University of Michigan Center for Reproductive Medicine

He was kind and caring, had great “bedside manner”. He explained everything thoroughly and answered all of our questions. He was honest about our “chances” and gave me hope that this process was not going to be extremely overwhelming and painful as I had originally thought. When the first round failed, he changed our protocol and it was encouraging to know that it was possible for it to work next time. When I got to have an embryo transfer our second round he made it seem so cool, like it was the miracle that it is, not just another procedure.

Trust the doctors, trust the process. Be cautiously optimistic and don’t stress about every little step. They know what they are doing.

Cold start antagonist protocol with ICSI both rounds. First round started with 300 IU Gonal F days 1-3. Days 4-11 225 IU Gonal F and 225 Menopur and cetrotide 0.25 mg egg retrieval on cycle day 13. 4 eggs, 3 mature & fertilized with ICSI. On day one we had one embryo that was a grade 6D in day 3, we decided not to transfer. Round 2 they changed the meds. I started day 1 with 225 gonal f and 225 menopur. On day 4 I added in cetrotide. Cycle day 11 was the trigger with ovidrel again with day 13 being the egg retrieval. 5 eggs, 4 mature and fertilized with ICSI. This time my husband had to have a testicular aspiration in order to find viable sperm to use. 3 embryos on day 1, 2 on day 3 fresh transfer (8B & 4D) transferred both. Pregnancy resulted.

Michigan medicine offers a 60% (at that time) discount on any procedures that are not covered by insurance. For us that was a significant savings. Both rounds cost less than the cost of one round elsewhere. My insurance covered meds and all monitoring appointments. All in all both rounds together were about 10K

They mostly like to do only one embryo per transfer unless older in age. He did two because the quality of one was low and he said it would have a better chance. (Really I just didn’t think it would make it to freeze). We were informed about risks and chose to have both. Chances were one wasn’t going to make it.

Dr. Schon is pragmatic but also considerate. She followed her clinic's standard protocol for unexplained infertility in our case, but was open to any question that I had, even ordering a testosterone test to rule out PCOS despite not having many markers, to give me peace of mind. She is understanding of our complicated schedule due to my husband's job and completely willing to work with our timelines (i.e. doing a retrieval and waiting for a frozen transfer at a time that works better for us). She is confident in her recommended plan of treatment but willing to consider making adjustments. She and I have different personalities, but I trust her and like her a lot. Dr. Schon is EXTREMELY responsive. She encouraged us to contact her at any time with questions and every time I have received a response within an hour or so. Our experience with Dr. Schon through 3 rounds of clomid + timed intercourse, 3 rounds of clomid + IUI, one round of stims, one egg retrieval and a fresh transfer have been great so far.

I would recommend calling to make an appointment as soon as possible as Dr. Schon is very busy. Also, come prepared with any questions you or your partner have to your consultation, she is happy to answer any questions on demand.

