CCRM Houston/Houston IVF

Dr. Noddler knew my situation and my husband and I desire to have a child after beating Breast Cancer. He was very honest and straight foward while having compassion regarding my options and what he felt would be out best option of success. He knew that time due to my age was of an concern and was ready and available to proceed with all necessary testing and medication needing to be prescribed.

To trust his judgement and his process. He has your health and best success of conceiving as his primary priority.

I have not actually started my cycles yet, due to the COVID-19 things are on hold.

$22,000.00

I was very pleased with my results. I ended up freezing more eggs than I though I would for my age (33). Dr. Hickman carefully monitored my response to the medication for egg freezing, and that was a key reason behind my results. The nurse I worked with was great as well—she was very quick to respond to my questions and calls. I would recommend Dr. Hickman and his team to anyone.

Have your questions ready.

When I was with Dr. McKnight, I was very pleased with her manner. She took the time to answer our questions, although we were so confused and uninformed in the beginning of our infertility whirlwind that this time didn't amount to much. Of our many countless visits we really only saw Dr. McKnight three times, but she was definitely great when we did get to see her.

Make sure you specifically request to see the DOCTOR when you want to meet with her. There were a handful of visits where we expected Dr. McKnight to be there and it was just a nurse. Perhaps this is standard practice, but we didn't know and we felt let down. Other than that, I would just say to prepare questions so that the time you do get with McKnight is as effective and useful as possible. She will be candid and kind in my experience.

Based on my extremely low AMH and borderline FSH, the plan Dr. McKnight put in place was an aggressive IVF regimen. The first round began with birth control pill suppression followed by a mix of high dose gonadotropins and microdose lupron. My trigger would have been HCG followed by retrieval, ICSI and comprehensive chromosome screening on all embryos. Unfortunately, my body did not respond to the meds, my estradiol stayed undetectable and I didn't even make it to trigger. A week or so after this failure I had a random follicle growing and an estradiol spike on NO medication. I was thrilled and rushed into another mini round of IVF with virtually the same protocol and tried to save the few follicles that were growing. I did my HCG trigger, but the day before my retrieval showed that my estrogen levels came crashing back down. Dr. McKnight told me this probably meant that there were no viable eggs in the follicles and she would not recommend doing egg retrieval will only one large follicle and crashing estrogen levels. I was heartbroken, but it was not McKnight's fault. I can only add that perhaps, with diminished ovarian reserve and a poor response to the first round, perhaps I should not have been on any lupron suppression? I just don't know. Perhaps we should have tried a different protocol. That being said, I think I will go back to Dr. McKnight after my stem cell therapy and try to batch with her.

The cost up front for the pre-retrieval and post-retrieval blood draws and appointments, egg retrieval and FET was $21,000.00. This was meant to get you from your first appointment through your surgeries and to your positive pregnancy test.

When my husband and I were naive enough to think we would even have these options, we asked about single vs. multiple embryo transfer. Dr. McKnight said she respects anything her patients decide to do, but strongly recommends single embryo transfer. We didn't ask for further explanation as my husband and I agreed we ought to do single embryo transfers only.

Doctor Nodler is probably one of the more conservative RE’s at CCRM. He studies the practice of reproductive endocrinology diligently and will very rarely steer treatments toward any protocols that have not been “proven” or studied. In saying that; he knows how to adjust protocols when previous treatments were not successful. My first cycle with Nodler was cancelled and never went to retrieval. My subsequent cycle he completely adjusted my protocol and after 2 retrievals we ended with 2 highly graded blasts that both tested PGT normal. He listened to my husbands suggestion to add HGH (omnitrope) to our cycle and encouraged us to take certain measures with lifestyle and diet changes.

Be prepared for factual, straight forward approach to your individual situation. He is kind and very knowledgeable, but not overly emotional or compassionate which worked great for us. CCRM does not vary greatly in their prescribed protocols and so Dr Nodler will use a “pre set” protocol depending on your individual infertility diagnosis. We had a treatment plan from a different fertility clinic and he vetoed almost everything they suggested. We trusted him and are so far happy we did as we have 2 euploid embryos on ice.

