Washington University School of Medicine

Being a nurse, I have learned about effective communication. Having effective communication with physicians is always key to experience excellent care. After my husband and I miscarried our baby boy at 17 weeks, I learned to be an advocate for my care even more. I did not have complications after my D&C surgery after miscarriage. I however was diagnosed with an uterine arterial venous malformation which is very rare. I was under my general OBGYN at the time I was diagnosed and Dr. Keller which is my infertility specialist. Many doctors were consulted to see if they had an idea of how to treat the AVM in my uterus. A month or so after my diagnosis, I was told it would not be in my best interest to carry children for my safety and health. Dr. Keller was my main physician who helped me through my time of this diagnosis. She understood how hard this time was because we have never had any children and I was only 26 years old at the time. Every time I was seen by her, I felt as if she was fighting for answers for my husband and I, seeing everything in our best interest. Time went by and I ended up hemorrhaging, which is a complication of the uterine AVM, and admitted to the hospital multiple times in a months span. While the bleeding would start and stop, the doctors were trying to figure out how to save my fertility without doing anything to drastic. After failed attempts to do so, I ultimately had to make the decision to get a hysterectomy for my health and safety. Dr. Keller was always there, one call away, to answer all my questions and concerns. I wanted to make sure that this was the best decision for myself and that there weren't any other options available. I trusted her decision, as did my husband. Now, fast forward to a little over a year later, and were are about to do an IVF cycle to ultimately have a surrogate carry our baby. After a couple of months of trying to heal mentally and physically, my husband and I are ready for our next steps into starting our family. The first appointment we had with Dr. Keller to meet to chat about IVF was one I will never forget. After sitting with her, discussing all that is involved with IVF, Dr. Keller looked at us and said, "I want you to get your baby! That is my goal here!". It made me feel as if I wasn't alone and I felt as if my husband and I are in the best hands. She always asks how I am doing when I meet with her, how I am healing, and just how I feel overall. My experiences that I have gone through in the past year and half are something I never expected. I never dreamt of not being able to carry our children. It sure does make it easier having Dr. Keller sincerely care about my husband and I and our ultimate goal which is to start our family. There is nothing bad I could say about Dr. Keller!

That she is trustworthy and will fight for the best care for you. She will always listen and respect your decisions. Effective communication!

I am about 3 weeks away from our very first round of IVF.

I will know a more detailed cost estimate soon. Since we are just beginning our first IVF cycle, I am not sure of the overall costs. I estimate it being close to $20,000.

Dr. Keller has discussed her approach to both because of us needing to use a surrogate since I cannot carry. The decision mainly depends on the surrogate and what they agree too, but she does mention it is best to not do a multiple embryo transfer for surrogate to carry. It costs more and many more risks involve is my understanding.

Dr. Omurtag is a very helpful and compassionate doctor. He helped us navigate through a very frustrating and disappointing time in our life, which ended up resulting in the birth of our son. He was very informative and straightforward, but also listened to our concerns and reservations. I can’t recommend Dr. Omurtag and his staff enough!!

Trust the process and try to be patient. Also, don’t be afraid to advocate for yourself and ask questions.

First we tried a medicated cycle with injections and an IUI. I over responded to the injections and had to wait 2 months for my ovaries to go down. Didn’t get to the IUI that time. We tried again, this time with less dosage and an IUI, by resulted in a negative pregnancy test. After that, we were ready to move forward with IVF. I used injections for 4-5 days (Gonal F, Menopur, and Lupron). My egg retrieval resulted in 32 eggs, 19 were mature, and we decided, as a personal decision to only fertilize 10. We did a fresh transfer with one of our day 5 embryos and ended up freezing the remaining four embryos we had for future use.

Insurance covered our IVF treatment so I’m not sure. Medications cost us $3,000 out of pocket, and we had to put $600 (if I remember correctly) down to be financially clear.

Extremely patient, Kind and compassionate. He even took the time to tell us how much he really enjoyed working with LGBTQ patients. He tells you exactly what is going on even if the news is not good. My partner and I really appreciated his straightforwardness. He is very goal oriented and does not waste any time- that was exactly what we wanted when searching for a fertility doctor.

Know that the techs and nurses might not have the best bedside manner or be super kind to you-BUT Dr. Omurtag is the one in charge of your treatment and each step along the way.

After 3 failed IUI at another clinic-We started with a natural IUI cycle. Then an IUI with Clomid and finally the 3rd IUI with Clomid, estrogen, and progesterone. We are now moving onto reciprocal IVF.

