Creighton Likes

Dr. Likes is very knowledgeable and receptive to discuss issues with us in depth. But I do feel like you need to be your own advocate and make sure you are heard. Schedule appointments to discuss things with him (rather than the nurse). If you don’t have a positive test, schedule and appointment to discuss things. Make your own list of items to discuss and be your own patient advocate. Take notes of your appointment. They have a lot of patients but no one knows your case better than you do. Be your own advocate.

Be your own advocate.

First IVF - lupron, gonal-f, and menopour. We tried to do metformin beforehand so as to not have OHSS but it made me too sick. Second IVF - same protocol. Good results with both cycles in so far as eggs retrieved.

While we really liked Dr. Likes, we struggle some with the nursing staff. There are 2 nurses and they don’t communicate well together and one nurse doesn’t handle your case. They only send mychart messages and don’t call to discuss things over the phone. You have to stay on top of them sometimes. Susan is great and nice and well seasoned in infertility. Alice is not good and isn’t a good communicator. We really like Sherri the ultrasound tech. We also really like Candace, the financial coordinator.

The clinic is convenient and good. The front desk staff is nice and they know who you are. You are seen quickly and not waiting long for appointments. They work to get convenient appointment times when undergoing ivf.

We had insurance coverage that after meeting your deductible, it was an 80/20 split with a $20,000 lifetime max. We are very fortunate.

First cycle we did a fresh transfer and transferred two. Second cycle we decided to transfer only one embryo.

Every time we see Dr. Likes, he sits beside us and talks to us like we are real people. He answers any questions with great detail. He understands I like to know every detail of the process and is very honest with me. He is good at giving us different sides to each treatment that way we can make an informed decision.

Bring any questions you have and write them down. Sometimes you can get off the track and forget. Also, he talks fast but just tell him to slow down!

There was always a specific plan just for me. He is always trying something to help like tweaking the medicine or adding extra care. The nurses actually remember you and ask you questions about personal life or how I was doing in general.

I first started out on Femara and Ovidrel (trigger shot). We kept increasing the dose and checking my blood levels. We have done Gonal F injections, increasing those medications based on my follicle count. We starting doing a second HCG shot 1 week after the trigger shot to support my HCG levels and also adding progesterone suppositories.

Every time I saw Sandy after a follicle ultrasound she sat down with me and went over all the details very thoroughly. She was very quick to respond to my messages on MyChart. She would always ask how I was doing or what was going on in my personal life. Sandy has been an amazing nurse to me.

From the time you check in to the time you check out, every one is very friendly. And once you have been going there for a while, like me, they actually remember you and what you are going through. Sometimes they get a little behind and you have to wait a while, but I have never waited longer than 15 mins.

My husband works at GHS, so I am on his insurance. Before we meet our deductible, ultrasounds are usually around $250, blood work is around $50, medications vary from $5-$100.

He seemed very caring and passionate about what he does. He made us feel at home and comfortable while going through treatments. He was always there to speak to when we needed to come in and catch up. He explained everything great.

That they can fully trust him!

I felt like a human because he listened and cared about my history. He gave me the best care while also letting me take some lead.

His protocol for us after reviewing everything was fine was not to over do it. We did one IUI with Femara, Ovidrel and Gonal F shots, we tried just Femara, we done timed intercourse with the Femara and Ovidrel, then we would add Gonal F shots to those.

Since seeing them from July 2017 to earlier this year I have loved them. They make you feel like family, but recently without treatment I had gotten multiple positive HPT, but blood work came up negative because they would not consider a level 5 positive. I knew my body and what was going on. They just questioned by ability to read pregnancy tests and never bothered to consider my previous early losses. They just wanted to know about what to do treatment wise also questioning if it was a period. I have never felt so belittled until that moment. I spoke with a nurse and she concluded with my bleeding/cramps that it was a chemical, but they never mentioned that to me at all. They just told me the blood test was negative and expected to move forward.

I think they’re very good about responding and answering questions, but are not that considerate when it comes to your history and the fact your level may be up, but not up to their level to consider the baby.

Ovidrel-$109 x2 per cycle Gonal F-$150 x2 per cycle Mid cycle follicle US-$290 Femara-$10 IUI-$323 Sperm analysis-$80 x2 One IUI, three just Femara, 4 includes shots.

Dr Likes was pretty straightforward. While I appreciate that, I would have appreciated some empathy as well. Also this office in general, the doctor included, wasn't exactly forthcoming with explaining each step, each phase, why things were happening, other options, etc. He was just sort of ok.

Don't expect any feeling/ empathy and don't expect to really understand what's happening.... just expect to roll with the steps they give you in your packet. And expect to do a lot of the legwork yourself.

