Brad Swelstad

As unexplained infertility patients, it was really a bummer that we didn't find any answers or did any extra tests to have a more accurate diagnosis. Although I really appreciated that we went into the IUI cycle in full immersion, trying everything from the beginning. I wish there was more interaction with him, also if it was just via email

expect no special treatment

we did day 3 to 7 of letrozole since I already tried clomid with my OBG with no success. It follow with Gonal f on day 7 and 9 and then we went in for blood work at day 11, when they realized I had too many mature follicles. The dr who saw the result (no Swelstad), called me and explain that there was a high risk of multiple pregnancy, so it was protocol to stop the cycle. If we decided to go ahead and have timed intercourse (IUI was out of the pics at this point), we should have consider the possibility of selective reduction in the future. We agree that that wasn't a problem and went ahead. We are now in the 2 weeks wait

we didn't pay for the first appointment, only for the meds (around $300 +/-), second ultrasound and blood work ($150 +/-)

I was only able to meet Dr Swelstad once before he left the practice I saw him at. Because I was a new patient to him and he was in transition to move out of state to a different practice, I feel he had several things to juggle. I believe he couldn't be as concrete with his suggested plan/approach with IVF as he knew we would have to go through in a change of provider very soon. The next provider may have a very different plan to his which could introduce doubt. He went the safest route with disseminating information to us.

Ask clarifying questions about exact timelines for your specific scenario.

Interventions were previously established by another provider thus we did not change anything. We did discuss IVF as an option however did not review when we should consider this route more seriously.

Visit was covered as I met my deductible for the year.

We did not review this in detail.

Dr. Swelstad is a pleasure to work with. He is caring and compassionate but also tells you how it is, not just what you want to hear. He will give you all the facts, good or bad, and allow you to make your own decisions. He is easy to understand and always has charts and visual aids to help explain things in an easy to understand way. Even though we have not yet had success, I believe he will get us to our goal and trust that he knows how to get there.

Listen to what he says, even if it is not what you want to hear. He will give you options but also give his opinion. I wish I had listened to his opinion earlier even though it would mean moving to IVF sooner.

We started with Dr. Swedlstad after 3 rounds of medicated cycles (clomid) with two of them including IUIs. Dr. Swelstad instantly switched us to Femera and did 3 cycles of that with IUIs. After this, we took a break and moved to combo cycles with 5 days of Femera and 3 days of Follistim injections followed by a trigger and IUI. The last 2 cycles, we also used suppository progesterone. All cycles failed.

Overall we were very happy with Dr. Swelstad. The only negative thing we encountered was the way in which he approached his recommendation that we use ICSI in our first IVF cycle. According to my husband's sperm analysis all his numbers were above average, except for morphology, which was at the low end of average, but still in a normal range. To me, this indicated that there was no male factor, or at least not one that had been proven. Dr. Swelstad's rationale was that because we had unexplained infertility and had never conceived, it was possible that the sperm were having trouble fertilizing the egg despite the numbers being normal. He recommended that we use ICSI and gave us a ballpark figure of the price (not included in our IVF cycle plan) that turned out to be significantly lower than the actual price. Though he apologized for this later with the usual "I'm a doctor, I'm not in billing," we felt that if a doctor is going to strongly recommend an optional and expensive add-on treatment, that he should be informed about current pricing. After discussing it on our own and discovering the real price of ICSI, which seemed to be exorbitant compared to some other clinics we looked into and the national average, we decided we did not want to do ICSI. Dr. Swelstad then proceeded to call us to make the case again. In some ways we appreciated the personal attention, especially as he made the call at 5 pm, but we also felt quite pressured to proceed with ICSI. In the end, since we only had 7 eggs that were mature enough to be fertilized at all, we were glad we did ICSI, which resulted in 6/7 being fertilized. However, if we had had more eggs I don't think this procedure would have been necessary at all, and the clinic would not give us the option of making the decision after the egg retrieval. It is a fine line since the clinic does, of course, have a vested interest in achieving success, but we did feel pressured, despite Dr. Swelstad's generally kind demeanor and obvious commitment to getting us our positive outcome.

