Frank Chang

Dr. Chang was a great doctor to have for pcos and male factor infertility. He gave us both things to work on for about six months before retesting my husbands semen to see if we could improve our odds without further treatment. When that wasn’t the case, we moved forward with IUI and ultimately IVF when it became clear that we needed to do ICSI. He was very matter of fact about odds, treatment and protocol. He adjusted as necessary during cycles and had a kind bedside manner before and after our egg retrieval. We had a successful pregnancy on our first frozen transfer and we plan to transfer our remaining embryo this year. If that does not work we will not hesitate to use Dr. Chang for another round of ivf to have our second baby.

Ask a lot of questions at your consultations and appointments. He will answer everything thoughtfully.

Clomid for one IUI cycle (adding extra days of Clomid for further follicle development) with ovidrel trigger (negative pregnancy test) , Letrozole for one IUI with ovidrel trigger (negative pregnancy test- male factor), IVF cycle with menopur, final-f, endometrin and a lupron trigger. 20 eggs retrieved, 16 mature, 9 fertilized, 2 made it to blast. 1 fresh embryo transfer resulting in live birth, 1 embryo frozen.

We are very lucky to have good insurance so our coverage was excellent. We mostly paid copays and for some of our medications. Many of the tests were not considered “fertility” and fell under regular insurance coverage so they didn’t eat into our fertility coverage.

He strongly suggested single embryo transfer due to risk to mother and child with a multiple pregnancy, no added odds of getting pregnant if you transfer multiple and also due to our non-advances ages.

Dr. Chang was a very good communicator before the procedure and was very smooth and efficient during my procedure. His beside manner was excellent and he made us feel very at ease and that we were in good hands.

Keep a list of all your questions, big and small, and ask him, so that you are comfortable and confident with your choices.

Based on my age, we were recommended and chose to go with a donor egg via IFV. We selected frozen eggs via an egg bank. We purchased eight eggs, seven eggs thawed successfully and were inseminated with my partner's sperm (his sperm was also frozen and thawed). From those seven eggs, four embryos reached day-five blastocyst. We had one embryo transferred and I am currently in week 8 of my pregnancy! We froze the remaining three embryos.

We paid $13k for donor eggs. Our insurance (Cigna) has been great thus far and has covered many costs. We paid $300 for the Clinic's counselor, and probably several hundred in various appointments and local monitoring (blood work, ultrasounds). We are still waiting for some claims to process through insurance.

The philosophy for Shady Grove is one day-five embryo transfer for one healthy baby.

He’s very knowledgeable but can seem to be in a rush at times. We only saw him once during our IVF cycle and it was based on our request after having a significant decrease in anticipated embryos. We believe our stim medication was not properly adjusted and monitored, which impacted the amount of mature eggs to be fertilized because we triggered early due to my estrogen level being so high. He knew it was high but didn’t see a need to decrease it significantly until the end. He called us though for our embryo updates because the counts were so low. Out of 27 eggs, 15 mature, 9 fertilized, 1 viable embryo.

Be up front with any and all questions you have and stand firm with having him explain. He will answer, just may appear to always be in a hurry.

Started with 112.5 Menopur and 75 gonal-f 9 days. Estrogen levels were over double the entire time - gonal-f was reduced to 75 on day 5 and again to 37.5 on day 7. Started Cetrotide AM on day 7. Estrogen levels were concerning so we had almost daily bloodwork and ultrasound appointments but they didn’t modify until halfway and again at the end. We were planned to use a dual trigger of HCG and Leuprolide but with the risk of OHSS with my estrogen, Dr. Change switched to Lupron only. We were scheduled for a fresh cycle and due to lack of modification and up front monitoring, we were required to freeze all and pay additional money for a frozen transfer. During monitoring appointments, we were always told “looks good”, “you might trigger or start another injection early”, “ no issues” but changing our plan and having significantly higher hormone levels could have been better avoided.

Monitoring is in the morning for nurses to call in the PM with results. You’d wait in the main waiting room, get called for blood draw, wait in another area for an ultrasound room to open. Very consistent and smooth process.

