Dara Havemann

Dr. Havemann is extremely warm and welcoming. She is extremely thorough in trying to investigate the cause of infertility to best guide next steps. Unfortunately, we still fell into the “unexplained” category, but I do feel like she exhausted every test possible to come to that conclusion. She communicates very clearly and she is honest. When it comes to hard discussions she is very empathetic. Having been through IVF herself she truly understands the infertility journey. I was amazed that she personally did all of my treatments and a Dr. from the practice is always available by phone after hours if you need anything. We did get pregnant through IVF with Dr. H after 4 failed IUIs with another doctor in the clinic. Unfortunately we miscarried but we will be trying again soon.

Make sure you are okay with a doctor who is very thorough. While that may sound standard, being thorough takes time and you have patience because it is a process. You will not go in and schedule IVf for the next month that is not how it works, even though many of us with infertility feel we are running out of time. Over a period of months we tested my fallopian tubes, had a hysteroscopy to check out my uterine lining, tested egg quality, did blood work to test my autoimmune condition, etc. before being led to IVF. For me, it wouldn’t make sense to me to go through such an emotional and expensive procedure without ruling those things out first.

Dr. Havemann and her entire staff know my husband and I by name. When we call the office, they know who we are. When we experienced a loss they we all aware and said they had been thinking of us.

For IVF egg retrieval, I did hormone injections with a trigger shot (I cannot recall the dose or name). The only side effect I recall was severe bloating and a little bruising from the shots which were painless. I also took a progesterone suppository after the transfer. We had 18 eggs retrieved and got 8 five day embryos that we did PGS testing on and we wound up with 6 total healthy embryos. Our first transfer was a success but we miscarried at 6 weeks.

Lauren and another nurse (I cannot recall her name) were always very thorough with us explaining everything step by step, providing calendars, and follow up calls to keep us on track. They have always called back timely with results.

The McKinney location has a great staff. They are always kind and helpful. I have always had my calls returned promptly and the check in/check out process is easy. They have a great website with a lot of patient resources. No negatives from my experience.

$35 copay for all of my visits. IVF was roughly $20k + medication (ranges from 3k-6k. That includes ICSI and PGS testing. IUI at this clinic was about $3400 with medication. Progesterone to take after the procedure is $1800/mo if not covered by insurance.

We only wanted to transfer one. From my understanding the max they will transfer is 2 to avoid risks of high order multiples.

I truly cannot say enough good things about Dr. Havemann. We received our diagnosis of poor egg quality from her and even though those were not the results we were hoping for I still loved meeting with her every time...even when we received such devastating news. She is equally personable and professional. She follows through on everything she says 100%. I did not feel like a number there at ALL as I did at the other fertility clinic I used in the past.

Go see her immediately...you will not regret it at all...she is wonderful!

Dr. Havemann is so caring but yet also extremely professional. Having seen another fertility doctor before Dr. Havemann helped me realize what a treasure she is!

We planned to do a freeze all cycle for IVF. When my follicles were not responding as hoped she changed dosage of medications, etc. She kept me extremely informed throughout the whole process. I only was able to retrieve 4 eggs (later diagnosed with low egg count and poor egg quality), 3 fertilized, but none made it past day 5. She personally called me to discuss this as well as a follow up appointment where she delivered the worst news I have up to this point received in the best way possible.

They were all very nice and caring.

They are busy but even so I usually did not have to wait too long. When I needed an appointment they were always able to squeeze me in when needed. They worked around my working schedule as much as possible and were much more accommodating than my previous fertility clinic.

Each procedure was "a la carte" here instead of being a pre-packaged payment for all services. This ended up being a better deal for us. The cost of a full IVF cycle was a slightly more pricey than my previous clinic but WELL worth it.

