Peter Ahlering

I feel he is very knowledgeable, and does spend a lot of time with his patients. He is a very kind Dr., and will pretty much do what you ask of him. And, if he doesn't know an answer, he will do his best to find out for you.

He is a very smart man, and his statistics speak for themselves.

At times I really feel like there is a break down of communication with their office and my husband and I. I feel like we have very poor follow up from their clinic. We have Male factor infertility, so my husband is now seeing a urologist. He has been under his care for 3 months. After his 1 month follow-up with the urologist, MCRM contacted us because they said he will need labs after he had just had them drawn and a SA. We hadn't heard from MCRM for at least 2 months, no check ins or anything. And it was like they were demanding that my husband have these tests done. So. I called the urologists office and they said, no it takes 3 months for Clomid to start working and he didn't need to have labs since he had just had them drawn. And when I called MCRM to let them know we'd just follow up with the urologist, they were a little irritated. But, we didn't feel it was necessary. We barely have any communication with them right now. No check ins or anything.

For my egg retrieval he gave me gonal-f, menopur. And my trigger shot was ovidrel.

I have only communicated with her through email, but she is always prompt in responding back, and answers all my questions. She is always nice.

The clinic has poor communication with each other. The Dr and nursing staff are great, the office staff is helpful. At times, I feel like there is a lot of miscommunication in their billing department, about things that I need to pay out of pocket for and things that should be billed to insurance. I am so glad I now have coverage for infertility. Last year around this time my previous coordinator made a huge mistake. We had planned to do our transfer in December and the coordinator didn't realize that we had frozen eggs not embryos. Even though she had my chart (I think) and the office wasn't prepared to do our transfer. We didn't know my husband needed to see a urologist to do a work up for his azospermia. Super frustrating.

Had to pay out of pocket for some things that I didn't feel that we should have. I feel they are comparable to other clinics.

We went to Ahlering because everyone we told we were doing IVF said he was their doctor when they got pregnant from IVF or IUI. We are starting our first round of FET with him after and ERA cycle and an egg retrieval. He's very kind and does a good job explaining things and his reasoning behind treatment. I also like that he pays attention to my modesty and jokes as appropriate. My only issue is that the clinic has a timeline for patients and they aren't always prepared for patients that need a slightly different timeline.

Talk to him - ignore the marketing guy and actually get to know him.

Dr Alhering has done several of my ultrasounds and office visits. He is always friendly and kind. Jokes about my "shy" left ovary but can always find it. He did my ERA biopsy last month and was wonderfully supportive during the four tissue samples. Consultations with him can last more than an hour and he never leaves until you are content. He is also really good at making sure your are covered except immediately during procedures and making eye contact with you when he can.

IUIs - gonal-f at 75 IU for 5 days, trigger with ovidrel after midcycle scan. IUIs done by PA, Cierra. IVF: antagonist protocol. Started daily HGH injections before cycle and coQ10. I was unusual - he usually does birth control pills before cycle but because I had a delayed period from my prior IVF he had to induce a period with Provera. Use Gonal-f, menopur, centrotride (sp?). Triggered with lupron and Hcg. Shorter stim - I really think I needed another day and more monitoring. We got 7 eggs, 4 mature, all 4 fertilized. Two died on day 5 as day 4 morulas and 2 are frozen for transfer. ERA test: accepted into clinical trial. Low cost meds, good monitoring. I aslo wanted to do receptiva and he told me he didn't think I needed it but if I wanted it he would support it. Did BC pills then estrace patches every 3rd day with oral estradiol at 4mg. PIO injections started on day 5. He ordered plenty of meds so I would have everything I needed for the ERA and the next FET.

Christina - she always called on the day she said she would, even with a high patient load. Did not always follow through on details. Jen - probably the poorest communicator of the group. Often had to ask about care to get responses/info. Rachel - great about responding. Overall - you can tell MCRM has grown very quickly and some things about patient care have not been fully developed 9I think the teams are overloaded) - but overall the nurses were really nice.

MCRM - the marketing guy (Dale) is awful - probably the clinic's biggest weakness. The facebook posts border on offensive, the baby butt ad is awful, and the podcast is not always supportive of what infertility patients need. Doctors - both Ahlering and Aubuchon were really good and patient. The clinic has grown a lot quickly and sometimes it shows but overall they really care. Billing - up front and really helpful. The receptionist could not figure out some issue and the billing manager called in on her day off to resolve the issue. Willing to charge in small increments so I could use credit card cash back as a 1.5% "discount". Lab - the embryologists and embryo lab are amazing. All my eggs fertilized and 2 made it to blastocyst. They sent videos! The only thing I didn't like was if you day 5 falls on a Saturday or Sunday you do not receive a call about your embryos -the extra two days were so stressful and I debated the entire time if we had decided on the wrong clinic. We also transferred an embryo in and they were amazing at coordinating this. I even got a follow-up email telling me the embryo was settled in his new tank. The portal is awful - you can't reply to messages! Flow sheet is impossible to find in the app. Hate the portal.

We did the "gold" package - egg retrieval and one FET. No genetic testing. We added PICSI (so worth it) and embryoscope (SO worth it). PICI was $200; embryoscope $800. Our cost with educator discount was $10,500 for cycle plus $500 anesthesiologist (he was great) and $1500 meds.

He prefers eSET - was very happy when we told him one embryo but said he would do two if we really wanted but his recommendation was eSET.

My first impression of Dr. Ahlering was that he seemed like a car salesman. Out of desperation for a baby, we decided to give him a chance and start treatment immediately rather than wait for another consultation with a different doctor. I fully regret this decision. We met with Dr. Ahlering once and had 3 phone conversations with him. He and the office are (for lack of a better word) exceptionally shady. I feel like he is just out to make money and does not truly care about his patient’s success. I also feel like there has been retaliation against us for leaving their practice and seeing a different specialist.