We did a fresh IVF cycle using my husband's frozen sperm and my own eggs. I was on fairly standard doses of follistim (increased from 300 daily to 375 when I wasn't responding enough), mini HCG, and later Ganirelix. My follicles weren't getting big enough, thus the increased dosage. If I did it again I would want to be on the higher dosage from the beginning, as I believe this was the cause of our relatively mediocre-average egg retrieval count. But at the time there was no way of knowing how I would respond, and we definitely didn't want to over-stimulate. I needed a few extra days, and therefore extra doses of ganirelix, but it all worked out well in the end, and I experienced almost no side effects at all from the treatment. 11 eggs retrieved, 7 were mature, 6 were fertilized using ICSI, and 5 survived to day 5. We transferred two and are now pregnant with twins.

We opted for the refund plan, which, once you added the extra fees for ICSI, anesthesia, etc came to over $20,000. The terms were that if you used all your embryos in 12 months and still hadn't sustained a pregnancy to 12 weeks, you would be refunded 80% (not including those extra fees and add-ons).

There was no option because we chose a refund plan that required us to transfer two at a time, and we were fine with that.

He was so kind and ready to action. I was so ready to see a doctor hat would be aggressive since we had already been trying for a year or so. He told me the plan and would also tell us what was next if that plan was not successful. I also loved that he started with the simple (more affordable options) and worked his way up. It was very logical to me. We started with a few cycles of just femara and then did 3 more cycles of femara but added injectables. Once that didn’t work we did femara injectables and then 2 IUIs. He was also conscious of reducing the risk of multiples for safety reasons. One cycle I had 3+ follicles and had to take birth control and skip that cycle. Even though we he didn’t meet with us for every apportionment he was there for anything important. I really enjoyed my experience there and he shared our happiness when we did get pregnant! He also made me feel better by checking on he pregnancy before I went to the OB.

Just to trust in him. I know he is no longer at that clinic, so maybe to find out where he went.

From my previous OB before I went to Brad Swelstad they found my prolactin was a little high so they wouldn’t prescribe me any Femara. I had tried Clomid but when they did an ultrasound they found that I didnt respond to it. So when I started with him he had me on Cabergoline to lower that and he also raised my levothyroxine from 25mcg to 50mcg. I was on metformin as well to help with the PCOS and he also started me on Femara we tried that for 3 cycles alone with times intercourse. The follicles got a nice size during these, but I wouldn’t ovulate. Sometimes I would just get a cyst (this was all checked by ultrasound on specific days). So then he decided to add injectables for the next three cycles along with all the other stuff. Those included Gonal F inejections and then if i didn’t get a positive ovulation test by a specific day I would do a trigger shot with timed intercourse. We did that for 3 cycles and one of them I had to cancel because I had to many follicles. He said it would have been perfect for IVF. He adjusted my dose so I wouldn’t get so many follicles. After those failed we did the same medications and injections and added an IUI my husbands sperm count was great and everything looked good but the first IUI failed. Then we did the same course a second time (he wanted to try IUIs 3-4 times before moving on to IVF) and luckily we got pregnant. After we got pregnant he checked my HCg to make sure it kept rising like it should and did some ultrasounds to confirm things were staying good. Then we got to love to an OBGYN.

Everything was pretty much covered by insurance until we got to injectables and IUIs. The injectables were around $300-$400 and the sperm analysis for the IUI were $200-$300 and the actual procedure was around $200-$300. Total for the 2 IUI cycles it was a little over $2000.00

NA

Dr Swelstad was very honest and open through the entire course of treatment. Despite the variables that couldn’t be controlled, he continually updated us on the direction of treatment and answered all of our questions very clearly. Dr Swelstad was sensitive to the needs of our family and was helpful in directing us with our choices to have a healthy successful cycle. He wasn’t shy about conveying the risks of treatments but also allowed us autonomy to decide which was to proceed. He was accessible and very friendly. I would definitely recommend him to anyone looking for treatment.

Don’t be afraid to voice your opinions, fears and dreams. He is very willing to work as a team and they will be very well received.