I had a terrible experience. The doctor himself was ok, nice enough.... but I wouldn't call him empathetic or even concerned. We had issues at every single turn. The financials were unclear and we were given conflicting financial information every attempt. The process was basically handed to me on paper, and we didn't understand the process, what step/ phase we were on, or why we were doing certain things or taking certain medications. The nurse got irritated bc I had a lot of questions, but they never really explained things well so I had to ask other people then call the nurse to verify. I think they eventually switched me to a different nurse because the 1st got aggravated. Even the lady who drew my blood week after week didn't ever act like she remembered me, or show any friendliness or conversation. When I had a failed pregnancy, they communicated that to me electronically through Mychart which was extremely impersonal.... and the message basically said let us know when you're ready to try again. There were other issues as well, but I can definitely say that I'd never recommend that office.

I don't remember everything. I'm of advanced maternal age, and only have one functioning tube. In addition, years ago I had a huge fibroid cyst that broke through the wall of my uterus causing me to have an emergency myomectomy. I believe we just went thru a routine egg retrieval with normal medications, and two frozen transfers. Finally I decided to have my remaining 3 embryos PGS tested, and only 1 came out viable so we are in the process of getting ready to transfer the remaining one very soon.

She was a terrible communicator. Most of the time my questions wouldn't even get directly answered, then she would get frustrated that I had so many questions. They mostly communicate through mychart and don't do a great job so things were often unclear causing me added frustration and stress.

I'm sure there may be some good doctors at this practice, and I'm sure they see plenty of success stories too. But the overall experience was stressful, frustrating and disappointing. The process was unclear, I didn't understand why we were doing certain things, the financials ran me in circles because I kept getting answers that were incorrect this causing added out of pocket expenses... and the was zero empathy or personal connection. The ultrasound tech ward the nicest person there, and the doctor i saw was just ok. If the staff had been better, I may feel ok with a doctor who's just ok. Dr likes was nice, and he answered my questions x but I didn't even know what questions to ask and no one there was forthcoming in proactively providing information. I'm on my 3rd cycle now, and don't understand the process half as well as women using other clinics who may be on their 1st cycle. I did have a different doctor so one of my procedures(Dr Green) and she attended much better (enthusiastic, understanding, open communicator) but I never really got to know her.

Our experience with Dr Likes was great. I would recommend him to anyone. We didn’t get the results we wanted, of course, but we felt confident that Dr Likes did everything he could and even tried some unconventional measures. Our case was pretty rare.

Advocate for yourself, do you own research, and remember that doctors are just people. They don’t know everything, and you are the expert on your body.

Dr Likes genuinely showed care, concern, and compassion. He treated us with dignity and respect, listened to our concerns, answered our questions, and was open to our recommendations.

We had 2 unexplained early miscarriages when we were referred to Dr Likes (8.5 weeks and 7 weeks). I was 24 and my husband was 23. He began by running a series of blood work for recurrent pregnancy loss. Checked AMH, thyroid levels, clotting issues, Karyotype, etc. and all blood work came back normal. He conducted an ultrasound to check for uterine abnormalities and found none. We tried medicated cycles (Femara) first because i always had irregular cycles. The theory was that if we could induce ovulation earlier, the egg quality may be better. We got pregnant and miscarried. This happened twice. We tried upping the medications (femara, gonal-f, and ovidrel) to time ovulation and timed intercourse. We had a few negative pregnancy tests, and then got pregnant again. This time the pregnancy was ectopic (left tube) and ended in emergency surgery where I lost my tube. We took a break and Dr likes recommended IVF with PGS. We always got pregnant easily, but the miscarriages were so early and spontaneous we didn’t know anything about the embryos. His theory was that our embryos weren’t good quality and expected to see that in PGS results. He wanted to try to get as many eggs as possible so we could hopefully find at least one PGS normal embryo. We did a freeze all cycle in January 2017 where we retrieved 20 eggs. 17 we’re mature and 16 fertilized. 10 embryos made it to day 5/6 blastocyst stage and 8 came back PGS normal after testing. We were all surprised by these results. We had an embryo transfer a couple months later and it was a chemical pregnancy. We tried another transfer 8 months later after I went on a gluten/dairy free diet (for possible inflammation). We did depot Lupron for 3 months prior to transfer to treat any endometriosis and “reset” my system. We did natural stimulation instead of synthetic (I actually ovulated, produced my own estrogen and progesterone, etc). The pregnancy was negative. At this point, dr Likes doesn’t have any ideas. We have considered treatment with a reproductive immunologist who specializes in recurrent pregnancy loss due to undiagnosed immunological issues.

They were great. One of my nurses gave me her personal cell number and texted to check in on me frequently during my second ectopic pregnancy.

