Boston IVF - The Albany Center

We would fully recommend Dr. Elguero to anyone who wants a knowledgeable, experienced, and compassionate fertility specialist. She always clearly explained all lab/test results and what those results meant for potential treatments, was up front about pros and cons to help us in decision making on how to proceed with possible treatment routes, and was compassionate and supportive when we experienced two pregnancy losses along the way. She also looked very carefully at the causes of those losses, explained her takeaways to us, and adjusted treatment appropriately. The end result is our perfect, beautiful daughter. We can't recommend her highly enough.

This isn't really specific to Dr. Elguero, more general advice to anyone going into fertility treatment: 1) Do basic research about IVF--listen to podcasts, read articles, and get to know the terms and general process, as you'll be better equipped to ask good questions and have productive conversations with your doctor. Reproductive medicine is complex, and having some basic knowledge will help you feel more involved in the process. 2) Set realistic expectations. Whether IUI, IVF or other treatments, these are not foolproof and no one is 100% guaranteed success. It may take several rounds of treatment, and there may be additional information uncovered throughout treatment that can inform how you go forward. This is one of the hardest things you'll ever go through, but having realistic expectations will help.

Egg retrieval #1 used a combination of Follistim and Menopur. I went in every other day for bloodwork and ultrasound to monitor follicle growth, and Dr. Elguero adjusted my doses accordingly throughout the cycle to optimize follicle growth. Eventually, we added Ganirelix to prevent early ovulation, and then triggered with HCG. This cycle resulted in 8 eggs retrieved. All 8 eggs fertilized, and 4 of the embryos made it to day 5 with good quality grades, along with a 5th morula, all of which were frozen for later use. Transfer #1 and Outcome: Resulting from the transfer above, we transferred one fresh day 5 embryo and froze the remaining 4. This resulted in a positive pregnancy test. Dr. Elguero did add intramuscular progesterone after the positive beta as my progesterone levels were borderline. Ultimately this pregnancy ended at 8 weeks and was diagnosed as a blighted ovum. We decided not to test the remains for genetic abnormalities as it was a first miscarriage and quite early. Frozen Transfer #1: After recovery from the blighted ovum, we transferred another high grade embryo from the first retrieval cycle. This resulted in another positive pregnancy test, but another miscarriage at 12 weeks. After discussion with Dr. Elguero, we did test the remains from this pregnancy which revealed the fetus had trisomy 18, and thus was unlikely to have ever gone to term. Egg Retrieval #2: This retrieval also used a combination of Follistim and Menopur, but was started at a higher dose based on the results of the previous retrieval with the rationale being that my previous good response might mean that we could get more eggs. Again, we added ganirelix later to prevent early ovulation and triggered with HCG. This retrieval resulted in 7 eggs, 5 of which fertilized and 4 of which made it to day 5. We sent these embryos along with the 1 remaining from the previous cycle off for genetic testing (the morula did not survive thaw, which was knew was a possibility). Genetic testing results: PGT-A testing showed that one embryo from Cycle 1 and one embryo from Cycle 2 were genetically normal, for a total of two genetically normal embryos. Recurrent loss panel: After the second miscarriage, Dr. Elguero ordered a recurrent loss panel out of an abundance of caution. Though we knew the second miscarriage was due to the trisomy and the blighted ovum was also likely due to genetic causes, we wanted to be aggressive in ensuring we covered all bases. The recurrent loss panel showed that I had a slightly elevated clotting factor (anti-beta 2 glycoprotein). Frozen transfer #2: We transferred the PGT-A normal embryo from our second retrieval cycle. This cycle resulted in a third positive pregnancy test. Due to the clotting factor revealed by the recurrent loss panel, Dr. Elguero had me initiate lovenox shots nightly with the positive beta. This transfer resulted in a normal pregnancy and the birth of my daughter.

All services were covered by our insurance expect for genetic testing, for which we paid about $2300 for testing 4-6 embryos.

Dr. Elguero counseled us to transfer just one embryo as they were high quality and we knew after the first transfer that there did not appear to be any major issues with implantation. We had researched the higher risk of multiple pregnancies and fully agreed with Dr. Elguero that we would only transfer one embryo.

Dr. Elguero is very knowledgeable in the field of fertility. She has a very scientific approach to treatment, and clearly explains both the diagnosis and her plans for treatment. She is very dedicated to finding out what could be causing the infertility and set up a whole bunch of tests for us. She also makes sure to ask about your emotional and mental status throughout treatment. She did not push for any certain treatments, rather very clearly described our options and let us decide what we wanted to do next. Her delivery of information can be rather fast and overwhelming- she is all about the data. She also has a more blunt delivery, but does show concern and understanding with issues. We usually leave appointments with her satisfied with her treatment plan and care. However, she does rely on her staff for most of her communication outside actual appointments with her. We do not get to meet with her very often, and never even heard from her directly after our miscarriage (just from her head nurse). It is difficult to get an appointment with her, and usually there is a waiting period.

Bring something to take notes, as she will provide you with a ton of information during your appointment that may be overwhelming at first.

Dr. Elguero started me in Clomid and Ovidrel to stimulate ovulation. I first took 50mg of Clomid for 5 days, and then had ultrasound and blood work on cycle day 12 to monitor my progress. From there, they told me when to do my Ovidrel shot. I went in for my IUI 36 hours later. That had a negative pregnancy result. From there, she increased my Clomid to 150mg/day for 5 days. I continued with ultrasound and blood work monitoring and the Ovidrel shot. I did this for 5 more iuis. My last one resulted in a pregnancy. I unfortunately miscarried at 6 weeks. I am now currently waiting for my cycle to begin for our new round of treatment, which will involve injectables for 10 days, along with monitoring, and then another IUI. She is willing to try this for 4 cycles before moving on to IVF.

My insurance covered almost everything, including medications. There is a $60 copay for every appointment. If we do IVF, we were told it could cost up to around $12,000 (including monitoring costs) depending on the medications.