We used an antagonist protocol for our IVF Cycle. We were successful with a 28 egg retrieval. Our fertilization didn’t go well and we ended up with 3 eggs for transfer at day 3. We transferred the two with the best quality and had a successful Singleton pregnancy and birth.

There were many options of IVF treatment with RCC. We opted for a single "fresh cycle". The cost including medication was just under $14,000.

Dr Swelstad did encourage us to transfer only 1 or 2 embryo. He did explain the risks of high order multiple pregnancies and births.

Dr Swelstad was both kind and compassionate but gave you the entire truth. He’d let you know exactly what your odds were but in a very positive outlook. He knew his stuff and was always trying to learn more. Would highly recommend him to anyone.

To just take a breath and trust that he knows what he’s doing because he does!

I had seen 2 drs for over two years before Swelstad and had done chlomid as well as 2 IUI’s so we decided to try one round of IUI with the injections to up the chance of more eggs. When that didn’t work we went straight to IVF. The first round we had one embryo to transfer but it didn’t take. The second time he suggested we do ixy(not sure how to spell it). So we did. We had two embryos to transfer and put both in and it was a success!

For 2 rounds of IVF I believe it was like $17,000 plus meds. But they had grouping discounts and offered discounts if you paid by check we paid probably 25k for the entire process from start to finish with him including the IUI and 2 rounds of IVF with meds and the additional Ixy procedure.

We really didn’t have much of a choice but he did highly recommend putting both embryos in on the second round so we’d have a better chance of one of them taking.

My experience was unique...we ran into one problem after another and had many set backs. In the end I felt like he avoided doing additonal testing that could have diagnosed my issues sooner and saved me a great deal of greif simply because I didn't fit the standard age or weight for certain issues to be likely. I would have gladly undergone and paid for more testing upfront. I was not diagnosed with endometeiosis until AFTER an ectopic pregnancy AND a heterotopic pregnancy due to the issue. I really think that is something that should have been found and looked for instead of finding PCOS and thinking that was the answer to all my problems. I was also diagnosed with endometeial hyperplasia but not nearly as soon as I think a more througho eval would have found it.

Ask for more testing if you feel its nessacary. Be your own adovate.

3 cycles on any one thing was recommended before moving on. I did Femara for 2 with trigger shots due to still not ovulating. Next 3 rounds of clomid, surgery, found hyperplasia, northendrone, biopsy problem not solved, was sent to oncologist, put on m- something as last resort, biopsy all clear, 3 more rounds of clomid, 3 rounds of clomid plus shots 3rd was ectopic pregnancy, wait, another 3 rounds of clomid plus shots, after third planned IVF. 3rd round was heterotopic pregnancy, tube burst lost tube but baby in uterus survived. I dont remember doses now but I way over reacted to the clomid plus shots and kept going down in amounts month after month. The lowest # of mature eggs I ever recall was 4 and I was advised to cancel cycles each time.

A lot, particularly when it came to shots and having to order them from another state. $7000 plus for each surgery Swelsted did.

Swelstad left the clinic right before we were going to start IVF so I dont recall discussing that with him.

Dr Swelstad is a very knowledgeable doctor. He really knew what he was talking about. He talked in a very clinical way and I understood all he was saying because I have a medical background, however it was hard for my husband to follow everything he was saying. He was not very compassionate. More just to the point about treatment.

If going to Dr Swelstad just know that he is very straight to the point and not overly compassionate.

We were only under Dr Swelstad's care for a few months. He ran a few blood tests on myself and a sperm analysis on my husband. He dismissed some of my concerns about pelvic pain and other cyclical symptoms. My next fertility doctor dug a little deeper and found that I had endometriosis. He also told us that my husbands sperm analysis was great even though his morphology was low. He told us that should matter because he had a high enough count. After switching doctors we have found out that the low morphology could be a major cause of our infertility. Dr. Swelstad performed an HSG in which everything appeared to be clear. He then had me take Femara for 3 months since my OB had me on Clomid for 3 months previously and it was not successful. None of the cycles with Dr. Swelstad were successful and we left with an Unexplained diagnosis.

I had costs related to mostly the office visits and blood work. The most substantial cost was for the HSG.

This was not applicable for us.