For my first ever cycle we did an antagonist protocol with estrogen priming for 10 days. Max dose of Follistim and Menopur w/ dexamethasone + ganirellix. That first cycle failed and it was cancelled. I did not even get to a retrieval. Our next 3 cycles we did a protocol of clomid 100mg, dexamethasone, omnitrope, 3 vials of Menopur plus ganirellix. I retrieved 3 eggs per cycle for cycle 2 and 3. Cycle 2 ended in 0 fertilized eggs. Cycle 3 ended in all eggs fertilized, 2 blasts, 2 PGTA normal.

About $20,000 per cycle not included meds. Medication is between $3000-$6000 per cycle. Finance was simple as we self paid everything. Regroups and doctor visits were not included which we found disappointing.

We have not yet transferred. We are doing one more retrieval to bank more embryos.

I have only done the consult and initial labwork thus far. I am pretty far in my age (early to mid 40s) as far as options. He also took the time and asked me to thoughtfully consider what are my ultimate objectives, and weigh my options accordingly, with out passing judgment on and one option as better than another. Dr. Nodler and his staff have been professional, courteous and took the time to explain my options at this stage, from medical, financial, the process, drugs, donor bank options, etc. I was very impressed. I am have one additional consult scheduled, but because of the location and how I have been treated thus far, I am confident I will likely proceed with Dr. Nodler and his staff at CCRM.

Be prepared with questions and clear as to what you are hoping to accomplish in seeking the services of the clinic. Dr. Nodler reviewed the medical chart and fairly presented all options.

I have not gotten to this stage just yet, but hope to be at this stage very soon.

Too early, but they seem in line with other clinics. All of the cost options were thoroughly explained and laid out in specific packets of information based on the treatment options.

None - not applicable yet. Though I did ask and confirm that Dr. Nodler has a preference for eset, which is in line with my preference as well.

Dr. Nodler was both compassionate and effective as my physician. I had a very challenging diagnosis and he was honest with me from the beginning about the likelihood of success/me achieving pregnancy. When I wanted to speed up the timeline, he worked with his team to make that happen. When treatment outcomes didn't go as planned, he always reached out to discuss the next steps. I had never had a male OB/physician before, but I completely trust Dr. Nodler and think he has excellent bedside manner in addition to being a great physician.

Don't hesitate to make your appointment!

Utilized Gonal, Menopur, and Ganirelix for my egg retrievals which was very successful

Initially our insurance did not cover CCRM so we paid entirely out-of-pocket but were offered a decent discount by the clinic

I cannot rave about Dr. Nodler highly enough. He really gave the impression that he cared about me as a person and as a patient and was personally invested in seeing me succeed. He was willing to personalize my treatment even if it meant additional monitoring and weekend appointments. He also made sure that I was taken care of when I needed care between cycles and on occasions when I had issues with the billing department. He treated me skillfully but also with compassion. At the same time, he did not sugarcoat or just tell me things I wanted to hear, but made sure that I had full understanding even if the news wasn’t desirable.

Don’t expect to be coddled. He’s realistic and pragmatic, and that sometimes means hearing something you might not want to.

All three retrievals were a microdose lupron protocol with minimal birth control priming. I responded slowly but well and they resulted in 2, 2, and 4 viable embryos respectively. First transfer was a standard hormone replacement therapy frozen transfer. It was delayed a week due to thin lining and resulted in a failure. Second transfer using the same protocol was cancelled due to covid. Third transfer using the same protocol resulted in an allergic reaction to estrogen patches, so I switched to oral estrace. That transfer was delayed a week and then cancelled due to thin lining. For the fourth transfer attempt, Dr. Nodler suggested a natural cycle with letrozole. Although I responded well and ovulated naturally, that transfer was cancelled due to thin lining. For the fifth transfer attempt, Dr. Nodler allowed me to continue with a natural protocol plus letrozole because I found that I preferred it to the HRT. That was my second actual transfer, which we moved forward with even though lining was at 5.7mm, and it resulted in a pregnancy. That pregnancy ended in a missed miscarriage. Dr. Nodler performed a D&C at weeks. For my sixth transfer attempt, we did another natural transfer with letrozole, and that time I added in Gonal injections and an Ovidrel trigger to thicken my lining. That successfully thickened my lining to 7.6mm and resulted in a pregnancy.

