Russell Foulk

After a failed IUI with another provider, he met with me on a Sunday and reassured me he had a plan and I would be pregnant in the coming few months. He knew exactly what protocol to use and didn’t send me for unnecessary testing. He considered our willingness to be aggressive. We didn’t want a conservative approach and he was willing to comply. I loved that the most. He didn’t want to waste time and he understood my impatience after years of TTC.

Don’t get discouraged if they don’t answer the phone. Just get up and go and make an appointment. You will get results and you will be treated like a princess.

Successful round of IUI Hsg precious cycle determined one side had thank adhesions so we were only going to move forward if we had a follicle on my good side (we did!). 5mg femara 3-7 75miu follistim day 9 & 11 2mg estrogen day 10 & 11 10,000miu pregnyl trigger day 11 Iui day 12 with 22mm follicle Partner SPerm was 192mil prewash 88mill 85% motility post wash

~$1k per IUI Cash patient Insurance covered meds Injections were separate

Being a patient of Dr. Foulk I always knew what my treatment was going to entail, he explained everything in detail and to where we could understand. Dr. Foulk was there during the most difficult times of my life (my miscarriages), he would personally call to check up on me. Dr. Foulk is so caring and compassionate and I knew that he wasn't ready to give up on making my dream of becoming a mom true. He donated quite a bit of his time as I couldn't always afford the treatments. I lost my last embryo after a negative pregnancy test so we're still trying to figure out how to move forward but I truly know that Dr. Foulk is not ready to give up.

Meet with him, ask him all the questions you have and believe that he is on your side and won't give up on you or your dream.

Oh geez! I have had many different strategies from water ultrasounds, hysteroscopies, D&C, he put me on Depot Lupron for 3 months to get my uterus from being really vascular.

In the beginning I had insurance that helped pay for my treatments so I'm unsure of the actual cost. After my husband switched companies we lost this benefits but after my first miscarriage Dr. Foulk and the UFC staff helped with the costs of my second egg retrieval and transfers.

My first transfer we transferred 2 embryos which ended up in a miscarriage after that Dr. Foulk strongly suggested only 1 embryo transfer in the following transfers.

Dr. Foulk treats you like family. He is clear with his explanations, goals for your treatments, and diagnosis. He is always a call away and does whatever it takes to make sure that you're not another number. He is extremely personable and understands the struggles that we are going through.

Be honest and open with him so that you get the most out of your experience with him. He is honest and open with you.

My first cycle was cancelled with Dr. Foulk because my follicles weren't maturing. During that cycle I took two rounds of Clomid and Follistim injectibles. We started the cycle with planning to do timed intercourse, but ended up wanting to do IUI. Since my follicles werent maturing, we cancelled the cycle and I then took provera to start my period and try again a different treatment plan. The next month I started taking metformin to help with my insulin resistant PCOS. We did letrozole and injectibles. My follicles finally grew, but my IUI was unsuccessful. Due to the pandemic, we took a month off and will go back when my next period starts.

I spent more on medication than I did on the actual IUI. I spent $1,100 on my IUI. I spent almost $2,000 on the clomid, letrozole, and follistims.

N/A to my experience.

Dr. Foulk's communication style & and the details and care given to us put us at ease even just over the phone before we met. In person he was just as caring and you didn't feel like he was rushing through his time with you. The only thing I didn't like is when we arrived for ERA biopsy it was with another doctor. But he did perform the egg retrieval and was great all along the way.oh also I ended up getting billed for extra charges outside cycle fee that we’re not previously discussed or disclosed to me. This didn’t happen with previous doctors at same clinic and was very frustrating. That still isn’t resolved.

Ask if he will be hands-on to do your procedures himself Ask about ALL charges as you go

Protocol would be same as I had previously (Lupron based IVF) but with ERA to adjust transfer window accordingly. For the transfer he suggested adding Neupogen to help the uterus be receptive to the embryo since we've had trouble with implantation in the past. I definitely felt he reviewed our specifics carefully and looked to see what he could do to make a difference this time

Approx $750 for ERA Transfer + $12000 for IVF cycle + $4000 for Transfer + 175 for fluid ultrasound + 100 for neupogen (before discounts he offered due to our situation)... plus medications of course

N/A - we only had 1 embryo to consider

I love Dr. Faulk and think he’s overall a good Dr. for me. He was always honest and friendly. My only issue is that he also works in UT, so I didn’t see him as often. But I never worried about the care I was getting.