At this point, we have spent around $4,500.00. For three IUI's, medication, ultrasounds, medication, (2) meetings with Omertag and Sperm.

He was very knowledgeable, answered any questions we had. He was upfront that he would manage and oversee our cycle but explained that the doctors in the practice rotate IVF weeks and I may not have him for all my procedures. He was honest and again, while very knowledgeable did not make me feel like I was wasting his time with questions or concerns.

Ask questions. and be aware that he may not be the doctor to do your procedures, that’s important to know, but all the doctors in the practice are great.

We did IVF. I started meds to “quiet” my ovaries which worked great. Then we started Stims at low doses and increased. I was not responding well enough at first and we talked about canceling the cycle and starting over with another protocol. I was able to come in an extra time for monitoring and finally started responding. Dr. Omurtag called me himself to talk about it since he knew they “scared” me with talk of canceling. Once we were where we needed to be we did egg retrieval and got 8 eggs, which was exactly what I expected per the last monitoring appointment we had. We ended up with 6 embryos. We went in for a day 5 fresh transfer and found out we had two picture perfect embryos but the others did not meet the criteria to freeze. We transferred one embryo and froze the other. Our fresh transfer did not work. We waited one cycle and jumped in to our frozen cycle. The one frozen embryo we had stuck like a champ and our IVF miracle baby was born January 2018. We are very happy with our results. :)

Fresh transfer was in the $11,000’s. I cannot remember the exact number right now. Medication was anywhere between $3-5k.

We had two “perfect” embryos. I wanted to transfer both but the doctor suggested only doing one. She said they don’t offer only doing one to everyone but that I was young, healthy and the embryo was “perfect.” I cried but agreed to only transfer one. I know it doesn’t always go how we want it to but I am glad I only did the one. I still had one frozen after the fresh transfer didn’t work. I would have been very upset and frustrated if we had walked away with nothing.

Dr. Omurtag is very kind, knowledgable, and patient. We left our consultation with him feeling like our questions were answered. He also tried to make us feel hopeful, and we could tell that he wanted us to be successful. We also felt that he was very comfortable and competant in working with the LGBT community.

I would have no reservations referring someone to Dr. Omurtag. He is very nice and makes you feel at ease. He explains things in an understandable way. My only word of caution would be that WashU does see a lot of patients and the majority of your interactions will not be with Dr. Omurtag.

I did 3 IUIs, two with Clomid and one natural. I did day 12 ultrasounds to monitor follicles for the second and third cycles. For one cycle it was determined that the clomid diminished my lining so I was given estradoil and a trigger shot. IUI's were typically done the day after the positive LH surge. They were done by the nurse.

IUIs were $385, and ultrasounds were $345. IVF is going to be approximately $11,500 (before meds).

We are just beginning the IVF process, but during our IVF consultation he informed us that they recommend transfering only one embryo.

Dr Omurtag is a compassionate, trustworthy doctor. I now consider him a friend. He has been there for my fiancé and I through this tough experience and has not let us feel as though we are "alone on an island" once, just like he promised in the beginning! We ended up with an ectopic pregnancy and had to have two doses of methotrexate, this all occurred over the holidays. You could feel the compassion when in his office and see the pain he had for us in his eyes. I could likely go elsewhere for less money but he is worth every extra penny, even if we didn't get to our end result just yet!

Go to your first meeting with your questions and with your past experiences and information! He will help guide you the rest of the way!

Our first round was a long agonist with gonal-f protocol. The lupron that was used gave me terrible headaches and some stiffness in my neck but overall I did great with the protocol. We ended up transferring two healthy embryos and we had an ectopic pregnancy. We just now started an antagonist with OCPs protocol for round 2. He chose this so he can be more aggressive with the stimulation and therefore have more embryos hopefully to choose from in the end.

It was close to $18,00 including meds. Our insurance didn't cover a penny so we were out of pocket patients.

The doctors in this practice choose based on the embryos and their development. Their goal is for you to have one healthy and happy baby...they come with their reasoning on how many they feel you should transfer and together you make a decision.

She is concise, but explained my conditions in full detail, even provided drawings if that helped us understand why some things did/did not work. She always walks us through each procedure at least once, if not twice. She is thorough in understanding my body and our treatment. We are returning patients and she loves to hear about our son, who was conceived with her help. The first round we had some miscommunication that caused some confusion, but it was easily fixed and she made sure it did not happen again.

She will cover everything and she is very knowledgable in her field. If it doesn't make sense at first, ask questions and she will be happy to explain and help in any way she can.

