Timothy Hickman

Dr. Hickman seemed to be very knowledgeable and sensitive at the same time. He explained our options without imposing an specific course of treatment. He also detailed his rationale for each treatment option and let us free to decide which and when. I am still under treatment, but so far I feel pretty confident I found the right doctor for me.

Trust his experience.

Before consulting Dr. Hickman I had many biases against using reproductive assisted technology and had experienced patronizing behavior from other medical doctors which I disliked. Dr. Hickman treated us with respect and explained his hypothesis in clear terms, in a humble manner and with regard for our concerns.

Because ours was a case of "unexplained infertility", Dr. Hickman strategy was to begin from the less invasive procedures and gradually move towards the more complex procedures. Both me and my husband have been tested and already identified a slight but important alteration in my thyroid which I already begun treating. After assuring that eggs, sperm, fallopian tubes and uterine cavity are fine, next step will be a cycle of Clomid and IUI. We also chose to do a genetic screening which was really helpful to decide that trying IUI is still a viable option. Understanding the steps of treatment was reassuring and the level of detail an specialist can go makes the difference for those who are wondering why they can't get pregnant and have not found any answer yet.

My nurse seems to be very knowledgeable and she always answer my questions with parsimony. Therefore I feel I can trust her. However, she seems to be busy and always in a rush, with less warmth that I would like.

The clinic is a peaceful environment. It seems to be a lack of coordination regarding lab results and it's a little complicated to access your your information (currently there are 2 portals, not very clear or integrated). Staff has been partially helpful with orientation.

The initial visit, lab tests, medication I needed for thyroid and genetic counseling, with our insurance, have been under $1000. Next cycle we are predicting about $2000 for an exam, Clomid and one cycle of IUI. The max. # of trials with IUI will be 3. So if it does not work, before deciding if we want to try IVF, we will have spent about $6000.

Not there yet

Dr. Hickman was always calm and made me feel like I was in the best hands possible. He took time to answer my questions and was just so friendly and caring. My journey started in 2014 and after 3 IUIs, I became pregnant on the 3rd try, leading to a healthy baby boy. We decided to try again in 2017 and found out I had borderline underactive thyroid, so he prescribed Synthroid. I got pregnant my first IUI but miscarried at 8 weeks. During the miscarriage, I had to see Dr. Hickman a lot and he never made me feel rushed and he remained positive but sympathetic at the same time.

Make an appointment NOW- do not wait! Just take the leap of faith now.

I never felt rushed. Even one time I told Dr. Hickman in the hallway "I know you are so busy, but what do you think about _______" and he responded so kindly, looked me in the eye, and said to not ever feel like I can't ask him questions or like he is rushed. His nurses are also so empathetic and caring.

For my first time around, the plan was 3 iuis with Clomid and ovidrel and then we would reconvene after and discuss the next step (possibly ivf). I got pregnant on the 3rd IUI. For my next pregnancy, blood work showed that I had high TSH so I was put on Synthroid. Since I had a successful IUI last time, Dr. Hickman was confident it would work again. I got pregnant my very first IUI with clomid and ovidrel, but miscarried. Now I am waiting a couple of cycles by my own personal choice to start trying again.

Although Sarah was my primary nurse, I can say that every single person I worked with left a lasting positive impact. Sarah was always quick to call me back (I usually had to wait less than an hour to hear from her) and I called her A LOT. She never made me feel bad or silly for my questions, but instead left me feeling validated and in good hands. When I miscarried, I worked a lot with another nurse. I wish I remembered her name. She was so, so caring and warm. It brings tears to my eyes thinking about her kindness and empathy.

This clinic itself is gorgeous. You have views of i-10 and it is incredibly clean and welcoming. It was always easy to schedule appointments and to go in same day or next day. They are open 365 days a year (or maybe 364), so there is no need to worry about your IUI day landing on a weekend. They were even open every day during hurricane Harvey, when much of the city was closed down. I really don't see any weaknesses and believe Houston IVF is the best of the best. I will always be so grateful for them. We even took my son to meet the doctor and nurses that helped create him!

