Cecil Long

Dr. Long is a compassionate doctor with execellent communcation skills. He gets to know his patients on personal level and my husband and I walked away from our first consult feeling extremely grateful for having met him. He helped us feel important on this emotional journey and educated us every step of the way. He was relatable and accessible for each concern or question we had with our infertility. He told us from the beginning he would personally enjoy our next IVF cycle was a better experience than in past and although he couldn't promise us a baby, he promised us a better experience. We had been going through secondary infertility for years before we met Dr. Long. At a prior clinic we had gone through several cycles of hormones, IUI's, a miscarriage and unsuccessful IVF attempt. We found out about Dr. Long from a friend's recommendation and it was the best decision we made to schedule consult with him. I would recommend him to anyone. He will do his absolute best to ensure each of his patients with best possible chance of successful outcome. He hires the best staff and uses best and newest technology to ensure he gives his all to each patient he has. Although our IVF cycle with him did not go as planned, we felt like we were in better hands with Dr. Long and his clinic.

Go have a consult with him. Talk to him about your needs and allow him to get to know you and trust him with his treatment plans. He is an excellent doctor with wonderful bedside manner.

When we came to Dr. Long, we had already been through several IUI's, a miscarriage and a failed IVF transfer of our only embryo. After our consult with him, he immediately did a thorough exam and found that I had a couple polyps... something my other doctor should have noticed and dealt with before our transfer. He recommended surgery to remove and mentioned he thought I may have endometriosis; which I did. After surgery we waited few months to make sure everything healed correctly. After getting the green light, we started a traditional IVF cycle. After previous cycle with genetic testing of embryos (with different doctor and clinic) we learned that I have Balanced Translocation so we felt IVF was our best option with genetic testing. We started a cycle with shots and appeared I had healthy number of eggs. On day of egg retrieval we were excited; but disappointing to find out out that several of my follicles we saw on sonogram did not contain an mature egg. We left with less eggs than expected, but still hopeful for future. On day of egg retrieval, Dr. Long had his embryologist on site and and used ICSI to create embryos. It was a very fascinating process. We found out that of our 6 eggs, 5 of them developed into an embryo - however, by the time day 5 came around, none of them had made it, so we didn't have any embryos to send off to testing. This was such an emotional journey because we thought after everything we had learned that "now was our time". However, we left with no regrets that Dr. Long had done everything in his power to help us (not a feeling we left with at the other clinic with previous doctors). He was there for us after this and has continued to consult and talk future options.

As anyone going through IVF can relate, costs are very expensive. However, it was very comparable to our previous IVF clinic, actaully slightly less. But the mian thing was how easy it was to get answers. Each visit we knew exactly what we owed and we had a billing quote up front that covered everything we would be charged. We did not get that at previous clinic. Here they worked very closely with our insurance and billing and made sure there were no errors or mistakes and always communicated with us in timely manner.

Unfortunately, we did not make it this far with Dr. Long for our IVF cycle.

At the former clinic we felt like we were a number paying for their fancy building and once we paid the big bill we were herded through like cattle. This is NOT how Dr. Long operates. He and his team are there because they care and I truly believe if one of his staff does not care, he would not keep them their long. He keeps his costs affordable and explains how and why at your first visit with him (1/3 of the price of our first clinic we used). Dr. Long is particular about who works with him and even told us that he works hard to keep the best staff to suit the care of his patients and to represent his name and his practice. We will continue to see Dr. Long until our family is complete and we will always refer people to him and his team.

If you don't see the doctor every visit, it's totally fine. His staff is so knowledgeable and consult with him on all decisions. I think this is one reason they are able to minimize costs because Dr. Long spends the majority of his time to ensure that everything is smooth and simplified and oversees everything not just patient visits and concerns that his staff can handle.

I have never had a regular cycle. I don't know names of protocols. I had a month of estrogen treatments prior to stims and medroxyprogesterone (I'm pretty sure) to make me have a period and then started birth control for a certain period of time. On stims I used follistim, menopur, ganirelix and triggered with overdril. Of course I had progesterone following retrieval and transfer and such.