I began treatment strategies with Dr. Schon 7 months after a miscarriage and after trying to conceive for 12 months total. All testing was clear and my initial diagnosis was unexplained fertility. My husbands counts were good. So, since it had not been 1 year since my miscarriage and our insurance would not yet cover IVF, she recommended beginning with clomid then clomid + IUI while we waited for coverage to kick in. I began with two rounds of 50mg clomid days 3-7 of my cycle, ultrasound on day 13 to visualize follicles and then timed intercourse. We then moved on to two rounds of 50mg clomid days 3-7, day 13 ultrasound, ovidrel on day 13 or 14 depending on follicles, and IUI on day 15 or 16. Because I only ever had two follicles maximum while on the 50mg dose of clomid, I increased dosage to 100 mg clomid days 3-7 for the third and final IUI cycle. Day 13 ultrasound showed I produced 2 follicles, Day 14 ultrasound confirmed ready for ovidrel and IUI on day 16. We had a pre-scheduled consult (our third, scheduled 3 months ahead of time to align roughly with that cycle) after the third failed IUI. Dr. Schon recommended we move on to IVF since one round would now be covered by our insurance. I would have to wait for my period to start and undergo a mock transfer and additional blood testing (renewing some hormone panels and infectious diseases testing for both me and my partner). With a clear mock transfer and the start of my second period after the consult, she started me on a cold-start antagonist protocol. I had an ultrasound and estradiol test on cycle day 2/treatment day 1 and began with 225 gonal F on treatment days 1-3. I had an estradiol test on TD 4. I dropped to 150 gonal F and added 150 menopur treatment days 4-5. I hd an ultrasound treatment day 6 showing no follicles. I increased to 225 gonal F and kept 150 menopur for treatment days 6 and 7. I had a ultrasound and estradiol draw on treatment day 8 showing 24 follicles smaller than 12mm. Treatment days 8-9 I took 225 gonal F, 225 menopur and added 250 ganirelix. I had another ultrasound and estradiol test treatment day 10 showing 14 follicles under 12mm, 1 at 12mm, 1 at 13 mm, 2 at 14mm and 1 at 15mm. i held medications at the same dosage treatment days 10 and 11. My final ultrasound ended up being on treatment day 12. I had 15 follicles under 12mm, 1 at 12mm, 1 at 14mm, 2 at 16mm and 3 at 18mm. I was told to take ovidrel perfectly timed that evening and take a final dose each of gonal f and menopur (both at 225) an hour after ovidrel. I was prepared to expect 7 eggs able to be retrieved. My retrieval was scheduled for 36 hours after trigger shot, on treatment day 14. After the retreival we were informed they got 8 eggs. They did conventional insemination (not ICSI). 7 of the eggs were mature enough to fertilize. 2 fertilized abnormally and on day 1 we had 5 embryos. on day 3 we had 5 embryos, the best graded 8A. We were advised to let it develop and wait for a day 5 transfer, which we did. Beginning the day of the transfer I took 2 doses of medrol daily for 6 days. I also took 3 doses of oral estrace and 3 doses of prometrium suppositories, to continue through 1st beta. on day 6 we were told only one of the remaining 4 embryos was good enough to freeze. It is scored 4AB. We are awaiting beta 9 days post fresh transfer. We have a consult scheduled a few weeks later to discuss frozen transfer of remaining embryo if first fails.

IUI cost about $650 (hospital and professional fees combined, not covered by our insurance). 5 lifetime fills of gonal f and menopur are covered by our insurance, together with ganirelix, ovidrel and syringes paid about $120 for one round of stims. One retrieval and transfer are covered by our insurance at 80%. We paid $993 for hospital + professional fees for the retrieval and over $800 for the transfer. Consults and monitoring were covered by our insurance.

Dr. Schon recommended transferring one embryo at a time because that is what our insurance covers and there are not significant benefits to transfering 2. However we were also told that if embryo quality on day 3 was not great they might recommend transfering 2 embryos on day 3, a situation that almost happened to us, but one of our embryos pulled ahead at the last minute with significant development in just 2 hours.

Dr Menke is very capable and efficient. I felt that she knew what she was doing and that I was in good hands, even though she is extremely busy. She doesn't have a very warm bedside manner and is definitely not there to hold your hand, but that was perfectly fine for me - I needed her skills and knowledge, not her emotional support. She did a great job of balancing everything for me - I had good results for my age with my retrieval protocol without a very aggressive medication approach. Because I was responding well, she made some last minutes changes and I managed to avoid OHSS. She also supported my request for a modified natural transfer.

IVF can be a very emotional process, but if you can handle a doctor with a scientific and pragmatic approach then I think Dr Menke is fantastic! You will interact much more often with the nurses anyway, and they are all very kind and helpful.