Roughly $15,000 per retrieval and $3500 per transfer, not including meds.

Detailed, thorough and direct in his explanations. Presented a clear point of view on different treatment options, which really helped cut through the noise and confusion. I always felt like we had a defined direction and were moving forward.

Like with any RE, come to the consultation prepared with questions.

Antagonist protocol with combo trigger. I think this is relatively standard for a first cycle and mild PCOS. I responded well to the meds, so was able to stay at the starting gonal f and menopur doses throughout stimming. We did ICSI as we wanted genetic testing and the lab required ICSI to do CCS testing. Ended up with six normal embryos, so only had a single retrieval cycle. FET protocol included birth control, estrogen patches, Lupron, and progesterone suppositories and shots. Responded well, transferred one, and now pregnant with a singleton.

Usually there were only one or two others in the waiting room in the Fannin location for blood draws and ultrasounds. I don’t recall ever having to wait more than 5 or 10 minutes to be seen. The Memorial City location, where weekend appointments are held, is more busy on those weekends, so you might have to wait slightly longer for blood draws. Still, those appointments were always very fast and efficient.

We tested our embryos and wanted to transfer one. This was my doctor’s preference as well, so no real discussion was had.

Dr McKnight was honest and direct and we only saw her once. Since it was our first consult, it was quick. It seemed that she was in a rush too. I didn't feel that we were a number to her, but I didn't also feel that there was an establishment of patient-doctor relationship as we never saw her since then and all the subsequent interactions have been through email with the RN and for the procedure, another doctor at the same clinic.

Try to read and research about infertility treatment options well. Also review the doctors as exhaustively as you can. It is best to be prepared beforehand so the little time you have with your doctor, you can actually get straight to clarifying information.

We were using IUI with Letrozole, as Dr McKnight said Clomid might have more side effects for patients with my profile. The result of the procedure was a no pregnancy.

$1,400 for IUI only. Not counting the diagnostics that weren't in the IUI package that counted almost $4,800.

Dr kudesia is a very intelligent individual. I love that she gives both sides meaning statistics and her personal opinion. I don’t think she has an weakness that I know of. I love that she is calm and kind when talking. She is not aggressive or trying to persuade your decision and I love that about her. When speaking to her I can clearly tell that she has gone over my protocol before speaking to me. She does not make me feel like a number I actually feel I’m apart of a big family. LOVE IT! My overall experience has been great and wouldn’t have it any other way.

I would tell the patient not to worry. She will do her very best a treating you. Always state you goals be honest about everything.

I started on menopur 150 , gonal F 150. I started my injections in the belly however, during monitoring she noticed I wasn’t responding well so we started injections in the arm and my menopur went up to 225. I start responding better stayed at this dose until day 9 when I incorporated Cetrotide.25 (used to hold ovulation)for a few days. 2 days before retrieval I triggered with Noveral 5000 units and Lupron .25

So I work 8-4:30 they have a newly opened clinic which is my clinic. This clinic is not open all week so I had to travel to the nearest local. The clinic scheduled all monitoring for 7:30 am I did have to take half the day off since I don’t live by the specific clinic. Otherwise easy quick and fast.

$12,000 for treatment that includes 15% off. About $3000 for meds. Labs of $110

My Doctor didn’t try to persuade our decision. She told me pros and cons for both options. She recommends one because she doesn’t like for her patients to use all embryos , but ultimately left it up to us.

So far, Dr. McKnight has been not only a doctor, but a part of the family. She understands she is a huge part of our life right now and embraces it. She answers all questions posed to her when we meet with her and continues to answer questions I have going through the current process we are in. Due to severe endometriosis, we decided I would go on Lupron for the next six months prior to having a second surgery to remove cyst tissue and endometriosis tissue before we start IVF. We are anxiously awakening the six month to be over and she has checked in on me and us throughout the process! It’s comforting knowing she is still in this with us, even though we are in a holding pattern.