Dr. Elguero was very thorough in her explanations of what IVF is, what the process is and what my realistic expectations should be. We only spoke during my consultation and transfer, but she seemed empathetic at the time. My major concern was over 2 cycles, she transferred 2 eggs that had not reached blastocyst stage- meaning they were not embryos. She said my womb "gave them the best chance'- knowing likely nothing would happen. She allowed me to get my hopes up and think I was having a transfer until I arrived for my transfer to be told the news. I truly believe they were transferred simply to pad their statistics of implantation in women in their 40s.

Do not go to her, or this facility. I made a decision to find a more reputable place with a great lab and that made all the difference. After my eggs that never reached blastocyst stage with her in 2 cycles, I did just that and found a great place, with a great lab, and left with 3 embryos and a pregnancy. They do not have the technology, care or attention that I feel is truly needed. She will let you think things are better than they are- and then let you believe its you.

I was on Follistim, Menopur, Ganirelix, Pregnyl and Crinone

I dont fully remember

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Dr. Sonia seems to be knowledgable and polite, but her results in my case were complete disappointmnet and complete failure. She is not available to answer any questions during cycle and only nurses communicated with me, despite my request to talk to her on phone. I saw her only on my 2nd consultation appointment and then on day of egg retrieval and IVf transfer with a bad news that out of 9 embyos , only 2 are surviving and further before the frozen embro transfer that our only embryo ( A plus quality ) was found to be completely damaged during faulty thaw process and you are left with nothing, but loss of hope, emotions and over 15,000 $ complete wastage.

Being knowledgable alone is not everything, she should be available for her patients and she needs to make sure that her results are good. She need to keep an eye on her lab tech etc and the results with embryo storage and thaw etc. It seems there are many lacunas in her system, her embryologist was not even aware about type of cryopreservation media and was cooking information that embryo got PGD, which never happened, embryologist was just making up stuff and there was no communication among embryologist and tech freezing the embryo

I was prepared for IVF, I got injectables for ovulation induction, later egg retrieval and progesterone etc after first fresh embryo transfer. My 2nd transfer was supposed to be 8 months after first failed transfer, it was frozen grade AAA embro. Unfortunately, I recieved a call on day of my transfer that my embryo just disintegrated on day of thaw, which seems most likely due to faulty freezing techniques or poor thaw techniques as embryologist was just cooking information without even looking at my file. Total dissappointment !!!!

I paid 360 $ for first visit to establish care with clinic, next visit with Dr. Sonia Elguero was almost same. Paid initial testing and then 6000 for cycle with 2000 $ for monitoring and additional 250 $ for testing on first day of monitoring. I had to purchase medicines for approximate 5000 $ . Additional 1000 $for storing frozen embryo. Further for 2nd cycle 2000 for cycle, although I got refunded 617 $ on failure of transfer. Had to but medicines approximate 1000 $ for this cycle as well.

She needs to make sure that her standards for embryo storage after egg retrieval and thaw procedures after frozen embro are planned for transfer are up to the mark, since our results were completely disappointing and complete failure on both occasions.

When meeting with Dr. Elguero, she was easy to talk with about a not so easy to talk about topic. I felt comfortable discussing my test results and going over our plan for fertility treatments. I felt like she always took the time to give me an answer to be sure she studied all my results from tests/procedures before giving me an answer.

Don't be afraid to ask questions! She has a wealth of knowledge and is there to make this process less stressful for you and your partner.

After looking at my test results, and letting me know that I have a left unicorunate uterus and basically can only get pregnant every other month, that put me in the category for high risk once pregnant to deliver early or miscarry. She referred me to a specialist in Albany to discuss this to be sure I understood the risks. Unfortunatly, she recommended IVF in order to become pregnant but my insurance does not cover IVF treatments and we were unable to switch insurance providers at the time. In order to still try and become pregnant she recommended IUI cycles, which were covered by insurance!!! YAY We would meet again after 3 attempts using IUI to reevaluate. After 3 rounds, I was not pregnant, so we added progesterone to the next round, and I got pregnant with IUI # 4! Everything was going great until the end of the summer and I dealt with a the death of my Dad. This was a huge stress on my body and I ended up having a missed miscarriage at 11 weeks- baby was only measuring 9 week 3 days. I ended up meeting with my Dr. Elguero once levels went back to normal to go over the loss and check in to see what I was thinking. We decided to try IUI again and add progesterone in oil once a positive pregnancy and if not pregnant move on to IVF once coverage is available. Unfortunately, after getting all this in order, we are on hold due to the Corona Virus and waiting to see what might be next.

For my past treatments, I have to pay for medications and co-pays for blood work, ultrasound, appointments with my doctor.

For my situation, she will only do a single egg transfer because I can not carry more than one embryo.

I feel she is very knowledgable about my protocols and how my body was responding to treatment, but not well versed in the male factor infertility that was affecting us. I found myself bringing research and options to her rather than the other way around, which is frustrating.

Do your own research and ask a lot of questions.

Started with IUI, did 3 rounds. Said if didn't work by then, probably wouldn't. Given sperm analysis (motility and morphology #s), suggested IVF/ICSI/PGS testing. Her protocol for my meds worked very well (no real adjustments needed) but DNA fragmentation resulted in only 1 good embryo from a total of 13 fertilizing. Now pursing possibly sperm biopsy for ICSI.

IUI was covered by insurance. We received a military discount. IVF with ICSI was about $9k plus PGS $3,500 plus transfer $1,500

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Dr. Elguero was wonderful. Very kind, good communicator, great at answering questions, very research-based. I was always happy to get to see her, but it is difficult to get an appointment with her, since she is very busy.

Write down your questions to ask, since your visits with her will be fairly short.

We did not want to do IVF, and we were paying full price out of pocket. Dr. Elguero considered these things with our treatments and gave up options with different price points. We did 4 IUIs with Clomid and did not do monitoring (too expensive for us) and did ovulation predictor kits at home instead. We got 1 chemical pregnancy and 3 negatives. We suspected endometriosis, so Dr. Elguero did an exploratory surgery. We did not find endometriosis, but I was satisfied with the surgery and glad I did it to make sure. Then we did a round of injectables with monitoring and IUI with a negative result.

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Dr. Arroyo is a very kind man and explains things thoroughly. He and his wife also went through infertility, so he understands what we're going through. He is very diplomatic and doesn't have super strong opinions, but does offer occasional advice. I do wish there was more direct communication. I usually have to talk to a nurse, who then talks to him, and then gets back to me. But I think it's that way in a lot of cases.