The costs were 1/3 of the costs of the first clinic. I think we paid about $6k for IVF here and did not have additional ultrasound expenses (this cost not including medication and a copay at some visits) Last clinic charged approx $12k for procedures and a monitoring fee every visit and I constantly got bills for ultrasounds. At ACRM I did not receive ANY bills for an ultrasound.

He was ok with 2 transfers because I had only one implant with a multiple transfer at my last clinic - and miscarried following that one implanting. He did let me know risks of multiple pregnancy and confirmed me and my husband were ok with multiple babies since that was possible.

During our consultation, Dr. Long answered every question we had, talked us through the best course of action and overall we felt great about choosing him as our doctor until the cycle started. Once our cycle started we never saw him or spoke to him until the egg retrieval and embryo transfer. We had chose to do the invocell on day 4 i started to run fever i called the clinic they told me to monitor and take meds they prescribed that my body was trying to reject the device. The next day was my embryo transfer which they still did that day. The next day i felt very full, couldnt walk, still had a fever. I went in for a check up to make sure everything was okay i had developed OHSS. After our embryo transfer failed, we set up a next steps consult where Dr. Long never came and talked to us but instead sent another doctor who didn't really know what had been going on in our cycle and kept leaving the room to go to his office to find out answers to questions we had because she didn't know. She had informed us that she saw i had some adenomyosis and uterine fibroid. She had recommended we do a procedure before our next cycle to remove all of this. We were never made aware of the adenomyosis and what the outcome of getting it removed or not could be. The ultrasound tech had told us about the fibroids but after Dr. Long saw those he said they would be fine not to remove because they were right on the borderline. We walked away from the cycle we no pregnancy and feeling like they had just taken our money because we weren't made aware of important medical conditions that ultimately impacted the result of our cycle.

I would say to make sure you asked questions about every little thing you see on the monitors because they will not tell you.

Follistim AQ # 2 pen 900, 300 Menopur 75iu # 7 vials Progesterone in oil 50mg/ml; 3 vials Ganirellix 3 syringes 1 hch

First Cycle: $4,900 Medications: $1,825.05

He didn't push us on how many we transfered he let us decide. We decided to go with 2.

Dr Long has so many good qualities about him and his bedside manner as a doctor. I have nothing negative to say about him. During our initial consultation, he gave my husband and me his personal cell number and told us to call/text him whenever we had questions or concerns. One Friday I went in for labs to determine if I was pregnant, and his office staff did not get my labs back in time before they closed for the weekend. Dr Long took the time to go into the office the next morning (Saturday), check my results, and call my husband and me directly to speak to us and let us know the heartbreaking news. He always makes me feel as if I am well taken care of and as if I am an actual patient that he knows personally. I will forever recommend Dr Long to any of my friends who face infertility.

Don’t hesitate to ask questions or tell him when you can’t afford a particular medication, injection, procedure, etc. He and his staff are phenomenal in what they do, and they will find a way to change something up so that you can receive treatment without paying an outrageous price.

Most months, I begin taking 2.5 mg of Letrozole on cycle days 5-9. Letrozole helps me to grow follicles since I only ovulate on my right side. I then go in for my follicle check on day 9, and that would determine when I needed to take my trigger shot (Ovidrel—ordered from a specialty pharmacy in New Jersey). Once I take my trigger shot, we usually would go in for our IUI the next day. After our IUI, Dr Long would ask me to vaginally take progesterone which would help me to sustain a pregnancy if I had gotten pregnant.

Last year from August 2019-December 2019, mg husband and I paid over $1,200 in copays and parking. We also paid almost $1,000 in medication and injections.

I would say that as a patient he never made me feel like a patient but more like a close friend or as if I was a family member. when I would cry he made sure i had a tissue and a hug to follow to let me know we would get thru this. He has always been very through and explained things in a way I understood them. Back in February I had surgery because i had a blockage in my left tube well once he got in there he realized my other tube wasnt good either. so he went ahead and removed both of them. the first thing I remember coming out of surgery is asking what did he have to do someone said he had to remove both tubes I broke down, it was only a few minutes after that he was by my side explaining what he had done why he had done it and how much easier it was going to be for me to have a successful pregnancy. I know if he didnt truly care for his patients he would have been in there to explain his reasoning that quick.

