David Austin Schirmer III

Dr. Schirmer has shown compassion throughout our entire fertility treatment journey. He has informed us of our odds, the clinic's success rates, and our personal success rates and he has gone above and beyond to make sure that we are comfortable with every step we have taken. He has been transparent about every procedure, cycle, step, and possible outcome and he has diligently worked to develop a treatment plan specific to our needs.

Don't be afraid to ask questions! Dr. Schirmer is very open to answering every single question you have. I went into our IVF orientation with a LONG list of questions and he gladly took all the time needed to answer each and every question I had. I have never felt "rushed out of the door" or like he is "too busy to see us" because Dr. Schirmer goes out of his way to make sure we are fully informed and feel comfortable with each step.

Dr. Schirmer, like most Reproductive Endocrinologists, started with "conservative" treatments due to my age (26 years) and the length of time my husband and I had been trying to conceive at the time (1 year). During our initial consultation he reviewed possible treatment plans for us but ultimately let us decide what we wanted to do. As a team, we chose to do Timed Intercourse with Injectables which we did for several complete cycles before we decided to move to IVF. After every failed cycle, Dr. Schirmer met with us to discuss our next steps and what our desired treatment plan would be going forward. He never pressured us to move to a more aggressive (expensive) plan but laid out the facts and statistics of every fertility treatment (timed intercourse, IUI, IVF, etc.) and ultimately allowed us to have an open and honest conversation with us about our specific plan. When a treatment cycle seemed to not be going as planned, he met with us to "regroup" and figure out whether we wanted to continue with the current treatment plan or move to a more aggressive approach. We have felt valued and heard throughout this entire process.

Before each treatment plan was initiated, Dr. Schirmer and an Emory Reproductive Center Financial Counselor sat down with us to review the costs associated with our care. They reviewed different payment methods, options, and third-party companies for financial packages (particularly for IVF) that were available to us. They provided us with a full itemized break-down of all of the costs that we would be responsible for in that chosen treatment plan and worked with us to make sure we could get the desired fertility treatment.

Dr. Schirmer prefers an elective single embryo transfer but ultimately let me make the final decision. He laid out all of the facts and statistics and informed us of the increased risks to me and the babies, should we get pregnant with multiples. However, it was a discussion that we were able to talk through and voice our opinion and Dr. Schirmer let us make the ultimate decision about the number of embryos to transfer. Our clinic grades each embryo and transfers the best quality embryo first to increase the chance of a viable pregnancy. Due to conversation we had, the recommendation of Dr. Schirmer, and the results of my own research, we have chosen to transfer only one embryo and we are so happy that Dr. Schrimer heard our concerns and talked them through with us.

I went in having done a tremendous amount of research ahead of time but my husband had not. I asked a lot of questions to confirm what I had researched and to get my husband up to speed, and Dr. Schirmer was so patient and informative. We had 3 failed IUI’s which I do think was a waste of money, but Dr. Schirmer changed treatment plans and after switching to IVF we retrieved 18 eggs. Using ICSI we got 2 blastocyst embryos after our first retrieval. After a frozen transfer, we had a healthy baby! Dr Schurmer was great along the way and performed my transfer. We then tried a second retrieval which resulted in 28 eggs. Despite undergoing an emergency ICSI procedure after only 1 egg was fertilized naturally, no embryos made it paste day 3 growth. Another doctor in the practice performed this retrieval but she was great too. It was devastating to spend so much money out of pocket to not get any embryos in the end. Dr. Schirmer was very considerate and sympathetic when presenting our options and future treatment plans. We are in the process of planning next steps.

Ask questions if you have them. Make sure you are upfront and honest about what you want and what concerns you have so he can provide answers and you can be on the same page. I was concerned over a resident who performed one of my exams because the person smelled like smoke (which I was incredibly sensitive to) and Dr Schirmer was sensitive to my frustration and I didn’t encounter the situation again and he assured me that is not something that would occur again.

I already shared a good bit about this in my other response. 3-rounds of failed IUI. 1 retrieval that resulted in 2 embryos. 1 frozen transfer resulted in a live birth. 1 retrieval that resulted in no embryos. Lots of hormone medicine... so many shots and patches.

~$15k for IVF retrieval & transfer, plus $7k for medication (out of pocket)

I was told that Emory had a policy about not doing multiple embryo transfer for the first transfer for healthy women. We only transferred one embryo and got a single live birth. There are apparently some other considerations for transferring multiple embryos like older women or those with many failed transfers.

he was super approachable and took a lot of time to explain our options and how each option would work. He was also incredibly skilled based on our positive results. I would go to him again if given the option and we plan to use him again to transfer remaining embryos from our retrieval. We are very thankful for his excellent skill that resulted in our wonderful daughter

Be sure to ask lots of questions- he was excellent at reviewing our questions and giving advice without being prescriptive

I had 3 unsuccessful rounds of clomid assisted IUIs. Then shifted to IVF. I used estrogen patches for a few days before starting stimulation. I used menopur and gonal f. I had to be stimulated for 14 days then did the trigger prior to my retrieval. They pulled out 14 eggs, 12 fertilized and 5 remained after 5 days. I did genetic testing and 3 were genetically normal. I did a frozen transfer of 1 embryo resulting in a successful pregnancy and birth.

I was able to use insurance for some costs but all costs were discussed up front with a financial person. We had to pay a certain amount prior to starting the cycle for IVF

He recommended single embryo as I was young (34). I agree with this approach.

Dr. Schirmer was very emphatic from day 1! He didn't push for a certain type of treatment just to generate revenue. He was very honest and methodical which is exactly what my husband and I wanted from our doctor. He always explained this with great detail. He was very through and made sure to cross the t's dot the i's.

Ask questions...even the silly ones. He takes his time and it's happy to answer them.

He ran all the fertility tests AMH, FSH, HSG, etc. He also did genetic testing to see if there were any genetic problems.

I believe he recommends eSET.

When we came to Dr. Schirmer III we were told that by a previous fertility clinic our only option was to go through IVF. Dr. Schirmer didn't agree with that and said let's exhaust all other options before we do that. He helped my husband by getting him with a male fertility specialist and in the end, that's what gave us our healthy baby girl.

Take him up on the sound advice he gives. He's very open to hearing what you would like and delivering realistic options to fit your timetable.

I was put on Metformin as that always helps regulate my period due to having PCOS. My husband was directed to a specialist who put him on Clomid. Clomid help my husband's sperm counts and motility.

Dr Schirmer is very good at explaining biological issues. However, he does not know all the in's and outs of financial repercussions or timing of ordering prescriptions, so there was a lot of non-communication between him and his support staff.

always ask follow-up questions and what if scenarios. "What are my next steps? Who should I contact? What if my medication doesn't come in time? If I miss an appointment or am 15 minutes late, what should I do?"

My insurance covered my first round, but very little medication. $7k total after insurance

So far I have only had one appointment with Dr Schirmer and he was very thorough. He explained each test and procedure he would like done and explains WHY and WHAT it would tell us. He also described a possible plan of action based on various possible results. He did say he ultimately felt like a more aggressive approach would be recommended in my case but at the end of the day we could do whatever I am comfortable with. I believe many others may consider him to be a fast talker however.

If you already have documents bring everything you have. Bring up anything that has happened in the past even if you believe it to not be related. Bring something to take notes.

We are not yet at that phase. However he did recommend we do IVF based on a serious infection I previously had an the damage it did to one tube. He believes that with endo and that infection the chances that my remaining tube is functional is slim.

I am currently self pay and a consult is around $450.