Because of my diagnosis we went straight to IVF treatments. I had other procedures, but do not recall exact names or reasons. I received hormones orally and injected. She adjusted my thyroid medicine as my blood work results were obtained. I had a fresh transfer which resulted in a chemical pregnancy and frozen transfer which resulted in a live birth. Because of my previous results, she is following the same course of treatment this round.

I am unsure about total clinic costs. Copays are $40 and my insurance has always covered 80% of expenses. I know the medication cost about $1,500.

Dr Keller is exceptional. She is very compassionate and thorough. She takes into consideration the whole picture when coming up with a plan. She went over both mine and my husbands issues. She made sure you understood before you left her office. She gave options instead of trying to dictate every move. She is highly recommended.

Go see her sooner than you think you should. You will not be disappointed in her care.

I had previously had two egg retrievals at a different place with poor results. I went to Dr Keller for a second opinion. My diagnosis was basically unexplained infertility. She gave me the option to try less expensive treatments with IUI plus clinic first because I have a strong family history of breast cancer and the less hormones the better for me. She said sometimes if it is an issues with egg quality the less you mess with the eggs the better off you are. IUI plus Clomid resulted in a pregnancy the 3rd try, however it was an ectopic pregnancy. After 3 more attempts she recommended IVF which we are currently planning to do soon. The last IUI I took Femara instead of Clomid she wanted to see if it might work better for me.

IUI 383 per cycle.

She has recommended two embryos (maximum) transfer when the time comes if possible.

Dr. Keller was very kind and compassionate while still being honest about our chances. We have unexplained infertility which is very frustrating and she did her best to balance between looking for answers to why we couldn’t get pregnant and getting pregnant itself. She let us decide how long we would spend doing diagnostics because she knew we didn’t want to wait too much longer to try to get pregnant. She spent as long as we needed during consultations to ensure we got all of our questions answered. She seemed genuinely thrilled for us when our embryo transfer was successful.

Be aware that you will not always see dr. Keller for all treatments.

They were able to schedule early morning to avoid missing work which was great. I never waited more than 20ish minutes for these appts

We had insurance that covered some of our costs but I think for retrieval and transfer (not including meds) cash price was around 13k (without insurance)

We were told that because we had one embryo of good quality on day 5 and one that was lagging slightly behind, our best chances were to transfer both as this would increase our chances of getting pregnant. We were told if we did not transfer our embryo that was slightly behind, it would likely not make it to freeze so we decided to transfer both.

Dr. Omurtag is an outstanding physician! He's a warm and friendly person who makes you feel welcome during a doctor visit, especially with how difficult or delicate the situation is at hand. As an example, I felt uncomfortable with an SHG and trial transfer that we allowed a Fellow perform under his guidance, and Dr. Omurtag distracted me with talking about everyday things, like baseball, which I enjoy.

The advice I would give a prospective patient of Dr. Omurtag would be to speak up and ask questions - even if you feel it's a dumb question - there are NO dumb questions to him! He's very knowledgeable, so use that to help you make an informed decision about your fertility journey.

I was diagnosed with unexplained infertility and Dr. Omurtag put me on the Long GnRH Agonist regimen. It went over 2 menstrual cycles, utilizing birth control pills beginning on CD4 (preventing pregnancy) until all active pills were taken. On CD 21, I started 20 units of Lupron ( to block ovulation) for 21 days. I started my period around this time, beginning the second cycle of the long regimen. I had an ultrasound and estradiol check to confirm suppression. Then in cycle 2, I used varying doses of Gonal F and Menopur (to stimulate my ovaries to make follicles.) Gonal F started on CD6 at 225iu, then decreased to 150iu on CD9 until last dose on CD15. I started 75iu of Menopur on CD9 through CD12. One day of 150iu of Menopur on CD13, then 75iu CD14 through CD15. I stopped all meds on CD16 for my retrieval on CD18. At my retrieval, they extracted 15 follicles, of which 12 were good to fertilize. Four out of six fertilized with the conventional method and five of the other six with ICSI.

My global self-pay package was about $12,600, not including medication, for IVF (fresh cycle). It included pre-IVF procedure, IVF retrieval plus ICSI, IVF transfer, and post-IVF procedure. For me, my meds ranged from $3,000 to $4,000. I also sought out rebates, coupons, etc, to help off-set those medicine costs.

Dr Omurtag seemed okay with my decision to transfer 2 embryos, informing me of the risks/benefits and not trying to persuade me either way. He was quite supportive. However, on the day of the transfer, another doctor (Dr. Randal Odem) performed it because he was being on call that week. He double checked with me and my decision to do two, informing me one last time of benefits/risks of transferring two, but I backed out and only had them transfer one embryo. I went on to have a successful singleton pregnancy and live birth of this fresh cycle.

