Irene Souter

Dr. Souter is very straightforward and clearly extremely knowledgeable about her field of work. You get the sense that she could do this job in her sleep from the way she can easily rattle off information and decide on the best treatment plans. She’s not going to coddle you or hold your hand, but she’s amazing at her job and knows how to do it well. Whenever we had setbacks she remained very optimistic and that was really helpful. She didn’t perform any of our actual procedures, as that gets done by whichever doctor is on call.

Dr. Souter talks fast because she knows what she’s doing, but sometimes she might not realize that YOU don’t know what you’re doing. So don’t be afraid to slow her down and ask questions. She will gladly explain things if you ask.

We did an egg retrieval (6 embryos) followed by a fresh transfer. This resulted in an ectopic pregnancy. After that, we did a modified natural cycle ending in a frozen transfer, which resulted in successful pregnancy.

Dr. Souter herself was fine at caring for me as a member of the LGBTQ community. She treated me just like she would treat anyone else, and I didn’t feel like the fact that I’m gay affected my treatment with her. However, MGH as a whole needs improvement with LGBTQ care. Many of their forms still contain heteronormative/gendered language, many staff members assumed I had a husband, and my information was even mixed up with my wife’s on occasion.

My insurance covered IVF because I had first done 6 unsuccessful IUI’s. I did have to pay some for the medication and testing. It’s very expensive.

It was easy to transfer my donor sperm to the clinic from the Cryobank. But the storage fees to keep it at MGH are very expensive. And the process to transfer it back to the Cryobank is a bit more annoying.

As discussed earlier, Dr. Souter’s manner while meeting with her was consistently supportive, educational, and clear. We felt we always understood what our next steps would be, what risks were involved, and what chances we had of success. The only minor issue was how long we needed to wait between appointments to see her, but that’s just a product of how busy she is providing all of her patients with the same quality treatment.

Be proactive in scheduling any future consults. When our second IUI wasn’t successful, we preemptively scheduled our IVF consult to coincide with the third cycle of IUI, just to keep the ball in motion if the third cycle wasn’t successful.

All of our tests came back pretty normal, with the exception of some mild male factor issues (which improved with diet changes). Because everything appeared relatively normal, Dr. Souter suggested 3 courses of IUI with Gonal-F before moving on to IVF. The first IUI resulted in me getting my period before the two week wait was up. The second course was a little odd - my body didn’t respond as quickly to the Gonal-F and appeared to wind up ovulating on its own, so we did an IUI without a trigger shot. I didn’t get my period for 26 days after the IUI, but tested negative for pregnancy. The third cycle went smoothly and I received a positive pregnancy beta test 16 days after the transfer. I’m now 13 weeks along with a healthy baby!

Our insurance is excellent - we only paid copays of $30/visit, including transfers and testing. The medicines were most expensive, at about $300/cycle.

We didn’t get to this point, but because I’m still under 35, with IVF we would have done just a single embryo transfer per IVF cycle.

We had been utilizing Dr Styer and I moved to Dr Souter. Personality wise, I just cliqued with Irene better. My husband liked both. After multiple failed IUIs, I just needed to change something up and moving clinics felt like a huge undertaking. Irene was like a breath of fresh air I needed.

Stay positive!

I don't remember exactly but this was our final IVF shot before I moved clinics. The retrieval went well this time and I knew that the transfer was good, the doctor who did it exclaimed it went really well and felt it had a great chance. This positivity helped me as well thinking things went well.

Our insurance didn't cover any treatments.

MGH had recommendations on how many to use given how many times we had tried and my age. We elected for one both times.

Dr. Souter is direct, no-nonsense and matter-of-fact, which I liked. She's pleasant enough, but not super warm and fuzzy if that's what you're looking for. I saw her a couple times before starting my IUIs, but will not see her again until I have done six unsuccessful IUIs (at which time I am eligible for IVF).

If you want a straight shooter, you'll probably like Dr. Souter.

So far, I have done four unsuccessful IUIs. Given my situation, I have to do six IUIs unsuccessfully before my insurance will cover IVF -- so that is the treatment plan I am currently on. I am doing natural cycle IUIs (no medication) with ultrasound monitoring and a trigger shot.

IUIs are $880 each. My medications and ultrasounds were covered by my insurance, as were my office visits.

She is extremely knowledgeable and friendly and takes her time with you answering all questions. However she ups your anxiety about when I got a positive for a possible genetic issue that was not big deal when I went to genetic counseling. She was also pretty pessimistic about my 15% of getting pregnant. Statistics include both when with issues and women who are just older. Many women in my family got pregnant naturally in their 40's. I just didn't have a partner. I was not surprised when I got pregnant on the first ivf try.

Go to her because she is good but know that she can make you a bit anxious and is overly cautious to not get your hopes up.

Standard ivf - patches, suppositories, and PIO injections.

$10000

She said to transfer two embryos to give me a chance.

I will say, my first interaction with Dr. Souter was not ideal. She talked too fast, used lots of jargon, and because I had come to her from another clinic (for IUIs) I think she thought I knew more than I did about IVFs, which can be very different. Occasionally her accent was hard to understand. I am in healthcare and was a little lost. My husband was totally overwhelmed! My second meeting with her one-on-one went much more smoothly and she even turned her computer monitor to show me actual numbers and details, something I very much appreciated. Dr. Souter leans more towards pragmatic and blunt and could improve her bedside manner, but I have not doubted her decisions, protocols or care.