2 timed intercourse with Letrozole (no trigger). In the middle of first IUI cycle with Letrozole and trigger. I previously went through 2 IUI cycles and 1 egg retrieval and 4 transfers at a previous clinic. I took some time off, and we're kind of starting over again since my body seems to want to try to work again. So far, I have only gotten negative results, and my luteal phase is shorter on these protocols.

All treatment so far has been covered by insurance (IUI, testing, drugs, etc.)

Dr. Elguero is very science-based in her treatment approach. She reviews treatment history at every appointment and details how that influences her treatment plans. I felt like I was able to take the time I needed in appointments to have all of my questions answered and to process the information from the doctor. She was also ready to cite studies and current research backing up her recommendations. I appreciate the way she presents the options and allows patients to feel supported to make decisions on treatment. She has always encouraged me to consider all of the pros and cons of both IVF and IUI cycles including effectiveness, cost, and emotional toll, but I have never felt overly pressured to pursue IVF over IUI. Dr. Elguero also seems mindful of the emotional toll fertility treatments can take and has always encouraged emotional readiness. When dealing with setbacks she was always very compassionate and even made follow up phone calls to me when I was experiencing health problems arising from pregnancy, even when I was no longer under her direct care. I have one con about my experience with Dr. Elguero. I have been a patient at the practice since they transitioned from Albany IVF to Boston IVF and have only seen it become more difficult to get an appointment with the actual doctor. They just seem so busy all of the time, so the Dr. doesn't perform any of the IUIs and it is not unusual to go a few IUI cycles without seeing the doctor at all. She also no longer performs D&C procedures after miscarriages. Even for a current patient, they seem to be scheduling appointments with the doctor 3-4 months out.

Even if you aren't sure if you want to pursue treatment with a specialist, call and set up a consultation so that you can get the ball rolling when you are ready.

I tried several unsuccessful IUI cycles with Clomid, one with Ovidrel trigger. After ruling out many possible causes of infertility I then switched to injectable IUI cycles with the goal of increasing egg quality and producing 2-3 good follicles. I used small doses of Follistim (starting at 75 iu), which she increased in some cycles as needed based on ultrasound and hormone monitoring. I also was instructed to use Ganirelix on several days in some cycles based on monitoring. I also used the Ovidrel trigger shot and prometrium for luteal support. Three cycles using this protocol resulted in 2 pregnancies that ended in miscarriage and 1 unsuccesful cycle. After two miscarriages, Dr. Elguero added to the previous protocol small doses of Menopur (50 iu) and an additional Lupron trigger to try and further improve egg quality. This cycle resulted in another pregnancy that also ended in miscarriage.

I was lucky enough to have IUI cycles covered by insurance. They offer base prices of $450 IUI and $4500 IVF, though that doesn't include medication or monitoring.

Dr. Elugero was extremely professional and I do think she is knowledgeable, even though I would not recommend her to a friend. However, Dr. Elugero pushed IVF on my husband and I before we even knew what was wrong. She was very cold and her meeting with us felt "scripted" and just the speech she gave every one. As I mentioned previously, I felt like a number in her office. She barely looked up from the computer during our meeting and she threw a lot of LOW statistics at us, scaring my husband and I into thinking we will never have children. (This was before I had any testing done) Dr. Elguero told me my eggs were similar to crumbs on the bottom of a cereal box. I was devastated. After my IUI with the clinic, I decided to leave as my experience just continued to go downhill and got worse when I got into the treatment. I did not have the option of speaking with Dr. Elguero once I started treatment, I was directed to nurses only.

To know that they are an IVF clinic only and Dr. Elguero will likely push this on you no matter what your diagnosis is.

I did one cycle of clomid (100 mg) for 5 days, and followed it with IUI. It was unsuccessful. The reason they did clomid was to produce more eggs and increase my chances of getting pregnant by releasing more eggs.

Dr. Elguero covered clomid IUI.

Dr Elguero was wonderful. She treated me with individualized care based on my needs and made sure I understood everything, each step of the way. She made me feel like I had some control in such an uncontrollable situation.

If you have any questions, ask. She wants to make sure you understand and make choices based on understanding and all of the information provided.

I was placed on Follistim (300 IU-450 IU) and Menopur (75 IU-150 IU) for about 2 weeks (introducing Ganerellix part way through). I was then triggered using HCG. I was put on a higher dose of meds after (higher number listed above) as my body was not responding to the hormones. Increasing as the Dr requested resulted in the retrieval of 7 eggs, 6 fertilized, 1 embryo and a singleton delivery.

I had copays for my monitoring month appointments, prescriptions and ultrasounds after pregnancy was established.

The Dr chose a single embryo transfer as I was in good health and young. I think she made the correct choice, besides I only had one embryo to transfer. She did however go over the 2 options and did explain the pros and cons of both.

Although she was very informative regarding stats, she was very rigid. Not personable at all. I reported that I was having an allergic reaction to meds (Follistim), and she continued to have me take it for multiple courses of treatment. I was only told to "take more Benadryl." I ended up on predinose at one point for a rash, and I was still RXed Follistim. I eventually had a full-body rash and ended up on Prednisone for a couple months and was referred to a dermatologist by my PCP for further treatment due to the severity of the rash. I didn't question the doctor's knowledge and treatment plan to continue w/a med that was obviously causing my body to react b/c I was willing to go through it if it meant I could conceive. In retrospect - now that I have more information about fertility immunology and the effects of inflammation on fertility - I very obviously should have insisted and advocated for myself that this doctor change my course of treatment as soon as I had a reaction. She wasted a lot of our time and money, and there was a significant emotional expense as well. My other issue with this doctor was this: My mother-in-law generously gave us money to do IVF. The cycle we were going to do it for, I ended up producing only 2 mature follicles (on Follistim). The doctor discouraged me from following through with IVF and told me they didn't want to do a surgical procedure on me with only 2 follicles. Hindsight being 20/20, I should have insisted I wanted to do it anyway. It seems to me that really what they didn't want was a bad mark on their statistics from a 41 year old woman attempting IVF. There might only have been 2, but what if they had healthy, fully matured eggs? What if even 1 worked? I'd be a parent now and not filling out the enormous form at 42 years old, hoping for some help. I am so disappointed in the care I received.

