IVF Hawaii

Benton Chun is a caring and smart doctor that wants you to start/expand your family. He has really great bed side manner, but is very strict with diet. He is gentle, but will also tell you things that you have to change in order to have the best success rate. When my lining wasn’t quite thick enough, instead of moving forward he said we should wait, giving us all the reasons and options of why. When I had my miscarriage, I was devastated. He and his staff grieved with me. You could just tell that he cared. When we did our second transfer and it was a success, he gave us a huge hug and was so happy about it as well. You see him and his staff so often that they become family, and you want that closeness and emotional support when you are going through infertility. I highly recommend Dr. Chun.

He is strict with diet, and may tell you to lose weight if he feels your body isn’t of top notch shape for conceiving a baby. Just be ready for that, as some People might be put off by that comment.

He immediately had me start taking acetyl carnitone, alpha Lipoic acid, Ubiquinol, prenatal vitamins and metformin because I was diagnosed with PCOS. He also recommended me to go on a PCOS diet to help with the cysts and insulin production. I took those throughout my treatment. During my first transfer I injected Lupron, Estrace 1mg vaginally x2 a day and progrestorene Oil 1cc before implantation. I kept taking estrace x3, ubiquinol, metformin and Progestrone shot every morning. The first transfer I ended up having a miscarriage at 9 weeks. So the second round, which was a couple of months later, he changed my vitamins a bit, but also upped my progestorene after transfers to 2CC every morning. And he had me inject progestorene 2CC for the entire first tri-nester. But it worked, and soon graduated from his clinic. I later had pregnancy complications though, and ended up hospitalized at 24 weeks for severe pre-clampsia symptoms. I developed HELLP syndrome and later an infection and delivered my son at 27 weeks gestation. He was 1.5lbs at birth. He had his own health scares and spent 113 days in the NICU. But, we are so grateful as he is now a happy and healthy 2.5year old.

I believe for both cycles and iUIs we spent about $30k-$40k

She was easy going and walked us through our results from the first sperm analysis. Our analysis seemed extremely abnormal but referred my husband to a Endocrinologist and a Urologist. She gave us a game plan and now we are just waiting for our results to see if we have to do IVF with ICSI or if there is another option for us. She seemed hopefully that if my husband could get his blood sugar (he has Type 1 diabetes) down there is a possibility we could conceive naturally. So we are awaiting to see his results from his second sperm analysis. Since it was the right time during my cycle at our consult we did a test to see if there was any fibroids in uterus. Everything came back normal. She gave us hope. And that means the world to us.

She’s awesome. And don’t be afraid to ask questions.

We are still in the process for our second consults. Husband needs to repeat his Sperm analysis. In the mean time he’s going to be working with an Endocrinologist to help bring his sugar levels down. She suggested I start taking prenatal vitamins and CoQ10 In the mean time. Once we get the results from His second sperm analysis will figure out what’s the next step for us.

No costs at this time but it is estimated we will spend better 4-5K

Dr. Chun is very good at what he does. I believe through my research, he is the best in the state of Hawaii. From our very first consultation with Dr. Chun, we knew our chances of getting pregnant and potential obstacles we could face. He is very thorough in his explanations and is honest. He compassionately cares for, and includes his patients in the decision making process.

Don’t be afraid to tell him what your expectations are. If you aren’t ready for something, tell him. Be open and honest from the start because he will be.

Consultation due to trying to conceive for three years. Started out with ovulation tests. When we found out I was ovulating normally, we discussed my increase in very painful periods as an adult and the possibility of endometriosis. I wanted to proceed with the suggested laparoscopy and I am glad I did. He removed a small spot but nothing serious and he didn’t think it was the reason we weren’t getting pregnant. After the surgery, he sat next to me and showed me pictures of my ovaries. I was diagnosed with diminished ovarian reserve and he showed me what that looks like (my aging ovaries). He was thorough, to the point, but compassionate when giving me the news that this could limit our window of opportunity. He gave me hope and a plan of where to go from there. Also, my painful periods are gone. We did one IUI (told us our chances were slim but tried anyway). When that was negative, we went straight to IVF (which was what we wanted). The injectables were explained and demonstrated thoroughly and a schedule was given. The whole thing went smoothly and I had no adverse reactions to anything. I was SO scared on retrieval day but Dr. Chun made me feel so safe and cared for. That whole process went great too. We got 15 eggs but none matured until day 6, when we froze a total of three good quality blasts. We just finished the ERA test and are awaiting results. I wanted to do the test to give us one more piece of the puzzle since we only have three blasts to work with. We hope to do a frozen transfer in November 2018.

