Miguel Damien

Dr. Damien is an extraordinary man. He’s brilliant, compassionate, and amazing at what he does. When I first met him I felt like he rushed appts but then I realized that he just talks really fast by nature. He’ll stay with you for as long as you need and answer as many questions as you have. I can’t tell you the number of times the whole infertility process overwhelmed me emotionally and he stood by my side with a box of tissues and consoled me rather than leaving me to go to the next patient. This is also why if he was ever running behind on appts I was never upset because it just meant he was caring for another patient as he had me so many times. Cannot day enough good things about this man and what he has done for my family. It was a long, long road but we finally had success with him twice now!

Don’t be intimidated by his brilliance. He he’s talking too fast he’s not rushing you. That’s just how he talks and ask him to repeat or go over anything. He’ll be happy to! If he’s running late it’s because he’s taking the time to fully explain to someone else just like he’ll do to you. He pours his whole self into each of his patients.

Go first thing if you have to get to work. Go later if you don’t. They move pretty quickly. They’re very efficient. Make friends with the ladies in your cycle. It makes the waiting more fun.

My husband has great insurance. Everything was covered.

Dr. Damien is an excellent doctor. He is friendly and speaks very clearly. He answers all of your questions with patience and compassion. I could tell that he was hurt and upset when my transfers didn't work. He also did not judge me at all for being part of the LGBTQ community - in fact he never even questioned it and we were treated as any other couple would be. Dr. Damien was there for every visit. I would even call late at night to leave a message for the nurses and he would answer the office phone! That happened twice!

Ask all the questions you can- Dr. Damien will treat you with kindness, patience, and respect.

IVF - husband's sperm had low motility, morphology, and count. Years later: IUI - In new relationship and used donor sperm

I would get there early so I could be the first one for blood work and ultra sound. They work quickly and try to get you in and out so you can get to work.

I had IVf and IUI covered by insurance.

Dr. Damien told me he preferred to only transfer two embryos if they were not tested and if they were tested, then only one embryo.

Dr. Damien is INCREDIBLY talented and an expert in his field. You may wait a while for an initial consult appointment but it is definitely worth it. His knowledge and confidence takes away some of the stress my husband and I felt in this whole process. I fully trust him to do what is best for me.

Be prepared with your questions written down ahead of time. Dr. Damien is very busy - he will answer all your questions but I found it’s best to be fully prepared with what I what to know.

For my IUIs I was on injectable meds. I took 75IU of Gonal-F for about 12 days, with .25mg Cetrotide once my follicles were developing well. To trigger, I was on between 5000-10,000 units of Novarel. During the two week wait, I was on Endometrin vaginal progesterone suppositories. I am in my first cycle of IVF: I started at 300IU of Gonal-F for the first three days, then moved up to 450IU Gonal-F for the remainder leading to my trigger. I’ve been on 150IU Menopur, with .25mg Cetrotide beginning on day 7 of the cycle. I anticipate starting Lupron and hCG trigger in the next few days.

I have $25,000 lifetime infertility coverage at work, which I am now maxing out with the first round of IVF. I had to pay $4200 out of pocket this round for genetic screening and cryopreservation.

Dr. Damien did not suggest we transfer more than one embryo because of my age and our diagnosis. He said we are not at the point yet where we would need to consider a multiple embryo transfer.

I love Dr. Damien. I think he’s the best fertility doctor but because of that he’s very busy so he can seem rushed sometimes. He has been a fertility doctor for decades and nothing can replace experience which is another reason why I believe he is so good. He seems to really care about his patients and when he focuses on your case he really individualizes your care.

He can be off putting at times so be prepared for that.

The first time I saw Dr. Damien he gave me several options starting with iui to ivf. I was hesitant to do invasive procedures so I did several iui’s that failed, some were natural cycles and others were with clomid. I got pregnant on a natural iui cycle but lost that baby. Dr. Damien felt that injectables would produce a pregnancy but I was hesitant and he was fine with letting me decide on what to do. After that I did an iui with clomid which failed and then an iui with injectables. The iui with injectables resulted in my daughter. Trying to have baby #2 I had a laporascopy because during my c section with my daughter the dr. Noted issues with my right Fallopian tube. Dr. Damien suggested a laporscopy or start with iui & injectables. Since he had gained my trust with baby #1 I asked him what he suggested & he said laporascopy. I’m glad I got it because I found out that I didn’t have a right Fallopian tube, my right ovary was adhesed to the back of my uterus & my left Fallopian tube was completely blocked. Dr. Damien informed me that we could do 2 iui with injections but he wasn’t sure if my 1 tube was going to work probably. After surgery I started with an iui with injections which was unsuccessful. So I opted to go to ivf. My first cycle was not successful, we had no embryos. Dr Damien was very apologetic and is adjusting my next protocol.