Antagonist protocol with cold start - TD 1: GonalF rFSH 375 iu daily TD 4: Decrease GonalF to 225 iu daily, start Menopur 150 iu TD 7: Continue GonalF, increse Menopur to 225 and start Fyremadel 250 TD 12: Discontinue GonalF, Menopur and Fyremadel, start Lupron trigger and Cabergoline (last minute changed from Ovidrel to Lupron and started Cabergoline to avoid OHSS)

The clinic only does single embryo transfers which I was 100% on board with

Dr Smith was supportive and listened intently to what we had to say. She learned from each retrieval and adjusted treatment accordingly which I appreciated. I generally like her but wish I would have seen her more often for retrievals and monitoring appointments. I also wish she had suggested a full fertility physical outside of only a sperm analysis for my husband initially. After 2 rounds of IVF we found that we have male factor infertility and our IVF cycles could have been more successful is his condition had been found sooner.

Be present for more appointments and suggest full male physicals before jumping into IVF.

We used an antagonist protocol both times and yielded 27 total eggs between both cycles. I do not have PCOS or any other discernible diagnosis which is, to my knowledge, why this protocol was used.

Costs seemed pretty average. One great service that is offered is 60% off the cost of a bill if that bill is not covered under insurance, but you have to call to request the discount.

No comments

Dr Randolph is not trustworthy. He will tell you that everything looks good and great and beautiful and he will give you a family you deserve and at the end it all fails (he wouldn’t explain the risks at all). And after a cycle fails you will never even get a phone call from him to say sorry or explain why cycle failed. Horrible bedside manner. I am never going to UofM again.

Be realistic. Tell you patients everything they need to know, risks, possible outcomes etc. Take time to call a patient after unsuccessful transfer to say I’m sorry and explain what possibly could of went wrong. They broke the news to me via patient portal massage. I felt like he didn’t care.

Agonist

Monitoring went well and monitoring staff was excellent.

15,000$ for IVF cycle which Dr Randolph was very confident it will work

I don’t feel as though my fertility treatments were thoroughly assessed. I felt like I was treated in a “one size fits all” perspective. I had multiple tests done after the initial consultation but I didn’t feel as though the results were explained to me well. During my AFC ultrasound, the radiologist told me that she counted 50 follicles. It didn’t really know what that meant. I ended up doing a lot of research on my own and read that having that many follicles could be an indication of PCOS. At the time I hadn’t even heard of PCOS. I continued to wait for the results and never received any consultation about the results. Instead, all I received was a quick memo of test results on my patient portal and noticed a diagnostic note saying “Anovulatory/ PCOS”. I was devastated to see that diagnosis and wish I would have been told face to face so I could have been able to ask more questions. I started treatments of Letrozole 2.5mg CD 3-7 plus Ovidrel trigger on day 14 with timed intercourse. Every cycle I had 1-3 mature follicles. After 3 failed cycles I asked if maybe we should be doing the trigger shot a little later since in previous cycles my LH surge was later in my cycle. Instead my Letrozole was increased to 5 mg to no avail. I don’t even know if I was actually ovulating after my mature follicles were detected on the ultrasound. After 7 total unsuccessful cycles I was told that the next step was IVF. I personally was not ready to go the IVF route.

Be prepared to be given blunt information, which is not always bad. She doesn’t have very delicate bedside manner.

As described in the previous section: 2.5 mg Letrozole CD 3-7, transvaginal ultrasound to check for 1-2 mature follicles followed by in clinic Ovidrel trigger shot + timed intercourse 3 cycles. Letrozole upped your 5 mg for 4 more cycles. No pregnancies resulted.

Over 7 months of treatments came to apps $3000-$4000.

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She can be pretty blunt, but in a way that still makes you feel human. She has undergone IVF herself, so she knows the process more completely probably more than other doctors. She is very responsive to messages in the portal. She was even able to squeeze us in for a consult on a Friday afternoon at 4:45, when they close at 5, and we didnt even leave her office until almost 6, and she didn't make use feel rushed.