IVF Hawaii explains insurance coverage versus out of pocket costs and is upfront about what to expect (we are so great full for this because we go into every procedure knowing the coverage and approximate cost. We have NEVER felt like IVF Hawaii is just wanting our money.

Dr. Chun has a “one embryo at a time” transfer rule for women under a certain age/with certain criteria considered. He holds the safety of his patients to the upmost of importance.

What can I say...although my second round of IVF with Dr. Chun didn't work if I had stayed in Hawaii I would go to him and try one more time. Dr. Chun is strict but compassionate and wants the best for you. When I went in for my "discuss options" meeting with him, he took over an hour out of his busy schedule to explain why the procedure may not have worked and what we could do differently the next round. Because he knew that I might be moving to California, he said that if I did he could recommend clinics and doctors in San Francisco for me. He is a kind and has great bedside manner (cracking jokes at times) and I trusted him 100%.

The office is run a little old school - you can't email and have to always call in but the head nurse (Lorene) who runs the show is super organized and will call you back when she says she will. I would definitely go back to this clinic even though my IVF failed just because I felt like Dr. Chun and his staff really wanted the best for you.

Lower dosage of drugs Included HGH in procedure Dr. Chun did laparoscopic surgery prior to starting IVF to remove the endometriosis, fibroid, and cysts the he found during my ultrasound. His philosophy is to take care of the things that could hinder the outcome up front.

My insurance covered 80%, I ended up paying around $7000.

I was a bit surprised that he wanted to transfer all 5 embryos but it was because 1) I didn't PGS test them (that would of cost me an additional $8000) and 2) because of my age at the time of treatment (42), transferring more would up my chances

Doctor Chun is very good in what he does and has years of experience. Every visit to the clinic, you see him. He does every procedure from ultrasounds to retrieval and transfers. He usually isn’t the one making calls to you so that may be a set back for some people. If you have questions he will do his best to answer them.

Trust the protocol he has you on.

For my cycle we started off with lower doses. Metformin, Lupron, ganirelix, follistim. Because I have pcos my doses weren’t that high. When we saw that I wasn’t responding too well they gave me several more days of stimulations. We had to do icsi due to male factor.

Dr. Chun is a no nonsense man. He took the time to explain why IVF with ICSI was our best chance at conceiving. I believe he approaches each patient differently and does not offer an umbrella type treatment (which was the case at a previous clinic). My case has been a difficult one, and Dr. Chun has been honest with us throughout the journey, which I appreciate. Although he is strict with his requirements (diet/exercise) he is also very caring and understanding. He sees you as a person, not just another patient.

Be prepared to wait. I’m ususally not seen until 15-20 minutes after my actual appointment. However, don’t hesitate to call when you need to. Also, the way the office runs may seem a little “old school” but I don’t think this impacts the actual care you get. I’ve been to another clinic that had what seemed like a chic office and newer technology, but received much better care with Dr. Chun and his staff.

Dr. Chun explained that IVF would be best for us due to my factors as well as my husbands. He explained why an IUI would likely not be effective; something the other clinic failed to tell me. We did have to do 1 IUI prior to IVF per my insurance carrier. For that procedure, he put me on injectable meds because he knew from my prior clinic that I do not respond at all to clomid/femara. He also explained to us why we needed ICSI for our cycle and not traditional IVF. After retrieval, we had to freeze our embryos due to my estrogen levels being off (I forget if it was high or low) and also because I was at risk for OHSS. Good thing we didn’t do a fresh transfer because I did end up getting OHSS and it was painful. Due to having a thin lining, I wa put on various supplements as well as blood thinners. Despite all the right meds and even adding Nupogen to my transfer protocol, my lining wouldn’t grow and the transfer scheduled for April was cancelled. We prepped again for a frozen transfer in June, this time with meds adjusted/increased. My lining did get thicker than the first attempt and we were able to move forward. Unfortunately, the beta test two weeks later was negative. Up next, I have a laparoscopic surgery scheduled to check for endometriosis which could have contributed to complications after the transfer. I will also be undergoing an ERA test after the surgery to see if my transfer needs to be a little earlier or later than what their protocol is. He is recommending he ERA test because our transfer failed with an extremely high quality embryo (5AA).