If are having trouble becoming pregnant and your present doctor had no explanation why it may be a little further to drive and cost a little more but to know why and know that you will be treated as a human making an appointment with Cecil Long is worth every penny. He is one of the most amazing men I've ever met.

they were very affordable a lot better than I expected. and they worked with me if i had to pay out of pocket.

Dr. Long really cares about his patients. He sees every patient personally at each visit. He has such passion for the work he does. He explains things throughly and is always there if you have any hesitations or questions. His level of care is exceptional.

Just take the chance and schedule a meeting with him. You will be surprised at how much he treats you like family instead of just another patient or dollar sign.

He has used letrozole, folistim, gonal f, menopur, sub q and IM injections. We have tried many different combinations. Each with different results. He has worked on finding the right combination of meds for my particular need at each cycle. I actually had a chemical pregnancy with my very first round of letrozole. Nothing the next round. Each round has faced it's own challenges. He has faced each with a new plan of action. I have had 2 corrective surgeries under his care, to remove fibroids, stage 3 endometriosis, a blocked tube, scar tissue from previous surgery (unrelated). He has taken exceptional care of me each time.

Monitoring appointments are very personal. The doctor is usually in with each patient to assist with the monitoring and explains everything that is going on. I feel like this is exceptional care. You won't get this a most clinics.

When I first became a patient everything was out of pocket. For the most part it still is, he does have more set cost for his procedures, this has made the process more affordable for his patients.

He approves of both depending on the patient.

Dr. Long is a God send. He pushed me to have a surgery that my other doctor told me to ignore. During that surgery he found and removed a uterine septum (which could have been causing me to miscarry repeatedly), uterine fibroids, scar tissue and polyps. If I hadn't had that surgery, I would've spent 20k on IVF just to lose the baby IF I got pregnant. He talks to us each and every time we go to see him. He is honest. He gives us his personal phone number. He calls almost immediately if I need him. I have never met a more caring person/doctor.

Go see him immediately. He is a caring and wonderful person. I wish I would've gone to him first. Also, bring a notebook. He explains a lot and it's good to have something with you to write it all down.

First was laparoscopy and a hysteroscopy. After that I took estradiol for 25 days to heal and for the last 15, I took progesterin as well. Then we started with letrozole and gonal-f with a trigger for an IUI. I ovulated too early. Then we did letrozole and a trigger. No pregnancy yet. We're looking to do the invocell in April.

He is cheaper than anyone else in Birmingham. He's not trying to make money just babies!!!

Dr. Long pushes for eSET because he doesn't want multiples. He worries they will put too much pressure on the body.

I’ve only been working with Dr. Long since June. Both my husband and I think highly of him. He has a genuine personality that puts you at ease. This is hugely important to me since for most visits your pants are off and your feet are in stirrups... Dr. Long answers questions without making you feel needy or like you are taking up too much time. He is quite optimistic-sometimes I worry that he won’t be able to deliver what is said.

Ask all the questions you want.

I’ve had one oral medication cycle, one oral and injection cycle with timed intercourse and one oral/injection cycle with IUI. A trigger ahot was used with each of these cycles. I am currently in my TTW from my first IUI. Medication has been used because I do not always ovulate on my own and I respond well to the medications...increased chance of pregnancy. One month after starting treatment with Dr. Long, I had a laparoscopy as he suspected endometriosis. I had Stage II endo and a uterine polyp.

My insurance doesn’t have coverage for any medication. Procedures-surgery/ultrasounds/labs have been covered to an extent. The clinic does always explain cost. I’ve spent probably around $5500 so far but this includes everything.

Dr. Long does IVF with ICSI and INVOcell.

Dr. Long has excellent bedside manner. He is very thorough, though not as aggressive as we would have liked at times. He’s very conscious of the cost of treatment, but sometimes can ignore that fact. Hence, we wish he would have been a bit more aggressive with out treatments. There were several cycles where we used injections, which are very expensive, and rather than up the dose or change the medication protocol, he would have me taking injections for more than two weeks. Honestly, we believe that contributed to late ovulation and therefore lack of success with our IuI procedures.

Ask him to be aggressive with treatment.