When you have an appointment with him ask a lot of questions, because you may not see him as often as you think. He’s also honest, so don’t expect sugar coating.

The first 7 cycles I had were timed with clomid or Femera. I think I changed to Femara on the 4th month, it worked better with my body. After 7 cycles we moved to IUI, with femera. The 3rd cycle was cancelled due to having no follicles, or missing ovulation. I had 4 total. All my timed and IUI cycles failed, with no positive test. A few months later we started IVF, I don’t remember how much of each medication I took for any cycle. Our cycle only gave us one embryo. We did PGS testing, mostly because we decided to before the retrieval, thinking we’d have more than 1 day 6 embryo. It was normal. We did a mock cycle, to make sure we had the best chance of sticking. It did turn out I needed more progesterone prior to transfer. Eventually we had our FET, unfortunately it also failed. After my failed IVF we met with dr Faulk again, and he explained that we unfortunately just had back luck with the embryo not sticking. Which we understood. He also said I don’t have the best quality eggs, and the amount of medication we did was high for someone my age and size, should have had a better outcome. We did plan to do another round, with more medication and a different approach, but we have not yet done so.

IVF without meds and PGS was about $15k. Each timed cycle and IUI was partially covered with insurance, Total was about $200 timed cycle and IUI’s

We only had one embryo, so didn’t have a choice.

Dr. Foulk is great If I have a question he answers it. When I need to speak with him he calls me back in a timely manner every time he understands his patients & he makes goals to start & finish treatments. He spoke to my Husband & I like we were peolpe & not just money he could get from us

To listen & ask a lot of questions

We have not yet went through an cycles do to financial issues. But he started my periods & then put me on bith control pills to keep my periods going

I do not know

None yet

After seeing another RE that didn’t listen or respect us, coming to Dr Foulk was a breath of fresh air. He immediately was able to diagnose me after 5 years of “unexplained infertility” and set a course of action to get us going in our treatments.

Ask as many questions as you’d like! Dr Foulk is so good to answer everything and work with you and your schedule.

We used birth control for 4 weeks and then started stims with Gonal F 300, adjusted up to 375 along with Menopur 75. Certotide for 4 days before retrieval and Prognyl hcg trigger shot. Resulted in 33 eggs at retrieval, 19 fertilized, ended with 7 5-day blasts. Endometrin 3x day and then 2 ml Progesterin in Oil once pregnancy was confirmed.

IUIs were $850ish (not including meds) IVF was $8300 (not including meds) and $750 for cryopreservation of our remaining embryos.

Because of my previous miscarriages, I wanted to transfer 2 hoping at least one would make it. My doctor was happy to let me transfer 2.

He is a great doctor but he has so many clinics to go to that we only saw him once when we first got our constellation. After that the nurses handled everything and we didn’t see or talk to him again.

Don’t expect him to do any of your procedures, or to see him again after your constellation.

He started me on progesterone to induce a period. And it went as planned. He then had me take clomid (100mg) for a few days, that produced zero results so they started me on injectables. I took 50 units of gonal-f a day for about 2 weeks. That produced very little change in my ovaries. And my lining started to thin out so they canceled that cycle. The second cycle we tried 2.5 mg of femara for 15 days that also produced nothing. So we started out at 75 units of gonad-f and it barely started to work so they upped my dosage to 150 units. That did start my ovaries producing follicles but very slowly so they again upped the dosage to 225 units. This produced 2 perfect follicles, and I was scheduled my iui. I took a trigger shot 36 hours before the iui, and they did 1 insemination. This resulted in a negative pregnancy test. During both of my cycles I was going into their office 1-2 times a week for vaginal ultrasounds to check my follicles progress up until my iui. The nurse did everything and I never saw or talked to dr. Foulk after the consultation.

iui: 875.00 That included, ultrasounds and physician monitoring 525.00, sperm preparation 165.00, And insemination 185.00 My injectable meds were between $405.00-$900.00 depending on the dosage. So all in all 1 cycle was around $2,000.00 with everything.

