Samir Babayev

Dr. Babayev is knowledgeable, however, I feel that he really limited me. Based purely on my first AMH test, he first told me that it appeared I had no eggs left, have no chance, should look into an egg donor, etc. When he finally did an ultrasound he found that was not the case at all. It was very frustrating in the meantime. Even afterwards, he decided that I have low ovarian reserve and would not be a good candidate for IVF. I have since had other opinions that are the exact opposite and my treatment has also proven so. I also wasn't crazy about Dr. Babayev recommending at least 6 IUIs. Other clinics will not do more than 3. I feel like he just keeps churning you through the process. I also feel like they don't really push for you to have a successful result. There is a goal of pregnancy with fertility and you pay a lot of money and I didn't feel any urgency with him to get us there. He is also very very conservative in his approach which can be good, but after a couple of rounds I needed something more. I felt like we would never get there with his guidance.

Push for more answers. Push for what you want.

At least 3 or 4 times I got misinformation or instructions. When I talked to Dr. Babayev about one of these instances, he told me that they process 20-25 patients a day and don't remember all of the details (basically). In this particular instance, I had talked to one of the Fellows, Dr. Babayev himself, and another Fellow that did my scan that day about my situation and timing, and she still sent me wrong instructions and then didn't follow up. A different Fellow or nurse can call you each time, so there is no consistency and that can lead to mistakes and oversights.

I went through 2 IUI cycles with Dr. Babayev and team. For my 1st, he started me on 37.5 iu of menopur. This resulted in basically nothing happening and after 5 days increased my dose to 75iu. I had 1 mature follicle before trigger. For my 2nd IUI, he had me on 75 iu for 10 days and resulted in 2 mature follicles. Both resulted in negative pregnancy tests.

The nurse that I originally met and taught me how to do the injections - I believe her name was Babitha - was very nice and caring. I talked to several different nurses along the way and it honestly seemed like they were clueless. In my last round, I had to push the nurse for what was supposed to happen.... she gave me wrong instructions and kept insisting. They are unfamiliar with your particular case since it's always someone different.

Strengths - it's cheaper than others (IUIs were $1050 instead of $2100 at my current clinic) Weaknesses - the amount of people involved and rotating through. At any point you would deal with Dr. Babayev, any of his 3 Fellows, any of the many nurses, have residents in the room during your procedures. There were 3 instances where I was given wrong information and I had to correct them. UTSW is a teaching hospital and it became very clear that this was an area I didn't want them learning on me... I needed to move on and get results. The Billing office is also terrible. I had to make about a dozen calls and still waiting to get issues resolved. They charge you for the cycle upfront (insurance doesn't cover).. then, it goes to insurance because apparently their system sends everything through insurance... even if insurance would cover some of the testing it doesn't matter because it's all or none. Then they sent me statements with the remainder. All of which I had already paid for upfront. Nothing was done to remedy this and I called and talked to the financial counselor, her manager, the billing department, their manager.. and still waiting on resolution. It's a horrible process.

The IUI cycle, including monitoring ultrasounds, labs and the actual procedure (without meds) was $1050 out of pocket.

Overall, Dr. Babayev has a pleasant and patient personality which helps to soothe the stress during treatments. I did somewhat feel as though I was being taken through a sales presentation during my initial consultation b/c he still wanted to talk about my odds if I used a donor egg even though I told him donor eggs were a definite no as soon as I sat down to speak with him. I had some issues with the clinic and Dr. Babayev was responsive and apologetic and assured me that things would be resolved. Also as I mentioned in one question, I don't see him often. I spoke with him during initial consult, he helped another doctor perform my IUI and finally I spoke to him after a complaint with staff. It would help to build patient confidence if Babayev at least peaked in the room to say hello during some of the scans and labs.

Advocate for yourself. If you are not interested in a treatment option they suggestion then advocate. Do not be coerced into treatments that you are not ready for. Wheter they be donor eggs are skipping IUI and moving to IVF. Of course listen to doctor but at end of day, it's your decision. And do your own reading and research so that you are not coming into the conversations with no background information.

My initial consultation with Samir was thorough and he made sure I understood what my options were given my specific scenario. He listened and had a good bedside manner. The only room for improvement would to see him more often during the labs and sonos. I typically only see the assisting doctors.

Due to my age and AMH/FSH levels. Babayev suggested I go straight to mini-IVF. However, I started with an IUI as I originally thought IVF was not covered under my insurance. The IUI was a negative pregnancy test. Per Babayev initial recommendation, I am now doing my first treatment of mini-ivf with 100mg of clomid daily and then Menopur and Cetrotide injections. I have been on clomid for like 5 days now and will start injections tonight. Again, mini IVF was chosen b/c of my age, AMH and FSH. I also have only have about 3-4 total antral follicles during my scans.

They were a few nurses down at times so response time was not as timely was i would have liked. I have also been going through circles with my provider and pharmacy and was told finance would help me navigate but instead the nurses have been helping. They have been somewhat helpful but when it comes to insurance there needs to be clearer guidance

Strengths. I chose clinic b/c UTSW is a trusted facility and the online reviews were positive. Weakness, navigating the insurance and pharmacies is a full time job and clinic told me they would help but I have spent countless hours on phone with insurance and pharmacy by myself. I tried for weeks to get ahold of finance guy who never returned my call. I am not even sure if he still works there even though the front desk staff assured me that were forwarding my messages. When asking for help with all of the conflicting information from insurance, clinic told me that "it's confusing for us too". Which is unacceptable as they have helped countless patients in past. They should not be just as confused as I am. The whole process or pre-authorization for treatments and medications has been a nightmare.

I really can't remember itemized pricing but general pricing shared from finance was about 8k for Mini IVF and 1500-3k for meds.

I don't recall him speaking on an approach. I did ask if I would do a retrieval after first cycle and he mentioned that i would likely not produce many eggs in a cycle and his goal was to try to collect 7-8 eggs after a few cycles.