Do your homework. Learn about IVF terminology and the process. Bring a notebook to take notes and go prepared with questions since your time with her is limited. Also, do not be afraid to ask for further clarification if you don't understand something. She is very straightforward. If you are overly sensitive (not that I am not...because who isn't?) then maybe think about another doctor, though I don't know who would be best, maybe Dr. Sabatini. Call to ask the clinic.

Cycle #1: OCP/Low Dose Lupron. 21 days of Apri birth control. Lupron injection 10 units x 10 days. Lupron injection 5 units x 10 days. Gonal-f 150 IU and Menopur 150 IU injections x 10 days. HCG injection. Ampicillin, Cefoxitin, Methylprednisolone, baby aspirin (81mg), 50 mg IM injection Progesterone. Valium for transfer. Vivelle dots 2 patches every other day. Personally, I did not respond well to this protocol. I only had 5 eggs, 4 were mature, and only 1 fertilized normally. This was transferred and the cycle was not successful. Cycle #2: OCP/Antagonist. 21 days of Apri birth control. Gonal-f 300 IU and Menopur 150 IU injections x 11 days. Ganirelix Acetate pre-filled syringe 250 mcg x 6 days. HCG injection. Ampicillin, Cefoxitin, Methylprednisolone, baby aspirin (81mg), 50 mg IM injection Progesterone. Valium for transfer. Vivelle dots 2 patches every other day. I had a drastically improved response on this protocol . 18 eggs retrieved (even from my quiet ovary), 9 went on to ICSI, 7 fertilized normally, 4 made it to day 5. 1 was transferred and 3 were frozen. I became pregnant, but unfortunately it was ectopic and I had to have surgery to remove my tube. There is a slight increased risk of ectopics with IVF. Cycle #3: Cryopreserved Blastocyst Transfer. 21 days of Apri birth control. Lupron injection 10 units x 28 days. Vivelle dots varying patches every other day x 24+ days. Endometrin tabs 100mg. Ampicillin, Methylprednisolone, baby aspirin (81mg), 50 mg IM injection Progesterone. Valium for transfer. "Textbook cycle and transfer" with 1 frozen embryo, results TBD.

Strengths: MGH has a ton of experience with IVf and some of the best stats in the state. Dr. Souter works with a team of physicians who coordinate each patients care. Weaknesses: Dr. Souter sees a ton of patients so it can sometimes feel like you're just a number. She also seems to rely on standard MGH protocols so much so that she is unwilling to consider each individual patient's situation.

I think Dr. Souter is generally a good physician. I would just caution prospective patients to get a second opinion if you have several failed IVFs because she seems resitant to protocol change.

I did the long lupron protocol for both IVFs with Dr. Souter. I have PCOS and I kept inching towards overresponding with each IVF. I never had good egg quality and none of my embryos made it to blast.

The monitoring here was pretty efficient but there were times where you felt like cattle. Unfortunately I think this just illustrates the ebb and flow of a large IVF clinic.

I was very luck and my IVFs were covered 100% by insurance.

Dr. Souter is very direct which I like. She takes the medical care of her patients seriously and is hesitant to start with the most invasive course of action immediately. She also is receptive/concerned with the financial costs.

While she may seem tough, she is there for you when it really matters.

1 unmediated IUi 2 medicated IUI 1 IVF cycle (flare) Low ovarian reserve

Co-pays

They have a chart that outlines how many embryos will be transferred during each cycle.

On our first meeting, Dr. Souter explained the entire process very throughly and on each subsequent visit, I felt as though I knew what to expect next. I had even run into Dr. Souter out in public in my hometown (A suburb of Boston) and she couldn't have been more pleasant- she knew me by my first name, introduced me to her daughter, interacted with my daughter (and remembered her name) whom was conceived through IVF with Dr. Souter. I couldn't be happier with her as my doctor. After my failed IVF attempt (the second of three attempts), Dr. Souter called me personally to see how I was doing and to make a plan for moving forward with another cycle.

I think if I were to give one piece of advice to a prospective patient, it would be that having a child is a miracle and no matter how good your doctor is, it might not work. You have to have patience with the process.

Many appointments I left confused and scared of next steps. Many times I needed her to slow down and repeat herself. I always felt a bit rushed and that I couldn't get a word in. BUT, at some point I just had to let go and trust her since she clearly knew what she was doing.

Just know yourself. If you're someone who needs a positive/compassionate doctor with pleasant bedside manner, she's probably not the best fit for you. At the time, 3 years ago, when infertility was so new to me, having that type of doctor was incredibly difficult for me. But now that I've lived this stuff and understand it better, I don't think her demeanor would bother me as much.

I don't recall what protocol we followed my first cycle, but it was pretty much a bust. I had very few follicles, maybe 4-5 retrieved, I think 2 fertilized, we transferred 1 day 3 that did not take and the other one did not go on to be freezable. The second cycle we followed a Flare cycle, which worked much better for me. I had around 13 follicles retrieved, I think 6-7 fertilized, we transferred 1 "perfect" one that went on to become our beautiful daughter and ended up freezing one.

I don't remember. Fortunately my insurance covered most of it.