Do not go to MCRM Fertility for any reason. Do not see Dr. Ahlering. I 100% regret my decision to receive treatment from this physician.

Dr. Ahlering and his staff gave us conflicting information regarding his recommendations for our care. He told us he didn’t think IUI would be beneficial for us and would only very minimally increase our chances of conception after 2 failed timed intercourse cycles. He said he felt the minimal increase was not worth the added cost of doing an IUI. We agreed. We began a 3rd timed intercourse cycle. Later that day, his PA stated that he recommended we try at least 2 IUIs if our 3rd timed intercourse cycle failed. We questioned this as he had just told us that he didn’t recommend IUI. We were instructed to set up a phone call with Dr. Ahlering to discuss the conflicting information. He called over 1.5 hours after the scheduled time and stated that we were “all speaking the same language” and that an IUI would not benefit us. Clearly, he and his PA were not speaking the same language. He refuses to forward any of his consultation or progress notes to my new doctor and his staff states that all records of treatment plans, prescribed medications and dosages are proprietary information specific to their facility (rather than the individualized care they claim to provide) and they also won’t release those records. The only records they are willing to release are lab results and ultrasound reports. This leads me to question if there even is any documentation regarding my care. They do not seem to see myself or my husband as human beings trying to grow our family, but rather as an enemy for daring to question them.

We did one timed intercourse cycle with 7.5 mg letrozole for 5 days. Midcycle scan showed follicles not large enough to trigger. Started letrozole 7.5 mg again for 5 days. Second midcycle scan showed mature follicles. Triggered with Ovidrel and then proceeded with TI. Second cycle we did 5 days of 10 mg letrozole and added 3 injections of 50 units Gonal-F. Midcycle scan showed follicles were not mature. We were instructed to use 75 units of Gonal-F for 2 days and then the remainder of what was in the pen the 3rd day (about 50 units). Second midcycle scan showed several mature follicles. Risks of multiples were discussed and we triggered with Ovidrel that evening and proceeded with TI. For our third cycle we used 10 mg letrozole for 7 days, one day of 150 units Gonal-F, followed by 75 units Gonal-F the next 2 days. Midcycle scan showed mature follicles and we triggered with Ovidrel and proceeded with TI. We were unsuccessful each time.

Christina seems to care about her patients. She seems like a good person. I don’t have anything bad to say about her.

The staff at the front desk is frequently rude, not only to myself, but also other patients. They are exceptionally hard to get records from, even after you have paid for them. I paid $32.89 for 17 pages of my medical record. I requested the full record; however, I was only sent partial labs and imaging reports. Michelle Brinkmeyer, who is their contact for medical records, stated that they do not send consultation or progress notes with the record because it is the physician’s prospective on the patient. She also stated that she printed off my husband’s semen analysis, put it with our record, and gave it to Dr. Ahlering (I suppose for him to approve?) after we requested our records and he removed the semen analysis report before giving the record back to her. She noticed this, did not question where the report went, and mailed our record without it. When I called to ask where the rest of our record was, she said Dr. Ahlering was out of town and she would have to ask him about it the next day. The next day, she said she would mail us “some notes from our record” and the SA report. She said the medications, dosages, and treatment plans were proprietary to their facility and they would not be released to myself or my new doctor. After telling her that I would check with my new doctor and the US Department of Health and Human Services to see if this was standard practice, she advised that I could print flowsheets off of the patient portal with the treatment information. I did not receive a refund for the missing information, nor would I have paid $32.89 for my records if I would have known that I would only be receiving partial labs from an outside facility and ultrasound reports. I will know in a few days if I actually get the SA report and “some notes from my record” in the mail.

I had no insurance coverage. Each ultrasound was $250. Medications costs were around $370 each cycle.

We are happy with Dr Ahlering. He addresses our concerns professionally and respectfully. He states his opinion on medical issues with research or examples to explain. Our biggest struggle is balancing those medical opinions with reality/the financial aspect of fertility treatments.

Be prepared with questions but dont be afraid to contact again later after you've had time to process the large amounts of information given

Spent adequate time with us. Answer our questions fully

IUI: letrozole pills (5 days) and gonal 150 u injected (3 days) 3 negatives IVF: menopur, cetrotide, gonal. CoQ10, DHEA, and omnitrope added for 2nd retrieval. 1st retrieval 13 eggs, 8 mature. 2nd retrieval 4 mature eggs. 4 initially fertilized but did not grow to genetic testing stage

Christina was our coordinator for IUI. She was amazing. Although we were not successful and eventually moved on to IVF, she was very helpful. She was calm and helped me to relax even when sharing news we didnt want to hear. Her compassion and overall presence was appreciated

People in the office are generally friendly and helpful. I've been happy with our medical care. We sometimes werent sure what the next steps were. After a few months we got the routine down, but sometimes felt lost, especially in the beginning. Dont be afraid to ask questions when things get confusing. We struggled the most with the financial department. These are big decisions and big payments. I think sometimes others who see it all the time may forget that

IUI approximately $1000 per round plus medications IVF $16000 for 2 egg retrievals (with egg banking first round) and no transfer completed, plus additional for medications

We were not able to transfer so discussed this very little

Dr. Ahlering is the best fertility specialist I have ever worked with. He listens, he genuinely cares, he explains everything with great detail and he offers so many advanced options with IVF treatment that my last doctor didn’t utilize/believe in.

Go to Dr. Ahlering!! You won’t regret your decision to atleast set up a consultation to meet with him. He will listen to you.

Dr. Ahlering’s office is warm and welcoming. He is also a very kind person. They take the time to listen, instead of rushing you in and out like an assembly line.