He is very thorough, understanding and determined. He listened to my concerns and even when he didn’t think things were necessary, he ran tests to give me peace of mind. He gave us our twins and we couldn’t be more grateful!

He can be cut and dry when it gets to the medical side of things. He will tell you like it is, but you can’t take it to heart.

He did the basic ivf routine each time, when I did find out I was pregnant, he had me take baby aspirin and shots of progesterone and lovenox due to MTHFR and PI1.

We were lucky enough to have fertility coverage with our insurance. We ran out of funds just before our final transfer so we paid out of pocket for that. I believe it was $1,000. In total, we spent $16k

We transferred 1 resulting in a chemical pregnancy. Next we transferred 2 resulting in a neg. Finally we transferred 2 again and now have twins! It’s a choice you have to make for yourself I feel. Be prepared for each embryo to stick. There’s always a possibility!

She is compassionate and caring. She is knowledgeable and takes time to explain potential advantages and disadvantages and is honest. I wanted a doctor who would play it straight and let us know what they truly thought of our chances of conceiving as well as one that would work with my husband and I to achieve our goals. I strongly feel that Dr. Jungheim has done just that. She has exceeded my expectations.

Be prepared to hear the good and bad of what to expect during the infertility treatment process, which is exactly what I prefer to hear from a physician.

We did a few cycles using only fertility medications, because we wanted to see if we could conceive with as little medical intervention as possible. When that was unsuccessful, we moved on to IUI, knowing that our chances of conceiving with this ,ethos was only slightly better than naturally. Out 2 IUI cycles were unsuccessful. Then we decided to move on to IVF. The clinic holds an orientation which is very informative. We went into the process feeling like we had a good idea of what to expect. Our fresh cycle was not successful, so Dr. Jungheim encouraged us to try another cycle using frozen embryos and so far it has been successful and we couldn't be more thrilled.

The process is efficient and flexible. They are very willing to work with your schedule and offer a range of available times to fit better with your personal needs.

I am unsure, as I was fortunate enough to have the majority of my treat,nets covered by my insurance policy.

As described in my previous response, Dr. Omurtag always made us feel comfortable and never treated us like a number. My husband and I always felt like his descriptions and explanation of treatment options and procedures were easy to understand. It was always obvious that he knew what he was talking about and always had the data and statistics to back it up. His intelligence and success were made even more wonderful when accompanied by his amazing bedside manner. He always greeted us with a smile and an upbeat, optimistic personality. I know he puts in countless hours at the office working with couples just like us, but we never once felt rushed and he never let his exhaustion show (if it even existed at all). He followed up with us and was by our sides every step of the way. After my successful IVF cycle, I brought my son back three months after he was born because Dr. O wanted to meet him and because I missed seeing him! That is the kind of wonderful connection that he creates with his patients. He is a truly special doctor and person and we look forward to seeing him again when it is time to expand our family once more!

Do not be afraid to ask any and all questions/voice any concerns that you have with him at any time. He patiently listens and answers them all. He NEVER made us feel like a question or concern was dumb or invalid.

I went through four cycles of IUI with chlomid. None resulted in a pregnancy. We then went on to IVF. I was on oral contraceptive birth control for a month, then began the injections to prepare for my egg harvest. After my egg harvest, I had one 'day 5' embryo transferred which resulted in a pregnancy and my beautiful son. For 8 weeks following the transfer, I continued injections of progesterone to ensure proper uterine wall lining.

We were very fortunate that my insurance covered our medical costs. I had only to pay my 1,200 out of pocked max.

As the husband, I was the cause of the infertility. Never once did I feel judged, or any less of a person because of my medical issue. Dr Omurtag showed such a great deal of compassion for our situation. He was very professional, very polite, and very realistic. He made sure to take all of our ideas and thoughts into account. Given the difficult situation we were facing, Dr Omurtag always made us feel that we had a good chance at getting pregnant. We felt excited with every visit, even if our treatment had not resulted in a pregnancy.

Come to each appointment with an open mind. We made a decision that, at the time, felt very difficult (using a donor sperm). Looking back, all of the anxieties were for nothing because at the end of the day, we were blessed with the birth of our beautiful child. Dr Omurtag will take care of you, so rest in that comfort.

In a nutshell, we decided that the only option was to use a donor sperm. We purchased 5 vials (just to have more than enough) and began IUI. Dr. Omurtag wanted to try one cycle of IUI without Clomid. This first cycle and treatment did not result in a pregnancy. For the second cycle, Dr. O started my wife on Clomid and after the second treatment (IUI), we found out we were pregnant.