Don't be afraid to use the online patient portal. They are very responsive to communicating through this way. Don't be afraid to ask any questions-they want you to understand the process.

Antagonist protocol. I had both my tubes removed. I can get pregnant just fine, but both tubes were blocked after my first pregnancy. Cold-start cycle. Gonal-f, Menopur, Ganirellix, progesterone suppositories, estrace.

Gonorrhea $55 Varicella $0 Rubella $0 Blood Type/Antibody $0 Anti Mullerian Hormone $0 CBC $0 TSH $0 FSH $0 Estradiol $0 LH $0 Prolactin $0 Progesterone $0 CMV IGG $46 CMV IGM $0 Pap $0 HSG $0 Mock Transfer $646 Antral Follicle Count $0 Semen Analysis $128 Ultrasounds $0 Serum Estradiol $0 Serum Progesterone $0 CBC $0 Ultrasounds $0 Anesthesia $800 Conscious Sedation Recovery $280 Oocyte/Semen Processing $1,062 Oocyte Retrieval $804 Ultrasound Guidance $0 Embryo Preparation $271 Embryo Transfer $325 Ultrasound Guidance $0 Anesthesia $800 Oocyte Retrieval $400 Ultrasound Guidance $0 Embryo Transfer $322 Ultrasound Guidance $0 Blastocyst $290 Embryo Biopsy for PGD/PGS $0 PGTA for 8 embryos $0 Embryo cryopreservation $465 Yearly storage fee $363 $7,058

They only transfer 1 embryo at a time at UM. We were hoping to do 2, but the risks are too high with transferring two, and it doesn't increase your chances by very much.

Not pleased with the experience at all. He suggested doing IVF the moment me and my partner walked into the door. Neither him or his staff took the time to communicate with us, diagnose properly, or get to know our health history. We ended up going to a different doctor, and switching just one medication lead to a healthy natural pregnancy. He might be good at IVF and other specialized infertility procedures, but if you really want to get to the bottom of your infertility causes, and try to get pregnant naturally without having to spend tons of money, this is not the doctor for you. He is a businessman who sees his patients as sources of income. And him and his team are not very subtle either, they don't offer any alternatives, or try to work with a couple to figure out the strategy that works for them. Overall, very poor experience. Never thought we would be treated like that in University of Michigan of all places. The attitude and service quality was equivalent of a shady scam clinic somewhere in Eastern Europe.

Only go to him if you are absolutely sure IVF is the way you want to go, and all other options have already been explored

He did not suggest any treatment strategy. All tests for me and my partner came out normal, so he suggested doing IVF the third time he saw us. We felt like it was rushing a bit. He continued to saying that no other treatment options have good chance of succeeding except for IVF. We felt like we were being taken for idiots, as a lot of our couple friends got pregnant using treatments other than IVF, and we were not even informed of any such options.

We didn't want to do IVF, so we refused to go over the cost options, which they were constantly pushing. We said from the beginning we were interested in exploring other options, and they refused to provide them. So, we went to see a different doctor, and literally the same month after switching the medications I got pregnant.

NA

She is very frank and blunt with diagnosis, and tells it like it is, but is definitely empathetic and is willing to come up with solutions to each and every case she has, she truly has our best interest, getting us pregnant at the forefront of her practice. She has never withheld information or facts, so every drug or procedure we've tried we've understood 110% exactly what has happening.

She can be blunt, but she truly does want to help and is ver empathetic when discussing her ideas for treatment. You just have to get past the bluntness. And I've seen other reviews about her, complaining about not seeing her, or having other doctors around. Please remember U of M is a teaching hospital, and Dr. Smith is not only a doctor there, but is also faculty. There will very often be residents and fellows around to assist her, or meet with you before you see Dr. Smith. It is not because she doesn't have time to see you or talk to you, that's what they do at teaching hospitals.