Dr. Ahlering used the full IVF protocol instead of the Mini protocol our last doctor used. We had wonderful results with this protocol. He prescribed me Gonal F, Menopur, Cetrotide, Novarel and another trigger shot. He also had me on a vitamin regimen of Coq10, omega, DHEA, and prenatals. He retrieved 18 eggs, 17 of those were mature eggs. Of the 18, 16 fertilized. And we ended up with 6 day 5 blastocysts that are currently being genetically tested.

Jen was awesome! I was able to meet with her in person before we started our cycle. She went over medication instructions with me which was extremely helpful. She was always quick to respond to any questions I ever had.

MCRM will take great care of you. From the front desk receptionist, to the nurses and lab staff, they were all wonderful to work with! They make sure you leave with full understanding of what the next step are. They are organized and caring. I wish I had gone straight to MCRM instead of trying other specialists first. It would have saved us a ton of time and money.

Dr. Ahlering offers 3 different IVF plans. We chose the Gold plan that costs $15,500.

Dr. Ahlering will try to talk you into a single embryo transfer, but he will allow 2 embryos to be transferred if you feel strongly about doing so.

Dr. A is a wonderful communicator. He is definitely an intelligent doctor who knows what he is doing. I am very impressed with how long he has being working in the infertility field. I have confidence in him as a patient and I appreciate several long phone calls he has endured with me to answer multiple questions. Though he has not been able to get us pregnant I still have full confidence in who he is as a Dr.

It would be helpful to go more in depth on the front end and ask more of the “realistic expectations” for what truly goes into Each procedure. And what you can expect at every stage of the game. So if you make it past the egg retrieval then you wait x amount of time before xyz I would ask any and all questions. I wish I would have asked more

They do a good job of treating you like a human and not a number most of the time. I do believe they have grown largely and the nurse coordinators have a hard time keeping up with details. At times anyway that was my experience. So in some cases it was exhausting to chase down a nurse to get labs, results or to ask for answer to a question I had already inquired about previously.

I have been through two ER and gained many eggs. We have not made it to the transfer yet because although we got many eggs they did not make it to the next stage. Which is devastating. No one warned me you could get such a high number of eggs and then there is a chance that zero make it . That would have been good information to know

Several of the nurses provide excellent care and compassion of patients. My coordinator I was assigned overall did alright. There were several big misses that she did not give us information on. I am an out of town client And so I have wondered if things would have been different if I was “in town.”? Who knows. Just lots of small slip ups that she didn’t follow through on. One example was not getting lab work and orders to my doctor locally before my appt!! So I arrived and the lab had zero lab work on me and then I go for my appointment and my OB had no orders for that day . I was furious. I took off work, scheduled this time and then I arrive to have nothing. So I spent my morning trying to chase down nurses at MCRM. And that’s not my job I was more than annoyed. That is one example

It’s a beautiful place - facility that is. They are very welcoming as a clinic. And strive to provide excellent care Again I think a weakness might be that out of town patients might get lost in the shuffle of details at times.

I did them in my own town

20-30,000

We have not made it to an embryo transfer yet. So I am not sure. Although he has told me over the phone he only likes a single transfer each time.

Dr.Ahlering took the time to listen to my story and answer all my questions. He heard me and provided reassurance and hope after my miscarriage to help my dream of being a mom come true. He gives his undivided attention and does not rush you through your consultation. His team is the trained and ready to be your tribe!

I would tell them to breathe and trust that you found the right place to have a voice! You will have support from the staff to the patients as it will become your family!

From the minute I walked in the door I felt heard. Every staff member at MCRM treated me like a person and gave me my voice back in my infertility treatment.

I came to Dr.A after a miscarriage at ten weeks, times intercourse, clomid cycles and two failed IUIs. He went through the unexplained infertility diagnosis and possible treatment options. After already having tests done showing normal results he gave comfort in finding an answer. We tried our final and third IUI with femara. Unfortunately it did not work and now we’re looking into ivf but need to financially save to afford it

I cannot day enough about the nursing staff at MCRM! They truly are the back bone of the office! My coordinator was such a compassionate support and would answer any and all questions

The clinic is organized, friendly and ready to make your dream come true. They go above and beyond to provide you the necessary support needed. They have a patient portal that supplies you with all lab results and resources! You have access to ask any questions to the staff through your portal and they are so quick in responses!

He is amazing. He truly cares and wants the best outcome. This is not our first clinic but this is by far the best clinic we have been to. My husband and I both love the care that we have gotten. Dr. Ahlering is so knowledgeable and we really feel like we are in good hands with our care.

Ask questions if you have them. He will take time and answer every question you have.

Every time I am in the office, I feel like he truly cares about my care. He takes his time and explains everything and what the next steps need to be.

We are in our first ivf cycle and dr. Alhering suggested we take lupron for a month prior to stims. I started with 20 units for 5 days, then 10 units for 5 days, then 5 units the remainder. When we started stims I started out on 225 gonal. My body was slow to respond. After about 5 days he added menopur 75units and bumped my gonal up to 300. I have pcos so he was trying to take it slow with me. I ended up stimming for 13 days before I was ready for egg retrieval. We ended up with 17 eggs. 10 mature and so far 7 have fertilized and are growing. Dr. Alhering suggests we do a frozen transfer to give my body a break from the hormones so we will be doing that next month!

Kristin was amazing. This was my first time doing ivf and she handled all of my questions like a champ. She is so sweet and compassionate.

The clinic is very organized. I have never had to wait very long to be seen. Everyone is so kind and helpful and willing to answer any questions I had. Scheduling was a breeze and i was able to get the appointment times I needed to work around my schedule.

We are still in treatment, pending insurance payment.