DON'T GO.

11/05/2016-Sat LMP 11/07/2016-Mon 1 Follistim 225 u 33 0.70 4.19 2.31 AFC 3 AFC 1 11/08/2016-Tue 2 Follistim 225 u 11/09/2016-Wed 3 Follistim 225 u 11/10/2016-Thu 4 Follistim 225 u 97 0.70 2.34 < 11mm Few(2 to 4) 12.2 < 11mm Few(2 to 4) 11/11/2016-Fri 5 Follistim 225 u 11/12/2016-Sat 6 Follistim 225 u 11/13/2016-Sun 7 Follistim 225 u 11/14/2016-Mon 8 497 0.97 4.71 12.5 < 11mm Few(2 to 4) 19.4 < 11mm Few(2 to 4) 11/16/2016-Wed 10 x 11/19/2016-Sat 13 Prometrium 200 PV BID mg 11/20/2016-Sun 14 Prometrium 200 PV BID mg 11/21/2016-Mon 15 Prometrium 200 PV BID mg 11/22/2016-Tue 16 Prometrium 200 PV BID mg 11/23/2016-Wed 17 Prometrium 200 PV BID mg 11/24/2016-Thu 18 Prometrium 200 PV BID mg 11/25/2016-Fri 19 Prometrium 200 PV BID mg 11/26/2016-Sat 20 Prometrium 200 PV BID mg 11/27/2016-Sun 21 Prometrium 200 PV BID mg 11/28/2016-Mon 22 Prometrium 200 PV BID mg 11/29/2016-Tue 23 Prometrium 200 PV BID mg 11/30/2016-Wed 24 Prometrium 200 PV BID mg 12/01/2016-Thu 25 Prometrium 200 PV BID mg 12/02/2016-Fri 26 Prometrium 200 PV BID mg x x NEGATIVE 12/02/2016-Fri 1 Follistim 375 u 17 4.89 0.87 2.25 < 11mm Few(2 to 4) < 11mm Multiple(5 to 10) 12/03/2016-Sat 2 Follistim 375 u 12/04/2016-Sun 3 Follistim 375 u 12/05/2016-Mon 4 Follistim 375 u 162 1.84 0.57 < 11mm Few(2 to 4) 10.7 < 11mm Few(2 to 4) 12/06/2016-Tue 5 Follistim 375 u 12/07/2016-Wed 6 Cetrotide 0.25 mg Follistim 375 u 12/08/2016-Thu 7 Cetrotide 0.25 mg Follistim 375 u 462 1.49 0.80 9.0 < 11mm Few(2 to 4) 14.8, 13.5, 10.1 < 11mm Few(2 to 4) 12/09/2016-Fri 8 Cetrotide 0.25 mg Follistim 375 u 12/10/2016-Sat 9 Ovidrel 250 mcg 12/12/2016-Mon 11 x 12/15/2016-Thu 14 Endometrin 100mg TID mg 12/16/2016-Fri 15 Endometrin 100mg TID mg 12/17/2016-Sat 16 Endometrin 100mg TID mg 12/18/2016-Sun 17 Endometrin 100mg TID mg 12/19/2016-Mon 18 Endometrin 100mg TID mg 12/20/2016-Tue 19 Endometrin 100mg TID mg 12/21/2016-Wed 20 Endometrin 100mg TID mg 12/22/2016-Thu 21 Endometrin 100mg TID mg 12/23/2016-Fri 22 Endometrin 100mg TID mg 12/24/2016-Sat 23 Endometrin 100mg TID mg 12/25/2016-Sun 24 Endometrin 100mg TID mg 12/26/2016-Mon 25 Endometrin 100mg TID mg 12/27/2016-Tue 26 Endometrin 100mg TID mg 12/28/2016-Wed 27 Endometrin 100mg TID mg NEGATIVE 12/28/2016-Wed 1 Follistim 375 u 54 0.82 2.93 AFC 8 AFC 9 12/29/2016-Thu 2 Follistim 375 u 12/30/2016-Fri 3 Follistim 375 u 12/31/2016-Sat 4 Follistim 375 u 171 2.29 0.67 11.3 < 11mm One < 11mm Few(2 to 4) 01/01/2017-Sun 5 Follistim 375 u 01/02/2017-Mon 6 Cetrotide 0.25 mg Follistim 375 u 01/03/2017-Tue 7 Cetrotide 0.25 mg Follistim 375 u 364 1.57 0.52 14.3 < 11mm Few(2 to 4) 12.0 < 11mm Few(2 to 4) 01/04/2017-Wed 8 Cetrotide 0.25 mg Follistim 375 u 01/05/2017-Thu 9 514 2.01 0.76 17.5 < 11mm Few(2 to 4) 15.9 < 11mm Few(2 to 4) 01/07/2017-Sat 11 x 01/10/2017-Tue 14 P4 IM 50 mg 01/11/2017-Wed 15 P4 IM 50 mg 01/12/2017-Thu 16 P4 IM 50 mg 01/13/2017-Fri 17 P4 IM 50 mg 01/14/2017-Sat 18 P4 IM 50 mg 01/15/2017-Sun 19 P4 IM 50 mg 01/16/2017-Mon 20 P4 IM 50 mg 01/17/2017-Tue 21 P4 IM 50 mg 01/18/2017-Wed 22 P4 IM 50 mg 01/19/2017-Thu 23 P4 IM 50 mg 01/20/2017-Fri 24 P4 IM 50 mg 01/21/2017-Sat 25 P4 IM 50 mg 01/22/2017-Sun 26 P4 IM 50 mg 01/23/2017-Mon 27 P4 IM 50 mg >41.00 57.60 01/24/2017-Tue 28 