I have diminished ovarian reserve, but no concerns on egg quality, and borderline MFI that has improved, so we've been lumped into the "unexplained" category as well. We tried for cycles of 100 mg clomid, with ovidrel trigger and timed intercourse - the strategy being to "increase targets" because of the borderline male factor. None of those cycles were successful. I responded well to the medications however. We took a break for a little while after that. We are now attempting IUI, 150 mg clomid, ovidrel trigger and IUI. Again, the thought to help increase targets, and assist with the slight MFI. Dr. Smith feels that is what is holding us back. We discussed IVF with ICSI, but there were some other concerns my husband & I had about side effects, cost, risks that at this time it is not an option we are comfortable with. And Dr. Smith is OK with that. It is on the table though if we ever want to revisit it.

We are lucky to have some infertility coverage on our insurance, and only pay a co-pay for office visits with Dr. Smith. All testing and procedures are covered up to 90% so we do not pay much out of pocket. Without insurance, or clomid cycles, would have been around $400-$500 including clomid, ovidrel, and hospital fees for the monitoring ultrasound. The IUI, when all said and done would have cost about $1,000 out of pocket.

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Dr. Mahany is exactly what I was hoping for in a doctor when my husband and I began this journey 1.5 years ago. She spent over an hour with me at our consultation. She reviewed my records in depth and at length. She asked what goals I had and if her recommendations for our course of treatment were something we agreed with. Dr. Mahany made us feel part of the process every step of the way. I didn't have a preference for a specific doctor when I transferred to U of M, but I'm so unbelievably glad I was placed with Dr. Mahany.

Trust her. She truly has your best interests in mind and she genuinely cares.

So far I've had 3 polyps removed and am awaiting a cycle to start my first IVF treatment. Dr. Mahany executed the surgery with only a minor issue. When that issue occured, she called herself to explain what happened and what our next steps would be. She's a great communicator and I appreciate her honesty.

It seems to be more expensive as there are also university fees included, however, I know they do offer employees of the university coverage for ART services, as well as discounts for those who are unable to afford treatments.

I agree with the approach. It's all about patient (and baby) safety.

The overall experience so far has been good even with some disappointments along the way. Although my doctor wasn't always the one to see me or perform the surgeries, her staff was great in communicating with me about everything.

Just be prepared to not see Dr. Moravek a lot but trust her judgments.

We did IVF retrieval twice, and the second time she put me on a higher dosage in an attempt to get more eggs for better results. This worked good, as we got two more good embryos out of it.

It was expensive. Our insurance did not cover the retrieval or transfer costs and some of the in between costs. So far we have paid out approximately $14000 and we haven't had the transfer yet.

My doctors approach was a single embryo because we did a frozen transfer with PGS testing so the chances were better with one.

The protocol for our very first worked, but he changed it due to “new findings” and it didn’t work several times. When he finally went back to the first protocol it worked. This was very frustrating. We didn’t realize until it worked- but then we thought why did he ever “fix something that wasn’t broken”?

None. He’s amazing to talk with.

First IVF used BC, Lupron, estradiol, PIO, medrol, trigger, later switched to progesterone suppositories. Later cycles included suppositories only and none of those produced successful pregnancies. Last cycle went back to PIO only and worked beautifully.

12k for IVF ICSI 4500 for RX 2500 for frozen transfer $1200/yr storage- first 6 months free

He did not push multiple embryo transfer or even suggest (maybe allow) until multiple failed cycles.

I haven't actually met Dr. Randolph, I am being seen by another Doctor on his team that wasn't listed. Her name is Dr. Molly Moravak. She has been great at the visits.. Although I feel like sometimes she is rushed. I usually hear back from her nurses instead of her though.

Be patient because they can't always get you in right away and if you have two different doctors for male infertility.. Make sure they communicate better than mine have been.

I haven't started any of the meds yet.. I've been through all the testing and currently waiting on my husband's doctor to give him a date for his sperm retrievel.. We are stuck until that is done which is frustrating.