Our experience was that she never wanted to think outside of the box and give us a diagnosis or even theorize why we aren’t getting pregnant. She seems very timid and scared. For example, after 3 miscarriages I had to push hard for a recurrent loss panel - which is pretty standard. So, all of our treatments and procedures were a very generic, blanketed approach. She was supportive and sweet throughout our time with her. Once we got to IVF everything fell apart. Due to going into IVF with unexplained infertility and a very generic approach, I was concerned about a zero fertilization rate and had requested to do ICSI. I was assured by my nurse if it was deemed necessary on day of procedure it would be done and I let it go because it wasn’t explained clearly how that decision was going to be made so I assumed it was going to be done because I had asked. (Rookie mistake) Dr. Havemann also pushed for us to fertilize “X” amount and freeze the rest because since we were on the younger side she prepared us that we would probably end up with more embryos than the number of children we wanted. We decided to fertilize 10 and freeze any remainder. We ended up with 10 to fertilize and 7 to freeze at retrieval. On the day of retrieval the embryologist suggested doing ICSI and Dr. Havemann made the executive decision to do conventional IVF because she made the statement we had a religious objection to ICSI because we had only requested 10 eggs to be fertilized and we were worried about having too many embryos. Fertilizing “X” amount and freezing the rest was her idea! For the record, we do not have any religious objections to any fertility treatments/procedures and this was a complete assumption made on Dr. Havemann’s part and I found out after speaking with embryologist this was actually noted in our medical chart!! In the end, we had a zero fertilization rate and had one slow-to-start embryo that was poorly graded and we were told ICSI probably would have circumvented this issue. That was an expensive and upsetting lesson, especially when it was not communicated to me clearly we were not doing ICSI and I had to find out my doctor put notes about me being religious in my chart. Even worse the embryologist later denied our conversation where she told me she recommended ICSI but Dr. Havemann made the decision to do conventional due to our “religious objections” to ICSI. Also, since our embryos were doing so poorly, we kept being told every day when the embryologist would call that Dr. Havemann would call us that day to check on us and explain where to go from there. This was told to us 4 times and we never received a call from Dr. Havemann. That was very upsetting. We did do a fresh transfer on day 5, in which that morning the embryologist called me and chewed me out denying our previous conversation about the ICSI and called me crazy and a liar. Which was very unprofessional and upsetting. We did get pregnant from this transfer but it ended in a chemical pregnancy a week later. In our appointment to debrief this whole IVF cycle and figure out how to move forward, Dr. Havemann was looking across her desk at me 8 months pregnant and crying tears saying how unfair this was for us but that at least we learned a lot. She apologized for the religious assumption and the poor communication and said she would do ICSI moving forward. And used the cliche hindsight is 20/20. I would not recommend her if you aren’t a straight forward, text book, simple case. I think her bed side manner is great but her intuition as a doctor and her confidence in herself and her decisions she makes needs some growth. Communication and professionalism in the whole practice is very poor. I truly felt that Dr. Havemann and the embryologist knew they had both made poor and unethical decisions and were both trying to cover their behinds so we couldn’t sue or wouldn’t get a compensated cycle. We had an independent doctor that has been doing IVF for 30 years look at our case and he said the least Dr. Havemann owed us was a free cycle with our frozen eggs. I don’t even trust Dr. Havemann to do something for free on me.

Make sure you are communicating yourself very clearly about your wants and needs as a patient. I would get as much in writing as you can.

She was very personable, sweet and compassionate.

Timed Intercourse- Letrozole, Follistim 75 iu every other day for a total of 3 shots and progesterone suppositories 100 mg daily for 14 days IUI - Letrozole, Follistim 75 iu every other day for a total of 3 shots, Pregnyl trigger shot, progesterone suppositories 100 mg daily for 14 days IVF - Ganirelix 250 mg for 4 days, Menopur, Gonal F 300 iu daily, Pregnyl trigger shots and Crinone 90 Mg progesterone daily for 14 days

Joan was great! Angela was sweet but I feel communication to getting messages to Dr. Havemann was challenging.

I think the strength of this clinic is their bed side manner. I think their weakness is communication. I would just make sure you get as much as possible in writing and go in trying to not be too emotional about this process and stay on top of every detail yourself.