These are not exact, but the cost estimates were: IUI Treatment - Approximately 300 USD Donor Sperm - Approximately 4000 USD (5 Vials) Clomid - Unsure, but not expensive Sperm Analysis - Approximately 150 USD Test to Check Fallopian Tubes - 3000 USD (not covered with insurance)

We really enjoyed working with Dr. Omurtag. After evaluating our histories and testing, he was very confident that we would be successful, either via IUI or IVF. We did not see Dr. Omurtag at every visit, but it was made clear to us that we could schedule an appointment to meet with him any time we needed. We had an initial meeting with him where we discussed our past pregnancy history and overall health. At this meeting, he went over our initial plan to obtain a diagnosis, including all of the testing he was ordering and when/where these procedures would be performed. Once this testing was completed, we met with him again to discuss our treatment course, which turned out to be IUI. We underwent four unsuccessful IUI cycles and then reconvened with Dr. Omurtag, who recommended proceeding with IVF. Because this was such a costly step, we asked to continue the IUI for two more cycles while we saved up the money for IVF, and he agreed. These cycles were also unsuccessful, so we met with Dr. Omurtag once again after our IVF financing was in place. At this meeting, he explained the IVF process and all of the procedures associated with it. At this practice, all IVF cases for the month are handled by a single physician on a rotating basis. This is the reason that Dr. Omurtag did not handle all of our procedures himself. However, we had a good experience with the other two physicians in the practice with whom we worked. Once we received a positive pregnancy blood work up after the fresh IVF cycle, we met with Dr. Omurtag again after our first ultrasound at 7 weeks. The baby was slightly undersized, but not alarmingly so, and Dr. Omurtag asked us to return in a week to check on the fetal growth. At that point, he felt comfortable turning us over to our OB for the remainder of the pregnancy, but encouraged us to call at any time if we had concerns, especially during the time before our first OB appointment. When I miscarried at nearly 11 weeks, Dr. Omurtag happened to be at the hospital and stopped to see us after we got the bad news. He was very compassionate, but also made sure to express his confidence that our treatment plan was good and would result in a viable pregnancy. This was very reassuring to hear on what was the worst day of our lives. When we were ready, we scheduled another meeting to discuss conducting a frozen cycle with our remaining embryo. Dr. Omurtag also performed a saline sonohysterogram to make sure that there were no issues that had not been visible on my HSG or other ultrasounds. He explained the differences between the fresh and frozen cycles and we proceeded (again, a different doctor performed the embryo transfer, but he was great as well). We were once again successful and transferred to the care of our OB at 8 weeks. This second pregnancy resulted in our son, born in August 2016. During all of our appointments, Dr. Omurtag was very comprehensive and understandable in all of his explanations. We were encouraged to ask questions and interrupt him for further explanation. He made us feel very comfortable and definitely made an effort to get to know us as people. He still remembers details about us and our family, even after going 8 months without seeing us. He asked us to keep the practice posted on the outcome of the pregnancy and suggested we visit after our son was born in August 2016. Before that visit, we found out that our son is a carrier for a fatal genetic condition, and Dr. Omurtag was able to give us the basics on how we would proceed if we decide to have a third child.

Trust in the process. It might seem like you are going to endless appointments, tests, scans and blood draws, but they are all necessary. Remind yourself that reproduction is incredibly inefficient and accept that you may never know the exact reason for your infertility without going through multiple cycles of medication, IUI and/or IVF. There are so many factors that it may be very difficult for the docs to pinpoint the exact cause, especially in cases of secondary infertility like ours. It was a two year process, but Dr. Omurtag was a great guide and we ended up with a child, which was the goal of the exercise.