Go in with all your questions. She will take the time to answer all of them. Don’t be worried if you’re ignorant to the IVF process or expectations. She takes the time to go over everything, step by step.

Due to my endometriosis, I am currently going through medically induced menopause for six months in order to “calm everything down” before I have a second surgery to remove “bad” tissue and create a healthy environment for IVF.

Total IVF Cost with ICSI: $13847.00 Medication range: $4,000- $7,000

We have not got to that point yet but we have asked, she strictly leaves it up to you and your partner but reminds you of risks to babies and yourself with multiples.

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.

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.

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

Dr. Nodler is really knowledgeable and really nice. Sometimes, though, I felt like he wasn’t putting the research into our case. It was “unexplained infertility” and move to IVF instead of figuring out the cause of our infertility that could maybe be fixed by diet, supplements, or lifestyle changes. He has been great though, especially since the many failures and setbacks we have had, even calling me personally after we lost our baby at 10 weeks to unknown issues.

Ask lots of questions and request all the details.

We first did our blood work and scans and I had a minor septum so we did surgery on that. We then started with 3 IUIs using Letrozole, which didn’t worked. My insurance covered three which is why we did 3 but that is also normal protocol. We then moved to IVF using Menopur and Follistim. Our goal was a fresh cycle but I had over stimulation so we froze the eggs, 4. 3 tested normal during PGS and one was unknown. We then did a FET once my body got back to normal. FET 1 worked but at 10 weeks we had to terminate due to the growth of the organs outside the fetus body. It was never determined if that was genetic related. Have a long recovery from the D&C we did FET 2 which ended in a chemical pregnancy at 6 weeks. Currently waiting to start FET 3. All FETs have been the same protocol: 3 weeks birth control, lupron, estrogen patches, PIO, and progesterone suppositories.

IUIs, labs, egg retrieval and FET 1 were covered by insurance so I paid 20% until my $500 deductible. FET 2 was $4,500.

I wanted to transfer 2 the first time but he wanted one as it is statistically better and safer. It didn’t work. For the 2nd FET I again pushed for two but he wanted one so we did one. We now have two embryos left so we are finally transferring two during FET 3.

I always felt completely comfortable with Dr. McKnight and enjoyed meeting with her. My only criticism was that I'm not sure if there was a ton if communication between her and my nurse about me other than just the pure blood work numbers. I had actually moved out of state between my consultation and my FET and she was unaware at the time of my transfer that I had been doing outside monitoring.

Go with her, she's great!

I had an FET transfer, starting with birth control pills to regulate my cycle and then followed by Lupron injections, estrogen, and progesterone.

I believe my FET was about $4500.

My two embryos were actually frozen together so we chose to transfer both. We were told it was most likely safe to thaw and refreeze one of our embryos, but we chose not to take the chance.

The first thing I liked about Dr Noddler is how smart he was and how informed he seemed about the most up to date information. I consider myself an intelligent woman, so I went into our relationship having concerns and things I wanted clarification on. Dr Noddler without hesitation answered all of my questions and had a very sophisticated approached to my treatment. He was also lighthearted when needed and serious when necessary. I really enjoy being his patient.

Dr Noddler and his nurse use a very black and white protocol. The patient needs to know that every step of their plan is being carefully put together for each patient's best result

I have a very high AMH so my antagonist protocol had to be very closely monitored. The reason I switched to Houston IVF and Dr Noddler is because my previous clinic and Dr over stimulated me so badly that I ended up with severe OHSS. To the point I had to have my belly drained. This was my biggest concern when I first met with Dr Noddler, and he took my concerns very seriously. He tailored my program to stimulate me enough to get good quality eggs, but not so much to cause me an discomfort. With a perfect cocktail of drugs, I was able to produce 26 eggs, 16 fertilized, and 9 grew to 5 day blasts. out of those 9, 3 were graded 5AA the highest quality egg possible. I am currently still in treatment. I've had my 5 day blast frozen embryo transfer 4 days ago, so I can't comment if it worked, but so far this has been the best experience I could have hoped for.