Cycles 1&2, Clomid with monitoring. Cycles 3-5, Gonal-f, Menopur, and hcg trigger with IUI. Rational was to try and produce one quality egg each cycle. Quality over quantity. None of the cycles were successful.

Each cycle cost us between $2500 and $4000.

I went into my first NP meeting not knowing what to expect and being scared to death! My sister used Dr. Long for in vitro and conceived and I've had other friends use him. Everyone in his office and himself included made me feel completely comfortable, easing my anxious mind and making me feel incredibly hopeful! His office makes you feel like you're a part of one big family and they along with you want you to succeed in becoming a parent and will do everything in their power to make it happen. Although, I haven't reached my goal of carrying a child and becoming a parent, I feel extremely confident that Dr. Long and his staff will make that happen for me one day! I'm not giving up and I know they aren't giving up either! Dr. Long was so compassionate when I suffered my miscarriage. It was gut wrenching but he made me believe that it was just the beginning and I would get my miracle child and I truly believe with his help I will.

Don't give up! Trust in him and the work he does. Patience is key.

He first made it clear that we would go at the speed I wanted to go and whatever I didn't want to do we wouldn't. We started off with routine labwork and ultrasound. I was someone who didn't respond well to clomid so he put me on Letrazole 5 mg. If I responded well we would continue with either our first IUI or he told us we were free to try naturally. The first time around we tried ourselves and we're unsuccessful. Next cycle, same thing Letrazole 5 mg and we did our first IUI and got pregnant. I feel like with me being older in age, he felt time was of the essence so let's do the IUI and proceed from there right off the bat. Unfortunately I miscarried at 8 weeks and my next 2 iui's were unsuccessful so I'm waiting for my next meeting with him in a couple days to come up with a new gameplan.

As I'm still going through the process, this is a hard question to answer. I consider myself to have really good insurance so all I've paid is my copay except for the iui's which are covered so I pay for those out of pocket.

I haven't yet experienced this yet. I know when my sister was going through in vitro he would not implant more than 2 embryos at a time. After speaking to other friends who use Dr. Long, I'm under the impression he only implants 2 which is what I would want.

Dr. Long has been wonderful and we are very excited we found him and look forward to having him help us along our infertility journey. He is very knowledgeable, understanding, and patient as we explain our past history and look to develop a future plan. He has identified issues upfront that will help us along the way and has been very thorough and positive so far. We are excited about the future.

I would ask them to set up a meeting with him and allow yourself the opportunity to chat with him and see how wonderful of a doctor he is and see if he has something that you both believe can help you succeed along your infertility journey.

I have just switched to Dr. Long. I had 3 IUI and IVF cycle prior to Dr. Long with another practice (and different doctor). So far with Dr. Long I have had initial consult, labs, ultra sound, and identified need for laparoscopy and he has successfully completed that surgery.

Too soon to tell, so far I have had one laparoscopy surgery and I had to meet my deductible first.

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Dr. Long is wonderful. Thorough, detailed, understanding, kind, compassionate... the list is lengthy. He tried so many things, and was so innovative and worked so hard to help us have a baby. And is still! He is the best doctor I've ever met and I have no doubt that he is and will do everything in his power to help us have a healthy baby and pregnancy!

Go to him! Honestly that is it. He is so wonderful!!

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We liked how matter of fact Dr. Long is when explaining treatments and risks/benefits. He is very thorough, without overwhelming you with data. We like that he is optimistic but realistic. The only thing that really bugged us is that we felt that for all the money we were spending, he wasn’t being as aggressive as we would like.

Expect a slow and steady course of treatment. Always erring on the side of caution. It can be frustrating, but he has your best interest in mind.

Our cycles were IUI with donor sperm. Medication protocol was 10-16 days of ovulation stimulation, HCG trigger, followed by IUI 12 hours later. In three cycles, we used Follistim, Gonal-f, Menopur, and HCG. Progesterone supplements followed each IUI until pregnancy test.

Typically, $2,500-$4,000 per cycle.

Does not apply

Dr. Long did not string me along, which I appreciated very much. I did not respond to letrozole and he then changed the plan to final-f injections and iui which my body finally responded to and I got pregnant with twin girls!

Listen and trust him! He knows his stuff!