See my response from the experience question. We came to Dr. Omurtag with secondary infertility after 6 months of ovulation testing and two cycles of Clomid performed by my OB. Treatment began with an HSG and ultrasounds and bloodwork for me and a semen analysis for my husband. I was diagnosed PCO due to a slightly elevated testosterone level and high ovarian reserve. However, I don't experience any other symptoms and all other testing was normal. Because my cycles were regular and I was ovulating, and because we had successfully conceived and carried to term on our own in the past, we decided to start with IUI. Dr. Omurtag recommended four cycles, because success rates drop off sharply after four IUIs. We ended up doing six cycles, but the last two were done to increase our slim chances of conceiving while we saved up the funds and waited for IVF availability (they only accept a certain number of IVF patients each month). I was prescribed Lupron to aid in the IUI cycles. It's been a while, so I don't remember the exact procedures and tests involved with each cycle, other than coming in for a mid-cycle ultrasound to check on follicle ripeness. When the scan was favorable, we scheduled a morning appointment for the IUI. My husband arrived early to provide a semen sample, which was analyzed and prepared and then transferred via a catheter by one of the nurses about an hour later. When IUI proved unsuccessful, we turned to IVF. Dr. Omurtag determined that Long GnRH agonist protocol was the best fit for us. We were required to secure financing and attend a very helpful IVF orientation before proceeding. After completing the drug regimen (which included OCP, Leuprolide, FSH, and hCG trigger), we harvested 23 eggs, 19 of which were viable. Because my husband's sperm count had varied during the IUI cycles, Dr. Omurtag decided to fertilize 10 of the eggs conventionally and 9 of them with ICSI. Only one of the eggs fertilized conventionally, but all 9 of the ICSI were successful. After 3 days of growth, we had several promising embryos, so Dr. Omurtag settled on a day 5 transfer. At that point, there were three exceptionally good transfer candidates. The decision of how many (1 or 2) to transfer was left to us. We chose 2 and one of those successfully implanted. After our miscarriage, we did a frozen cycle with our remaining embryo. Dr. Omurtag performed a saline sonohysterogram to ensure that there were no underlying physical issues with carrying a pregnancy that we might have missed previously (and to ensure that the products of the miscarriage had all been expelled). I'm unable to locate all of my paperwork from this cycle for some reason, but I know that the drug regimen was much less intense and there were fewer injectables. The frozen embryo transfer was again successful and this time I carried to term.

I believe each IUI cycle cost around $600. We financed the IVF cycles through ARC, where we paid $15,000 to cover a fresh and a frozen cycle. Medications were an additional expenses, but a relatively low cost with my insurance. All diagnostic testing was covered under our insurance.

He is fabulous at making sure you fully understand everything that is going on. He is friendly, but professional at the same time. The most important thing, he knows what he is doing. I never felt like he was unsure about the plan.

Trust him.

Our first cycle was a Long Agonist protocol. We started with birth control and then used 10IU Lupron for 13 days. Then, we lessened the Lupron to 5IU and added 300IU Gonal F for three days. After that, we eliminated the Lupron, lessened Gonal F to 150IU, and added Menopur in at 150IU for four days. I did not respond well, which was surprising. We retrieved 7 eggs, 4 were mature, and 1 fertilized into an embryo. We did full ICSI. We did not conceive. On our second round, we did a Luteal Estradiol Antagonist protocol, eliminating birth control and Lupron completely. We eliminated supressants because I didn't respond well to the first cycle. I took ovulation tests until I ovulated, then a week later, I started estrogen for 5 days to prime my ovaries. At the start of my period, took 150IU of Menopur, and 225IU Gonal F for seven days. Then added in 250IU of Cetrotide for an additional three days. We retrieved 11 eggs, 7 were mature, and 2 fertilized into embryos with full ICSI again. We conceived and are currently pregnant.

We were fortunate enough to have 2 rounds mostly covered by insurance. We just had to pay for the more expensive of the medications. A round including medications does cost about $20,000 usually.

I believe his approach was correct with our results.

Dr. Jungheim has the exact bedside manner that I love. She is warm, friendly, compassionate, and deeply caring. Also, as a scientist, I wanted to know the research that exists about treatment options, and Dr. Jungheim was honest and forthright about the research that is out there and the research that has yet to be done. She approaches treatment from an evidence based perspective, which is important to me. And she was honest. If I asked a question to which there wasn't any good research out there to provide an answer, she would tell me so. When there was truly no way to know the biological reason our first IVF cycle didn't work, she was honest about that and told me so. I hear stories of other doctors telling patients guesses as to why things worked a certain way, when there is actually no real way for them to know. Some patients find comfort in that, but that is not what I want. I want a doctor who does not have inflated confidence about what they know, and is informed about the actual research to give me that information. She even pointed me to the original research articles, so I could read them myself. Dr. Jungheim is fantastic. If I move away from St. Louis and need to do IVF again, I plan to go back to her!

Don't be afraid to ask a lot of questions. She will take the time for you.