Since I've been there so long, there may be another doctor I would be interested in talking to (Dr. Gertcheff - she works at the same clinic) for a 2nd opinion. She seems to have just a bit more compassion (she had to be the doctor to tell me during an ultrasound that I lost my baby, and she rubbed my arm while I sobbed, very soothing and sympathetically). I still adore Foulk, but have been considering switching to Dr. Gertcheff. I may not though, because of my history with Dr. Foulk and because I think he is great at what he does too. He bounces back between clinics in northern and southern Utah so he isn't always the doctor on hand to help me when I am doing procedures, etc. When he has been there though, he always remembers my husband and me (which is important to me, to feel like a human and not a number). He has tried to help lighten the mood when we are stiff and anxious. He is very realistic about expectations (careful to not get my hopes high when I've had poor quality embryos). He takes time with me when I need it, which I very much appreciate. Infertility has turned me into a very type-A person, where I (likely, to a fault) micromanage my cycle. He doesn't scoff at me for it, but instead works with me to make sure mentally, I am taken care of (since IVF is such a huge undertaking anyway). When I start getting really nutso (because of all the stories online) he is careful to guide me back onto the course and explains that not everything I've read online is accurate. He has let me invite my acupuncturist to appointments and makes space for her when I do transfers. He has been very accommodating. Before I met Dr. Foulk, my husband and I had spent 6 years trying to get pregnant. We had seen several unqualified doctors who made grandiose promises to us, that were unsuccessful. Dr. Foulk was the first person who gave us hope. Not even necessarily hope for babies, but hope for answers. For 6 years I was told there was no reason for my infertility, but after seeing Dr. Foulk, we now have tons of answers as to why I haven't been able to get pregnant (endometriosis stage 4, and MTHFR). I still do not have children, but the answers have provided a massive relief, for which I am very grateful. One of my biggest let-down's with Dr. Foulk was simply that he didn't test me for endometriosis until after my 1st failed IVF with them. I wish that was something we would have done from the start, just because the 1st IVF felt like a bit of a waste. To be fair though, I didn't understand that the severity of my symptoms were abnormal so I didn't explain that well enough to urge for testing. I can't blame him for thinking I didn't need a laparoscopy. Other than that, I am very pleased.

I'd say to be patient because he has so many clients (all over the state of Utah) and he works in two different clinics so you may not see him often. I would also say that he is very by-the-book with western medicine, so if you're a little on the eastern medicine side of things, he won't discourage you, but he may not see the purpose. I'd also say that you're in great hands, and that all my friends who have seen him (seriously, everyone but me, haha) has ended up pregnant. I'd say, if you explain to him how infertility has impacted other aspects of your life (emotionally, financially, spiritually, etc) he will have a resource to help you. He really, really, knows his stuff.