Monitoring appointments were always at 7:30am outside of working hours, so perfect

20,500$

I demanded that I have an eSET because I'm petrified of having twins. I was lucky that I fit in the perameter of those that qualify to have eSET

My egg retrieval, fertilization and blastocyst results improved with Dr Nodler. I believe that this is the result of the protocol that Dr Nodler put me on. I transferred 2 PGS embryos, and both failed to implant. In the follow up, there were no explanations of why, just many possibilities. He suggested that I do an ERA (which I am doing) or use a gestational carrier. I am hoping for a more conservation solution.

Let Dr Nodler make his recommendations and follow them. He is the expert, not us.

For simulations, Dr Nodler used the antagonist protocol. It worked well. I do not know why he chose that particular protocol. Our main issue is male factor resulting from Robertsonian Translocation 13/14. He recommended CCS to screen all 46 chromosomes for abnormalities.

Egg retrieval, PGS (7 embryos), FET (1 time) = $21,000 ERA= $2,350

Due to my history of failed SET of PGS embryos, I requested to transfer 2 and he did. But he recommended I do one. I wish I had listened to him.

Dr.Nodler has all the merits on paper. He was referred to us by my husbands urologist. But he lacks compassion. When I explained to him that we couldn’t afford this procedure of 18K with my husband being in school and only myself working. He said to come back when ready. But I pushed ourselves and found means to borrow money from family. Even after this cycle failed he didn’t seem to go thru the explanation of the failure. A year later, I came across an embryologist and showed her the pictures of the embryos my clinic transferred. In one look she said they were really poor stage and should have done laser on them to help with implantation. At the time of transfer there was no talking and I could sense they were guilty of something. I asked what stage is it. It wasn’t even a blastocyst on day 5 and they still transferred them.

Please go to other docs in the clinic

18K

My doctor transferred 2 embryos

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.

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.

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.

Dr. McKnight lacked the warmth and compassion I expected. My husband felt the same way. There was no desire to truly figure out why we weren't getting pregnant, just go down the pathway of medicated timed intercourse, then IUI, then IVF. I had several questionable things occur during my cycle that she did not have an explanation for. For example, I had an 18 day luteal phase during my medicated cycle. Pregnancy test was negative. When I asked why it had lasted so long, I was just told by the nurse "we don't know, just call us when your period starts so we can start the next cycle." There was no input from Dr. McKnight whatsoever. Through my own research I found out it was likely a luteal cyst. Overall, I just felt like Dr. McKnight had no personal interest in my success so we transferred to another clinic after that first cycle.

Ask up front how often you will see her and how can you get in touch with her directly if you have questions.

We only stayed with her for one cycle. This was my first treatment cycle ever. I have suspected PCOS. I used letrozole 5 mg days 3-7 with an Ovidrel trigger and timed intercourse. I had two monitoring ultrasounds during the cycle that showed 3 developed follicles. It resulted in a negative pregnancy test and an extremely long luteal phase likely due to a corpus luteal cyst.

$400 for a monitored timed intercourse medicated cycle

She's kind, compassionate and yet self assured and breeds confidence. You can sense she has the experience. She is also a bit more conservative, which I appreciate.

IVF with chromosomal screening (because of multiple pregnancy losses likely due to chromosomal abnormalities). Transfer one tested embryo TK reduce risk of twins

$15-20K for IVF with chromosomal screening

Dr. McKnight is very caring and compassionate. She goes out of her way to talk through everything, and help us understand what is going on. She doesn't rush through appointments and makes sure that you have what you need for next steps. She is willing to meet us where we are at with treatments, and explains why she thinks something will or not work. She doesn't treat us like we are just another number in the clinic, but really makes you comfortable in the care you are receiving.

If you have any questions on what is going on, just reach out to your nurse. Dr. McKnight communicates well through the nurses. If you don't receive an answer you like, or feel like you are not on the same page, set up an in person meeting.