N/a

Was appreciative of his calling me directly a few times to discuss treatment options at length. He was also good re: being realistic and managing expectations. On my third FET and last he was really hoping for the best but it turned out not to be and we are not in a whole new IVF cycle, which will be my last.

I was on Menopur 75 and Gonal F 225 for about 9 days which was a surprisingly short protocol. Triggered on day 10 and retrieval on day 11. I used the HCG trigger instead of the Lupron and there was a specific reason why Dr Chang decided on that but I can’t recall. They retrieved 19 eggs. 10 ended up fertilizing normally but only 3 tested noramally (PGS) without chromosomal abnormalities. All 3 FETa failed. One of the three was a chemical pregnancy.

$22,500 and an additional $3000 for medicines, about $2,500 for PGS testing, and $1400 for acupuncture treatments, approximately $700 for an ERA test (endometrial receptivity biopsy) Everything was out of pocket. My insurance only paid for infertility testing and diagnostics. The year we decided to start IVF, the US Federal government pulled ALL of the insurance carriers that offer IVF treatment off their benefits offerings.

Yes he really thought I had a high chance of success and we didn’t want twins.

Dr. Chang is pleasant, knowledgeable, honest and an empathetic listener. He seems fully aware of the physical and financial challenges patients often experience. He is slightly hopeful while remaining candid. He also doesn't try to push us in a direction we don't want.

SGF handles monitoring appointments like a well-oiled machine. They do a great job from start to finish.

Two cycles of IVF with PGS testing: $21,500 plus the cost of meds which adds an additional $5,000-$7,500 per cycle.

Dr. Change listened to our concerns and worked with a new plan, as our first IVF with another fertility clinic failed. He was willing to try what we thought would work differently. we tried a fresh transfer rather than a frozen, and we took many supplements that were allowed by SGF to help with egg quality. Overall I felt heard and my ideas taken under consideration.

Don't be afraid to voice your concerns. Dr. Change will listen and will work with your plan.

We did the Lupron Stop protocol, along with menopur and Gonal F. We tried that because my first round of IVF with a different clinic was unsuccessful in growing quality embryos. Our first round of IVF at the other clinic yielded 0 embryos to transfer. This cycle with Dr. Chang at SGF yielded 7 good quality embryos! We transferred 1 embryo which resulted in a successful pregnancy. I am currently 34 weeks pregnant.

I had insurance that covered 50%. My medication and fresh cycle cost totaled about $6000 total. The cryopreservation totaled $1800 for the first year.

I did a fresh transfer. I at first wanted to transfer two, however Dr. Chang was concerned about the development of OHSS. I am happy he led me to transfer only one embryo. I became successfully pregnant with a single embryo.

Great bedside manner. Kind. Warm. Didn't sugar coat the fact that my husband and I would more than likely have to do IVF multiple times because of our severe infertility issues. My first egg retrieval was done on a weekend that Dr Chang wasn't on call, so his colleague had to perform the procedure. I had a lot of pain after that procedure. My second egg retrieval was performed by Dr. Chang. I had no pain whatsoever afterward. He's so so nice. He's been in the business for many years. If I ever needed to speak with him, all I had to do was contact my nurse. She would notify him and he would call me back.

Come in to his office with a notebook. Have questions already written down in it. Fill in the answers while in the room with him. I did! He's very patient. You can ask him anything regarding fertility.

Microdose Flare Protocol was used twice on me. Lupron, Gonal-F, and Menopur were used. It was unsuccessful. Going with a different protocol next cycle.

2 IVF cycles with ICSI - multicycle discount - including medication: $30,000

Absolutely loved him! Felt completely at ease. He is a fabulous doctor!!! My husband felt the same way. My experience with him was 100% a night and day difference from my previous doctor. He never treated us like just a number or a money making endeavor. He always spoke to us with kind words and told us we would be parents. He would get us pregnant.

Make it a priority to see him. He's by far the best doctor that we have ever seen. Make seeing him your first choice.

We went into a fresh IVF cycle knowing we would do ICSI. We did the normal stems and then added in Menopur to help the quality of my eggs, instead of focusing on the quantity. I feel like this was the change we needed. We went through stems and then found what appeared to be a hydrosalphinx (fluid filled tube) so we went egg retrieval and froze all embryos. I had that tube removed and then we transferred two embryos, resulting in twins.