For the most part, since I was working I requested the earliest appointment so there wasn’t much of a wait. The only thing I didn’t like was our ultrasound tech didn’t seem familiar with IVF because I had some follicles measuring 22 mm and she told me that I had already ovulated and caused a big scare and she told a nurse and she came in and looked at the size of the follicles and told me I had not ovulated.

An IUI was about $500 plus the medications. IVF was about $15,000 plus medications

I was pleased that my doctor felt one embryo was best for us.

She is wonderful. She went through the IVF process herself, so she really understands the emotional side of things, and is extremely empathetic. She was great at checking in with both my husband and I's emotional health in addition to our physical health. I was always comforted that she personally did every ultrasound and procedure; I truly felt like I was in the best hands possible.

Ask questions, and tell her how much info you do or do not want.

She spent as much time as we needed answering questions, explaining the details and her reasonings for our protocol. Everyone at her office really got to know us personally. We feel like they're all part of the family!

I have PCOS, so we always had to do a "low & slow" protocol to ensure I didn't overstimulate. We were always successful with that (never had to cancel an IUI cycle for too many follicles – typically had 2-3). I did always have big cysts after every medicated cycle, though, and had to skip a month for them to resolve. When we did IVF, we did 10 days of birth control, followed by 12 days of Follistim + Menopur, and Ganirelix the last 5-6 days. Due to my PCOS, we had planned to do a freeze-all cycle with a Lupron trigger to prevent OHSS, but the day of my trigger, my E2 levels were still low enough that she was comfortable moving forward with a fresh transfer, and switched me to an HCG trigger at the last minute. It worked! I got pregnant that cycle.

The entire nursing staff is wonderful. They're so compassionate, often having to deliver bad news. I really felt like they cared about me personally. Since I got pregnant and "graduated" from their care, I've honestly missed them and wanted to go by there just to see how they were.

Dallas IVF is great -- the McKinney office is perfect, in my opinion, because it's very small. Occasionally there would be one other person in the waiting room, or I would pass someone on my way in, but it was never a packed house, which can be awkward in an infertility situation. It also contributes to getting to really know the nurses and staff personally. On the other hand, the larger Dallas IVF practice is great, because there's always a doctor and/or office open to you if you need a weekend monitoring appointment or have a question. The ONLY thing I ever didn't like about the Dallas IVF practice was the phlebotomist in the Frisco office; she wasn't super friendly and left big bruises in my arm every time she drew my blood.

Since Dr. Havemann has been through IVF herself she understands the process and the emotions that go with it. She is caring, smart and very quick. You can tell she knows what she’s talking about and she’s very thorough! I love that she draws pictures and writes out descriptions for me to take with me.

Start saving money unless you have insurance coverage

Dr. Havemann comes to the waiting room each appointment to greet us. She is compassionate and caring.

For IVF we used menopur, gannirlex, and foloistim. She was almost spot on when ordering meds and figuring out how much I’d need. We did stims for 9 days with follicle checks and blood work every other day. I felt she was gentle and thorough the day of my retrieval.

All members of Dr. Hs team are kind, organized and thorough.

The clinic is convientely located next to Baylor Mckinney. It’s a nice location and seems very clean/well taken care of. All the staff members have been extremely nice. If you have to have a sono on the weekend or a retrieval done it wil be at the frisco location. The frisco location is also where the embryologist and your embroys stay frozen.

Our IVF cycle cost us about 17,500. That was with conventional insemination, monitoring appointments, med cost, retrieval, anesthesia, and PGS testing of 5 embryos. We do not have any fertility coverage through insurance.

Dr. H suggests we transfer 1-2 PGS tested embryos

I'm a new patient and haven't fully gone through my first cycle, but so far she has been great. She explains things well and is willing to answer questions and listen to concerns. I'm also very impressed with her staff. The respond immediately with any messages I leave, and call as soon as they get lab results in.

Don't be scared to speak up and ask questions or present concerns. She exhibits compassion and a genuine desire to care for you as her patient.