We are still in the process of figuring that out.. My insurance only covers basic things like the ultrasounds etc. They haven't given us any answers about specific costs which is frustrating but I don't think much of it is covered.

We haven't gotten to that point yet.

I felt good during each interaction with Dr. Marsh. However, even though she was likely hands on with all parts of my treatment, she was very hands off with direct care. For the price we pay for an ivf cycle, I would have preferred to be seen by one doctor.

I would tell them to be prepared to see many faces. Dr. marsh is kind and helpful, but you do not see her often.

I was on the leuprodile protocol. I don’t remember the reasoning. I developed many follicles but only had 8 eggs retrieved. Of those, 5 grew and only 3 made it to day 5. We transferred 2 and miscarried.

Right now, prior to our planned frozen transfer we paid/owe 15000. Not including meds or off site blood draw

She was great, always very nice, and did her research, before we even came for our first appointment. She personally called me on several occasions, to talk about test results, and what to do moving forward. This was a big help, since we live almost 3 hours away from her office. Even called to check on me when I wasn’t directly in her care, after a miscarriage.

Do you hear about a strange new fertility treatment option, talk to her about it. Anything that you may have a question about, she will most likely be able to answer, and if not, she will do some research, and then get back to you.

I don’t know how they feel about this particular subject, so I really can’t say.

I cannot say enough good things about Dr. Erica Mahaney. I guess what they say is true, the third times the charm. After having a bad experience, with my last reproductive endocrinologist, I have never felt so excited, and hopeful for the future, following our treatment plan. Dr. Mahaney always took the time to listen to my concerns, thoroughly explain her reasoning, and explain some of the myths, and other treatment options, I’ve heard about in infertility support groups. Without even asking, she looked back at all of my previous tests, and added some, to try and get to the bottom of the cause of my infertility, and pregnancy losses.

Don’t be afraid to ask her any questions, because she’s probably heard it from 100 different women. If you have questions about adding something to your protocol, that you’ve heard about, if she is not already educated on that protocol, she will research it, and let you know what she finds. Ask lots of questions, no question is a dumb question.

Because she was the third doctor that we have consulted, after our first IVF retrieval, and failure, she went back and looked at everything that had been done, and then discussed how she would like to proceed. Before we were able to start a second IVF cycle with her, he became spontaneously pregnant, but lost the pregnancy due to an embryonic pregnancy. After my body recovered from the miscarriage, we sat down to have a discussion about what we could afford to do in the future. Dr. Mahaney’s plan was to do another cycle of IVF, with the same protocol, since I got good results from the first cycle. Unfortunately, because of the massive amount of that we have already incurred due to fertility treatments, we are not able to afford to go that route. I had had an HSG in 2016, which was inconclusive. Based on where the catheter had been located, it showed that my right fallopian tube may have been blocked, but we couldn’t be sure. Also, since I became pregnant on my first interuterine insemination, and had a spontaneous pregnancy on my own, we decided that we were going to do another HSG, to get a better answer. If my right to does happen to be blocked, we will discuss options as to unlocking the tube, or removing it. Dr. Mahaney would like to put me on a new prescription, electrical, and proceed with timed intercourse. If that doesn’t work within three or four cycles, she would like us to try another and her uterine insemination. At this point, that is all we can afford.

All of the stuff that we have had to date, has been covered 100% by insurance. The only thing that we don’t have insurance coverage for, is anything fertility related, and fertility medications.

Since I have never done an IVF cycle with her, I do not know her approach to this particular topic, so I cannot say.

Dr Randolph was very kind and compassionate and was easy to talk to. He made me feel comfortable, and took things at the pace I was comfortable with. He spent a lot of time with me when I met with him, and was very pleasant and supportive. I would definitely recommend him to others.

Be honest with him and bring every detail of your medical history, cycle information, etc. The more information that you have, the better.