Each IUI was 1300. The hysterocopy I had to have with him was $200.

He’s incredibly personable and calm. He is able to put fears at ease and is very willing to listen and understand. We had many questions going into the procedures, and he was always willing to talk with us about any questions we had. He was always very thorough in his explanations.

Go see him sooner! Haha we waited a while to finally see an Infertility specialist and I wish we’d done it sooner because we received such great care.

Their office was incredible. There was rarely another patient waiting. The longest I waited in the waiting room was five minutes. Once back, I had a nurse or someone with me the entire time providing comfort. They were extremely personable.

It is hard to remember specifics from my first cycle... but this past frozen transfer I remember that he was very particular that we use endometrum suppositories instead of other progesterone supplements. He felt that the success rate with this medication was better than regular progesterone supplements.

The nurses were very on top of it. My nurse was very matter of fact. She wasn’t superfluous in what she needed to say, which I appreciated.

They have a million strengths in my eyes. Their office is beautifully located- on the top floor of a building that overlooks Houston. The waiting room is spacious and peaceful. I never had to wait more than five minutes. Once back- the nurses were so helpful and kind. I was literally walked through each step of the process.

Monitoring was super quick and easy! It was usually early morning so people could still get to work.

I remember total- it was $13,000 and the second time with a frozen transfer was around $7,000

Our doctor was very open to what we wanted to do. He was very willing to let us select one or two embryos, based on how we felt.

I had the best experience as Dr. Hickman's patient! His office is so prompt and efficient. The whole clinic is so well run. Dr. Hickman was incredibly professional. He is compassionately matter-of-fact, and what I mean is that he delicately tells you the truth. I was a patient for a year doing IUIs and during that time I didn't really see him (except for the initial consultation) because his nurses perform all of the procedures. I ended up doing IVF and that's really when I felt like he was present. He had to perform a minor surgical procedure on me before we could proceed with IVF, and he was just wonderful. He did a fantastic job, but he also made my family and me feel like he cared. He took extra time with them going over my surgery and explaining everything in detail. He was equally wonderful performing the IVF. I really believe his is sensitive to his patients (who are under extreme amounts of stress and pumped up with hormones) and I felt he was very smart. I think he takes his success rate seriously which I appreciate. Overall I never questioned that I was receiving the absolute best care and treatment. I met with him the first time and left thinking "this is the doctor for me". It has been over three years since the birth of my twins and I still think that he was the perfect choice.

I wish I would not have waited so long to move from IUIs to IVF. I don't think that anyone at the clinic ever suggested that IUIs weren't working and that I should be considering other options. Although, it might have been discussed during the initial consultation. So, don't wait for them to contact you if you have questions or feel things aren't progressing. Call them and they will take care of you

As an IVF patient I was assigned my own nurse who handled all of my communication with their office and was present for all of my appointments and procedures. She returned all of my phone calls promptly and answered all of my questions. I believe she really wanted my treatments to work. When you have a point person in the office its like you, Dr. Hickman, and your nurse are a team doing everything possible to get you that baby. The nurse calls you to give you your pregnancy results. My husband and I couldn't be together to take the call, so I had her leave a message for me giving me the results. The nurse was so excited on the message and so sweet; I still have the message on my phone.

She was always easy to get in contact with, and she was very encouraging.

Dr. Hickman did explain everything well before beginning ivf. After a failed cycle he would always call me himself and answer every single question I had. I felt he was a great doctor and trusted him completely.

Ivf isn't easy and it isn't cheap, but he was worth it.

I did feel taken care of.

We used the antagonist protocol and I always used lupron with every cycle. I would trigger with 10,000 units of hgh. I would always react decently.

Susan was there for all my questions and to help with everything along the way. She was wonderful!

I thought the clinic was great. Your doctor isn't always the one who performs the retrieval or transfer, which I didn't know going in, sometimes its another RE on site. But all of them were wonderful.

All monitoring appointments were scheduled before 8am and there were several nurses working to get you back to do bloodwork while the doctors were in and out doing ultrasounds. Things always moved very fast in the mornings.