This is long! Here we go. 2014 (6 years into my infertility at this point) = 29 years old I still have the paperwork. My daily meds are: Lupron, prenatal, baby aspirin, coq10 Stim meds (10 days): follistim 225, menopur 1 powder 5 days before transfer I start HGH 50 units Feel so bloated. 10 days of stims, then trigger shot. Egg retrieval 2 days later. 31 eggs retrieved. 26 are mature enough to inseminate with ICSI. 20 fertilized. 2 grade C (heavily fragmented) blastocysts by day 5 (the rest have arrested). We transfer both. Use progesterone suppositories after transfer. 10 day beta = 21 HCG ("your number is low but we will be cautiously optimistic!"). Spot and bleed the entire time. I'm instructed to switch to PIO (progesterone in oil) shots (because of the irritation the suppositories are causing to my cervix). It rises appropriately until 600 and then slowly peaks at 700. At my 6 week ultrasound, we see my uterus contracting, and the blood draw that day comes back at 90. I am told to stop all meds. We save for a year to do another IVF. Before the next IVF... Dr. Foulk readdresses the idea of me possibly having endometriosis (because of how many eggs arrested and I was still considered relatively young). I go in for a laparoscopy in 2015 and am told I have stage 4 endo. He removes as much as he can, then puts me on a 3 month treatment of depot lupron to shrink any left over endometriosis. 2016 - 2nd IVF (31 years old) Protocol: Estrace 2 mg vaginally daily, prenatal, coq10, baby aspirin. 10 days of stims: Follistim increased to 300, menopur 1 powder vial, begin HGH 5 days before egg retrieval 36 eggs retrieved. 23 are mature enough to inseminate with ICSI. 18 fertilize. 3 grade B embryos make it to blastocyst stage. We transfer 2, and freeze one. Go on the strongest dose of PIO to help prevent spotting/bleeding. Day 10 beta HCG comes in at 5.1. Am told to continue with meds. It climbs up to 114, and then drops to 19. Chemical pregnancy. I get tested for MTHFR - am tested positive for homozygous C667T. Could explain the recurrent miscarriage. November 2016 - Frozen Embryo (of 1 grade B blastocyst) transfer (am now 32 years old) Protocol: Prenatal with FOLATE (instead of folic acid), estradiol valerate twice a week, baby aspirin, progesterone in oil 1 ml, after transfer I begin heparin (blood thinner) twice a day. 10 Day beta/HCG blood draw: Negative No frozen embryos. Husband and I decide to give IVF one last shot. We want to give it everything we've got. We save for another year. We decide to PGS test the embryos this time. November 2017 egg retrieval Protocol: Prenatal with Folate (for MTHFR), coq10, baby aspirin, Follistim increased to twice a day (morning is 300 mg, night is 225), menopur 1 powder vial, HGH begins 5 days before retrieval, dexamethasone (steroid) starts about 9 days before retrieval. It takes a few extra days of stims this time to get my eggs to the right size. 26 eggs retrieved. 22 are at the right size to inseminate with ICSI. 13 Fertilize properly. All look bad by day 5. But one, shifts and suddenly starts doing better. They call it my FIGHTER baby. One more pulls through. They tell me this one looks pretty bad and give me the option of tossing it. No way. Keep it. Because both my little blastocysts are fragile, I opt out of PGS testing and don't want to damage them. We freeze them while we work on moving out of my in-laws. So in total, I have one grade B blastocyst, and one grade C blastocyst. April (sigh, one year ago) 2018 - 33 years old FROZEN TRANSFER FOR BOTH EMBRYOS They thaw very well. We transfer both. I begin dexamethasone again to suppress my immunity from possibly kicking the babies out. I also start an immuno-suppressant treatment (where I get hooked up to an IV every other week, to flush my body full of intralipids... another attempt to help me from kicking the babies out). I am on heparin (blood thinner (for MTHFR)), prenatal with folate, and the strongest dose of progesterone in oil that I can get. Day 10 beta HCG blood draw = 38 (highest I've ever had, but still considered low) It raises up to 3100 and when I go in for my 6 week ultrasound, I begin bleeding profusely on the table and am told that my baby had died. My 6 week ultrasound turned into an immediate D&C. I walked in pregnant and left empty. My pregnancy tissue is tested and the results come back that I was pregnant with one, chromosomally normal, boy. No frozen embryos. No closer to having a baby than where I was 10 years before. At this point, I've had 93 eggs retrieved from Utah Fertility Center, 7 embryos that made it to blastocyst stage (4 that were grade B, and 3 that were grade C). I've had 2 fresh transfers, and 2 frozen transfers that resulted in 2 miscarriages, and 1 chemical pregnancy. No babies yet. 2019 (currently 34 years old) Dr Foulk recommends I do a donor egg cycle. He says with my age, and how well I responded to meds that he thinks my endometriosis is inside my ovaries and has damaged all my eggs. This has been a LONG process of letting go of the babies we've lost, and trying to figure out what the right step going forward is for my husband and me. We're discussing embryo adoption, foster care, adoption, and yes, donor egg. We have been saving since our miscarriage last year for whatever we attempt. My husband will be going through a DNA sperm fragmentation test this summer to ensure his sperm is chromosomally normal (we have no reason to suspect it isn't, all his semenalysis's have been normal) but he doesn't want to proceed with donor egg until we get those results. Assuming the results come back good, then we will begin the process to use a donor for a donor egg IVF cycle and then will attempt to transfer the embryos back into me. Wish us luck!

One of the reasons I chose Utah Fertility Center over Reproductive Care Center in Utah was because RCC made you choose a package based on a gamble ("You can pay $20k up front for 3 egg retrievals and transfers and if it doesn't work we will refund 80%! But if you get pregnant on your first attempt, we won't refund any... and you'll have paid twice the amount that someone who just pays for one cycle gets..."). Utah Fertility Center didn't want to prey on my emotions and said that with each IVF attempt, they will discount the cycle more and more. By the end I was paying a very inexpensive price (well... for IVF anyway) which was very appreciated. They always gave us free ICSI too.

My doctor recommend a single embryo transfer if you are young and the embryo quality is strong. If you are a little older and/or the embryo quality was poor than he recommended transferring more than one (if that was an option). Because of my low embyo quality, we always transferred two.

Dr Foulk was a huge change from my two prior doctors just his positivity and his knowledge where so reassuring. I actually have 1/2 an ovary and he went over the options, the risks and he listened to me and my concerns. I couldn’t be happier with my choice to work with him and can’t wait to come back next year for more babies!

Ask questions. Just because they do this all day doesn’t mean you do so don’t be afraid or embarrassed they are there to help you and reassure you.

