Andrea DiLuigi

I definitely trust her opinions and think she is very smart. I would love to be able to interact with her more instead of always having to communicate to nurses as a middle person. I felt that she always genuinely cared about me, and I always felt like she answered all my questions when I actually got to speak with her. I always felt hopeful after speaking with her.

Definitely be your own advocate. Doctors want to help, but in the end, you have to be the one to sort of figure things out on your own. Without doing my own research for hours on end as far as discovering what things to add to my protocol and so on, I don’t think I would have my son today.

We used very traditional protocols. I had to push for my own tests & treatments after unfortunately spending a lot of money and enduring a lot of heartache. I think it would be helpful to get to the root of problems before prescribing the standard one size fits all approach to patients with “unexplained infertility.” However, I know there’s still a lot of unknowns in this field, and I’m sure some patients do get lucky here and there with the standard protocols.

Monitoring appointments ran efficiently. The weekends in Farmington can get pretty busy and could have a long wait time.

I had limited insurance coverage and will be paying out of pocket for further IVF cycles and FET’s. I have probably spent over 30,000 in out of pocket costs even with insurance with co-pays and things the insurance didn’t cover. I think the center’s costs are similar to what it would cost at any other clinic.

She basically left it up to me, but since I am young, we thought it’d be smart to just transfer 1.

Dr. Diluigi was very nice and professional. The way she spoke was clear and she explained things well. I didn't see her very often as schedule is in shifts but when i did see her she was nice and supportive

Do your research and advocate for your best interests. Not necessarily because of Dr. Diluigi, all doctors. No one knows your body and your needs like you do. Dr.s can only work off the most accurate info so its important to communicate with them, and not be a passive recipient of care.

I documented my treatments with a blog stafford-homestead.com First was testing we did blood work, HSG, semen analysis. Diagnosed unexplained infertility. Started with 3 IUIs with fresh sperm. I took letrozole for a few days early in the cycle. I never produced more than 1 follicle. Dr. Diluigi wanted to use letrozole because it was less side effects than clomid. All 3 were BFN. Moved on to IVF. I had a saline ultrasound and then a procedure where they went in with a camera and removed a polyp. Then meds for egg retrevial. I was slow to respond and then they upped the dose and hyper-responded. Dr. Diluigi decided we needed to freeze all because my hormones were not condusive to pregnancy. I had to wait another month for transfer. I chose to do no meds and waited for spontaneous ovulation and was monitored by blood and ultrasound. Ended up with a BFP. At 6.5 w. Ultrasound there was no HB. Went back a few days later and showed slow HB and irregular yolk sac. Dr. Diluigi said it wasnt a viable pregnancy. She was caring and clear about her recommendations to proceed. I chose to take cytotec to induce the miscarriage, rather than D&C or wait for it to naturally shed. After that had weekly blood tests until HCG went to 0. Then waited for ovulation again and the. Started another unmedicated cycle. That one ended in a single live birth. Hes 8 mo old now and we plan on returning in a year for another transfer!

There was typically quite a few women, waits were long but not excruciating. I would usually try to be one of the first ones there so im not sure how later people would feel. It was somewhat confusing the list to sign up for, ring a bell, upstairs or downstairs when i had to go to west Hartford.. but you figure it out.

I had a high deductible plan. I had to meet my 8k deductible before insurance paid anything. After that i was covered 100%. Including health insurance premiums i paid around $12,000.

I think its wisest for my age to do an Eset and is prudent in most all cases besides special circumstances which people should try multiple embryos

I think Dr DiLuigi is great and so is Toni her IVF nurse. No matter how nice Toni is, I wished I could see and consult with Dr DiLuigi more. I had to seek her out and schedule an appointment to consult with her. It would be helpful to have more direct contact with her to explain what happened each cycle (at least once per cycle).

Try to see her often! Consult with her more and add your own regiment of medications and vitamins as they don't prescribe a lot of additional stuff.

We tried two protocols so far (the first was rather aggressive: Micro-dose Lebrun and two different stimulus medications (Gonal F and Menopur). This yielded only one follicle so we cancelled the cycle. The second cycle was less aggressive, with clomid and prostrogen patches) which did not work and we had to cancel the cycle ( I did IUI and it did not work). I am 43 and will probably try a couple more cycles before giving up.

I am lucky cause I have good insurance so I paid for the medications (co-pay of around $1000 for two cycles), and an advance of $2500 for PG-T which I did not use and will get back if I did not test embryos. All in all, an upward of $3500 for two cycles.