P4 IM 50 mg 01/25/2017-Wed 29 P4 IM 50 mg 72.62 01/27/2017-Fri 31 90.65 01/30/2017-Mon 34 71.81 02/02/2017-Thu 37 20.34 02/09/2017-Thu 44 3.96 02/16/2017-Thu 51 3.04 02/23/2017-Thu 58 3.24 03/02/2017-Thu 65 3.02 03/16/2017-Thu 79 MISCARRIAGE 03/30/2017-Thu 1 Gonal-F 600 u 23 0.68 AFC 3 AFC 5 2.14 03/31/2017-Fri 2 Gonal-F 600 u 04/01/2017-Sat 3 Gonal-F 600 u 04/02/2017-Sun 4 Gonal-F 600 u 04/03/2017-Mon 5 Gonal-F 600 u 94 6.80 0.79 < 11mm Few(2 to 4) < 11mm Few(2 to 4) 04/04/2017-Tue 6 Gonal-F 600 u 04/05/2017-Wed 7 Gonal-F 600 u 242 3.83 0.55 10.2 < 11mm Few(2 to 4) 9.7 < 11mm Few(2 to 4) 04/06/2017-Thu 8 Gonal-F 600 u 04/07/2017-Fri 9 Cetrotide 0.25 mg Gonal-F 600 u 475 4.46 0.61 13.2 < 11mm One 14.3 < 11mm Few(2 to 4) 04/08/2017-Sat 10 Cetrotide 0.25 mg Gonal-F 600 u 04/09/2017-Sun 11 Cetrotide 0.25 mg Gonal-F 600 u 04/10/2017-Mon 12 Pregnyl 10k u 825 2.79 0.69 19.8 < 11mm Few(2 to 4) 22.55 < 11mm Few(2 to 4) 04/12/2017-Wed 14 x 04/15/2017-Sat 17 P4 IM 50 mg 04/16/2017-Sun 18 P4 IM 50 mg 04/17/2017-Mon 19 P4 IM 50 mg 04/18/2017-Tue 20 P4 IM 50 mg 04/19/2017-Wed 21 P4 IM 50 mg 04/20/2017-Thu 22 P4 IM 50 mg 04/21/2017-Fri 23 P4 IM 50 mg 04/22/2017-Sat 24 P4 IM 50 mg 04/23/2017-Sun 25 P4 IM 50 mg 04/24/2017-Mon 26 P4 IM 50 mg 04/25/2017-Tue 27 P4 IM 50 mg 04/26/2017-Wed 28 P4 IM 50 mg 04/27/2017-Thu 29 P4 IM 50 mg 04/28/2017-Fri 30 P4 IM 50 mg After the miscarriage cycle, I can't recall exactly which other cycles resulted in chemical pregnancies. But there have been zero babies. June 2017 I did have a chemical following plain old sex w/my husband, no medical interventions. 07/29/2017-Sat LMP 08/01/2017-Tue 1 Follistim 450 u Menopur 150 u 73 0.43 3.55 AFC 3 AFC 5 08/02/2017-Wed 2 Follistim 450 u Menopur 150 u 08/03/2017-Thu 3 Follistim 450 u Menopur 150 u 08/04/2017-Fri 4 Follistim 450 u Menopur 150 u 207 2.81 1.45 < 11mm Multiple(5 to 10) 12.0, 10.3 < 11mm Multiple(5 to 10) 08/05/2017-Sat 5 Follistim 450 u Menopur 150 u 08/06/2017-Sun 6 Follistim 450 u Menopur 150 u 08/07/2017-Mon 7 Follistim 450 u Menopur 150 u 652 4.41 1.53 11.85 < 11mm Few(2 to 4) 17.75, 13.75 < 11mm Multiple(5 to 10) 08/10/2017-Thu 10 x 64.97 08/13/2017-Sun 13 P4 IM 50 mg 08/14/2017-Mon 14 P4 IM 50 mg 08/15/2017-Tue 15 P4 IM 50 mg 08/16/2017-Wed 16 P4 IM 50 mg 08/17/2017-Thu 17 P4 IM 50 mg 08/18/2017-Fri 18 P4 IM 50 mg 08/19/2017-Sat 19 P4 IM 50 mg 08/20/2017-Sun 20 P4 IM 50 mg 08/21/2017-Mon 21 P4 IM 50 mg 08/22/2017-Tue 22 P4 IM 50 mg 08/23/2017-Wed 23 P4 IM 50 mg 08/24/2017-Thu 24 P4 IM 50 mg 08/25/2017-Fri 25 P4 IM 50 mg 21.32 2.37 09/30/2017-Sat LMP 10/02/2017-Mon 1 Follistim 450 u Menopur 150 u 31 0.40 2.37 AFC 5 AFC 8 10/03/2017-Tue 2 Follistim 450 u Menopur 150 u 10/04/2017-Wed 3 Follistim 450 u Menopur 150 u 10/05/2017-Thu 4 Follistim 450 u Menopur 150 u 159 2.42 0.85 10.8 < 11mm Multiple(5 to 10) 9.6 < 11mm Few(2 to 4) 10/06/2017-Fri 5 Follistim 450 u Menopur 150 u 10/07/2017-Sat 6 Follistim 450 u Menopur 150 u 10/08/2017-Sun 7 Cetrotide 0.25 mg Follistim 450 u Menopur 150 u 10/09/2017-Mon 8 556 2.28 0.54 17.1, 12.9 < 11mm Few(2 to 4) 15.6, 11.9 < 11mm One 10/11/2017-Wed 10 x 47.25 10/14/2017-Sat 13 P4 IM 50 mg 10/15/2017-Sun 14 P4 IM 50 mg 10/16/2017-Mon 15 P4 IM 50 mg 10/17/2017-Tue 16 