We decided to use an egg donor because I have half an ovary and where it could have worked it was a lot of risk emotionally and physically for potentially no result. We did use an in-house donor. We did the donors stimulation, transferred after genetic testing and it was a perfect cycle.

IVF is never cheap but I felt like the prices where more than reasonable and worth every penny.

He gave us the risks of both and we made our decision which he completely respected.

Fantastic doctor. Knowledgeable and kind. Dr. Foulk did 1 IUI, 2 IVF cycles, and surgery to remove a tube and endometriosis. He always tried to accommodate my schedule and his positive outlook on my situation was helpful. He always explained treatment options in terms I could easily understand. He loves his work, and was always willing to answer my questions even when I didn't have an appointment he would chat with me on the phone. He is hard to get into, but well worth the wait.

Ask all your questions, don't hold back. If you think of more questions, let the nurses know and they will answer them or set up a time to talk with Dr. Foulk again.

We got to choose exactly which embryo we transferred both times We froze all embryos, and the first batch were PGD tested. We knew the grades of each and all the genetic info of the ones tested. We told the clinic which one we wanted to use and they got it done.

He is patient and understanding. He explains thing very clearly and doesn’t drone on. He is calm and doesn’t give false hope, but gave more like an action plan of “this is how we’re going to attack this problem.” He did each procedure for me, taking the time to do it right and was very skilled as well. He is an expert and quite knowledgeable without being condescending. I felt like I could ask alll of my questions and not be rushed or made to feel silly.

Endure and be patient with the process. . I have flown across states to see him and it is worth the time and effort !

We only did an FET with Dr. Foulk (x2) but he was the only doctor I had positive pregnancy tests with (he is the third doctor I saw).

I don’t remember exactly but an FET including medications was about $4000.

He was very nice in our meetings but we would only see him or talk with him after all planned course of treatments failed. He would just tell us what he wanted to do next and has seemed very hands off.

Be prepared to talk mostly with nurses and try to ask as many questions as you can when you do meet him.

I have low AMH and my husband has low motility. Dr. Faulk first tried 4 rounds of 5 days of 100mg clomid stimulation which all failed. He decided next to try 4 rounds IUI with Clomid 100 mg for 5 days for stimulation. One resulted in a chemical and the last round the nurse bumped my does up to 150mg of clomid for 5 days. He started with clomid rounds to for see if I could get pregnant and then when I didn’t he moved us up to IUI. After getting my chemical they did one last round of iui and have offered to do one more round (making 5 rounds total) while my husband and I try to save and plan for IVF.

We have spent about $10,000 so far. One month of IUI IS $1000 not including meds and one month of medication stimulation is $500. It is $250 for an ultrasound appointment, $250 for semen analysis, $250 for IUI injection appointment.

He really is worth the wait to see him. There is a reason he is hard to get into, he is just that great. He has made this process so much better from previous doctors. He found our main problem that was never addressed and worked to fix it he is thorough and there when he needs to be. He doesnt need to be at every ultrasound or blood work. I have had a lot of ultrasounds. He is there for the important meetings and reviews every appointment the same day even when he is out of town and on weekends. I fully trust in him and the plan he has put us on. That is something I have never been able to say before.

Trust in his plan and dont be afraid to ask questions. He is worth the wait to get into.

I started with an HSG test which found lots (50+) polyps and possible blocked tube. I did a saline ultrasound to confirm and get lining measured. I had my first surgery in May 2018. I took birth control before surgery and he adjusted my thyroid medication and added 2000 mg of metformin a day prior to surgery. Went in for another ultrasound after surgery about a month later and he found scar tissue and a couple more polyps. Scar tissue since my surgery was so drastic. Scheduled another surgery which was in August. After surgery I was put on a zpack and estradiol. Started ovaboost at the same time. My husband and I both added fish oil and COQ10. After 21 days of estrodiol started 10 days of progesterone to get to cycle day 1 of iui. IUI is with 5 days of clomid and injectables. Monitoring throughout and trigger shot cd16. Then progesterone suppositories at night and hopefully a BFP at the end. Fingers crossed since we are in the middle of this cycle. If it doesnt work we will jump into the next cycle back to back to avoid more polyps from growing. After 3 we will reassess if they dont work. Each cycle has a 20 percent chance of working.