We did not get to this stage.

She is the best doctor. If you want someone that will take their time with you on this journey and really make sure you feel heard and comfortable with all the decisions in your treatment then she is your doctor. She shows compassion and she listens to your concerns.

Trust her and ask lots of questions, she will always take Time to answer them. She is amazing at her job and will make sure you feel comfortable.

She let me keep trying IUI even though I was struggling with them but she could tell I wasn’t ready to make the leap to IVF. We then had pretty aggressive medication plans because I wasn’t responding and she always explained what we were doing and why. We eventually introduced Clomid in with my injectables ( I was scared to add it but she really thought it would help). That would be my final cycle after 5 rounds we made 4 healthy embryos PGS tested.

Monitoring hours for the most part were convenient since they started early in the morning, only issue was it could get really busy sometimes

We had some insurance to start and then once it ran out we spent abt 15k

I only wanted to transfer one and that is what we stuck with

Knowledgeable and courteous. My husband and I did not feel rushed out of the appointment. She seems genuine about wanting to help her patients in their desire to become parents. Quick responses after treatments or blood work. I feel safe and comfortable during my procedures. She asks if I’m ok, checks in with how I’m feeling during my procedures.

Ask lots of questions she is happy to answer and take time with you.

Daily blood work and treatments if needed. My thyroid level was higher than normal and she wanted to make sure everything was on track being moving forward so we could have a safe and successful transfer day. Another time she found what was thought to be a polyp at the time of removal it started to bleed I could see she was sincerely concerned for my well being as I had a very traumatic experience after my c section with my son and almost did not make it. She knew my history and kept that in mind and even quoted “so no harm” she contacted my OB that took care of my delivery and went above to ask his advice for future pregnancies. I left that appointment very nervous and she allowed me to come back to see her to be checked and to ease my mind. I want not brushed off at all.

Financial team was knowledgeable about insurance companies I was able to email with questions with fairly quick responses. They do bundle packages as far as blood work, ultra sounds and transfer if insurance does not cover.

At our first consult she made it clear the goal is to transfer one embryo unless she felt that the chance it may not take is high. That exactly what I wanted as well

I always felt comfortable. Doctor DiLuigi is smart, kind, empathetic, easy to relate to. I never waited long, never felt the office was overbooked, was able to get the time I needed with her. It was a great experience.

Be open, ask questions.

Round 1 IUI - 75 mg clomid, another 75mg Round 2 IUI - HSG and 150 mg clomid, trigger Round 3 IUI - 150mg clomid and trigger Round 4 IUI - 150 mg clomid and trigger Round 5 IUI - 150 mg clomid and trigger Month 6 rest Month 7 - IVF, 17 eggs retrieved, 10 fertilized normally, 2 fertilized abnormally, 6 made it to day 5, 1 transferred (successfully), 5 frozen - drugs used centrotide, gonal F, HCG trigger, progesterone in oil injections

Easy and as efficient as possible given there were times when many people would need to be seen. I never waited more than 15 minute and there were times when the waiting room was PACKED.

Fairly reasonable. My insurance did pay for a portion of the treatments so my out of pocket expenses were not as significant as I thought they would be. Monthly IUIs cost around $200 out of pocket. My IVF cycle cost about $3000 out of pocket & $4000 for meds out of pocket.

I wanted 2 embryos transferred and Dr. D said no. She was very kind in how she explained that 2 embryos would be risky, and given my age and medical history, she felt 1 was the best course of action. She was right.

I was so happy with the support and treatment I received. She was extremely thorough during the initial appointment and I felt that she had a good plan to help us achieve our goals. She performed surgery to remove polyps in my uterus before we could even start and she always put my anxiety at ease. I trusted in her ability to create a successful outcome (which she did!). I was disappointed that she didn't perform the actual retrieval and transfer, but was equally impressed with her team of doctors and it made sense to ensure the timing worked out. I would absolutely recommend Dr. DiLuigi and CARS for anyone undergoing fertility treatment.

I decided to conduct DNA testing on the embryos before transfer, which I would highly recommend. It's expensive but increases chances dramatically and helps avoid the potential heart break of a miscarriage if the DNA isn't right. Because the eggs had to be frozen to do that, my transfer was done on a natural cycle. Although I had to wait an extra month, it was so worth it and I avoided another round of painful shots since we did it naturally. I just followed the recommendations of the team and it all worked out!

It was pretty efficient. There were a couple days that were very busy and took up to an hour to complete bloodwork, but for the most part I was done within 10 minutes.

