things out on our own. I’d have expected him and his team to guide us seamlessly. He’s approachable via phone anytime.

Just ask him questions and never leave unless you are clear about everything. Do your homework before and after seeing him regarding treatments and his diagnosis.

We hardly got to see him during our first ivf cycle. Only saw him on our initial consultation.

First cycle was with the heavy injectable drugs for egg retrieval. It failed to produce a viable embryo. 2nd cycle was with clomid. Hanged the treatment. Slowler for the eggs to grow. But quality can be improved.

The nursing staff are friendly and reacts to our needs promptly. There were some frustrations though. The nurse coordinator failed to provide us the correct treatment schedule and prescription for our 2nd Ivf cycle.

The facility is good. All the procedures, visits, consultations, check ups and office visits are done in the same building. Nurse staff is friendly and nice to work with. The finance and accounting department is not the best. They promised us discount for our 2nd cycle after our failed first cycle. The discount talk started when we saw the doctor after our failed first Ivf. They never got back to us after that. And when contacted, we were just pushed around. Once we signed the contract for the 2nd Ivf, they flat out said no to any discount. We felt like they made the discount promise just to lure us into doing a second cycle there and to make us feel good. I’d have been better off without any empty promises. It was also hard to get a statement from them for tax purpose. They wanted to take a month to produce it due to system changes initially. I had called and pressured them and got the statement emailed to me within 24 hours. I was pretty shocked.

Monitoring schedule and time was not a problem. They were open on weekends as well in the morning.

Roughly about $42k for two failed Ivf cycle including Genetic testings and medication.

He will only do single transfer.

Dr. Duleba has a very charming personality. During our initial consultation he made my husband and I feel at ease and relaxed. Going in to the appointment we did know that he only worked in the office on Tuesday and Thursday but all follow up ultrasounds would be performed by either himself or another Dr in the office. So, we felt comfortable moving forward with this office. Dr. Duleba had all of our records coming into our initial appointment which included a report from our genetic counselor which stated that I have a balanced translocation on chromosomes 3 and 9. He assured us that he had treated other women with translocations that he helped get pregnant successfully and that with two cycles we could get pregnant as well. After our second IVF cycle; Dr. Duleba called me personally with the results from our PGS testing stating that all five embryos again were abnormal...he went on to say that I really need to speak with a genetic counselor to see what my odds are on having children using my own eggs. I just felt like he didn't even truly know much about balanced translocations and my story/history. He was just doing his job duty of calling and giving the bad news. I shouldn't have had to fill him in on what the genetic counselor told my husband and I over a year ago...he himself should have advised us differently.

He does have great bedside manner and a real charming- personality but if you or your spouse have a balanced translocation which is the cause of your infertility; please get second or third opinions before settling with this office and Dr. Duleba. Go with your initial gut instincts!! With all of his expertise and teaching which he continues to do at UCSD; he should know more about balanced translocations and odds of successfully getting pregnant with IVF.

Going into my initial consultation with Dr. Duleba I knew that I had a genetic condition, called a balanced translocation; which added on a 29% chance of any of my future confirmed pregnancies ending with an embryo that was unbalanced and which will end in a miscarriage or an embryo that is balanced such as myself. Dr. Duleba gave us reassurance that he had treated and helped other women get pregnant through IVF (using their own eggs) that also had balanced translocations. He had said that with two cycles; he could definitely get us pregnant. After two IVF cycles- 55 eggs retrieved, 10 abnormal embryos (diagnosed through PGS testing); and having spent over a year under Dr. Duleba's care...he asked us to see a genetic counselor to find out what our odds were at having our own children using my own eggs and my husbands sperm. Before starting care with Dr. Duleba we had already consulted with a genetic counselor at UCSD. We knew our odds going into treatment and this was relayed to Dr. Duleba. After our first IVF cycle failed with Dr. Duleba; he advised us to try a second and to not go directly forward with using donor eggs. We were ready to use donor eggs at that point. I felt like another number because as a patient I shouldn't have to fill my Doctor in on every little aspect of my infertility history after I've been under his care for over a year. He knew my balanced translocation issue from our first meeting and had copies of the report from our UCSD genetic counselor in my chart. He worked only two days at the office and just always seemed too busy; over-worked. His nurse also posted my incorrect treatment plan for our 2nd IVF cycle on my treatment calendar...I am a RN myself; I know how busy health-care can be but this was a huge mistake. Had I not spoken up, I could have been taking the wrong stimulation medications and spent thousands of dollars on medications that could have never been returned to the pharmacy. We've spent $40,000 on our IVF cycles and these mistakes should have never been made...I really hope that other couples don't succumb to these mistakes.