She was compassionate and understanding of all that I have been through because she also has PCOS.

I have PCOS, so for my first cycle she recommended Femara and IUI. Other than anovulation, I did not have other abnormal markers such as egg quality/count or advanced age. She chose Femara and Metformin to help with ovulation and IUI because my husband has a morphology issue that she felt sperm washing/IUI would assist with implantation.

They have all been kind and very helpful. What I'm most impressed with is their communication. As soon as tests results come in, they call immediately. If I call with a question, they either answer right them or call back within 30 minutes. They also email to check in with me.

Strengths- communication, organization, ability to do early morning appointments Weaknesses- none that I have experienced so far

Copay for doctor visits, medication, sonograms, IUI

She is a wonderful Dr. You can truly tell that she cares. She is open about her own IVF journey, and you can feel that she is on your side. She is compassionate and thorough. She explains everything to you in a way that you can understand, and you can tell that she is invested in you and your journey.

Don’t be afraid to ask questions and to ask why.

She addresses you by name, asks about your day, remembers details about your life that are unrelated to your treatment

Based on my labs she dosed my pills abd injections. When the first cycle was unsuccessful, she adjusted the doses.

They are warm and welcoming, and very knowledgeable. They show compassionate and patience with me.

The clinic is so timely. All the staff are friendly and they are almost always right on time. Everyone is helpful and fights for you. The receptionist argued over and over again with my insurance, just to make sure I they were giving me the coverage I was supposed to get.

Initial visit $300 Dr visit after $150 US $150 IUI $300

I feel like we did not get a realist C expectation and full analysis of what could have been done differently... I feel like even she was surprised by our results but offeremed minimum explanations or resolutions... especially bc we were very clear that we only had 1 shot at IVF

Expect to be oversold on Expectations... but she is very nice

She was caring

IVF with freezing multiple embryos. On at least 3 different injections plus oral and suppository meds. Only 2 embryos made it to implantation

Very knowledgeable but could have been more understanding when I had to go back for blood test for 4 weeks in a row to keep calm ngirming a miscarriage which was so very hard

Overall ok... but they were more expensive than other clinics in the area and I was less than impressed. A part of me feels like we were not a priority bc we stated from the beginning that we could not affect red to do multiple cycles... which I feel should have had the opposit affect. They were always extremely busy... and they absolutely should have separate waiting areas for those that are having to go in and take repeated blood test to confirm a lost pregnancy

$27,000+

She was kind and explained next steps. She has experienced infertility as well so she was able to relate to my struggles. She ran several tests to give us a comprehensive view of underlying causes. She understood my frustrations as a woman and was warm on days that I began to cry from exhaustive efforts.

Have LOTS of money because infertility is an EXPENSIVE journey!

She was patient and kind.

Injectibles and clomid for both IUI cycles.

Very kind and patient!

Great atmosphere. I never waited long. They were friendly. I almost felt like part of the family. They called me by my nickname and each time rooted for me and wished me well. The clinic is beautiful and clean.

The cost were expensive and insurance covered hardly anything at all.

Dr. Havemann met us in the waiting room and was friendly and kind from the moment we met her. We enjoyed the visit and the information she shared with us. She was professional, thourough and compassionate during procedures.

Definitely see her. If we had to go through the process again, we would choose Dr. Havemann again.

She was personable and friendly.

Everyone was extremely friendly and helpful.

The clinic was clean, safe, professionally managed and calm. The staff were helpful and friendly and put us at ease from the moment we arrived. We felt like they were cheering us on throughout the whole process and always willing to answer any questions we had. We enjoyed our visit.

Their approach is to transfer a single embryo because it is safest for mother and baby.

She was very informative oand detailed on the whole process and was truthful about my odds for my age.

Still in progress with my IVF. When this cycle is done I will provide details.

Joan and Angela have been amazing. The medication teaching they provided was excellent. Plus when I had doubts or concerns they took the time to listen and give me honest feedback.

Very warming and welcoming. Beautiful office.

Around 19,000-20,000