I don’t love the communication messaging system. And I wish the doctor would see the patients every visit. It can be challenging to reach the physicians directly- most communication goes through the nurses.

I am not sure how my insurance factored in, but I know they billed things generically (not specifically fertility related) whenever they could to maximize my insurance coverage. I usually paid around $30-$100 for bloodwork (before meeting deductible), $100 for an ultrasound, $150 for consultation. For our IVF cycle, we paid around $5,000 out of pocket to schedule everything and insurance covered the rest. Our second FET was $1000 out of pocket.

Dr Likes preferred one, since it was known they were genetically normal before hand. He was open to two, though, if we had preferred.

Dr. Likes has taken us in more as family than patients. He sits with us and answers every single question and concern we have. We've been on this journey for two years with one loss at the very beginning. He understands this and his number one priority is myself and my husband and getting us to a healthy pregnancy!

Don't hold anything back. Not emotions, questions, concerns, any of it. He can and wants to handle this for you and with you!

I don't know where to start. From our first meeting until today, Dr. Likes and his precious nurses (yes, all of them!) have treated us like family and like there was nothing wrong. They've been truthful and hopeful and have understood our disappointment each and every month. They've shared our emotions and made sure we knew what we were doing, why we were doing it, and what to expect. They have been a light in this very dark journey.

I don't ovulate regularly. We have gone from Chlomid, to Femara and then Femara with IUI. Each cycle seems to be getting better and better. We also do ultrasounds each cycle. I get to see my follicles and now I know exactly what they are measuring simply by viewing the screen during the ultrasound.

I've basically done this previously, but they are truly angels. They bring you tissues if you cry, they laugh when you laugh and they are truly on your team! You don't feel like you have 'issues'. You feel normal and you feel like you can ask any question you have.

They are very well organized. There aren't any weaknesses. They have a full staff on hand to accommodate each and every patient that comes through the door with individual attention.

We do not have fertility coverage through insurance so this has all been out of pocket. Last month alone was $1,017. Each month is it upwards of at LEAST $500.

Dr likes really cares about his patients as individuals as well as patients. He listens to you and delivers hard news in a compassionate and caring manner. He always has a smile and is very encouraging

Do research on the medications before and be fully informed about all side effects and purposes.

Dr. Likes was amazing. He is very caring and gives the patient the ability to decide how quickly action should be taken and how much intervention is desired. His staff are incredible too. Each staff member including dr. Likes treats you like you are the only patient there at the time and is willing to take time and answer any questions or concerns you may have.

After much consultation, we used femara and iui and got pregnant on the first time. My menstrual cycle was longer than normal (36 days) and my husband had issues with mobility and morphology. We now have a beautiful smart and kind 4 yr old little girl!

Lynn is wonderful. She always has a smile on and us very encouraging. You can tell she really loves her job. Even though she doesn't have any children of her own she is an adopted grandma to many. We go back to the clinic every now and then just to see her and we even communicate by text sometimes

Strengths include personality of staff and organization. Weakness can't really think of any. Would definitely recommend them to anyone! I had a rare reaction to the femara and they were very helpful in trying to get me to the right place for treatment. They even worked me in on a couple of occasions on short notice

Besides co-pays, I think our iui charge was about $500 that was it.

Dr. Likes is an amazing doctor! I feel completely comfortable and at ease when talking with him about our future plans. He is always willing to listen and hear my concerns as well as answer any questions no matter how simple.

Go into your appointment knowing that Dr. Likes truly cares about his patients! He goes into great detail about how they do things and what to expect. He is willing to take treatments as quickly or slowly as you want. He is simply the best!

Dr. Likes always takes the time to talk me through each and every step as well as ask about my personal life.

We started with just Femara and then slowly added a trigger shot and then added another shot before the trigger shot. After a few months of no results, we decided to try an IUI. After this failed, we decided to take a break and he was fully supportive!

They are wonderful! They are always the smiling bright faces you need to see in those stressful moments before an exam or appointment.

The fertility clinic of the Carolinas is the best! They strive to be that beam of light and are your constant cheerleaders throughout the entire process. They are understanding and offer to pray with you if you need it. I love them!

All doctors appointments and treatments are expensive, but they tell you all costs up front if possible

We immediately liked Dr Likes. He painted a realistic picture of our scenario and what our results may be. He was confident and straightforward. He said our treatment plan was like a ladder and we needed to figure out which rung to start on and if that didn't work to move to next rung. Fortunately his plan worked and we are currently pregnant with our second child.

Listen to what they have to say but be optimistic that good things can happen even if they don't seem likely. Everyone's body is different.

He took the time to explain things and let us ask questions. He said to call if we needed anything after we left. He always asked me how I was doing and feeling during procedures. I cannot say enough good things about Dr Likes.