I have had a previous pregnancy, with the help of fertility treatments in a different state. Given this Dr. McKnight is very encouraging that I can once again get pregnant and is willing to follow my cue on trying IUI before moving to IVF. We have done 3 cycles of IUI, all resulting in negative pregnancy tests. The first IUI was Clomid days 5-9, and IUI ended up on CD 21. I ovulated prior to doing the trigger shot. I only had 1 dominate follicle for IUI #1. IUI #2 - Clomid days 5-9, trigger shot on CD 18 (only 1 dominate follicle), IUI on CD 20. IUI#3 - Clomid day 3-7, trigger on CD 15 (only 1 dominate follicle), IUI on CD 17. Currently on a treatment break, as we've decided to have lap surgery prior to next treatment, which we've discussed will be injectables with IUI.

IUI with Clomid/Letrozol was reasonable - $1,000 a cycle. IUI with injectables was $2,000 a month + cost of meds. I don't remember specifics on IVF, but it is lower that 2 other places in our area.

She has the best bedside manner I have ever seen as a nurse and patient. She is compassionate and truly cares for her patient's well being. She is very thorough in her care and takes care of you as an individual, according to your specific needs. There were fertility doctors closer to where I lived, but I chose to see her over an hour away from my home, just bc of the kind of doctor she was and the care i received from her. She is no longer with the practice as of now, but i will see Dr. McKnight when i have my frozen transfers, and she is just as kind and good at what she does.

DON'T waste your time with any other doctor!!!!

First, they ask you to come in and meet with your doctor to discuss any previous labs, pregnancies, medical history, etc and get an in office hysteroscopy and also get new lab work on you and your spouse. Then then you meet with her nurse to set up a schedule and sign any consents and the financial expert to come up with a plan. Once all test results come back and you call on day one of your cycle, you then start a monophasic birth control pill. I'm not too sure the name of the shots I took for a couple of weeks before the egg retrieval, but they were daily, along with twice a week u/s to measure follicles. The injections made more of your eggs mature, so they could retrieve a greater number on retrieval day. Then, depending on when they want you to come back, they implant a 3 or 5 day old embryo, and they keep you well informed of how they are growing and their rating. Then after the implantation, the progesterone injections start. Their protocol was 50mg daily for 10-12 weeks. I had an issue with progesterone absorption, so I was on 100mg daily for 12 weeks.

Great and well organized!

My insurance didn't cover infertility, so we had to pay cash. First appt $75, hysteroscopy $180?, anesthesia for egg retrieval $500?, and everything else kind of depends on if you have insurance. They have a 30% off compassionate care program for those who make less than a certain amount each year and are cash pay, which we qualified for and paid, with meds and all, + or - $16000. Cheaper than other places we looked at.

Not sure. I never asked about this.

I think I covered this in a prior question. She's nice, sensitive and optimistic. Also realistic. Appreciate her insight. She didn't seem to be a fan of alternative treatments.

Ask for a good nurse.

Well oiled machine early morning hours, which was good so you could get in and out and to work timely.

She is very kind and informative. She fully gives you her attention when speaking with you and your husband/partner, she includes them in the conversation as much as possible. At first I was uncomfortable with the fact that you rarely see her (you see the staff at each appointment, just not the doctor) but quickly realized it isn't necessary to see her each time since the staff is fully capable. It was also strange for her to perform my final ultrasound at 8 weeks pregnant (she was so sweet and happy for us), but she kind of came in and got "all the glory" when we hadn't seen her in about 4.5 months. But at the same time you are grateful and have to remember she was the one reviewing your chart and making the decisions about what to do next even though we didn't see her much. She was so compassionate when I miscarried. She even hugged me at the end of the appointment which surprised me since I figured she probably sees it so often. From the small amount of times we met with her, she was nothing but sweet, smart, compassionate, and a very lovely doctor who knows exactly what she is doing and looks out for your very best interest.

Don't expect to see her often. Do know that she is aware of everything going on with your appointments and plan. She also likes to do as many tests as possible (common for an fertility specialist) but she would do even more if she could.

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