Sara Vaughn

We came to Dr. Vaughn after a discouraging attempt with a different doctor another practice a year earlier. Immediately, the difference in her approach was clear. Our first appointment revolved around setting up a plan for treatment. She came in with an immense knowledge of my entire health history, better than even I knew it. A clear plan of action was developed, taking our input as needed. We left the initial appointment feeling confident, with the right level of cautious optimism and understanding of the chances and risks. It was relieving to know that we were (finally) in good hands. One thing I really think sets Dr. Vaughn apart is her ability to clearly convey medical information. Throughout my treatment, I had lots of questions, and she would always answer every one with the perfect level of detail. It never felt condescending or rushed, and I would joke with my friends that I was getting a mini-fertility lesson each time I saw her. My treatment involved lots of monitoring through ultrasounds, which when I've had them at other locations were incredibly awkward/uncomfortable. While still not a 'fun' experience, Dr. Vaughn recognized I was nervous and would talk throughout the procedure with me and calm me down by explaining what we were looking at and what we were looking for. As an engineer and scientist, the learning and conversation was something that helped me persevere on and reach the goal of having a baby. Dr. Vaughn always had excellent bed side manner. She would always smile when she came into the room and take the time to ask how I was doing. Struggling with infertility can be emotionally hard sometimes, but whenever I had an appointment with her I felt strengthened and encouraged, not by false promises but by a confidence that there was a plan and she would be there with me to go through it. I really wish all my doctors could be as good as Dr. Vaughn. My husband and I agree that she is by far the best doctor either of us have ever had and that she was so much more than we could have asked for. Our baby boy is due in 5 more weeks, and I really do believe we owe it all to Dr. Vaughn.

Don't wait. I lost a year of time after going to a different doctor and getting scared off by fertility treatments. Dr. Vaughn is a great doctor and I wish I had started seeing her sooner.

*Understanding of source of infertility (anovultion due to PCOS) through blood test, MRI, ultrasounds, saline sonogram, analysis of husband's sperm *5 rounds of letrozole to induce ovulation. She got the right dose on the first time - Two IUIs - Three natural approaches (the shots/number of appointments stressed me out due to a busy time at my work, so she explained the risks and modified my plan for a few cycles.) Result: baby boy.

Dr. Vaughn is one of the best doctors I've ever had. Before finding her, I had met with half a dozen fertility doctors over the course of a year and half. During that time, these other doctors were unable to determine why I wasn't getting my period and/or wasn't ovulating. And all but one told me I had very little hope of conceiving and that I should immediately start IVF if I wanted any chance of having a baby. By contrast, Dr. Vaughn proposed running a limited number of tests to determine my egg count, hormone levels, etc. And upon looking at the results, Dr. Vaughn figured out that I likely had a borderline case of "lean" PCOS, and that using clomid and ovidrel would likely be successful. And because of my egg reserve and age, she saw no reason why we would need to move to IVF immediately unless I wanted to. I was so relieved I cried tears of joy. And Dr. Vaughn was absolutely right: we got pregnant on our very first cycle of clomid/ovidrel and I had a beautiful, healthy baby girl. After that, Dr. Vaughn kept in touch and helped me make some critical decisions when I needed to seek fertility treatment again but no longer had insurance coverage that enabled me to be treated by her. And even before that, Dr. Vaughn was very understanding and sensitive to what tests and treatment were covered by insurance so that I would not end up with huge out of pocket expenses if at all possible--I've yet to see a doctor before or since who was so proactive and conscientious about costs when I expressed concern. She also worked hard to make sure she was available for all of my appointments - including ultrasounds - so that I wasn't simply scheduled with whoever was in the office at the time. In short, Dr. Vaughn is exceedingly smart, kind, thoughtful, and attuned to her patients' wants and needs. I could not endorse her more strongly.

If you have any doubt, just meet with Dr. Vaughn to see what you think. I'm confident her smarts and kindness will persuade you that she is a fantastic and caring doctor.

I used a low dose of clomid and ovidrel. So far as I understand it and can recall, the rationale was that I ovulate irregularly, which makes it very hard to use timed-intercourse effectively through natural means. We started with a low dose of clomid to see if that would be sufficient to grow a follicle and stimulate ovulation - and it was. I then used the ovidrel to trigger ovulation and had timed intercourse. It all worked perfectly.

I did not have to pay for any of the diagnostic tests or appointments. But due to my insurance, I did have to pay for treatment.