P4 IM 50 mg 10/18/2017-Wed 17 P4 IM 50 mg 10/19/2017-Thu 18 P4 IM 50 mg 10/20/2017-Fri 19 P4 IM 50 mg 10/21/2017-Sat 20 P4 IM 50 mg 10/22/2017-Sun 21 P4 IM 50 mg 10/23/2017-Mon 22 P4 IM 50 mg 10/24/2017-Tue 23 P4 IM 50 mg 10/25/2017-Wed 24 P4 IM 50 mg 10/26/2017-Thu 25 P4 IM 50 mg 10/27/2017-Fri 26 11/17/2017-Fri 1 Follistim 600 u 2.49 11/18/2017-Sat 2 Follistim 600 u 11/19/2017-Sun 3 Follistim 600 u 11/20/2017-Mon 4 Follistim 600 u 114 7.19 1.17 < 11mm Few(2 to 4) 11.5, 8.0 < 11mm Few(2 to 4) 11/21/2017-Tue 5 Follistim 600 u 11/22/2017-Wed 6 Follistim 600 u 11/23/2017-Thu 7 Follistim 600 u 11/24/2017-Fri 8 Follistim 600 u 389 3.31 0.80 9.1, 8.8 < 11mm Few(2 to 4) 8.8 < 11mm Few(2 to 4) 11/25/2017-Sat 9 Follistim 600 u 11/26/2017-Sun 10 Follistim 600 u 11/27/2017-Mon 11 Cetrotide 0.25 mg Follistim 600 u 1021 5.45 1.71 10.4, 10.4, 10.1 < 11mm Multiple(5 to 10) 16.2, 12.5 < 11mm Multiple(5 to 10) 11/28/2017-Tue 12 Cetrotide 0.25 mg Follistim 600 u 11/29/2017-Wed 13 958 1.07 1.18 14.3, 14.2, 12.6 < 11mm Few(2 to 4) 23.1, 16.5, 9.3 < 11mm Few(2 to 4) 12/01/2017-Fri 15 x 12.96 12/04/2017-Mon 18 P4 IM 50 mg 12/05/2017-Tue 19 P4 IM 50 mg 12/06/2017-Wed 20 P4 IM 50 mg 12/07/2017-Thu 21 P4 IM 50 mg 12/08/2017-Fri 22 P4 IM 50 mg 12/09/2017-Sat 23 P4 IM 50 mg 12/10/2017-Sun 24 P4 IM 50 mg 12/11/2017-Mon 25 P4 IM 50 mg 12/12/2017-Tue 26 P4 IM 50 mg 12/13/2017-Wed 27 P4 IM 50 mg 12/14/2017-Thu 28 P4 IM 50 mg 12/15/2017-Fri 29 P4 IM 50 mg 12/16/2017-Sat 30 P4 IM 50 mg 12/17/2017-Sun 31 P4 IM 50 mg 12/18/2017-Mon 32 P4 IM 50 mg 7.05 1.86 02/26/2018-Mon 5 Desogen 28 Day Tablet 1 Tablet 3.96 02/27/2018-Tue 6 Desogen 28 Day Tablet 1 Tablet 02/28/2018-Wed 7 Desogen 28 Day Tablet 1 Tablet 03/01/2018-Thu 8 Desogen 28 Day Tablet 1 Tablet 03/02/2018-Fri 9 Desogen 28 Day Tablet 1 Tablet 03/03/2018-Sat 10 Desogen 28 Day Tablet 1 Tablet 03/04/2018-Sun 11 Desogen 28 Day Tablet 1 Tablet 03/05/2018-Mon 12 Desogen 28 Day Tablet 1 Tablet 3.21 03/06/2018-Tue 13 Desogen 28 Day Tablet 1 Tablet 03/07/2018-Wed 14 Desogen 28 Day Tablet 1 Tablet 03/08/2018-Thu 15 Desogen 28 Day Tablet 1 Tablet 03/09/2018-Fri 16 Desogen 28 Day Tablet 1 Tablet 03/10/2018-Sat 17 Desogen 28 Day Tablet 1 Tablet 03/11/2018-Sun 18 Desogen 28 Day Tablet 1 Tablet 03/12/2018-Mon 19 Desogen 28 Day Tablet 1 Tablet 03/13/2018-Tue 20 Desogen 28 Day Tablet 1 Tablet 03/14/2018-Wed 21 Desogen 28 Day Tablet 1 Tablet 03/15/2018-Thu 22 CC 100 mg 2.46 03/16/2018-Fri 23 CC 100 mg 03/17/2018-Sat 24 CC 100 mg 03/18/2018-Sun 25 CC 100 mg 03/19/2018-Mon 26 CC 100 mg 03/20/2018-Tue 27 CC 100 mg 03/21/2018-Wed 28 CC 100 mg 03/22/2018-Thu 29 CC 100 mg 03/23/2018-Fri 30 128 7.01 1.08 < 11mm Few(2 to 4) < 11mm Few(2 to 4) 03/27/2018-Tue 34 228 4.83 0.51 14 < 11mm Few(2 to 4) 13.1, 11.4, 10.8, 8.0 < 11mm Multiple(5 to 10) 03/29/2018-Thu 36 240 6.45 0.63 15.1 < 11mm Few(2 to 4) 11.2, 10.4 < 11mm Multiple(5 to 10) 03/31/2018-Sat 38 415 9.12 0.77 19.8 < 11mm Few(2 to 4) 11.0, 9.9 < 11mm Multiple(5 to 10) 04/02/2018-Mon 40 x 39.58 04/18/2018-Wed 56 This one I remember was a chemical. In all of these cycles, the most mature follicles I ever made was 2. Also, I wish I could cut and paste the graph here from my patient portal so you could see things better.