Dr. Ahlering is the FIRST doctor to help me get to the root of my infertility and not just push medications at me. He carefully diagnosed the reason I have not been able to get pregnant. Since our first consultation in December, we have been working on treating my PCOS and preparing myself to have a healthy pregnancy. I am also diabetic, and have high blood pressure along with the PCOS. His compassion to actually HELP me with my current health/infertility issues before conceiving has been his first priority! To have a doctor actually care about my well being and health is a first for my husband and I. We have been trying to conceive for the past 8.5 years and 11 total doctors. I am really hoping that Dr. A is the answer to our prayers! We are well on our way under his care with our current treatment. So far EVERYTHING that he has done for us has been working. We have a few more months of treatment to go to prepare myself for a healthy pregnancy. I can't THANK Dr. A enough for taking his time, effort and compassion to HELP me and my husband. We can't wait to see what our future holds with Dr. A's help.

Do not ask Dr. Ahlering a question you do not want an honest answer to. He does not sugar coat the truth, treatments or risks. He tells you just how things are or will go. Very up front and to the point. First doctor for us to be so honest in the risks for my husband and I. He is a talker, and very knowledgeable be prepared to listen.

Dr. Ahlering is the FIRST doctor to help me get to the root of my infertility and not just push medications at me. He carefully diagnosed the reason I have not been able to get pregnant. Since our first consultation in December, we have been working on treating my PCOS and preparing myself to have a healthy pregnancy. I am also diabetic, and have high blood pressure along with the PCOS. His compassion to actually HELP me with my current health/infertility issues before conceiving has been his first priority! To have a doctor actually care about my well being and health is a first for my husband and I. We have been trying to conceive for the past 8.5 years and 11 total doctors. I am really hoping that Dr. A is the answer to our prayers! We are well on our way under his care with our current treatment. So far EVERYTHING that he has done for us has been working. We have a few more months of treatment to go to prepare myself for a healthy pregnancy. I can't THANK Dr. A enough for taking his time, effort and compassion to HELP me and my husband. We can't wait to see what our future holds with Dr. A's help.

Currently undergoing treatments to treat my PCOS. We are not to this point yet.

Ceara has been AMAZING. She stays on top of my treatment plan and follows up accordingly. She answers ALL questions and concerns SAME DAY if not right away.

Our first experience with the office staff was a nightmare. NO one knew anything and couldn't seem to communicate. We were pulled in all directions, this was due to the lady we spoke to in the finance department. My advice to you would be DO NOT go by anything anyone says until AFTER you speak to the doctor and he gives/assigns you to a team member who will be assisting in your treatment. We were so confused before we even met the doctor on what we were suppose to be doing. After our first appointment, everything went so much smoother.

We are currently in the middle of treatment. Our costs have been ultrasounds, lab work and medications. We do not have fertility coverage and have currently spent almost $2,000.00

N/A - not to this point yet.

Dr. Ahlering is extremely knowledgeable. I feel that for patients with female factor infertility, he is the pinnacle of reproductive specialists. However, as an individual couple with male factor infertility (my husband has a history of leukemia) I feel as though a lot of our questions were ambiguiously answered or unanswered.

Have questions ready before you enter the office.

Overall, I felt like a human after the visit my husband and I have with Dr. Ahlering. During the IUI process, however, I felt like a number. The process was very quick and I felt as though the practitioner was rushed and had no time to talk or answer any questions I had. Additionally, I waiting 24 hours longer than I should have had to for serum beta results, which made me feel like a number.

With no female factor infertility, we simply treated my IUI using donor sperm with letrozole, a trigger shot, and prometrium The letrozole started after CD3 ultrasound, trigger shot 36 hours prior to IUI, and prometrium vaginal suppositories 3 days after IUI until serum beta 2.

My nursing care coordinator, Christina, seemed intersted in my personal care. However, she neglected to return important phone calls in a timely matter and was unable to answer many questions regarding my care plan.

Overall, this is a good clinic for patients with ongoing infertility issues. I feel that my personal situation would better be suited for a center that specializes in IUI. However, Dr. Ahlering is seemingly the the pinnacle for reproductive services as a physician.

Consults: $80 Transvaginal Ultrasound: $250 IUI: $500 Lab work: to be determined

Not applicable.

Dr. Ahlering truly cares for his patients and does whatever in his power to ensure the outcome they want. Even though we were not successful with obtaining pregnancy. Dr. Ahlering always took the time with consultations to explain things and provide answers to all your questions. He makes his patients feel comfortable at all times during procedures and explains everything he's doing. Not only did he make myself feel comfortable with him but he made my husband feel as comfortable as well. He not only answered all my questions and explained everything to myself but he ensured my husband got all his questions answered.

Ask questions, no questions is stupid or dumb.

I truly felt like everyone cared for your care and your outcome and make you feel like a person and not a number. Everyone was always so friendly and made sure you were taken care of and if you needed anything

With each IUI cycle it was the same...Letrozole, Follistum, insemination, progesterone, then hcg blood draws 2 weeks later.

Shawnie was always helpful, caring and compassionate. She was very knowledgeable about process and procedures and all FDA regulations. She was patient with us when it was taking a very long time for our donor to get his things done, never did she rush us to get things done or pressure us in any way. It seemed like when we were at our lowest she knew how to make things a bit better.

MCRM has some of the state of the art technology and is constantly updating and adding to make things better. They expanded their offices. The front desk person always greeting you with a smile. Sometimes the billing was behind several months and would bill you 3 or 4 months after things took place. They have great resources including a Facebook group for patients to communicate with each other.

We had no benefits for health insurance and had to pay for everything out of pocket. Some things they would bill the insurance company and then bill us later. All 3 IUI's were paid for out of pocket.

I was surprised when I met Dr. Ahlering for the first time. He is the most compassionate, kind and down to earth doctor I've ever had. He listened to mine and my husband's concerns and questions and answered everything clearly until we fully understood.

Be ready to talk and listen to Dr. Ahlering. Your appointment won't be a quick appointment like every other doctor appointment.