I have PCOS along with a balanced translocation on chromosomes 3 and 9. Both of my ovaries have multiple follicles. 1st IVF cycle: 33 eggs retrieved; 5 embryos--all abnormal with PGS testing. I was prescribed Menopur, Follistim, Pregnyl, Decadron, an antibiotic, Lupron, and a growth hormone. Apparently this was their standard protocol for a basic stimulation and egg retrieval. Dr. Duleba was amazed at how many eggs were retrieved but shocked that we only ended up with five embryos and all five were abnormal with PGS testing. He thought that maybe I had almost been hyper-stimulated. Our 2nd cycle- consisted of stimulating with just oral Clomid and Menopur. I was also prescribed the antibiotic, Decadron, Lupron, and growth hormone. Along with testosterone cream. This treatment protocol was used more for women with diminished ovarian reserve. They had retrieved 22 eggs, 5 embryos again; with all five being abnormal...again diagnosed with PGS testing.

We were assigned an IVF coordinator at our very first appointment with Dr. Duleba; Charlene King. She has been working with him for years. We could always reach her through email and/or by leaving voicemails. For the most part she would respond in 24-48 hours. I just felt like the whole IVF process wasn't explained to us that well and we kept learning and finding new things out as we went along. First off, every patient should be told in advance of the medications that will be ordered for them and through which pharmacy. With our first IVF cycle, I had received a phone call from MDR pharmacy with my order and knew nothing of it. I didn't even know that that order was placed with them and that I needed to be home to receive the package/medications. Second, I had provided a list of medications that I already had on-hand from a family member which were okayed by Charlene. She went ahead and ordered them anyways. It's careless; had I not been on top of it; I would have spent thousands of dollars on medications that were already in my refrigerator and un-returnable to the pharmacy. We also needed PGS testing done with both cycles on our embryos. She kept insisting that we only needed to do the PGD...which is completely untrue and left us to figure out and research which company should do our PGS testing for the embryos...we opted to go with iGenomix. For my second IVF cycle she copied and pasted the wrong medication/treatment protocol to my calendar. I had to call and email and let her know that Dr. Duleba wanted to try a different approach and use the protocol for diminished ovarian reserve. I also clarified it with Dr. Duleba himself. I'm a nurse myself and that's a major error. Again, if I didn't follow up and clarify this; more money, stress and anxiety would have been wasted. We pay too much money for IVF for these mistakes to be made.

The front office staff is very friendly. The medical assistants are also very friendly and efficient at their work. It is a busy office and you can certainly feel like another number amongst the crowd but they do try to keep the wait-times down. Only a few times did I wait over 30 minutes to be seen. You will not always see your assigned Dr at each appointment; especially with the ultrasounds. Most of the Dr's teach or do research over at UCSD and have limited hours at the clinic.

We spent $40,000 on two IVF cycles with Dr. Duleba. Both cycles failed; we only had the egg retrievals.

We never had the opportunity for an embryo transfer but were advised that if we did get to that point that a single embryo would be transferred due to less potential complications.

We are so glad we chose Reproductive Partners La Jolla. Everything was research-based, and every time we had a question Dr. Duleba patiently answered them with science-backed, research-based explanations. We did see other doctors when Dr. Duleba was on travel, but made every effort to see us whenever he could, which was most of the time. He was always warm and funny, and made our journey much less stressful.