I was having vaginal bleeding for two weeks at a time and pelvic pain. I have a history of endometriosis. Other doctors could not figure out what the issue was. Dr. Damien did an ultrasound and figured out those issues at the first visit! I had a polyp, bilateral ovarian cysts and other issues. Dr. Damien recommended with an HSG to check my fallopian tubes. At this time I had insurance that covered IVF. When we went into surgery the plan was to have surgery to correct the fallopian tubes. However after the surgery I was told the fallopian tubes had to be removed becaused they were adhered to the bowels.

Dr. Damien is upbeat and positive. However I wonder if he was to upbeat and positive. I know that anyone going in for surgery on there fallopian tubes knows there is a chance that the tubes will wind up being removed. However Dr. Damien was also recommending that we use my eggs when every other doctor I had seen was saying that I should use donor egg or donor embryo. After reading how other patients with endometriosis had failed egg retrievals I was weary of not skipping right to donor embryo. With my insurance I only got four tries.

He did recommend a really high dose of Vitamin D, however I did not get to the point in the process where I was on any prescription drugs for stims or anything like that.

At the time I had a marketplace healthcare plan. I had a $250 deductible for the surgery center the Dr. Damien used. I only had a co-pay for office visits. The shrewsbury Surgery Center where I had my surgery was very nice.

I am truly unsure because we switched clinics before this point in the process

Dr. Damien is extremely knowledgeable and caring. He pays attention to detail, and helps the patient through one step at a time without overwhelming. I was in extremely good hands with Dr. Damien. His professional skill and knowledge make him one of the most trusted people in my life. Highly recommended.

Go in with an open mind and ask questions. He gives you options, but crafts a recommended personal care plan for you that is based on all the evidence of your situation even though he won't burden you with all the details unless you ask for them.

For each of my transfers, my hormone therapy was different and achieved the desired results to get me to transfer. I was in full-blown menopause when I visited him for the first time, yet I had not started my family. After a successful pregnancy under his care, I returned with the hopes for another child. I was aging and my system needed different tactics to be ready. His adjustments to my protocols in each subsequent try resulted in pregnancy twice. The cohort of donor eggs I was using for the two transfers after my successful pregnancy were not viable. He did everything right. The second miscarriage resulted in a fetal matter testing and it was found that the embryo would not survive. If I wasn't so strapped for funds from those two procedures and the failed donor eggs, I would have tried again. Just cannot afford it especially since I'm down $20,000 already from the two failed pregnancies. I aged out of insurance coverage for the IVF portion and now cannot afford to try for another child.

$2,700 transfer $1,800 ICSI and assisted hatching Co-pay for visits and Bloodwork From an outside clinic, I used frozen donor eggs at $11,000/6 eggs $200-400 embryo storage

My doctor recommends two embryos in transfer, whenever possible, but no more.

Dr. Damien is very thorough and explains everything. If you don't understand anything, ask questions right away and he will take the time to answer them. Despite trying to absorb a whirlwind of information at our first consultation, he was patient with me understanding his treatment plan for us. Even though we have only been in treatment with him since August 2016, we feel he is taking a more aggressive approach with our treatments, which is something we are very grateful for.

If you don't understand something, don't be afraid to ask questions. Be honest with your medical history.

1 round of Clomid 50mg CD 5-9 failed 1 round of Clomid 50mg CD 5-9 successful in conception but ended in incomplete miscarriage. Needed Methotrexate to complete miscarriage. Took 4 months off due to Methotrexate, further testing and surgery for Endometriosis. IUI-1 round of Clomid 50mg CD 5-9 with 250mcg Ovidrel injection failed 1 round of Clomid 50mg CD 5-9 failed IUI-1 round of Clomid 50mg CD 5-9 with 250mcg Ovidrel injection (pending)

We are covered by my insurance. We just pay a copay.

We have not completed embryo transfers yet.

He’s very good about explaining everything involved and he doesn’t sugar coat expectations. However, he really pushes genetic testing, and we opted to do both a fresh embryo transfer and genetically test the rest and he’s trying to talk us out of that decision

Research on your own

For IUI we did 2 “supraovulation” cycles with injectables. I was seen every other day for bloodwork and ultrasound (which he did). This was because we have unexplained infertility, so clomid doesn’t really help. This cycle we’re doing IVF, and will be starting the stim day 1 on May 7th. Definitely prepare to spend money, all in all we’re spending 18k out if pocket. We had a 10,000 lifetime cap for insurance for fertility meds

First come first serve. I get there early so I can get out early

$15 copay. Approximately $1300 IUI. Meds are expensive at 2k/shot gonal F. $13175 IVF with 1 transfer and genetic testing. Lab cost of genetic testing embryos is $2k for 6-8 embryos

He does eSET because he says the multiple transfer disk of twins is 50% which can be dangerous on both embryos and the mother and result in miscarriage

Dr Damien is very good at his job and has amazing success rates. We were a little disappointed though that given that I didn’t have Diminished overran reserve we only got one embryo that didn’t make it to day 5. I was really expecting better results especially given his reputation. He is very fased paced and I would have liked the process to be explained more in the beginning since it’s a huge learning curve.