With Dr. Long, I started with letrozole. I responded perfectly the first month taking it, but got a negative blood pregnancy test. I tried letrozole for a second month and did not respond/ovulate at all. Dr. Long amped the plan and prescribed gonal-f injections. I did the injections for 18 days, going to the doctor to check in every 3 days and upping the dose of Gonal-f after each appointment. Finally, I began responding to the injections and had several mature follicles. We decided to go ahead with trigger shot (pregnyl) at home and iui 2 days later. I found out 2 weeks later I was pregnant and a couple weeks after that we found out it was twins!

Gonal-f injections were expensive. Insurance paid half, but still paid over $200 for each vial, and it took several in just one cycle for me. IUI was covered by my insurance completely!

Very likeable - explained things in detail - relatable to our situation. Willing to help in any way. Personable and never felt rushed or hurried in consultations. Tried many avenues for a successful outcome.

He is familiar to the infertility journey within his own family and makes him relatable.

In preparation for IVF, I had lots of blood work and ultrasounds along with an SIS and a HSG done. We did an IVF cycle in which I produced 8 eggs. Eggs and sperm were fertilized and we ended up with 5 healthy embryos. A fresh transfer was performed ~5 days later with 2 embryos. Two weeks later, we had a negative pregnancy test. After 1 year, I began taking Estrace to stimulate estrogen production for preparation of frozen embryo transfer. An endometrial scratch was performed to increase thickness of endometrial lining. After 30-45 days on estrase, we had a frozen embryo transfer performed. Two weeks later, another negative pregnancy test. Two years later. I got back on estrase and had a hysteroscopy performed.

~$24,000

I really like Dr. Long. He is straight forward without being blunt or harsh. He felt that Invocell would be our best option for conception and was not rude about it. He explained the entire process and I left feeling empowered.

be open minded to your treatment options. He works in a smaller practice, but don't let that deter you, he is awesome

We will be doing Invocell which is affordable IVF. Dr. Long and his NP Karen are one of the few practices in the United Stares who offer Invocell and have had results that are compatible with that of traditional IVF.

Semen Analysis $95 Co-pay $40 Ultrasounds were covered by my insurance

No

He is absolutely the best doctor out of all the doctors I have seen. He is absolutely amazing and I recommend him to everyone. He is always willing to answer my questions and does things very quickly.

Feel free to ask questions.

He did not give me clomid like former doctors did. I loved that. He also made sure to regularly do ultrasounds and explain as he did bloodwork, ultrasounds, and any other paperwork needed. He thoroughly explained surgery for the fibroid and endometriosis.

Much better than at UAB! He was reasonable.

He will do either one. They tend to stimulate for 3-4 for the patients best results due to hormonal issues.

After almost 2 years at another clinic i switched to dr long to do invocell ivf. He strongly encouraged a laparoscopic surgery to explore my uterus after a prior diagnosis of bicornuate uterus. I agreed to the survey and dr. Long actually found a uterine septum that was able to be resected and stage 3 endo. I don’t feel ivf would have worked if he had not encouraged this surgery. I’m doing stims for ivf this month.

If you aren’t satisfied with your care find someone who has your best interest at heart.

Dr. Long included myself and my husband in my treatment plan

Dr. Long only recommends transfer of two embryos at a time

Dr. Long has been incredible. He makes us feel like we're the only patients he sees. He is compassionate, caring, and really spoke to us more like friends than patients. He has done everything possible to accommodate us and help us on this journey.

Be prepared. Ask questions.

For IVF, TESA, Laser Assisted hatching, ICSI, we payed close to $13,000 per cycle. So, right at $40,000 total.

As we are currently still in the process of Fertility treatment and about to start the IVF process we have been very pleased with Dr. Long. He has been approachable and candid on our situation. Hopeful, but not making guarantees that he can't accomplish.

After a failed cycle he would readjust medicines. After several failed he decided to do a laparoscopy and hysteroscopy to see about endometriosis. After readjusting meds and trying IUIs and injectables moving on to IVF.

I would say reasonable for what they are. Unfortunately insurance does not cover much.