Every time I met with my doctor or nurses they always remembered me by name. I wasn't just another case to them. Even though we didn't have success and are on a break from treatment right now, I still get personalized emails from my nurse asking how my husband and I are doing. It brings a smile to my face every time knowing how much they still care and they are still here for us.

Christina is the best! She was always so compassionate and helpful during stressful cycles. Even though we didn't have any success after 4 IUIs she still sends us emails asking how life is going and always reassuring us she's here for us. She is one of the reasons we will go back when we are ready.

I love this clinic. Expect to be greeted by happy, kind and smiling staff. It's very clean and a positive environment. I almost never had to wait in the waiting room before my appointment which was always nice. I honestly don't have a single weakness to list.

I was able to apply for 50% off medication but nothing else was covered under my insurance. Each IUI procedure was $500. Ultrasounds and bloodwork were additional costs. I think all together for 4 IUI cylces, it was close to $5,000. We were also able to do a payment plan.

Dr. Ahlering completes all the ultrasounds, retrievals, and transfers himself and will spend time talking to you and answering any questions you have including doing phone consults if you live away from the main clinic or any of the satellite clinics (Tulsa, OK and Springfield, MO). He is very much a talker during this consults and does really well answering all questions and explaining anything you need. He doesnt act at all like he is rushed or needs to get on to the next patient. He remembers things you've spoken of months later and customizes your treatment to you, along with making adjustments to later treatments if previous cycles did not respond how you and he wanted.

Be prepared to really talk to him, he strives to answer all your questions and make sure you understand the treatment plan, so sometimes consults can be lengthy.

Dr. Ahlering (and his staff) treated me and our treatment plan as if it was their own, as if this was something they were going through with my husband and I. Any questions we had they did their absolute best to answer question, our Nurse coordinator cried with me when she called to deliver the positive pregnancy test news, and even during a subsequent phone consult (we live 2000 miles from the clinic) with Dr. Ahlering about further cycles he remembered the name of our son and that we had a female embryo transfered at the same time that did not survive. We live over 2000 miles from this clinic, but believe so much in them, that we plan to use them in further treatments to provide our son siblings.

We chose to do 2 cycles and bank the eggs before fertilizing them and doing a transfer. Both cycles were agonist cycles with the use of follistem and gonal-F and a lupron trigger. I was also on estrogen patches and then testosterone patches for the 2nd cycle. The first cycle produced 10 eggs and the second produced 12 (I have reduced ovarian reserve). We then used ICSI and PGS testing. We ended with 4 embryos for testing 2 normal and 2 low level mosaic (which will be used after another 2 egg banking cycles if needed).

You will have different nurse coordinators for retrieval and transfer cycles. Both of the coordinators (and the entire staff) were wonderful. They never had a problem answering question after question, were extremely patient and helpful. Rachel (our transfer coordinator) even cried on the phone with me when she called to give us our only positive result after 3 transfers and 7 embryos (2 transfers at a previous clinic).

The clinic and staff are very well run and wonderfully caring. The only real issue we have had was with billing, and they were still very understanding it just took a bit of time to straighten things out. Part of this was because of miscommunication and misunderstanding, but as I said, they were still very patient. The clinic has "offices" on 2 seperate floors, so its necessary to know where you are going, but if you show up on the wrong floor, it isn't a difficult thing to fix. They work really well to accommodate you and your needs, we live over 2000 miles away and they do phone consults and order some of the pre- testing done nearer to us.

We paid around 23,000$ for 2 egg banking cycles, PGS testing, medications, and 3 months of frozen embryo storage.

Dr. Ahlering was fine with us transfering 2 PGS tested embryos, as I am healthy. I know from others that he will suggest only one embryo in certain cases. He has also suggested using our low level mosaic embryos if the planned 2 egg banking cycles are not successful.

He is really like no other doctor I have ever dealt with. He cares about what you want, and tries to get to you to your goal without pushing you to do what he wants. He is supportive, he even answered my email on the weekend within minutes.

You are in wonderful hands, trust that he knows what he is doing and doing the best for you

He doesn't care how much money he is making off of you, he cares if you get pregnant or not. Our Egg retrieval only ended up with 5 mature and he said we needed another egg retrieval and I said I couldn't afford it and he said "then I won't charge you". He is in this business to help people complete their families, not to make a profit off of vulnerable women.

First retrieval we used gonal-f, menopur, and cetrotide but my follicles didn't respond well so we switched up to add clomid and testosterone patches for the second cycle. I got the same result but I liked how he tried something different to see if we could get a better outcome

Jen was amazing, she became a friend more than a coordinator. She was responsive and knew what she was doing, always talked me off the ledge and gave me more support than I ever could have imagined

Strength would be the compassion and working with each person individually. They have great success rates because Dr. Ahlering knows what he is doing. They are very busy so sometimes they don't return calls super fast but they never forget you.

$20k including PGS testing, embryoscope, two egg retrievals, fertility meds, and transfer

His view was that people should have large families if they want them, but one baby at a time was best for mother and baby- he likes to transfer one embryo at a time

I feel like he’s a great doctor overall but is not great about listening to or respecting patients concerns if they fall outside what he believes. He can be close minded in his treatment approach and will refuse treatment options that are outside his opinion of what causes failure in IVF. You really have to advocate hard for yourself with this doctor if you’d like to explore any other options.

Be prepared to do your own research if things don’t go as planned and actively seek out treatments you think might benefit you because he may not. Ie, intralipids, ERA testing, uterine scratch.

I felt the doctor was always too busy to remember details and didn’t listen well to our concerns or questions. However, he’s personable while you’re in his office and his nursing staff is usually really great.

We used ICSI with nanobeads for sperm selection, PGS testing, global-f. Our transfers were basic with estrogen and progesterone supplementation. Our first cycle produced good embryos but no pregnancies and 1 ectopic that required emergency surgery. We are still in progress after our second retrieval.

I have had a couple nursing coordinators but Jen F. was always timely in her response and generally compassionate. I’m a long distance patient so her being responsive was very important to me.