I can't remember. We did go through about 10k paying out of pocket for IUI once insurance benefits were used. That money was initially given to us for IVF, but Dr. Elguero basically said it wasn't an option. So we WASTED all that money at that clinic instead of having it to use at a facility that provides better care, or - at the minimum - didn't continue to treat me with meds I had an allergic response to. I wish we never gave them a penny. So much regret!

I didn't get to do any IVF here b/c the doctor talked me out of it.

The first time I met Dr. Elguero I was greeted with a warm smile. I felt like I was in competent hands. During our consultation, she thoroughly explained the plan of initial treatment and what she believed was the underlying diagnose. She is very smart and is able to answer any questions. However, after the initial consultation, I never heard from her or saw her unless I made the appointment to discuss the next step in the treatment plan.

Dr. Elguero is very knowledgeable and resourceful, but you have to make the effort to see her if your treatment plan isn't effective within a couple if months.

No pregnancies yet. Letrozole 7.5 mg per cycle and Ovidrel injectables along with bloodwork and ultrasounds. No further treatment due to financial costs.

Insurance has covered all costs with timed intercourse monitoring. After that, due to the fact that we are active duty military we are a discount as tricare will not cover any infertility monitoring with IUI or IVF.

She was excellent and I felt like she was really going to tailor treatment to me. In prior experiences it seemed like doctors were just guessing and throwing everything at me to see what stuck, rather than looking at my case as individual. At one point she heard that I was on the phone with a nurse and she actually took the time in the middle of her day to get on the phone with me without scheduling. She never rushed me. I wish that I had seen her more often and I wish that I had direct access to her through a portal.

I had no insurance, but I think it cost us about $8500 for everything (excluding drugs) - retrieval, transfer, ICSI, anesthesia, etc.

Doctor Elguero was great. She was always wonderful at explaining our previous failed cycles, what could have gone wrong, and what she would recommend we do to fix it for the next cycle. She always answered any questions we had. We felt more like family at this office with Doctor Elguero than just a number.

Ask questions! When in doubt or when you are wondering about ANYTHING during this crazy rollercoaster, ask as many questions as you can! Stay on top of things and always be prepared for anything.

For our first three IUI treatments we were on Clomid. Clomid thinned out my lining and we were unsuccessful with those IUIs (one was a chemical pregnancy). We moved onto Antagonist protocols for our IVF Cycles. Our First IVF cycle, we stimmed with Follistim, Menopur, Ganirelix and triggered with Ovidrel. We had 8 eggs result in that IVF cycle however our eggs were delayed in fertilization (we did not do ICSI the first round) so we had no embryos to transfer this round. Our 2nd IVF cycle we stimmed with the same protocol as the first. This resulted in 9 eggs retrieved. Of those 9 we ended with 2 very fragmented / poor quality embryos by day 3 and did a fresh transfer of the two embryos. Resulted in a negative pregnancy test. Our 3rd cycle we actually started as a Gonadatropin IUI (stimmed with Follistim only and then Ganirelix) and converted to IVF. We triggered with Ovidrel and we retrieved 14 eggs that time. We transferred 2 embryos on day 5 (two morulas so not full blasts). This resulted in a chemical pregnancy. Our 4th cycle of IVF we also did Follistim only plus Ganirelix. We triggered with Lupron and Ovidrel and retrieved 18 eggs. Of those we ended with 1 day 5 4AA embryo blast and 1 other embryo that was a little behind on day 5 but we gave it a shot and transferred both embryos on day 5 fresh. This resulted in a negative pregnancy test. We also tried one more (our 4th) IUI with Follistim and Ganirelix, triggered with Ovidrel, and this resulted in a negative test as well.

We were covered for one round of IVF with our insurance but we hit that lifetime max after our 1st IVF. The cost of IVF was around $13,000 after that and we also had to pay out of pocket for our medication, about $4k.

We wish we tried to do one single embryo (especially our 4AA Blast that we finally got on our 3rd round) rather than add in the other embryos that were always a little behind.

Dr Elguero seems almost nervous or awkward when she talks to you, which made me feel less confident in her knowledge/abilities when I first met her. After more appointments with her, I was less worried about it. It's just her personality. She's pretty upfront with her explanations of things, and has no issue explaining things in simpler terms to ensure you understand. One thing that *really* bothered my husband was that as soon as she was reminded we were paying out of pocket instead of with insurance, she adjusted the protocol and plans for possible future protocols. It seemed like she would have experimented more loosely if we weren't so concerned about the cost, which makes us wonder if the successful cycle would have been several cycles later instead.

Make sure you are prepared with all of your questions ahead of time and make sure she takes the time to answer them.

For our IUI cycle, we used meds typically used for IVF to see how my body woild respond. We were under the impression the IUI would not be successful because of my endometriosis and blocked tubes. Menopur and Follistim were used, along with Ganirelix. For the first IVF cycle, we used Menopur, Follistim, and Ganirelix again. We used a higher dose of Follistim and lower dose of Menopur. It was a very unsuccessful cycle. There were 12 follicles, but only 2 eggs were retrieved. Most follicles were such low quality or not fully matured, and they broke apart when she tried to retrieve eggs. Only one egg was good quality, it was transferred on day 3, and ended in a chemical pregnancy. The second IVF cycle, Dr Elguero decided to "flipflop" the meds. We used a higher dose of Menopur and a lower dose of Follistim. The meds were increased at a slower rate so that follicles would have a better opportunity to mature and develop. 10 eggs were retrieved, 8 fertilized. 6 developed into embryos, 1 was transferred and the other 5 are currently frozen. I'm 18 weeks pregnant from that cycle and things seem to be going smoothly.

For IUI, meds and procedure were covered by insurance and we only had to pay our $10 copay. For IVF, nothing was covered by insurance. Meds cost $3000, procedure cost $6500, and freezing embryos that weren't transferred cost $1000

I was not given an option regarding the number of embryos transferred. Dr Elguero said she would only transfer one embryo because I was young and carrying multiples was high risk.

She was always honest, kind, and considerate, she always takes the best evidenced based practice and applied it to my case. I never had to question or worry about if I was doing the best protocol because I trust her so much.

She's very smart but it's hard to get in contact with her you have to go through your nurse.

My first cycle was 250 gonalf 75 menopur and .25 cetrotide. I triggered with 80units of lupron. I was disappointed with our results 15 eggs retrieved 8 mature 6 fertilized 2 made it blastocyst and to pgs testing 1 normal. We wanted to do another round to get a few more gentically good.embryos for a the future before transfer so Dr. Sonia was a little more aggressive.. 300 gonal f 75 menopur .25 cetrotide I triggered with the 80u of lupron and 5000u of hcg. 29 eggs retrieved 22 mature 19 fertilized 9 made it blastocyst and 5 were gentically good and frozen. Transfer is May 3!

$20 copayment, 8k for gententic testing and $1400 for medications.