Dr. Long is one of few doctors with no arrogance to his demeanor. He is pleasant, conversational, interested to get to know you, your spouse, and you situation. He has a calming spirit and he can talk to you in a way that puts you at ease. I am in the medical field and he entertained all of my questions and concerns. I couldn't have been happier to have been referred to him. Dr Long is one of the most laid back physicians I've ever been around. You can talk to him about anything and it's like talking to an old friend. When going through something as stressful as Fertility Trx, having a doctor that can put you at ease is everything! I've recommended him to many friends and acquaintances and Everyone has felt the same I way about their experience with Dr. Long as my husband and I did. He's a scientist and will explain as much as you need him to.

Trust him and the staff. They do genuinely care about you!

He was exactly what we were looking for. He never gave up on us. He took you back to his office to discuss what happened and what the next treatment was going to be. He is a very compassionate man.

Trust him.

He tried a high dose of follistim first with my body only producing 1 follicle. Then he tried follistim with menopur and still I only produced 1 follicle. He increase the dosage everything but my body just hasn't responded well to the meds. Now we have to decide if using donor eggs is right for us.

I never actually met Dr. Long, despite me asking to several times. I would message him directly on the patient portal and get a reply from his nurse. I never talked to him or met with him face to face.

Be your own advocate. Question everything. And if you don’t get a sufficient answer, run! If something doesn’t make sense to you, trust your gut!

I was an embryo donor. Our embryos were made with my husband’s sperm and donor eggs, so I did not have any genetic tie to the embryos which had been cryopreserved out of state for 6 years prior to the donation. All of the FDA required lab work had been completed and all of our paperwork was sent to Dr. Long’s office. Dr. Long was insistent that I have a complete blood panel done at his lab. This panel was going to cost the donor recipient $5,000. He was requiring very costly and unnecessary medical procedures. When I asked about it, I was told it was an FDA requirement. So I called the FDA and also found multiple places on their website to show this was not a requirement. When I asked repeatedly for an explanation for why this was required, I was told that they were ceasing communication with me since I was being combative.

He found every way possible to charge for unnecessary things. He made me and my husband schedule an onboarding appointment as patients even though we were just donating our embryos.

He is very nice and understanding. He has personally gone through the procedures with is wife so he understands the emotions that go along with this type of procedure. After my first procedure that failed he took a lot of time to talk to me and my husband explaining why and what was our next step.

He know what he is doing so trust the process. Ask as many questions, he is very knowledgeable and doesn’t mind you asking.

3-weeks of birth control prior to starting treatment 1st and second round the medication was the same. FYI my first round was canceled on the day of egg retrieval bc we got COVID FSH 225 men pour 75 for 8 days the last 3 of those day I added in ganirelix triggered on day nine 8 eggs retrieved 7 mature 3 embryos transferred because of my age Chemical pregnancy low hcg of 7 Cycle#3 I am currently on FSH 225 menopur 150 for nine days last 3 days I added in ganirelix triggered on day 10 retrieval day 12 Retrieved 5 eggs 4 embryos 1 blast 2 early blast and 1 Momola? Transferred all 4 bc of my age and said it seems the embryos communicate with the uterus will give them a change. I find out tomorrow if I am pregnant.5/11 I am

1 cycle $4,900 which was canceled bc we got COVID 2cycle money was used from first cycle but we still paid for the medication which was 1,500 each time. 3cycle. 4,720 plus copay 45$ for monitoring appointment Medication was 1,900 for this cycle

My doctor said we are going to transfer them all due to my age and because the embryos seem to communicate with the uterus.

Dr. Long is very caring and a great doctor. Even though Dr. Hammond oversees all the other appointments, Dr. Long is always in the know of what's going on. I would recommend him to any and everyone! He always makes you feel like you matter. No question is too small. I will never go anywhere else. I wish I had found him sooner!

Do it sooner rather than later! You won't regret it!

I am currently doing INVOcell. My retrieval and transfer are schedule for this week and next! I am currently taking Gonal-F 225IU. I just finished 5 days of Letrozole 2xday.

It is $3900 for INVOcell at AIRM

I am very thankful that Dr. Long will let my husband and I transfer multiple embryos (2). I have had a previous child with no issues, so they said it shouldn't be an issue IF I were to get pregnant with twins. He did go over the risks of multiples though.