I think they’ve gotten so busy, they forgot about the personal aspect of all this and how daunting ivf can be. You really have to seek out answers to questions. After failures, it’s hard to get an appointment any sooner than 2 weeks out. After a failed transfer, the sooner the consultation, the better. Trust me. They have great technology though that as far as I know, no other clinics have, especially in regards to sperm selection. They will work with you financially, particularly after failed cycles.

I did off site monitoring because I live out of state.

Our first cycle was around $13000 for retrieval and one transfer. We then paid about 2-3k per transfer after. Our second cycle was given to us at about half price due to our ending up with all failures and an ectopic. We’ve spent about $25k at this clinic.

Dr Ahlering is an outstanding doctor with compassion for his patients. He is very knowledgeable and confident in his research and choices for treatment. He is also willing to consider your opinion and take into account your personal wishes for treatment. Even though I have diminished ovarian reserve, he has never once given up on me or my desire to pursue treatment using my own eggs. He is very specialized in treating patients who have diminished ovarian reserve by focusing on using less medication and getting more quality from the eggs retrieved. He is very compassionate and respectful of his patients.

He is a very caring and friendly doctor who is very knowledgeable and trustworthy.

The staff is always very welcoming and warm. I felt like they all knew my name and were always very encouraging and compassionate. Dr Ahlering is very interested in ensuring I felt like all of my questions were addressed.

Dr Ahlering prefers the Antagonist protocol with treating patients with DOR. He uses a combination of oral medication and injectables. I had one cycle cancelled due to no response to medication which I was using clomid and injectables so the following cycle he had me use Letrozole and injectables but also starting the oral medication prior to the timing I did in the previous cycle which gave me 4 mature eggs from 4 follicles at baseline. The next cycle we continued with the Letrozole but used them at the same time as the injectables which resulted in 2 eggs retrieved from 3 follicles at the baseline scan.

My coordinator was extremely compassionate and helpful outside of and during my retrieval cycles. Always responsive to questions and took the time to see me if she was available to say hi during my monitoring appointments. All of the nursing staff were very warm and compassionate and made the experience positive.

The biggest strength of the clinic is that they have a patient support specialist. This really made this clinic stand out above others to me. They organize patient events and gatherings. She also manages a Facebook page for patients which allows patients to connect. They also coordinate a cycle buddy program so you have someone to connect with during the IVF cycle. They are amazing with their patient outreach. Occasionally it does feel a little disorganized since they cycle all of the patients at the same time so it gets pretty chaotic and it can be difficult to get in touch with someone once the phones are turned off after hours. They have an emergency line for after hours but some questions are better off not considering it an emergency!

Dr Ahlering includes a few things as part of his standard of care such as ICSI and then some extra add ins depending on the patient needs. He offers an embryoscope, nanobead sperm selection and positive sperm selection.

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I loved how Dr Ahlering was very blunt and honest with you and didn’t lead you on to believe that every IVF story is a success. He had great bedside manner! He did make sure all of our questions were answered and that we understood what to expect. He even made time for phone calls to check on us before and after our IVF cycle. He spoke to my husband and I as humans and made us feel comfortable about the situation.

Be prepared financially for an immediate second cycle if need Be. This process is a roller coaster of emotions and a waiting game so prepare yourself and remember not every IVF story is a success.

Dr. Ahlering and his office staff are very helpful, kind and courteous. They answer all questions you may have and help you in whatever way they can. We loved working with them!

All of the staff we worked with including Mel, Lindsey, and Courtney were very good! Great communication with all, helpful when we needed help, and quick to respond

MCRM was Very helpful, kind, compassionate. They treated us as they would want their family members treated. We were having a couple issues getting some paperwork from our insurance and Mel went above and beyond to help me track down the paper we needed in time to start our planned cycle. Since we live in Oklahoma we were provided a medication class in Tulsa we could attend to learn about the medication and how to draw our meds without having to drive 6 hours to Chesterfield. They also work with a few doctors in the Tulsa area so we could do all our labs and ultrasounds at their offices and again not have to travel 6 hours weekly

We did pay about $6,200 out of pockets but we also had helpbwith our insurance company

Dr. Ahlering strongly recommended transferring one embryo at a time but would do as you asked. We understood his reasoning as a multiple pregnancy comes with complications and with us already having trouble getting pregnant thisbwould not be ideal. Also sometime when you have a multiple pregnancy one baby can take from the other causing one not to make it.

I really respect Dr. Ahlering but I don't see him often. I've actually only seen him twice - at my initial consultation and then a few weeks later when getting the results. Since starting treatment I haven't seen him but I have been offered appointments with him.

Right now, I'd say that I really like him and would recommend him but I'm not sure how long that would be the case if we don't get better results soon. Not that the results are his fault but I would start to wonder about the treatment plan.

The entire staff at MCRM is so kind and loving. I always feel like a human - not a number - when I'm in the office. It's very important to me since I spend so much time their during any given month.

I am currently in my 3rd IUI cycle and my medication combination has changed each cycle. I feel like the changes are in response to how the previous went and I appreciate that we're making these changes and not doing something that doesn't work over and over. I started with just oral medications and a trigger, then my dosage was upped for my second and now on my third I'm doing injectibles, orals and a trigger. I am hopeful that this cycle will give the results we want.

Christina is amazing. I don't know how she does it all! She regularly is returning my messages and calls well after hours and I always feel very informed.

They are so busy - so they are occasionally running behind. They offer early appointments which I appreciate because of my work schedule. You likely won't see Dr. A all that often but the rest of the staff is great and I always feel well taken care of.

Each ultrasound is $200, the IUI procedure and sperm wash is $500. I have had 1 ultrasound each cycle except the first when I had 2. In addition to the procedures above my medications cost anywhere from $200 - $500 a cycle. The most I've spent is $1,200 for 1 cycle.