I used femara with injection for 3 cycles. We were diagnosed with unexplained infertility, however I suffered a ruptured appendix and have sever abdominal scarring, so this could be the cause of our infertility. Because of my scarring, we decided to take the conservative approach as I would be considered "high risk." During the treatments, complex cysts were discovered in my ovaries (possibly endometriomas?) and I discontinued treatment as I wanted time to figure out the cysts, and try to shrink/rid them before proceeding.

The cost wasn't too bad... I only did visits, ultrasounds and a few medications. Insurance covered most of these procedures. If I went further with treatments, the costs would have significantly increased.

The doctor was nice. She was respectful and kind. The clinic was disorganized, irresponsible and left me feeling frazzled every time. They misplaced my blood draws multiple times so I had to come again. They do have support groups, so that is nice but I do not like the way they function.

She is nice. Ask questions, she will listen and answer them the best she can.

I don’t remember specifics but I know we used Menupur and Gonal F.

Our insurance was at a 80% covered and 20% owed by us. We ended up spending around $3,000 out of pocket.

I am happy we did a single embryo transfer because we ended up with identical twins. They justify the number to transfer by your age

Dr. Randolph was always kind and caring, even when we were under a lot of stress. He responded to my messages very quickly and is very knowledgeable. He seems pretty laid back which helped to calm me down when I was feeling very anxious. I did three IUIs that all failed, but Dr. Randolph did not actually perform any of them.

There are many good doctors at Michigan and Dr. Randolph is definitely one of them. Write your questions down ahead of time so you remember to ask them all!

Three femara with ovidrel and timed intercourse and progesterone followed by three femara with ovidrel and iui and progesterone. All failed.

My insurance didn't cover IUI. It was about $600 per try. IUI drugs were very cheap. PGS is about $3000. Not sure yet how much IVF will be.

We were not given a choice, one embryo is all they will do.

Dr. Randolph was compassionate, and very thorough. I always felt he had my best interests at heart. He explained my treatments, and plan thoroughly, and answered all my questions as best he could. He also never made me feel less than for dealing with infertility. He also never made me feel my questions or worries were silly. He comforted me when I was upset, and was exactly what I needed in this journey.

Be prepared to be treated like you are important, and not just a number.

We started with clomid for our first cycle of IUI. I responded decently, but the IUI was unsuccessful. The next time we switched to femara, and again the IuI was unsuccessful. Our third cycle I didn’t respond great to the femara, so they upped my dose, for the next cycle. Again it wasn’t successful, but I did respond well to the femara.

IUI was around $1k for each cycle, and IVF was around 10k for the first cycle.

She is direct and experienced. We always were provided tons of information which is what we wanted but sometimes (and this may be because of our clinical situation) not a lot of very pointed feedback - such as this is the best course of treatment for you. We liked having all the info and being able to make an informed decision but some people may not have appreciated this approach.

Be prepared with questions and make sure to request a detailed game plan at the end of each appointment

I was on an antagonist protocol with Metformin. I starred on a low dose of Gonal-F, then added Menopur and Ganirelix. I've only have one stim so far and if we do another one, she recommended increasing my dose of Gonal f to see if we can get more eggs. Because I have PCOS, there was high risk of OHSS, so I believe they were more cautious in my stimulation which made sense.

We have coverage of 80% of fertility treatments up to a lifetime benefit of $20,000. So far, out of pocket, for 1 IUI, mock transfer and 1 stim and egg retrieval, we've paid $3000. PGS is costing us an additional $2000.

Yes, she strongly recommended SET due to my age and the fact that we were doing PGS.