Document your questions and ask them when he is with you during your appointment to make the most out of your appointment. I believe you should also do your own research in terms of ICSI, etc. to have a good understanding and ask the right questions.

Dr. Duleba always took time to explain everything, even if he was busy with lots of patients. He also gave me his cell phone number in case I needed any assistance with questions, and immediately responded whenever I sent him a text. I felt like he really cared about the outcome of the treatment, and always recommended the least invasive methods.

Dr. Duleba firmly believes in single embryo transfer for our IVF cycle and he believed I had a very high chance of getting pregnant the first time, even though he had suggested that we continue trying IUI, since it is less invasive. We decided that it was time for us for IVF after trying three failed IUIs, but appreciated his input since we've heard that other clinics definitely push for IVF right away. We did frozen transfer since fresh transfers are less successful based on research, per Dr. Duleba, which turned out to be correct. We now have a healthy baby boy and cannot thank Dr. Duleba enough for his warm and friendly support during the stressful period of our fertility journey. We have frozen our remaining embryos for a second child.

I had a nurse assigned to me at all times, but the assignment kept changing due to the nurse leaving the clinic, etc. I would've liked to have the same nurse, but I understand life happens. Overall I had a good experience with the nursing staff and appreciated that they only tell me what I need to hear at the current step, since there are so many things that you have to do in IVF journey. I was not overwhelmed but kept up to date at every step of the way.

The clinic has multiple doctors and can help you even if the assigned doctor is away. All doctors that I saw showed compassion and were extremely knowledgeable, as well as had consistency with the guidance. It is also affiliated with UCSD which means everything is research-based. We especially enjoyed the lifestyle guidance that we still carry with us. The clinic is located inside a large medical building near UCSD, and the parking structure gets very busy, so frequent visits added a bit of stress. Be sure to get your parking tickets validated since the first 30 minutes is complimentary. The clinic also accepts donations of leftover fertility drugs so I ended up donating unused drugs, but they still charge for those drugs to new patients which kind of sucks.

Thankfully, my insurance covered most of the costs.

I am glad that Dr. Duleba transferred a single embryo based on my health and age. Multiple embryo transfers can result in twins or triplets, which increases complications.

Dr. Duleba instills a sense of confidence and trust and I feel comfortable that he would advise us down the right path. He seemed to look at our entire profile and give us feedback about his impression of our fertility status. Subsequently I have felt like he's been busy and in demand, but I remain optimistic that the further we get into the treatment plan the more attention we will get hopefully.

He is experienced and trustworthy. But make sure you let him know you have questions to ask so that you have a chance to fit them all in!

This is a very busy office and it often feels like don't have adequate time to dedicate, but I think the desire is there. They just may be too busy at times. At my first appointment I felt like there was more time, but the following few appointments left me feeling very much like a number.

I've just started a mid-luteal Estrace cycle....

Alicia seems thoughtful and compassionate. There have been other staff that I have interacted with that I felt less comfortable with. At my first IVF (baseline) appt I did not see Alicia then, but the nurses in the hallway were answering my questions and I had wished I could have been in a more private place.

They seem to need more space. I don't think it's appropriate to have patients dealing with very intimate processes such as infertility and IVF to have to ask their questions in the hallway with other patients passing by. Otherwise the reception staff have been very friendly and helpful.

With everything included it looks like one cycle of IVF will be around $17,500.

Seems to be the preference with this doctor or this office would be for single embyro transfer...

I've researched and had consultations with 4 other doctors before in the San Diego area and he was the most knowledgeable. He talked about taking vitamins, refraining from drinking, smoking and caffeine, things that the other doctors didn't really get into. He made sure that we had enough time to ask our questions and he has a nice, warm personality. He's also very direct, which I appreciate.

Ask as many questions as you want!

Dr. Duleba takes the time to go over everything and answer any question, no matter how simple or complicated. He actually encouraged us to talk to OvaScience about Augment to see if we have other options. He was also candid but warm and rather than pushing us to use donor eggs for our next cycle, recommended we try one more time but also stated he wouldn't recommend I do another cycle with my own eggs if the results were still negative. He also provided his personal opinion, which other doctors wouldn't do (they just kept stating statistics) and sometimes an honest answer is what you are looking for, without numbers.