Dr. Ahlering was very friendly and seemed genuinely concerned about us. However, he underplayed the risks of being unsuccessful, even going so far as to say that with our numbers we were looking at at least one and maybe two live births. Needless to say, when I ended up with dramatically fewer eggs (10 not 20), embryos (2) and no live births, I was very disappointed/heartbroken and angry at myself for spending our life savings on something we were lead to believe was a pretty sure thing.

Take his enthusiasm for your chances of success with a grain of salt. At the end of the day, he is selling a very expensive service.

We had specifically requested a later retrieval because my husband has had a demonstrably lower count/quality in the mornings. We had also discussed a Sunday retrieval with Dr. Aubuchon (we saw her for our pre-retrieval appointment instead of Dr. Ahlering because he was busy). After this appointment we were scheduled for the very first 7 am appointment on Saturday. When we called in to ask why and how to get this changed, we were basically told that they could not and would not change it - like it or lump it! - and that they had 70 other patients and were too busy to accommodate our needs... even if we had spent $10000+ in patients to MCRM specifically for the treatment.

I purchased the IVF Gold package. Dr. Ahlering likes to say that his protocols are individualized but they really aren't. My nurse mentioned that it was the "___" protocol - essentially one of a dozen options and one commonly used for people with PCOS. When my results were OK, but not stellar, during monitoring visits, Dr. Ahlering did very little to increase my dosages or change the path we were on which ultimately led to failure.

When we called to reschedule our retrieval time, Rachel was very rude - I have not spoken to her directly since as I began communicating with a different coordinator after that exchange. Overall, she did a good job before that and the decision to just squeeze us in was not hers. So, although we had a very heated exchange, overall she did an acceptable job.

Overall, MCRM is a marketing machine that is attempting to grow their clinic and attract new patients. They do offer relatively low prices and are interested in using newer technologies to improve success. I do think they believe they are doing good for people, however, it is hard to understand how any clinic can excuse charging such high prices to cash pay patients while giving huge discounts to insuranced patients (through their agreements with the insurance companies) but this is an industry-wide issue not specific to MCRM. Dr. Ahlering is knowledgable and wants a good outcome for his patients. Even so, they are actively building on to their facility with new construction, etc. The discounts are OK - but very limited. I would personally like to see a needs based discount for couples with low income to allow those of us with a subsistence income to have the chance to have a baby too.

$10,000 for the Gold package with discounts $3500 for medication $2200 for PGS testing (we ultimately decided not to do this when we only had 2 embryos, we had been told we were likely to have 8+ when we started the process)

We had two embryos and he was more than happy to transfer two embyros. From what I have heard, he is willing to transfer more embryos if that means a successful pregnancy, regardless of risk of multiples. The clinic seems to have a relatively high number of multiples.

Dr. Ahlering is friendly. You will have to ask him to slow down and for exact reasons behind his recommendations as he does not do a good job of explaining your options as opposed to just saying "do this."

Make sure you have a clear understanding of ALL your options, the pros and the cons. He will easily overwhelm a patient who does not feel comfortable questioning or advocating for themselves.

While we are at the beginning of our journey, Dr. Ahlering wanted to go straight to IUI without knowing the full story of me and my husband's health. I had to push back several times that I was not doing an IUI until we got my husband's tests back. It was frustrating--it felt as if we was just pushing us along without actually looking at our situation.

We are still in the middle of our journey, so there will be more to come. So far, we've done a medicated, monitored cycle with a trigger shot. In the middle of that cycle, we got my husband's semen analysis results back which showed some issues. We are going to see an urologist who specializes in male infertility as Dr. Ahlering does not seem to have the knowledge to do as much for my husband.

Our coordinator, Christina, does an OK job. I am always able to reach her via email, but often need to follow up to ensure she is answering the questions I need. Before my first trigger shot, she did not realize she had not actually given me any instructions on how to do it--the whole process felt unorganized.

You will have to stay on top of them for communication and clarifying any questions you have.

Dr. Ahlering is very compassionate. He is knowledgable and always discussing current research. Sometimes it seems he's not on board with what many other doctors are doing though (such as with immune factors in failed FETs/RPL). He has some of the best technology and resources I've seen.

Be thorough on your questions. Don't expect him to tell you every single detail. Be realistic with your expectations. You are not the only patient, so try to remember that if you feel neglected or not heard. Discuss options with him and ask if you want to know things. He will always sit down and discuss things with you if you ask.

My coordinator always made me feel comfortable & informed about the necessities, but sometimes I received phone calls from other people who weren't my coordinator and wished all my news had come from her--good or bad.

Diagnosis: Severe male factor.... also questionable egg quality. We've been through 5 retrievals and 1 canceled cycle due to low response on my end. I don't think there's anything he's done that has hurt our success, but I do wish we had made medication/dosage changes sooner to try for better results. He seemed hesitant on making protocol changes and I felt like we just kept having poor results without making any significant changes.

Lindsay often emailed or called just to check on me or give me reminders of dates, medication start dates, etc. She always shows compassion and truly appears to care for her patients. She is kind and makes me feel comfortable.

Sometimes they seem unorganized. Messages or notes don't always get passed from one person to another and communicated well. The front desk is courteous and kind. The lab is excellent about answering emails and questions.

Even with "100%" insurance coverage, I still had OOP expenses. There was a deposit to hold our spot in our first cycle, additional resources not covered--such as nanobeads & embryosope. Also, biopsy/freezing & PGS testing.

Dr. Ahlering has always been open and honest about the risks of transferring and potentially carrying multiples. I appreciate the fact that he does this and I feel like he encourages a single transfer for the health and well-being of the mother, but I also understand why people want to transfer multiple embryos, especially with the cost of additional transfers.