Bring your spouse to the consultation since it’s a lot of information to absorb.

One cycle of birth control. Then Gonal f 450x 3 days, then increased to 600 x 6days with Menopur 150 in PM. Then starting day 6, cetrotide in AM. Pregnyl 10,000 35.5 hours before retrieval.

It was very streamlined

My insurance paid for one cycle but I still had to pay co-pays even if it was just to have a nurse teach us how to do shots

If we had gotten any embryos, he only would have transferred one at a time

I always felt that I was in the most skilled hands with Dr. Damien. He inspires trust through his bedside manner and - more importantly- his results. I wouldn’t think of going to anyone else for treatment.

Trust his advice and experience. He knows what he is doing.

He always recommended IVF for me from the start and I didn’t listen. I wasn’t psychologically ready for it. Instead, I had failed 2 IUIs. Finally, I followed his advice, had a surgery for endometriosis, and the IVF cycle Dr. Damien had been telling me to do from the start. IVF worked on the first try! And I have a bunch of embryos if I want to try again.

I paid out of pocket because I work for a small employer and fertility treatment was not covered. It hurt. But it worked. I have my child. And Dr. Damien is the best. He knows what he’s doing.

Dr. Damien always said “one healthy baby is the goal.” I followed his advice although i was terrified of the prospect of multiples and transferred 2 fresh embryos (which he advised based on my age, risk factors, etc) and I succeeded in having my one healthy baby!! His advice works. Don’t question the master.

He was present at every visit & reviewed everything I needed to know very carefully.

Be honest with him...he's very receptive & eager to help. Don't be afraid to ask any questions, because it will only help him give you the best treatment. Follow all directions carefully...he's very structured & I think his methods helped me achieve great results.

I'm unsure of medication names...I went through 2 cycles of injections for egg retrieval. The 1st retrieval didn't yield enough eggs...very surprisingly because I have PCOS. He increased dosages on certain meds for the 2nd round, which made it successful. My egg reserve is low, but the quality is good, so he expressed that he felt confident that even though the number was low, there was still lots of hope for a pregnancy.

Several thousand

Friendly, great bedside manners, extremely intelligent. He lets you know exactly what’s going on and what the best route is for your treatment. He shows compassion and talks to you like your a normal human being. Very straightforward and honest.

Trust him and his decisions.

Medication, pgs testing & freezing embryos

It was a long time ago. He was pleasant enough. My mom was not crazy about him but I don't remember why. Maybe it was his bedside manner she didn't like but I thought it was fine. As a patient I was comfortable. He ordered a lot of tests and they made sense and I learned that I had to have a donor that did not carry the cystic fibrosis gene.

Take good notes

I had something that cleared my tubes by another doctor. Dr. Damien removed a fibroid. We did injections of something that other people weren't using but I forget what.

I do not remember but the injections were more costly at first than I thought. When I called and cried to them, they arranged for another pharmacy at a much lower cost that I could afford to send me what I needed.

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For all three times we did the iui treatments dr.damien was very gentle, and went at my pace. He is great I dont think they make many doctors like dr. Damien anymore.He was very Optimistic even when I wasn't is understanding and genuine Every step of the way

Please after you are done talking with dr. Damien dont be afraid to ask question after question. I know that might sound annoying and I have apologized to dr. Damien all the time(which he doesnt mind at all) but you know after I leave his office I feel like all my questions and concerns have been answered.

Before doctor Damian did anything me him and my husband discussed everything we went into full detail as to which game plan would work best for us starting with A and going all the way to Z on everything then we decided on a treatment strategy i.e. The IUI you then went into detail as far as what we would need to do for that. For the 1st IUI and we decided to do the IUI he told us exactly how it would work what we would have to do what he would be doing You told us that on the day of the my husband would have to ejaculate in a top and bring the cup to them so they could analyze his semen so we did that and we came back 2 hours later and then we went into the room and he put my husband's semen all the way up inside of me and then I laid there for a little while and then we just have Soo we for 2 weeks and he said to have sex the day of to double our chances and that was all 3 times of doing the iui.

I believe the IU i's were 250 Plus a 100 change for the medication And $40 for every visit a doctor demons

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