Shady Grove's monitoring hours were in the morning. Yes, there were a lot of people there, and the waiting room was usually full, but you had an appointment time and they had everything together. Blood work first, then ultrasound. They have everything together. You didn't have to wait long.

We were pay as you go, and Shady Grove has a discount program you can apply for. We did the Shared Risk program, which is basically a risk free plan. We got a discount on that and then we applied for pharmacy discount programs for our meds as well. We did have to travel and stay at a hotel while there, but it was worth it.

He had a preference of transferring 1 embryo, but ultimately left it up to us. He was supportive of our decision to transfer 2 embryos after we had suffered 2 losses and the distance of travel for us between our home and the clinic.

He was amazing. Very thorough and pleasant. Listens to me and asked for my opinion and thoughts. Treated me with respect and remembered me when I went back to him for my 3rd child. He worked with me to ensure that I would have the best success and respected my wishes even when he didn’t necessarily agree and never made me feel like I didn’t know what I was talking about. He also gave me a lot of professional courtesy bc I work in the healthcare field.

Be direct, speak your mind. Listen to him as well. He knows what he’s doing and he would never intentionally steer you the wrong way.

Straight forward IUI using Follistism to grow my follicles to approx. 20-22mm. I get the best results once my follicles are nice and big. My other doctor didn’t thing i should wait that long for my follicles to grow and therefore i had unsuccessful IUIs before i had my successful ones. Ovidrel was used to trigger my eggs. After finding which protocol worked for me, we never steered from it and it resulted in 2 more successful pregnancies that led to 2 more healthy babies for me and my husband.

100% covered by I Durante. Only paid co-pays.

Dr. Chang is very kind, not super chatty. I had switched to him from another doctor -- they had actually been partners once upon a time and so they knew each other well. My previous doctor, who was more aggressive in treating RPL that had possible immunological causes, told me outright that Dr. Chang would not be in favor of my doing IVIG. I brought him my labwork from the immunological testing that my other doctor had ordered and he was very honest and said, "I don't know I am looking at." He said that he was willing to let me do blood thinning injections, and I had thought that maybe that would be enough, and since I was not super excited about doing IVIG, I was happy enough to try my first round of IVF, after 13 rounds of IUI with 4 miscarriages, without doing the IVIG. Unfortunately I did have my fifth miscarriage with a genetically tested embryo. From that retrieval, I only had one other frozen embryo that did not reveal any results in the genetic testing (perhaps a glitch in the testing, perhaps an indication that it was not a good embryo). As a result, Dr. Chang was more than happy to let me do my second retrieval (I had a package of two retrievals) rather than compel me to use the embryo of uncertain quality. For this round, he did not discourage me from doing IVIG, and so I was super lucky enough for the embryo to finally stick. My son is now three years old. I really liked Dr. Chang as a person, and I know that immune issues in pregnancy have split the RE professional community: some doctors believe it but won't treat it, some doctors just don't believe in it, and then there are RE's out there who really look to immune issues when a patient's history of RPL suggests that it might be present. So I think Dr. Chang is an excellent doctor who just happens to not be in the "immune camp."

If you have had several miscarriages and want to pursue immune testing and treatment, Dr. Chang is probably not the way to go. Other than that, he is a very thoughtful doctor.

Because I had had four IUI miscarriages at another clinic, Dr. Chang strongly recommended that I use a genetically tested embryo rather than do an IVF transfer without genetic testing. I fully agreed. For my first transfer, I injected with Lovenox (a blood thinner), which was his concession to my suspected immune issues. I was also happy to do that since I was honestly a little freaked out by the thought of IVIG. After my miscarriage, Dr. Chang was so disappointed with the RPL that he actually requested that the D&C fetal material be genetically tested (again) just to make sure that the original testing was correct (it was). (My OB thought it was a little silly to test it because the chances of the original testing being wrong are very very slim.) Dr. Chang also called the genetic testing company to find out the gender of embryo, as a way to make sure that we had all the right information. For my second transfer, Dr. Chang saw no reason for me to spend the money on genetic testing again. And so we went for a fresh 5 day transfer. I continued doing the Lovenox injections, and I also informed him that I'd be doing IVIF pre-transfer. He again did not seem to think that the IVIG would help at all, but he did not discourage me. Happily, I did get pregnant and for the first time my HCG doubled and doubled ... and now I have a three year old. The credit for my protocol will have to go to Dr. Abbasi of Columbia Fertility Associates, as well as Dr. Victor Priego, a hematologist at the Center for Cancer and Blood Disorders.