We have unexplained infertility, which led us to start with IUI. When that didn't work, we moved on to IVF. My first cycle was an antagonist protocol, which was chosen for several reasons. One is that it is one of the most successful protocols for unexplained infertility in my age group at this clinic. Another is that I had a huge needle phobia, and this protocol involves fewer injections compared to the other option she would consider. We also did what they call "partial" ICSI. Since there were no known male factor issues or egg quality issues for us, the clinic used ICSI on half of my eggs in order to test the fertilization rate for ICSI vs. not. It turned out that the fertilization rate was equal, so it didn't seem that ICSI was truly necessary for us. Many clinics automatically do ICSI no matter what, however, there are some small risks of doing ICSI if you don't need to. So, this partial ICSI approach is like an experiment to see if I needed it, which would be useful for future decisions if this cycle didn't work. Then, the clinic watches the embryos and makes a decision on day 3 as to whether to do a day 3 or day 5 transfer of 1 or 2 embryos. They have certain criteria that they want to meet in order to push the transfer to day 5. I did not meet that criteria, so we transferred 2 embryos on day 3. Unfortunately, this cycle failed. The second cycle chosen was a long agonist protocol with Lupron. I also inquired about an endometrial scratch test. Dr. Jungheim told me that the evidence for the scratch is strictly correlational right now, but promising. In fact, the clinic was conducting a clinical trial to test the efficacy of the scratch at that time. Dr. Jungheim told me that if I wanted to do the scratch, I certainly could. So, I did. Ouchie. Then, we did not use ICSI this cycle given the fertilization rate of the previous cycle. And we had the same rate of fertilization. Again, the embryos did not meet criteria for a day 5 transfer, so we transferred 2 embryos on day 3. This cycle worked!!! We now have a 7.5 month old son, who is the light of our lives.

I conveniently could do monitoring appointments right before work. It operated well. Sometimes I wouldn't have to wait at all, sometimes I'd have to wait 10 minutes. The techs who did the monitoring were great.

Each IUI cost $400, and each round of IVF cost ~$15,000

The Washington University clinic as a whole wants to avoid multiples while maximizing live births. So they make decisions about the number of embryos to transfer based on each individual case, and I think they make very good decisions. We transferred 2 embryos and ended up with a singleton pregnancy, so I am very glad we didn't transfer 1.

Amber Cooper was just amazing. Can't say a bad thing about her. She was warm and kind, and sympathized with us. She greeted us excitedly and was always hopeful (but realistic) on our chances. She built our family.

Don't wait.

Our first IVF cycle I had very low quality eggs and embryos. We transferred two, but were realistic with how low quality they were. That cycle was a BFN. The very next cycle 3 months later we completely switched protocols and injections. I responded slightly better. We transferred 2 more "below average" embryos, but by miracle one took. Two years later or son wanted a sibling. We reviewed my results and tweaked my protocol once again. We had twin girls.

Even though we traveled across state lines (we are on the IL side of St Louis), our insurance covered most of our procedures after getting a Global Release.

My review of Dr. Omurtag is not based on the success of our treatment but completely based on our experience and not the outcome. Dr. Omurtag can be described as an individual who is passionate about the work he does and is involved in. In our introductory meeting he was incredibly straight forward about the pros and cons involved in the procedure we were looking into while maintaining a positive tone. As we moved through the process of IVF Dr. Omurtag worked hard to continue to build rapport with me and it was refreshing.

Dr. Omurtag works with various partners at their practice and all of them are fantastic. One of the partners handled the transfer of our embryo the first go around and was incredibly patient and warm. Since he works in a practice you may not see Dr. Omurtag at every visit, but rest assured you are in good hands.

They were quite reasonable based on what we were aware of in the area. The pricing was based on the services and was inclusive of all of the services with the exception of any medication.

Dr. Omurtag was actually quite confident in regards to his thoughts on eSET vs multiple. When my husband and I decided to transfer a 3 day embryo which Dr. Omurtag supported, but suggested we go with a multiple embryo transfer. For our second transfer which was an fet he suggested we go with eSET based on our initial success and since we were using a blastocyst.

Kenan is a very nice, enthusiastic doctor who really cares about his patients. He was very detailed and answered any questions we had along the way. He figured out what was wrong with me my very first visit. If it wasn't for him, we probably never would have know I had a unicornate uterus or have any children.

Don't be afraid to ask questions.

First, I had an ultrasound to look at my uterus. I just had an hsg so we looked at the xrays. I had a saline ultrasound to determine how they would get to where they needed to implant. I also had an outpatient surgery to open up my cervix I believe I was on the long agonist protocol. I had to take birth control for 1 month before I began the meds. Everything worked out good and I had day 5 embryos with 38 eggs retrieved. I had 13 embryos frozen and 1 embryo implanted. It took and we have a healthy baby boy.

First come first serve. We arrived the time the doors open and usually only had to wait briefly.

He worked very well with Blue Cross out of Illinois. Out of the total of around 30k billed for everything including drug cost we were only responsible for around 2500 bucks plus 700 a year for embryo storage for our frozen embryos.