I was on the low-stim protocol: - Take 81mg aspirin throughout the cycle (supposed to improve blood flow to the ovaries) - Start Androderm Gel once a positive LH surge has been detected (you will prob get your period during this time) - 6 days after starting the gel, take Estrace (around 6 days) - Once the doctor tells you to stop using the gel, he puts you on the Androderm patch for 5 days - Stop taking Estrace and the Androderm patch once the 5 days have past - Start 225 IUs of Menopur, 2 tablets of Clomid, Dexamethasone for 6-8 days - Then start taking Ganirelix 4-5 days - Then growth hormone, Indomethacin and then final a Lupron trigger

Reproductive Partners focuses on the idea that you have 1 nurse throughout your entire treatment cycle. Sounds nice on paper and in theory but if I had to get medical records, I still had to talk to someone else, finance (still another person), so when I think of 1 nurse, I hope for someone who can I can just communicate and get answers and information. Plus it seemed that every time I called, she was out of the office so I ended up talking to other nurses anyway. That being said, that is no way a negative reflection on Kerstin. She is nice and responsive and takes her job seriously. So seriously that she once drove to my house to provide me with medication and showed me how to use the injection! Now that is service! As for the finance coordinator, she told me about a program through my insurance company that lowered the cost of fertility treatments (my insurance doesn't cover so everything is out of pocket), which was very helpful.

It's next to the hospital so you have to pay for parking. You get a $1 off validation at the clinic but it'll still cost you $3 for up to 2 hours. That's the only gripe I have. Office is pleasant and the staff is pleasant. Only doctors are allowed to do the ultrasounds. I also like that you don't have to pay to get your own medical records. Everyone is usually very responsive- if you leave a message, you'll usually get a call back same day.

I requested early morning appointments so I can go straight to work without too much disruption and they were usually very accommodating.

$12,000 (not including the cost of medication)

Dr. Deluba made us feel that we were in good hands immediately. We had experience with another fertility center we were not happy with, and as soon as we met with Dr. Deluba we knew we found the right place. When they transferred the embryo of our daughter, they asked my husband if he wanted to look under the microscope. It was an incredible experience for my husband to do that - and it stills blows his mind. Dr. Deliuba and his staff are aware of details like that, which can make the experience special instead of terrifying.

Relax - it is going to be ok. They understand you are probably in a scary spot right now. They will be there for you.

All of the information presented to us was delivered in a caring but detailed manner. We never felt confused with the procedure. We also felt like we got to know and care for the nurses. Dr. Deluba himself gave us the impression he personally cared about our situation and the outcome.

I don't remember details for the medications. They tried to be as conservative as possible with our medications, as in not overmedicating. Our procedure went very smooth so we didn't have to adjust much.

I have a condition when I give blood I pass out and have a seizure. A nightmare for my nurses at the clinic. This happened my first appointment. After that, all the nurse took very special care with me and I managed to go through the rest of my time with them (with a lot of blood draws) without passing out. This was 100% because they were amazing!

The atmosphere they create is calming, which was helpful because IVF can be scary. They were very organized and always there when I needed them. My husband and I felt so good. We look back at that experience as special.

I don't remember but they did help us go through which medications we could have our insurance cover - very helpful

We had a strong case for the transfer to be successful. Dr. Deluba explained that unless I really wanted twins, I would be smart to choose one embryo. I agreed and we have a beautiful daughter. If I wanted more, I felt he would have explained the possibilities without judgment.

He provided the right amount of optimism and the balance of the statistics for me. I also always felt he was doing the best to get me the best results. I had a migrated ovary and he did everything to be able to access and use that ovary without endangering me.

He will be very honest with you so be prepared for the facts.

He explained everything and due to my unique situation was very good at remembering me and monitoring me during IVF

Due to a hysterectomy and a migrated ovary he monitored me every day. He adjusted my menopur to a heigher dose.