I saw Michael for my second and third rounds of IVF (after a successful IVF cycle and birth of my son). The first cycle with him did very unexpectedly not go well at all...he was honest but encouraging throughout the process. I didn't have anything to transfer, which was heartbreaking. There was a technical glitch that let me know this before he had a chance to call me to tell me (my appointment was automatically cancelled and I received an alert). He was very apologetic and is continually striving to do better for his patients and the clinic. Although he thought the chances of being successful were low, he let me pursue a 3rd cycle. I made it to transfer that time, but did not end up pregnant. It was heartbreaking...he was supportive and understanding. We talked about other alternatives to build my family. As a single parent by choice, my insurance was not going to cover my care because they didn't think there was enough evidence I couldn't conceive naturally. I found out about this days before my retrieval was expected. Little did I know Michael had already been going to bat for me on my behalf with the insurance company. He's a true gem and a gift to the field of reproductive medicine. Although my cycles under his direction were not successful, I would highly recommend him to anyone.

Be honest with him about any fears or anxieties that you have...he will let you know that you're not the only one and let you know what clinical evidence there is to support his answer. He's very easy to talk to and supportive of all family building situations, single parents, same sex parents, and heterosexual families.

Did agonist protocol for one cycle, flare protocol for the cycle I insisted on.

I do not recall...I had insurance coverage for the two cycles that I did with Michael.

I had multiple embryos transferred every time I had a transfer because of my age and the embryo quality.

Very cold and uncaring. Did not recognize us from visit to visit--each time she saw us she acted like she'd never met us before. While I believe she has a good understanding of medicine, her bedside manner is nonexistent. (And when we left this clinic I did have big doubts about whether I received good care--it was not until receiving a second opinion that I felt confident in her ability to address my medical issues.)

Don't expect to have a relationship with this doctor. She will treat you like a number and will not involve you in your own healthcare decisions. You should also be aware that at this clinic it is very difficult to get consistent care from any one doctor--they have a huge staff and you will rarely see the same doctor twice.

I don't remember the exact drugs. After experiencing repeated (naturally conceived) pregnancy losses I was diagnosed with diminished ovarian reserve. Dr. Smith prescribed very high doses of injectable medicines due to my DOR diagnosis. After our egg retrieval I asked about following a different protocol and was told that high-doses of the IVF meds was the only thing they could do for my condition. Do not see this doctor if you want to follow a protocol that will be tweaked and adjusted from cycle to cycle.

I was fortunate to have my cycle covered by insurance (except for a $2,000 deductible). Therefore, the exact costs do not stick out in my mind--though I think a complete IVF cycle would have been about $8,000. (I also did not complete a full cycle because none of my embryos made it to the blastocyst stage.)

He is very knowledgeable and up to date on the most recent research. He answered all my questions. It takes awhile to get in to see him but it is worth it to me. I appreciate him reaching out to discuss issues instead of the clinic nurses

Go in with a list of questions. It is easier to get everything answered at once.

I used an antagonist cycle. Started with Gonal F 225 and then decreased to 150 on day 3 when I started Menopur 75mg. About 5 days in my menopur was increased to 150 and I started feeling really uncomfortable. I messaged the clinic and told them but was brushed aside. They eventually decreased my menopur back to 75 when they saw 60 follicles but my hcg was too high so I had to use lupron to trigger and not hcg. Of the 33 follicles retrieved, 29 were inseminated. 1 grew to day 5 and 4 grew to day 6. The day 5 embryo was the only normal embryo.

Covered by insurance

I believe only 1 embryo at a time

Dr. Randolph is kind and knowledgeable. He answered all of our questions and explained procedures in a way that was easy for us to understand. He has a warm bedside manner and he is very trustworthy.

Listen to his advice because he has a lot of experience.

My husband is transgender and he was the one who went through the egg retrieval. He had to do Gonal-F and clomid shots prior to the egg retrieval. This yielded 12 eggs that were frozen. We ordered sperm from a bank that was recommended by the clinic. 10 eggs lasted after unfreezing and we got 2 embryos. Dr. Randolph explained everything thoroughly.

We had to pay for the egg retrieval, but the rest of the costs were covered by insurance.