My insurance covered diagnostic so they covered 90 percent of ultrasounds and my surgeries. I dont have a deductible. My first surgery was in a hospital and total out of pocket was $1,400. Each water ultrasound was $75 and the HSG was $100. Second surgery was $400 cash for the anesthesia (in office and he doesnt do insurance) the procedure was on insurance and I paid $275 out of pocket. IUI was $875 plus lab work which i dont know yet. Medications were $420. Overall this year I have spent $4000 so far.

I was so nervous as we went for our first appointment with Dr. Foulk. He was the third doctor I had seen over the years that I had been trying to conceive. I had sent in my medical records before our appointment and when we arrived I learned that he had taken the time to study our case before we came. We didn’t have to re-focus on all the sad details of our fertility journey so far. Since he had already done his research we were able to spend our first appointment discussing the plans moving into the future. He was very candid about our prognosis and explained all the details the very best. He was so understanding and kind. He made us feel very comfortable.

Send all of your medical records in beforehand so that all parties are ready to discuss treatment options.

Dr. Foulk was able to thoroughly describe the effects my severe endometriosis has had on my reproductive system. He knew that my Fallopian tubes were unable to carry an egg into my uterus and that IVF will be the only way for pregnancy to occur. He has been so good and thorough at explaining the IVF treatment schedule.

$8,300 for one round of IVF to the clinic and they estimate $3-8,000 for medications/anesthesia/blood work. They offer incentives if you use the Attain IVF program for paying for multiple cycles.

I only saw Dr. Foulk once. St George is a satellite office and he works at many different locations. We were extremely happy with our experience with him. He is so nice, he treated us with compassion and listened to our concerns around price. We were there to establish care for embryo donation and he gave us other options that, all though didn’t work, we felt good about trying. He’s a genuinely nice person and I am so thankful I was able to be his patient. I know that may sound weird but after cycling through multiple doctors it was nice to have a doctor speak to me like I knew what I was talking about and not look at me like a cash symbol. He agreed timed intercourse would be a good choice since we were traveling from Vegas to Utah for all appointments, he wanted to help us save time and money while trying to help us get pregnant.

He is a busy man and depending on where you go you probably won’t see him at appointments

We initially wanted to move straight to donor embryos but he wanted to know why we weren’t dying with my eggs. We talked it out and agreed that I had a shot, i’d Gotten pregnant twice on clomid so he didn’t see why we couldn’t try again. Our concern was prove so we went with TI instead of IUI. We ended up doing letrozole and gonal-f with trigger and compounded progesterone suppositories, since I have PCOS getting me to ovulate should have done the trick. I responded slowly even with gonal f so the second round we did more gonal f and more letrozole, still responded slowly but my protocol was adjusted throughout the cycles to add more doses or higher doses.

It’s $525 for monitoring, no additional charge for injectable monitoring. We didn’t do IUI but that was an addition $250 (it could be $225-$275 but I think it was $250) I got my progesterone from a compound pharmacy in st. George and it was $42 for 30. I had to have blood work done for a cyst and it was done at a hospital near by for $75.

Dr Foulk has been nice the two times that I have seen him. Sometimes I wish I could be able to talk to him. However most of the times it’s just the nurses that I talk to. He is very kind I just wish i has some more support.

You will only see Dr Foulk for consulations otherwise you will see the nurses. Also be prepared for many examinations. I didn’t know there would be so many. Make sure your voice is heard.

I started out with him in April. I had been taking clomid for 3 months before with my normal OB. They did not do any exams just gave me the clomid. So I went to Dr Foulk. He decided to try me on Clomid for a few more months with timed intercourse trigger shot and progesterone. The first month everything looked fine expect for thin uterine lining. So they gave me estrogen and went along with the cycle. At the time before they triggered me my uterine lining was looking better. Nothing came of that cycle. Next month we had plans to do the same thing but I ended up with a cyst and thin lining. They went a head and did the same thing. No luck. The next month the cyst was still there so we skipped that month. The next month July we tried femara. My lining was better and no cyst. So we went ahead with timed inter course and no luck again. So I went back in for a consultation and decided to try IUI. So I went back on Femera. Everything looked good. Triggered did the IUI and started on progesterone. It didn’t work. Now we are on to our second cycle of IUI. My husband has no problems. We did an HSG no problems there. We aren’t sure at this point why it hasn’t worked.

525 for timed intercourses 875 for IUI

Dr. Foulk was very thorough through our whole process. Starting with removing a polyp, explaining all the testing done on the embryos example PG us. After our first failed transfer He looked into other options for us, he went above and beyond to make sure we did everything we could be for the next one. We did two Separate ERA tests to find out how receptive and when my uterus was receptive. Also did a Neupogen Injection prior to second transfer. Unfortunately just yesterday we were told the pregnancy test is negative

To trust him. He knows what he is doing.