I had a package of two retrievals, as many FETs as were needed, freezing and storage for a year. I qualified for a reduction in price due to my income, and I think it was a little over $15,000. I used both retrievals, so it was an extremely good deal. I also qualified for some reduced price medication for my first round of IVF.

My nurse Jessica was fabulous, and she said, "Do you want multiples at all?" and I said no. She said, then only transfer one embryo. She said, "It's happened before that someone transfers two, and then one splits ... and they got triplets." I really did not want that to happen!

if anyone can help you - he is the one!

Started with Vivelle patches and cetrotide and afterwards we did Gonal F/Menopur and the final shot was Lupron not HCG which would have been too much for me. I remember that one of the nurses commented that everyone in the clinic is giving HCG and she was asking me 10 times if I am sure the I needed Lupron. I was responding very well to treatment and if I got HCG I wold have likely ended up in hospital due to hyper-stimulation. First pregnancy lost due to trisomy (we biopsied the embryo to learn what went wrong. Would recommend this over waiting at home the embryo goes out on its own. This helped me tremendously to deal with the pregnancy loss. Second cycle we got out twin girls. I carried them full term and they are happy healthy kids and I am well too.

we had to pay for medication and IVF cycles out of pocket but doctor's visits were covered by insurance so I would not know the precise sum. I would guess that it was between $20,000 and $25,000 for both cycles with meds. We also got a discount for the cycles because we paid for multiple cycles from once.

Dr. Chang was thoughtful and professional and I hold him responsible for my two children. He was patient with me. Accepted my input in the plans for my care. He tried to help me have realistic expectations and I felt he was personally involved in my care.

Don't be afraid to advocate for yourself or disagree with him. He is open.

Explained in details the options for infertility treatment and procedures. Didn't try to rush any treatment on us.He advise try on our own for 6 months with natural way without any medical interventions.

He is a good doctor

I have undergone 2 medicated IUI using Clomid from day 5-9day, with blood work and US on day3 and monitoring on day 11/13 ovidrel injection and IUI followed with progestin for 14 days .

I underwent IUI 1 cycle is 2500 with meds. IVF shared risk 22,000 for up to 6 cycle excluding meds and other procedures.

I haven't undergone yet.

Dr. Chang was always very straightforward & knowledgeable. He was always very responsive when I wanted or needed to speak with him directly. He was factual sharing pros & cons of each situation/option.

He doesn't tell you what you want to "hear". If gives you the facts based on his recommendations in a very straightforward way, giving pros & cons of the different options.

I've purchased an IVF package which had multiple items included.

He always recommended a SET, for the health of the baby/myself. Many doctors want to do more to help with their "stats"; however, Dr. Chang always strongly recommended towards what is the healthiest pregnancy/baby.

After being treated by several doctors in different clinics, Dr Chang's expertise rised above all! he went straight to the point, avoiding unnecesary tests and treatments. I recommend him 100%

Write down everything. Given his expertise, he may not be as accesible

timely and precise

He was so nice with me. Every time I saw him he always answers my concerns and worries and make me feels calm and positive (when you are in a fertility treatment been positive is a key for success). The day I had my IUI I didn’t know who would do my treatment (is not always your primary doctor) so I asked for doctor Chang and I found him talking to a nurse and I asked him “Dr. Chang please could you do the IUI” and he said “Yes, just wait for my in the room”. I was so happy.

Follow his advises and be super positive!

He did the hormones injections (I don’t remember the name of the injections). I started the fourth day of my period and then I had to go every day or every other day to check my process. Around day 13 or 14 when my eggs already had a nice grow I did my trigger shot and the next day had my IUI. After the IUD they prescribe you the vaginal hormones to help with the uterus lining.

$1,500