Amanda

The doctor recommended I do a single transfer and DNA testing since at my age she would have had to transfer 2 if I didn't do the test. We wanted to avoid multiples and increase chances of success, so that was the right decision for us.

While it's not always easy to get an appointment with Dr. DiLuigi, when I do speak with her in person or on the phone, she always takes as much time as I need to understand everything and ask questions. She has a positive attitude without over-promising.

I've tried IVF cycles with 4 different protocols so far: Lupron/birth control pills/microflare (+ injectables), Clomid (+ injectables), Femara (+ injectables), and estrogen patch (+ injectables). I'm a "poor responder" so I've only gotten one embryo so far (and it failed PGS). Still trying.

It's a well-oiled cattle call:) There are morning hours for cycling bloodwork/ulstrasound (so everyone cycling that week has to come in between 7:30 and 9 am, about every other day, and it's first come, first served). There's a long wait sometimes, but it generally works pretty smoothly. I'm an hour away from the clinic though, so I do lose a lot of sleep during those weeks trying to get there at the crack of dawn. It's also important to note: The clinic has a New London location, however its main office is in Farmington. So only very rarely can you do your cycling blood work and ultrasounds in New London; it's a very bare-bones office with only one nurse who is not always available (and there's no doctor there). So if you're in southern CT and think this clinic is nearby you...it's not really. You'll be going to Farmington or Hartford most of the time.

If you're not covered by insurance, they offer a "discounted" self-pay plan. I think it's about $19K for IVF (not including meds) and $500 for the most basic IUI (including meds). My insurance does cover my services, however because of a high deductible and some optional meds I chose (growth hormone, DHEA, CoQ10), I've still ended up paying about $9-12K/year out of pocket.

They offer ESET but my insurance doesn't have a policy on it, so technically I'm not using it. (Though I'm only transferring a single embryo anyway.)

Dr. DiLuigi was extremely kind and encouraging. As a patient she made me feel very comfortable. I always felt like I could ask her anything, and would get an honest response. I felt that there were times where she definitely went above and beyond for me.

Be blunt and don't be afraid to ask questions. She will answer them.

Monitoring appointments were on a first come, first serve basis. Often patients (myself included) would get there long before the doors open to stand in line in order to get in and out as quickly as possible and get to work on time.

Our one full IVF cycle with meds, monitoring, retrieval, ICSI, labs. anesthesia, etc. cost about $20,000. IUI without meds was about $450

Dr. DiLuigi made it clear that as a practice they prefer to do eSET, however every patient and case is different and in my experience she felt comfortable (as long as we were completely OK with the prospect of multiples) with transferring 2 embryos on Day 3.

I selected Dr. DiLuigi because she was the only female doctor at the Center. She was always pleasant, compassionate, and honest about our treatment options. At first I was bothered by the fact that I didn't see her often (during one of our four cycles I didn't see her at all). When I did see her, however, she was completely aware of our treatment status, and this made me feel good about the fact that she was following our journey even when she didn't see us at appointments.

Don't expect to see her all the time. She is available for meetings and consultations, and you will see her occasionally for monitoring or procedures, but understand that you will often see her support staff or other clinicians.

Dr. DiLuigi diagnosed me with PCOS at our initial consultation after giving me an ultrasound. We used injectable medication (Follistim) and a trigger shot (Ovidrel) for all of our cycles. The first cycles we did timed intercourse, and the other three included IUI. We were on the calendar to start IVF, but our final IUI was successful!

Our insurance covered the majority of our fertility care. The office offered different payment options for those without insurance, but I am not familiar with those.

Dr. Diluigi covered all the bases and was very good about easing my anxieties with my current pregnancy (since I had so many losses.) She really examined every possible cause for my recurrent losses and then came up with a plan that so far has worked.

Don’t be afraid to ask questions! She is very good about answering questions and getting more information or results if you request it.

Insurance covered my fees

No sucess yet!!!!! Uconn refused to work with my husband and i after doing 6 ivf cycles due to no pregnancy result. Dr. DiLuigi does not follow up after failed cycles. She had very limited contact with me unless I scheduled to meet with her or had a compliant.

Go to her husband, Dr. Schmidt

I have done all the protocols

Assembly line

$22,000

Dr DiLuigi gave me confidence in our plan of action. She showed a good amount of empathy and optimism. She answered all of my questions in a patient and not bothered way. I truly could not have asked for better!

Go see her!

I would rather not get into it.

Reasonable