We would start a round with femera on days 3-7 of my cycle, Ovidrel 150IU days 7-10. We would go in for an ultrasound to check the follicle size and stimulate with Gonal F that same day.

You would leave a message and a nurse would call you back. After my miscarriage I always had the same nurse, Amy, that called me. Every single nurse I talked to was sincere, helpful and respectful.

They were always on time with appointments, quick to call with results, flexible to schedule and easy to get in and out of.

Dr likes is knowledgeable about the most recent advances and will give you his very honest opinions on treatment options, even if this clinic doesn't offer them. He is compassionate but will also be truthful for when he thinks it is time to move forward with a new plan. He keeps track of all of his patients, knows who is cycling, and even knows his IVF patient's beta test date off the top of his head. I always know what to expect and what we should do to move forward. I can't say enough good things about him.

Dr likes always knows every detail of my very thick chart every time I see him. He is kind and compassionate. He makes you feel like he is as invested as you are and you can tell he really wants you to have a successful pregnancy.

We did a FET cycle. Suppressed with bcp and lupron. Added in miniville patches and estrace. Then PIO and Crinone. We thawed our previously frozen embryos for PGS testing. All made it through thaw, biopsy, refreeze, and thaw again. I think that embryologist and lab are very good at this clinic.

Susan is a straight shooter. She will not sugar coat anything which I find refreshing. She prepares you so you know exactly what to expect. She always makes herself available and answers questions thoroughly.

He has a way of putting you at ease and not making you feel broken. You feel he genuinely cares and only wants the best for your family. He always made sure that my husband felt great as well and always gave him suggestions and information when he was feeling down. You feel like he is your best friend in addition to your doctor.

He is the best doctor you can go with esp if you want constant information and details.

By far the doctor I have ever felt most comfortable with. Everything was easy to understand and he was very caring and informative

He had me on a different course then a previous fertility doctor. The medicine and dosage he gave me and my husband were the best results we saw. He also figured out things that the other doctor never did in the 2 years we were going to them.

They knew you by name everytime and made you feel so loved and good. If ever bad news they had a way of putting you at ease.

Beautiful and welcoming facitility. Very clean and accepting atmosphere. The office has a soothing vibe and you feel good regardless of the news you get. Also you feel like you can speak to anyone.

At the time of seeing dr. likes my insurance that I had at the time covered a good bit

Likes was nice but I never really had a true understanding of the plan for me. I had good results but never any baby until two months after I was done. I also had to get the mess myself which was added stress

Make sure you do research ahead of time

i felt very rushed with the nurses. the nurses did not explain much to me when i was going through the process.

Did the other version of chlomid for two months and then injections for two months

They were friendly but the one lady who did my first ultrasound was not helpful at all. I kept asking what she was seeing and she did not care to describe it to me

Most of the staff was friendly but you never really knew what to expectEither you would be charge for something you didn’t know you were going to be charged for or you just never knew what the next step in the process was if the last step was unsuccessful

My insurance did not cover any of my treatments and my medicines were about $1000 a month for injections the ultrasounds were about $350

He is a great listener and was very thorough, I didnt seem rushed at all. Nothing negative to say he was great. Didnt push me at all to do treatment. And was able to help without a bunch more tests. Kind of gave me a reason why this was happening when others couldn't.

Be honest

He really listened to me and was willing to help me try what we could afford. Unfortanelty I did not have the funds to try what he thought would work.

All I did was take fermera vecause I had been taking chlomid for so long w another Dr with no success. Along with timed intercourse. He wanted me to try an IUI but because of cost we just couldnt do it,

I only really dealt with them on the phone. They were a bit more pushy on treatment than the doctor, which was confusing since he didn't speak of treatment. He was okay w us just trying the meds.

Hard to know pricing they didnt have a good before price assessment like the other practice I went to, but that was 2 years ago might be different now. However, after I bugged them and my husband's human resource I got it figured out.

More affordable than previous dr but still too much for us

Dr Likes is an excellent doctor. He is thorough, compassionate, and knowledgeable. I would highly recommend him to any of my friends or family. He thoroughly walked me through every step of the process. He realized my fears and did anything he could to try to relieve them. He was always available for questions

Be patient and ask lots of questions!

Dr Likes is very compassionate. He realized my fears and walked me through every step of the process.

The nursing staff was excellent. They were always available for questions and responded very quickly. They offer helped relieve my fears throughout the process.

I love this clinic. From the Receptionist To the nursing staff to the phelbomist to the doctors - they all showed compassion and knowledge. I would highly recommend this clinic to anyone that needs their services.

My insurance covered a good bit so I paid around $3000 for my IVF cycle. I believe the quoted out of pocket cost was around $15,000