In my experience with Dr. Chun, he’s always recommended us to transfer just one embryo. He explained that multiples (even just twins) automatically puts one in a “high risk” category. He’s always stated that the goal is to have one healthy baby at a time. I believe age plays a factor into his decision on how many to transfer, but I’m not sure what that age is.

From the moment we met him, we weren't exactly happy and a little hesitant to move forward. He came into the room without a smile on his face... as a matter of fact, I don't ever recall seeing him smile. It felt cold as if we were just another number to his rotating door of patients. Bedside manner isn't really his forté. We decided to continue on and do our first IVF with him because we'd heard such good reviews from other people, and several of my coworkers like him as well. The thing that really irritated us was that he was in and out of the room so quickly and although you got to see him at every appointment, they always felt so rushed like he didn't have the time of day to talk to us. Sometimes he'd say things different as if he didn't even remember our fertility history. My husband is sterile from cancer treatments, which the clinic knew from doing their own semen analysis even after showing our prior three semen analysis tests through the years that had zero sperm. The day before our egg retrieval, he was instructing my husband that he'd come in the next morning to give his fresh sperm sample to implant into any eggs retrieved. What sperm sample?! We'd gone through this long ordeal of getting a semen analysis that showed zero sperm once again, shipping over his frozen sperm from the mainland, AND getting back up donor sperm, yet he seemed to forget all this or he could've at least reviewed our chart before he came into the room.

I can't remember the exact protocol but it was pretty safe with low dosages of the medications to prevent OHSS. From this cycle I got 14 eggs

If I remember correctly it wasn't an inconvenience. Just whenever they'd schedule me for an appointment or they'd give me notification ahead of time so I could leave/take off from work.

Insurance covered some of the IVF and we paid copays for each appointment, some payment for ultrasounds, and a couple thousand on IVF medications from what I recall

Benton is very busy. Expect to wait in waiting room and then atleast another 15-20min in exam room. His main ivf nurse is all business...but she's good. It sometimes impersonal....but mostly because they are so busy.

Be prepared to wait. And don't expect warm bedside manner alll the time.

Benton went straight to ivf ...didn't even try iui's because he said it would be a waste. We started with birth control, menopur and follistim. And then at the end progesterone....right after the retrieval.

With insurance the ivf/icsi, freezing, was about $3000 with insurance. The frozen transfer was about $3000( insurance doesn't cover)

He would rather so single egg transfer vs multiple. Especially if ur small in frame.

Initial consultation was very informative, the office itself is a little old school. Unlike other clinics they don’t have an online portal. Not having an online portal made it difficult to just find information or get easy answers via messaging- you had to call the office and wait for someone to get back to you. Dr. Chun’s bedside manner is awesome and he really cares about letting you know about potential risks, however having one main nurse for all couples seeking treatment made things a little hectic.

Be okay with doing things old school.

I don’t remember

If you are a younger couple he will not do multiple embryo transfers

She’s very welcoming, honest and warm. At times puzzled with what to do next but confident in the choices she had for us, during the down times she was very incuragaing that it will happen hopefully and didn’t give up in helping me through a tough time. Very passionate about helping families grow.

Be hopeful and trust her advice and mostly don’t give up.

I honestly can only remember trying to find the right balance of hormone shots everyday taking a bunch of vitamins to help with healthy eggs, a million ultrasounds that I loved going to and when we got pregnant shots in the butt that hurt but so worth it.

My HMSA helped a lot of the IUI treatments, my husbands insurance covered what mine couldn’t, out of picked I basically paid for the inserts.

No comments due to we didn’t have to do that.