J. Clark Bundren (closed)

While the wait to see Dr. Bundren can be a little bit longer, I find that my time when he's actually in the room is more than adequate. I've found other doctors to be in and out, you forget things. He went into great lengths of detail about everything along the way. I never felt confused when I left nor did I feel weird when I would ask a question. I've also asked questions about how he would feel about doing certain things during my treatment and he's very frank about it, but he doesn't make you feel bad for asking. He gets it!

He is a bit old school - not totally interested in the idea of transferring mosaic embryos but he does feel that hysteroscopies should be the gold standard for women considering IVF and not relying solely on sonohysterograms. I've seen the research articles to back this up and I was shocked that my office in Atlanta (very reputable) didn't suggest this even during my D&C.

From my initial appointment, bloodwork was done - determined my prolactin is just above the acceptable threshold and my vitamin D was really low. I started on birth control pills in preparation for my uterine septum repair surgery to keep my lining thin and also started on vitamin D. After my surgery, confirmed stage 2 endometriosis (lasered off) and the septum repair, I was seen for my post op appt. Started on cabergoline 2x a week until further notice to get my prolactin down. I am scheduled to go back in late May or early June so my husband can do a repeat SA and they will check my prolactin levels then. In July I will do a repeat HSG to verify the septum has not grown back. If all looks good, we will stop birth control then and either start TTC naturally for 2 months or jump straight to injections/IUI. Unless we can somehow afford another round of IVF, we will need to consider FET with donor embryos if the IUIs are unsuccessful.

So far I've accumulated what my responsibility is for my consult, lab work and my surgery. I have a $4,000 deductible and everything was filed under medical necessity and not infertility (which I do not have coverage for). We have spent right around $3,100 so far but anticipate with my repeat HSG I should be meeting that soon. I'll know more about the cost of my IUIs in the upcoming months.

During my 10 years of seeing Dr. Bundren, I have had nothing but stellar experiences. He discovered a uterine septum that was missed by my precious physician. He has performed 3 total surgeries on me including a d&c post loss. During the most horrible moment of my life (when our first baby was found to have no heartbeat) he was very respectful and compassionate. He is one of the most intelligent people I have ever met. He explains the science behind why my body does certain things or why I am having a certain problem. He sits down in the exam room and talks out the current treatment/future plan with you. I don’t feel rushed and he always lingers to answer questions. He is honest and does not give false hope. When I did become pregnant with my son I had frequent appointments and ultrasounds at every appointment. He only delivers at certain hospitals so the only negative is that he did not deliver my son since I chose a hospital that he was not affiliated with. I would recommend him to any individual pursuing fertility treatment. I am looking forward to sitting down with him again this month and talking about a new plan for baby #2.

Make the appointment. His thorough work up may find an issue that a previous doctor did not find.

Uterine septum (heart shaped uterus) repair after Bundren discovered it during my first visit with him (via vaginal ultrasound). Laparoscopy to remove endometriosis. I tried Clomid a total of 3x. The side effects were severe and Bundren did not push for me to try it again when I told him I did not like how the medication made me feel. We moved on to a different plan. My ovulation was found to be “off”. (Can’t remember the name of the test/procedure but it was moderately painful and they take tissue vaginally and send it for testing). The results showed that I was not ovulating every month. We decided to use injections and timed intercourse as suggested by Bundren. My husband was tested and had no sperm issues so Bundren said IUI likely would warrant the same result as timed intercourse. The plan that we then started (and it worked the 2nd time) was as follows: First put me on birth control for 1-2 months to reset everything. Continue Metformin for PCOS. 2 weeks of Lupron (to prevent premature ovulation). 7 or 8 days of Gonal F injections with frequent in-office ultrasounds to track the size of my follicles. I ended up with an 18mm follicle on the left side. I did a trigger shot on the 16th of the month. Then timed intercourse (once on the 16th, once on the 17th, and twice on the 18th. As soon as my pregnancy was confirmed I was started on vaginal suppository Progesterone. I now have a healthy 1 year old son.

I paid out of pocket as I went. I do not remember exact costs.

Doctor Bundren has been a joy to work with. As I'm sure anyone who goes through infertility treatments knows it's an emotional process. I value that he always takes the time to explain the next steps in detail and if I ever have a question he or is staff is always available. I've been with him for over 3 years now and I truly consider him and his staff to be part of our family. I know he celebrated our high's and mourned with us in our lows. I truly believe that he see's each patient as an individual and truly invests in that couple to help reach their end goal of having a family. He treatments might not always be the fastest but its because he makes sure to cross every "T" and dot every "I" before jumping into the next treatment. Something else I believe that makes him stand out before most infertility doctors is that he still delivers babies for his patients! So I can't wait to be able to learn about this totally different side of his business, now that we are expecting twins! I can't say it enough, but I would recommend anyone to him! He is a great doctor and truly invests in each patient!

A piece of advice I would give a prospective patient meeting Doctor Bundren would be to ask questions. That initial meeting can be so overwhelming, but I know that Doctor Bundren would love to take the time to ensure you left there feeling confident about what he told you.