You go into your first appointment feeling crazy emotional and he had the right amount of empathy coupled with data that made me hopeful. He gave us a plan (both short term and long term) and we left feeling like there could be a light at the end of the tunnel (or at least we could affirmatively do something instead of just having unexplained fertility and doing the same thing every month).

I did my homework before I met with Dr. Swelstad and I think it made our first appointment much more productive because I was able to ask more detailed specific questions instead of having to cover the basics of fertility. If you're going to spend the time and money with a specialist, you might as well get your moneys worth and use his vast knowledge.

Dr swelstad was very nice and easy to talk to. He explained a lot to us and figured out a treatment plan that we both thought was great. We are happy to be working with him. He seemed very caring and not just as another patient but like he really cares about his patients. It was nice because we were so nervous.

Just relax you are in good hands he is very nice and easy to talk to!

My husband and I had done 6 rounds of clomid and two rounds with iui. Nothing had worked. So dr swelstad switched me to femara with injections of follistim and trigger shot with iui and progesterone

Everything is spendy with infertility it doesn’t matter where you go. I wish there was insurance here to help with infertility but pnwf does there best to help from billing what they can to insurance to helping you go through a fertility pharmacy so you can get your medicine at a better cost

Doctor swelstad was an amazing doctor, we have no complaints and we have a beautiful set of twin girls because of him. He was down to earth, didn't judge us, and we felt very respected. He was patient, calm, I would highly recommend him to anybody needing any infertility treatments. If I could do it again I would go to him.

Be open and honest

I just remembered doctor swelstad being so respectful when we found out that we had to do ICSI. He was honest with us and open and respectful of our financial situation. When it came to medications he didn't over-prescribed but he also was honest about making sure we had enough medication to begin with to eliminate any stressors throughout the IVF cycle.

Overall I think we spent about $14,000 that included the IVF cycle, and medications

He was very kind. I just felt like I was a number, in that he didn’t remember certain things about my previous treatments/appointments. He tried a few different treatments and none worked, and encouraged to try IVF when I felt ready. I just felt like there was other things he could have tried/could’ve dug a little deeper.

Push for further investigation in your diagnosis.

Femara treatment for several cycles along with IUIs - I had unexplained infertility, so there was no rationale for trying these treatments-just kind of a shot in the dark. No results came of these treatments/cycles. He also did an HSG to try to further diagnose.

IUI for the first time was $500ish-which included a sperm test. IUI $350 ish Any ultrasounds $200

Being Dr Swelstad’s patient has been a pleasure. We are mfi & somewhat unexplained and he always took the time to explain everything, never pressured us into expensive treatments without exhausting accessible treatments first, and was always on top of our treatment. I think we had a fairly good result in terms of ivf (I know many wish for 8 embryos out of the first retrieval) and I’m particularly happy he recommended pgs so we avoid heartbreak - 5 out of our 8 beautifully looking embryos were not compatible with life. Overall, I fully recommend dr Swelstad - he was caring and competent throughout the process.

Our numbers were not great, but not terrible either. We started with Femara timed intercourse cycles, moved to IUIs, then IVF (1). The antagonist protocol, with frozen transfer, resulted in success (so far).

Dr Swelstad took the time to get to know me and my husband, personally as well as professionally. He took the time to explain our diagnosis and what treatment would look like. He always had charts and stats on hand to help us understand in better detail.

He does talk a lot, but he'll make sure you understand everything :)

Suggested that we not try another IUI since my husband’s morphology was low. We likely would need to do ICSI with IVF.

Our consultation was free. Didn’t do anything more. They did go through finances for IVF though.

Educated us on single transfer vs multiples. Suggested that one would be best.

Strengths: knowledgeable in the treatment needed. Friendly and compassionate. During my first cycle I found out that the embryo attached in the wrong place and my body wouldn’t miscarry it. Dr. Swelstad was very concerned and took good care of me making sure that everything went well. Weakness: sometimes too chatty. Always mentioned the possibility of needing a sperm donor which we were against.

When it came to medication dosage it changed day by day depending on how the body reacted.

Medications $2100-3500 ICSI $1900/cycle About $17000 for 2 cycles