The protocol used was starting with estrogen injections, then progesterone injections, second transfer added extra day of progesterone injections because of being pre receptive. Once transfer happened started progesterone suppositories Nightly

$14,000 for IVF cycle $3000 for donor Compensation $3000 for donor meds $2900 for each FET cycle My meds approx $2000 Ultrasounds and labs approx $2000

Because of the PGS testing he recommended one embryo transfer at a time

I didn’t actually meet Russell ever. I was under another doctor at the clinic, a Jason Parker. I only met him once and talked on the phone with him once as well. I thought he was nice and explained things well for how the treatment was going to go but I had expected him to do the treatments for me and after the initial consultation, I didn’t see or hear from him much.

Don’t go in expecting that he is going to manage your care himself. It will be the nurses and staff under him. Which is fine. They were nice and kind

They put me on femora for 5 days starting the 2nd or 3rd day of my cycle. The dosage started out with 5 mg?? I think at first for the first 3 cycles and then AFTER I REQUESTED, they bumped me up to 7.5 mg/day for the 5 days. During, they monitored me with vaginal ultrasounds to see where my body was at in the process of releasing an egg. Once they felt like I was getting close to ovulating, they had me take an HCG shot at home and then 24-36 hours later, I went in for the IUI treatment. After that, they put me on vaginal suppositories of progesterone for about 2 weeks and then had me come in for a blood pregnancy test (which I rarely even made it to because I always started my period before they could test...) I never got pregnant through 5 cycles of treatments.

When I went in for consultation, they told me the cost for one treatment would be about $800. But I had insurance (husband didn’t) so half of my treatment cost was covered with insurance. However, they didn’t count the cost or medication which was about $200 each cycle. And I still think even with my insurance covering half of my treatments, after all the medications and costs for me and my husband, each cycle cost more than $800 (which is what they said it would cost total...)

Dr Foulk is clearly very knowledgeable about his field and seems to be a successful business man. He has taken the time to answer my questions and is very transparent when asking. However, at my last visit when discussing the IVF procedure it seemed like I had an understanding of where we were going. Later, I received a price sheet from the financial counselor that had all these extra things that we did not discuss. Sometimes, I feel like I am not given the full picture and without all the information I am not equipped to ask all the questions that I need answers.

Do a lot of research on your own to prepare yourself.

The doctor suggested that I try three medicated cycles with IUI even despite being at an advanced maternal age. He was upfront that the procedure had low odds of 2-4% chance of a live birth per cycle. When asked if I should move onto IVF instead, he responded that my AMH was high for my age and thus I was in no rush. He suggested that even though the success rate was low, the possibility of not doing IVF made trying it worth it.

Clomid with IUI $1248 with medications IVF with egg freezing and PGS biopsy (no transfer) $13100 without medications or PGS testing

Dr Foulk didn't seem to have a strong preference of single vs multiple embryo transfer. I did not seem like he would advise for more than two at one time.

Dr Foulk is very intelligent, and he is so good at sharing his vast knowledge in an understandable way. ( I loved his drawings he often used to teach me!) He took the time to make sure I knew exactly what was happening and why. He answered any questions my husband and I had, and he was very kind and compassionate during every visit or procedure. I always felt like he really cared about me as a person, and that he genuinely wanted to help my family to grow as much as I want it to grow. I appreciated his sense of confidence in the possibility of being able to carry my husband’s baby someday. It did sometimes make the road blocks and set backs hard to swallow, but he always met with us after a loss or bad news and helped encourage us to move forward and not give up. He made me want to keep trying and believe that it is possible, even when my mind and my body wanted to quit. He was also very clear about the risks or percentages of success. I appreciated how candid and experienced he is.

Be upfront about your concerns, your feelings, your wants- both personally and with the procedures etc. I should have expressed more openly how emotionally and mentally hard the medications and treatments were for me. I put on a brave face most of the time, and then I sometimes felt that it wasn’t understood how hard and strainful the whole process was, but then it occurred to me that I had never expressed that I was struggling as much as I was. I would also say decide with your spouse what it is that you guys can handle and are ready for, and be willing to speak up and do things on your timeline as well. I went through multiple rounds and had many road blocks and complications along the way and for a lot of it I just went along for the ride and did whatever I was told to do whenever I was told to do it. Eventually that wore on me, and I realized that I needed to communicate better about where I was personally and where we were as a couple so that we could adjust things to better meet our needs.