I was diagnosed with PCOS, Endometriosis and then a subseptate uterus. Doctor Bundren repaired my uterus via surgery in 2014. Following that procedure we were put on lupron for 6 months to suppress my endometriosis. During my surgery they found out I had stage 4 endometriosis so we weren't sure how my body would respond to the suppress stage. But 6 months later we were excited to find out my tubes had been unblocked. Following that for 2 months I was put back on birth control to jump start my cycle again. Since my tubes were open, Doctor Bundren suggested that we try and get pregnant naturally for 2 months. Without any success, we moved onto Ovulation Induction. Which is similar to an IUI but instead of injecting the sperm you have intercourse. Unfortunately that didn't work for us. After our failed Ovulation Induction Doctor Bundren suggested we move onto IVF. Our first round of IVF they collected 20 eggs. Since my husbands sperm checked out fine they decided to place sperm and my eggs in a dish and let them do the course naturally. We ended up having 2 eggs make it to freeze. Since I have PCOS I ended up overstimulating so I was put on birth control for 5 months to let my body heal and recover. This treatment I took follistim, menopur and lurpon. We transferred our only 2 embryos 5 months later and found out that it didn't work. Leading up to our FET I took estrogen, progesterone, doxycycline, and medrol. We started our second round of IVF 7 months later. We needed time to heal and recover. This time we followed the same medicine protocol but decided to do ICSI while fertilizing the sperm. They wait until Day 5 to freeze them and on that day we had 4 make it to freeze. I overstimulated again so I was put on birth control to help suppress my body. But during that wait before our FET, Doctor Bundren decided to do the ERA (Endometrial Receptivity Analysis). During that biopsy we found out that I needed 1 extra day of progesterone for my body to be ready for implantation. Based off those results we adjusted my FET schedule and transferred two embryos, a BC and CC and two weeks later found out we were pregnant!!! Praise the Lord! My beta numbers were really high 14dp it was 1,500, 18dp 7,924 and 21dp 18,650. We had our first ultrasound early because I was spotting and at 6 weeks 2 days we found out we were having twins, both embryos took! I've learned that I am a very high maintenance pregnant patient. I'm terrified something is going to happen to these babies. But each time I call the office they are always so patient and willing to let me come in. That is something I value SO much! I love that they are committed to us on this journey even after pregnancy.

Since I had Endometriosis a lot of my upfront costs were covered with my treatments. So my lupron shots I took for 6 months were covered, my surgery and any doctors visits. Once we moved onto Ovulation induction and our two rounds of IVF that is where we had to start paying out of pocket. The ovulation induction medicine cost around $1500-2000. For our two IVF cycles we paid around $5,000 for the medicine, $8,000 to Doctor Bundren and around $6,000 to the fertility lab. And then each FET was around $3,500. Our ERA Biopsy cost around $4,000 for the biopsy's and medicine. Ah, it's so scary when you type out a number but so far we have spent just a little over $50,000 out of pocket. But you can't put a price on having a family. We still have 2 frozen embryos so we realize in the future that cost will be even more.

He can be very blunt and straight to the point and not going to be the doctor to hold your hand or sugar coat things. But I appreciate his honesty and he truly cares about your overall health and what is in your best interested. He did surgery for my endometriosis before going further with infertility treatments because he wants you at your healthiest. Other clinics may jump straight to IVF just to make money. He is very good at what he does and has been practicing for many years. I felt safe with him and trusted him. Did not feel like a number or $ sign.

He often runs late because he is a busy man so just be patient and prepared to wait for your apt, but know he will not rush your time with him even if he is behind. He will take his time with you for exam and to explain things and answer questions. Also know he is a more blunt personality not warm and fuzzy but know with that comes honesty and he is very good at what he does.

I went in for consultation and at first exam had uterine biopsy and he decided my endometriosis needed to be cleaned out prior to trying infertility treatments. Had laproscopic ablation followed by 6 months of Lupron to put me in medical menapause, then 3 months of birth control to get my hormones balanced again. The plan was going to be try natural for 6 months and then try clomid, trigger shot, or IUI before moving on to IVF. Sadly I lost my insurance with infertility coverage after my last Lupron shot and not in network with new insurance so have had to put treatments on hold due to cost.

I had amazing insurance at the time. My copay for surgery was only like $500 and Lupron was covered. Since I had met deductible and max out of pocket my insurance at that time would have covered the rest of any treatment.

NA

Dr. Bundren is very intellegent and I can trust him with my medical needs. He allows us to make the decisions we prefer to make. He has always explained things very thoroughly to me and my husband. He never makes me feel uncomfortable. I do feel as though I can trust the decisions he makes for my fertility plan. Although Clomid and Lupron treatments did fail, I wouldn't want to use anyone else for my first IVF.

Always have questions prepared before your appointments. He's more than prepared to answer anything.

Dr. Bundren first prescribed me Clomid, as I have PCOS and was not ovulating all of the time. It did not help aide me in pregnancy. He also did a Lupron treatment for 6 months for my Endo. Although it worked in shrinking my lesions, we were still unable to achieve pregnancy. Dr. Bundren is confident that IVF is our next step.

Dr. Bundren retired before we could make any progress with fertility. He did diagnose some of our fertility problems before he stopped practicing. We are looking to continue in our fertility journey when we have available finances.

I would recommend Dr. Bundren in a heartbeat if he was still practicing medicine. He was very honest about our results and what options we would be able to have the most effective results with.

Dr. Bundren worked us up to determine whether IUI would be an effective treatment. However, my husband’s morphology was not a good match for this treatment. Due to this he recommended IVF cycles before his retirement.

Dr. Bundren’s clinic was not accepted by our insurance so we payed for appointments out of pocket. Each appointment was aroun $250.

To our memory, Dr. Bundren did not give information on this subject before retirement.

Dr. Bundren always explained things very thoroughly and answered all questions. He spent as much time needed with me. He is tweeking my protocol and doing an ERA to hopefully have a successful second fet.

Be prepared to wait. He spends an adequate amount of time with every patient so be tends to run behind.

For my ivf cycle, i started on birth control. I did 3 weeks of lupron and then started on follistim and menopur. I triggered with pregnyl. I had to do a freeze all because my estrogen levels got high.

One round of ivf was around 9k. Meds were about 4k and ky fet procedure was around 5k

We transferred 2 embryos. My dr recommended it because i have blocked tubes and severe endometriosis. Also, i have never been pregnant before.