Dr. Peter Ahlering appears to be very knowledgeable about infertility, and I personally believe he is not only an expert, but a pioneer in the field of infertility science, as he keeps up with all the latest testing and treatments. I feel very comfortable in his presence and in his care.

He is a very busy man, please be patient with him. Infertility can be a very long and cruel journey (spanning years), please be patient with yourself and your situation.

We are assigned a coordinator and mine was pretty good at keeping up with my questions and concerns.

At MCRM you are assigned a coordinator. Your coordinator is your point of contact to MCRM and Dr. Ahlering. The Coordinators are in-charge of updating Dr. Ahlering to your situation, your medications (ordering and dosage), and your calendar of medication and treatments. It is best to communicate with coordinators through email, but you can call if need be. They will always call you with important information. If you have a question or concern and it's after business hours you can contact an on-call coordinator that will assist you. The coordinators are great!

Shawnie Hurt is a thoughtful and positive coordinator. She is my point of contact at MCRM and always answers my questions and concerns to the best of her ability. If she doesn't have an answer, then she speaks with Dr. Ahlering and gets back to me with one. I think she must work long and hard hours and she does so with calmness and compassion.

MCRM is a good place to go to if you don't want to feel like just a number at a clinic but an actual person that matters. I felt like everyone at MCRM truly wanted me to get pregnant, have a good pregnancy and a healthy baby(ies). However, I also think that they have experienced rapid growth in clientele during the past year and so, and getting on the transfer schedule may take a month or two wait. Also, mistakes have been made in regards to my care, but most of them were quickly resolved.

Our insurance wouldn't cover any infertility treatment. Dr. Ahlering is less expensive than the clinic we first went to located on the the East Coast. But out of pocket for infertility is just expensive. Be prepared to pay out several thousand dollars no matter what you do.

For both of my transfers, I've transferred two embryos. The first resulted in twin girls. The second resulted in miscarriage.

Dr. Ahlering always seems a bit rushed, but he is clearly a very devoted and passionate. I was quite surprised that when I had my "Why my IVF cycle was cancelled" appointment, he seemed very unfamiliar with my case which was not so comforting considering the situation.

BE YOUR OWN ADVOCATE. Be sure that you are just as informed about the medicine and ART procedures that you will go through.

I like that we have IVF coordinators that are "assigned" to be in constant communication with us and explain things, support us, etc- but I found that many times my coordinator's emails were very short with littler to no explanation about what was going on, I found that I learned more about my cycle and why things didn't work through talking with other patients. Also, when I went in to speak with Dr. Ahlering about my cancelled IVF cycle (after about a month), he seemed very unfamiliar with me and my case. I do not expect Dr. Ahlering to remember all of his patients and their situations, but I do wish he would be familiar with the patient he is seeing during an appointment- especially one as sensitive as a cancelled or failed IVF cycle.

I think my first IVF cycle was very "Fertility 101" and nothing special about it, after it was cancelled due to low ovarian response I had an appointment to go over what the next steps would be. Dr. Ahlering seemed very unsure about how to move forward, but at the end of our appointment a light bulb seemed to go off in his head and he subsequently added Letrozole to my regular IVF med calendar. Unfortunately, Letrozole seemed to lower my estrogen levels to a point where Dr. Ahlering decided to cancel my IVF cycle again.

My coordinator was VERY positive, which helped me stay positive, but primarily when I physically saw her at the clinic. Her emails were quite short and offered very little explanation to questions I had.

Strengths- I've never had to wait more than a few minutes for my appointment, most of the staff were extremely polite and positive, I usually got email responses from my coordinator within 12-24 hours. Weaknesses- I found that MCRM's accountant, Dena was quite unfriendly and hardly ever returned phone calls or emails, in the very beginning I was told that my chart had a note that said I was to only see Dr. Ahlering for ultrasounds (due to some medical concerns) and yet there were times I saw a nurse or the other doctor.

Our IVF "Gold" package was about $10,000 plus another $4000 in outside costs for meds and tests. Also a $350 cost for sperm test and $150 or so for charges before our IVF package took place.

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Dr. Ahlering is in St Louis and I live in Tulsa Oklahoma. He is accommodating to us Tulsa girls and I appreciate that. He will set up telephone call visits with my husband and I so we can discuss what happened and plans of action moving forward. He has a good bedside manner when we are in St Louis for retrievals. I get a warm fuzzy feeling just being around him. He is doing a wonderful thing helping couples create families!

Just know that you are not guaranteed success in the first cycle and it may be hard to drive or fly to St Louis frequently for multiple cycles. That can get expensive on top of an expensive disease to start with. I am very happy with the clinic staff and Dr. Ahlering. The only thing to think about is getting there!

Just due to the sheer amount of patients he sees on a monthly basis for fertility treatments amazes me. It's not his fault there are so many infertile couples though. I felt mostly like a human, but didn't give it a 100% just because his clinic is so busy.

My first cycle resulted in retrieving 11 eggs after using Gonal F and Menopur to stimulate my ovaries. My second cycle we increased the amount of Menopur and we ended up with 11 eggs again. My third cycle I am currently in and we removed Menopur and increased Gonal F and as of this morning, I have only two dominant follicles on ultrasound. I don't really know the rationale behind his choices. I just trust him to know what he is doing!

Jen has a lot of work cut out for her every month. I can't imagine trying to keep track of 20 plus girls' menstrual cycles and dealing with their emotions. My favorite thing about her is her compassion. I need it. She is prompt with schedules and is in contact with me even after hours if needed via phone or e-mail. I really appreciate her.

The clinic seems to be a well-oiled machine. They do a great job of seeing several girls a day during cycle week. They work from sun up to sun down on retrieval days. My nurses during retrieval are always very kind and helpful. They are a great team!

Our doctor highly recommended we transfer a single embryo. He felt like multiples were risky and could cause problems for me and the babies that we might avoid by just using one.