If was vey expensive, I think it was close to 35 thousand for two cycles. Thanks to several loans, our life savings and my grandmother who helped us pay for everything. Everything was included in the price except for the anesthesia. Acupuncture was also separate.

My first two transfer he allowed 3 each time, but my third only 2 were transferred per new law/rule.

He performed lots of tests and did ultimately treat one issue of mine (small tumor pressing on my pituitary gland) but apparently misdiagnosed the quality of my husband's sperm and told us we wouldn't get pregnant without IVF. We left his practice after getting a second opinion on the sperm, concentrated on my cycle times and got pregnant on our own.

If you are in a super hurry to get pregnant and want to pay for IVF, then he might be okay. But if you are patient and just want to see if you can treat a possible small issue before getting pregnant on your own, then find another doctor.

In the end, I felt pressured to pay for IVF but when getting a second opinion about my husband's sperm, we found out there was nothing wrong with it and we ended up getting pregnant on our own even though the doctor said we never would.

We did a lot of tests and he found 2 problems. He treated me with bromocriptine to shrink my pituitary because I had a small tumor on it. Then he diagnosed my husband with "bad sperm" and then told us we couldn't get pregnant because of this and wanted to schedule IVF. We got a second opinion about the sperm which ended up being completely normal and ended up getting pregnant without the IVF.

Neutral

I guess the only issue I have with the clinic is the misdiagnosis of my husband's sperm which could've led to us spending a whole lot of money for nothing. So, I don't trust this doctor or the clinic.

He was very technical, and not the least bit warm. I might've been okay with this if we had seen him more frequently or if he had told us that his nurses would be doing everything.

Don't expect to see him often. Ask lots of questions.

My husband and I didn't get to see Dr. Hickman much. In fact, we only saw him once in preparation for our IUI. The IUI wasn't even performed by him. It was performed by a nurse. I think that's normal, but someone should've informed us of this prior to the procedure.

We went in to discuss IVF, but we ended up deciding to try IUI first. I was on Bravelle and Ovidrel. It was unsuccessful.

Unfortunately, I don't remember names, but our care coordinator was kind. She gave us some of the medications (we were still charged for them) so we wouldn't have to pay for them right then.

The waiting area is lovely, the waits aren't too long, and an acupuncture clinic is also available. I did love that they didn't scoff at the idea of acupuncture as some clinics do.

I had insurance coverage for an IUI. It was only $1,500 plus the medications.

He was amazing. He is methodical and can explain why he is doing what he is doing clearly. He has no problem with questions. He is available if you need him. He called me back at night one time because i was so worried the night before my second IUI. He explained why he really thought this cycle would work (which it did).

Don't wait. Go see him.

Dr. Hickman was AMAZING!!! He took the time, anytime, including at night after he got off work, to answer my questions. He explained everything to me and seemed to even enjoy the fact I was asking questions. A different doctor I went to first actually blamed me for my infertility. He told me that my past was my past and the goal now was to get me pregnant, which he did. I can't recommend him enough.

She cared so much about me. I am currently going back to try to conceive a second child. She found me, remembered me, my background, when my child was born, my interest. She is incredibly patient when I ask questions...lots of questions. She has been there for me when medication didn't get delivered and made sure I had what I needed at all times.

Honest and forthright. He answered all questions and explained the process almost to the point of over explaining (but I had done a lot of research prior to our first appointment). He called with results of the egg retrieval personally. Found out later that he has a tendency to always propose multiple embryo transfer if more than one viable embryo is available.

Everyone at the clinic was very welcoming. Dr. Hickman explained everything I needed to know and was responsive to any questions I had.

Organized and efficient. My appointments started on time and I was seen quickly. My nurse called me promptly with lab results and instructions when applicable.

Organized and knowledgeable. Wonderful experience. There are multiple doctors and you will end up seeing all of them at one point in time or another so if continually seeing the same doctor is important to you that might be a weakness but I had no issue with it.

All in, egg retrieval and 1 transfer was about $17k

He tends to propose multiple embryo transfer. As I had never had a failed IVF cycle and knowing current success rates I might have chosen to only transfer one at a time.