I began seeing Dr. Cooper my freshman year of college. She was very understanding of the stress I was going through with transitioning to college as well as the stress of trying to have a successful egg retrieval. It took several attempt to get my hormone levels to the appropriate level to go forward with the injections but Dr. Cooper was always optimistic. I was finally able to go through with the injections but they were unsuccessful. My ovaries did not produce any follicles. Even through the disappointment, she helped me to remain hopeful. We tried two more times in two different ways. Both times were unsuccessful. Dr. Cooper was so hopeful for me. I could tell she wanted it to work just as badly as I did. Unfortunately, we had to take a step back and take a break from the process. She has always encouraged me to remain hopeful because I am so young. I still see her annually and she keeps me up to date with the new research. She is very cutting edge. I will never go to a different fertility specialist.

Don't wait.

My parents insurance covered the treatment. The girl who set me up with the medications did such a great job of working with our insurance on such short notice. I felt the staff was extremely accommodating.

I loved having her for my doctor. We discussed everything that needed to be talked about. I had done some research on my own before our consultations and then asked questions throughout when they came up. When we did the iuis, the timing was off but that was probably partly because of how my cycles fell, usually over the weekends was when I would ovulate. They were all natural cycles because she wanted to keep things as close to natural as possible if we could. When they proved to not be working, we tried a medicated cycle and I overstimulated. I came in for an ultrasound and we decided to have another consultation. Over the phone, we discussed our next step, she thought I would respond well to the meds,which was ivf. We were able to start immediately and were both excited and nervous. There is more than just her when it comes to ivf. There are several doctors who work together and decided which methods and medicines should work best for each ivf patient. They all specialize in different areas and some overlap with other doctors but the made me feel better for choosing her.

Be open and ready to ask questions if you don't understand something. She will answer any question you have and won't judge you for it. Even if it seems small or silly. Ask anyway. She was able to answer my questions and provide the information I needed to make our decisions.

They scheduled between 7:30 - 9:30 am. They would put you down in a time slot but if you happen to show up a little early they were usually pretty good about getting you in early if not right one time. There usually wasnt much waiting when they scheduled you like this. There were several utlrasound techs and several ultrasound rooms. Different times during the day were for different types of appointments.

He was the 2nd doctor that we saw for our issues. we had done other treatments that didn't work. Dr Omurtag really took the time to sit with us and answer questions and go over all of our issues which didn't happen with the other Dr. I felt and still do that Dr Omurtag really helped make this horrible journey enjoyable and I really felt like he was right along with us every step of the way. Checking in on us, answer all of our questions along the way.

He really cares about his patients and puts you at ease for such a stressful process of trying to conceive

he went over our options and then after doing the testing told us what would be the most successful option for us. I cant recall which treatment it was for IVF but he did let us know that IUIs were not a good option for us and so we didn't consider that again

I never added the total up since we were successful, I don't care the cost since we have a baby now

Dr. Cooper will take the time to inform the patient of the physical, emotional, and even financial aspects of trying to grow a family. My wife, who fears the medical profession, was able to overcome her greatest fear and perform 1 cycle of IVF, which I directly correlate to Dr. Cooper. She moved mountains so my wife could overcome her greatest fear and be granted her most desired wish, a family. She came in for every appointment, for every procedure, even though she worked in a multi-physician environment. Dr. Cooper cares about her patients and will spend any amount of time necessary to make a patient comfortable with their options and their decision.

Leave no question un-asked. Go to the consultation a couple to talk about growing your family. Everyone involved in the process should be seen and talk with Dr. Cooper.

The ART method was followed. Daily ultra sounds with medication dose changes based upon medical diagnostic testing performed daily.

Patrial Insurance Coverage. Between $5-$10, our of pocket.

Dr Omurtag was beyond wonderful. I would recommend him and the drs at Wash U to anyone that is going to be going through ivf treatment. I had a dr prior to him that was awful and did not take my feelings into any consideration. The drs at Wash U and Dr Omurtag made sure to check with me each step and made sure I was comfortable with everything that was going on and how we were going to handle everything. They helped me have my baby boy and I cannot thank them enough for everything they have done for me.

If you have any questions be honest with him and he will be honest with you. He was very good at going over things we didn't understand and making sure that i knew what was happening each step of the way.

When i went to see Dr Omurtag I knew I wanted to do ivf and did not want to do any other treatment. He was very open to that and let me make that choice. He used injectable drugs.

I do not remember all the costs as the ivf was covered by my insurance. So i only had to pay my ded/opx.