My Coordinator had back up for days she wasn’t there. However since I was on a daily schedule for blood work and almost daily ultrasounds which is not standard, sometimes the nursing staff wasn’t sure what I was there for, or to schedule an ultrasound for the next day.

There sometime is a little delay in the staff communicating with each other to order meds or blood work etc. For example the meds they ordered for my surrogate was different than what they had said she would start. I also had to bring it to their attention that they had asked her to stop birth control and she would not resume. The nurse who was putting in the orders did not know this.

All in for 1 round of IVF with medicationit wa about $27000

N/A, I only have one embryo to transfer.

Dr. Duleba is a caring physician. He wants the same end result as you do. He will take his time to explain all options available. My time as a patient was a pleasant as one would expect, given the stressful nature of my visits.

He is blunt and honest.

Dr. Duleba carefully takes his time to explain everything (even if it’s not what you want to hear). He genuinely cares about his patients.

The very first thing that was done was blood work. Lots of blood work. From there, he performed a SIS to look at my uterus. Polyps were found, so a minor surgery was scheduled. Once that was taken care of, we moved on to medicated cycles ... we did 2 rounds of clomid with ovidrel and IUI, took a break and did clomid with ovidrel TI, then one more of the clomid ovidrel IUI before moving on to injections. From there we did 2 cycles with gonal f/ovidrel and IUI. I was now told we need to move on to IVF.

Be prepared to wait ... unless you have the very first appointment of the day. Otherwise you will be seen a minimum of 20 minutes after your scheduled time. Aside from that, very friendly and compassionate staff.

My insurance would only cover meds/treatments associated with TI. So, my out of pocket costs were medication (minimal for clomid, $500 for gonal f, $28 for ovidrel), and the actual IUI ($328). I do not know what costs will be involved with IVF.

Great listener and addresses all our concerns and questions. He adjusted our treatment schedule and was always available for follow-ups. He brought forward new research and was open to different types of medicine (eastern) and offered dietary and lifestyle advice.

Be honest with him off what your expectations are.

He has a great bedside manner, gave us his personal cell phone, is highly educated in the field and very passionate about the subject. Highly recommend.

Egg retrievals- menapur and follistim Pre-transfer - BCP Transfer - viville dot (6 patches), projesterone in oil (2cc)

Great communicator, easy to get a hold of, helped coordinate and keep me on track of all the appointments and treatment schedule.

The clinic is honest, set expectations, can be busy. Easy to reach coordinators, schedule appts. Billing Dept was easy to deal with. Received blood results same day. The clinic can be busy - Arrive early for your appt.

~$15-18 egg retrieval, pre-monitoring ~$2200-2500 transfer/pre-transfer monitoring

Dr Duleba performed a surgery to prepare me for IVF. He recognized my concerns and gave me his personal cell to contact him anytime with questions. I’ve texted and called him on several occasions including during surgery recovery at 6 am. He responded immediately and told me to come in to see him that morning and he’d fit me in between appointments. The surgery result was exactly what I wanted. Working with Dr Duleba has always felt very personal. Yes, I’m a patient in a big medical system but he always made me feel like a person and a priority.

Ask as many questions as you can think of. He’s really wonderful.

Dr Duleba takes time to answer every question. He’s warm and kind and also completely clear about the process.

I’ve had a great experience with this clinic. All staff are friendly, warm and helpful. They’ve been quick to respond to my questions and have coordinated with my other doctors to make sure information gets to where it needs to go.

He is extremely thorough and gives you all options. All the doctors in the clinic seem to work together very well.

He was the 2nd opinion we got. It was a night and day experience from the first clinic. They were extremely thorough and we were in constant contact with the Doctor. We definitely felt like he was paying close attention to every detail.

Mine was a long protocol using testosterone and Estrace to increase egg quality and reserve. Then we used Menopur and Folistim to stim for about 11 days and triggered with lupron and pregnyl. We also used hgh to help with egg quality until retrieval.