I’m not great at remembering all the details, especially in the very beginning, but we started with genetic testing for my husband. We were told he was sterile but Dr. Foulk thought otherwise and ran some genetic tests and did a physical assessment on my husband as well. Turns out he is not sterile but is a presenting carrier of cystic fibrosis so he presents as sterile. Dr Foulk did a surgery to retrieve my husband’s sperm and was successful. Then they began working on me with baseline ultrasounds, blood work, genetic tests, etc. I had polyps and ovarian cysts so Dr. Foulk performed a hysteroscopy and explained that it would remove the polyps and leave my uterus nice and smooth for implantation. We then started the medications and procedures for the egg retrieval. I don’t remember what medications I used for the retrieval or fresh transfer prep, (Gonal F was one of them) but will be doing another egg retrieval soon enough to help remind me. We did ultrasounds often to watch the progress and effectiveness of the medications I was taking to make sure my eggs were growing appropriately etc. We also did blood work often to monitor all my levels. While we were waiting on my genetic results we prepared for a fresh transfer, I did daily shots in my tummy, again I don’t remember the medication or doses. But the day before the fresh transfer was scheduled my genetic testing came back positive as a carrier for CF as well so we weren’t able to move forward with the fresh transfer and had to send the embryos for genetic screening. That took a few months, and after we got our embryos back from the genetic testing we prepared for a frozen transfer. For each of the frozen transfer cycles I was on active birth control pills, took 81mg baby aspirin daily, prenatal vitamins, and then injected .15 ml of estradiol valerate IM (glutes) each Tuesday and Friday evening, then about 2 weeks later I added 1 ml IM injections of progesterone in oil daily in the mornings. I did a z-pack the week before implantation, neupogin intravaginally (before two of the frozen transfers), and intralipid infusions and another hysteroscopy tonremove my polyps again, prior to my last frozen transfer. I am about to begin the same round of meds again for the ERA.

We did one egg retrieval and fresh transfer cycle for close to $10,000. Medications were additional. Hysteroscopy was around $500 plus $400 for anesthesia each time, and frozen transfers were about $3,000 plus medications. Genetic testing on the embryos was done at an external lab.

Dr Foulk was very clear about the risks of putting in multiple embryos etc, but he always let me and my husband decide what we felt best about after he educated us. He wasn’t pushy. We put two in each attempt until this last round when we only had one left.

He is the sweetest man alive. He walks you through each step and makes sure you know EXACTLY what is going to happen next and why you are where you are. He will get to the bottom of why you're not conceiving on your own, and then he tells you but we will do it! I have full and complete faith in this man and his skill set. He knows what to do and is so compassionate. He has wonderful bedside manner and helps you get through some pretty rough times. I wouldn't go to another doctor if I had to. This man has our respect for life. We can't thank him enough.

Trust in him completely. He WILL make you a parent.

I remember my first egg retrieval I got OHSS and they went in and took all the extra water out and changed me to a freeze all cycle. I had 50+ eggs retrieved so we figured it was going to happen. I am not sure what drugs I took. it they always made sure I had enough and helped me with costs etc. For this upcoming transfer I am taking estrogen Ijections twice a week, progesterone injections and suppositories the week of transfer anf also a z pak the week of transfer.

I don't remember the total for our retrieval etc. but our freeze fee is 500 a year for our embryos. A FET is 3700$ and then medications. PGS testing fee, ultrasounds etc.

They helped us make the best decision. Our first was double embryo transfer, we had a singletons. We are transferring one this time around.

He was very good at explaining and helping us come to a plan for us that would work with our schedule and what we wanted to do. We have only met him 2 times. Once in 2016 and now again this February 2018. We all decided to go with ivf and so I’m just barley beginning the process in the middle of birth control. I look forward to going through the procedures and I’m excited to grow our family. Dr Foulk was very personable and easy to talk to the 2 times we have met. I hope to see him more throughout the process.

Um that he’s very easy to talk to and ask questions.

I’m just starting so I haven’t really gotten to that point. I’m still in the middle of birth control pills. So I’m at the very very beginning. I have an upcoming water ultrasound and a calendar review tomorrow to go over what to expect and everything. We did decide to do embryo testing and find out which eggs would be best to transfer when I get to that point.

He told us $13,000 for ivf cycle or $1,000 a month for iui.

We did discuss this because we want to have twins hopefully. We went over the why’s and we all agreed on that plan as of now.