Dr. Sonia follows the code of with ethics and doesn't budge. I asked about transferring two embryos and she said no because we know they are gentically good and risk assoicated with mutiples is higher. If to prove to have implantion issues she would consider transfering two

Dr Elguero seemed very genuine in my first consultation with her. I quickly learned though that that wasn't the case. The second time I met with her to go over treatment options, she sounded very scripted and was pushing my husband and I to do IVF - without any explanation as to why we were both healthy and 24 years old and not conceiving on our own. She then strongly recommended that we did IUI with clomid and the trigger shot. She PROMISED she was going to do the IUI's herself because I have a tricky cervix which we discovered when she attempted unsuccessfully TWICE to do an HSG - which was a horrible experience. Instead, her nurse practioner did 2 / 3 IUI's, which we found out when the Dr did the 3rd one with ultrasound to confirm the catheter made it through the cervix, that the first 2 IUI's we're done incorrectly. Basically a waste of thousands of dollars.

Find a different Dr. One that will look at you and your situation and truly care about figuring out why you can't conceive naturally.

Dr Elguero suggested we do IUI with clomid and the trigger shot. She promised she was going to be the one to do it since I have a tricky cervix. However, she sent her nurse practioner to do the first 2 instead - both done incorrectly we found out later (never getting the catheter through the cervix). Dr Elguero did the 3rd IUI with ultrasound to confirm that the catheter made it through the cervix, and it felt comepletely different than the first two. However, I told her that morning before the IUI that it felt like I had already ovulated the day before. Rather than checking to confirm ovulation/ rescheduling for the following month, she said "okay this is perfect timing then". Which is obviously wasn't since the sperm needs to be there BEFORE ovulation.. All 3 IUI's ended with negative pregnancy tests.

It was roughly $2,000 per IUI cycle.

I only met with Dr. Elguero a few times (initially met with a different doctor who was temporarily handling the practice). She was nice but not extraordinary. She was not as familiar with my history at our visits as I would have liked and she seemed to have a standard educational "spiel" that she gave me when we got to the point of her explaining and recommending moving on to IVF. During my IUI cycles I did not really communicate with her and the nursing staff seemed to run the show, so I feel that I can't evaluate Dr. Elguero very well as she was so uninvolved in my treatment.

Ask lots of questions and clarify your next steps so you are not left waiting.

Medicated, monitored IUI 7x using frozen donor sperm. 6 Femara cycles, 1 Clomid cycle. Most cycles with HCG trigger and IUI 36h later, unless bloodwork/ultrasound indicated ovulation was occurring already by about CD16.

About $25k total - $6k for donor sperm, and then roughly $5k for testing and $14k for treatment with Albany IVF. Each IUI cycle was about $2000 total for multiple monitoring visits, sperm preparation and IUI. I had insurance coverage only for certain diagnostic testing and had a high-deductible plan so nearly all costs were out of pocket.

I only did a phone consultation with him because I was out of state, I never met him in person. But in the phone he was very positive, let me ask questions and answered them fully. I wish I had met him in person but it didn’t happen

Make sure you are heard

We used an egg donor at this facility (it didn’t give me that option for this review)

We only paid $12,000 for our egg donor cycle and we had one from frozen embryo transfer

It wasn’t an option for us

As expected she is very busy so I only dealt with her the couple of video appointments, but I did see her before and after my egg retrieval. Every time she is very nice, always reassuring and makes me feel really good about the decision I’ve made

Definitely do some of your own reset of IVF, and know at least the basics. Then come up with some questions to use your time wisely since you don’t get a lot of it

I used Menopur and Gonal-F. Triggered with Lupron before egg retrieval because of risk of OHSS. I responded really well to it all. 16 eggs retrieved, and 6 embryos were frozen.

My insurance covered everything so I just had copays

Very friendly and knowledgeable but we did not get the expected results (very few eggs retrieved even though in the past during IUI's I responded very well to protocol) and the clinic is at a loss as to why. They also have not adjusted our protocol much for next time.

Be your own advocate and ask a lot of questions. Don't be afraid to speak up and know that no question is stupid. They understand this is scary and new for so many of us but they can't read our minds. If there is something you are questioning, just ask. And make sure you are clear on next steps and timelines.

1st IVF egg retrieval - Gonal-F, Menopur, and Ganirelix. Started on a low dose of Gonal-F and Menopur and then had it increased because I wasn't responding well. Used crinone gel after a 3 day fresh transfer. For my 3 IUI's we only used Gonal-F and a trigger shot.

Everything has been through insurance so far

We are only being allowed to transfer one at a time because of my age (32)

This doctor heard me out and explained the ivf process in detail. She created a wish list of things to come and next steps to take. She listened and treated me with compassion. She did not interrupt me. She expressed empathy at my health situation and made me feel understood and supported.

Ask all the questions you can. She is excellent at telling you exactly what the plans are and how she can help.

First she suggested i get vaccines done ahead of time before my first in office appointment so that it saves time and doesnt delay an ivf cycle. She also explained to me my options for ivf, iui, and looking at my tubal issues since i have a history of ectopic pregnancies. She let me know each step what to expect next and gave me names of who to contact with questions.

Costs have not been discussed yet. But she is putting me in touch with a coordinator.

Dr. Elguero has a strenght in communciating the specific needs for our treatment. Not only was she very clear in our needs but she illustrated her explenation with data points, images, and models. She didn't shy away from explaining the scientific developments in the area of RE. It felt like she was leveling with us and was never talking down to us or "mansplaining" (I've had some really bad experiences with other RE's who talked to me and my husband like we were babies or unintelligent) She was fantastic. She knew our case so well and she made us feel so good about our treament. Absolutely love Dr. Elguero and trust her totally.

She will answer any and all questions, there are no stupid questions.

For our case, single embryo transfer is the best option.

She asked alot of questions, required medical tests and followed up with phone calls. She took the time to listen and offer options. We are not well off so she worked with our insurance to do what was covered.

You are in good hands. Ask as many questions as you need to.

We stuck to Clomid as it had less chance of multiple babies. IUI was performed twice and now looking into invitro as we knew the odds of husbands sperm not being effective were very very low. If we cannot get assistance with the cost then we will go with donor sperm. We had spent 10k on adoption that failed when court turned over children to the father. Husband is jail guard and Im an author and pet groomer. We make enough to pay the mortgage and bills but not alot more than that. Cost is what is keeping us from invitro but that would be the more ideal route. Huband wants to be the father.

20$ copays. 200 IUI costs, 200 lab test.