Marc Fritz (retired)

When I first saw Dr. Fritz, I had come from a clinic that only wanted to pursue IVF. As Christians, my husband and I had some pretty big reservations about what that meant for us. We candidly told Dr. Fritz that we wanted to pursue other options before turning to IVF. Although it went against statistics, he supported us trying Clomid for a number of cycles and offered the option of Invocell. I do feel as though he went out of his way to balance both statistics and medical knowledge with the understanding that we were not trying to compromise on our faith. After a lot of prayer and an unfortunate loss, we went forward with IVF. He offered options that would allow us to feel comfortable with the number of embryos in storage after our first treatment, while carefully outlining the pros and cons.

Be honest and open. He shows little judgement. However, remember that he is seeing hundreds of patients and as much as he will try to review your records just before your appointment, you may find yourself having to advocate for yourself and reminding him of things that you've discussed in the past.

UNC as a practice has a very strict criteria that they follow to consider transferring any more than one embryo - age, history, etc. I was not offered the option to transfer any more than one.

He is so caring and such an intelligent, amazing dr. I could not be happier with the care that I received from him and the outcome of our IVF cycles at UNC. After my first IVF cycle resulted in an ectopic pregnancy I felt so strongly that I always only wanted to have him do my transfers and my next two transfers were successes! He always made me feel so comfortable.

To trust him fully.

I do not recall.

For our first son we ended up spending about $25K which included trying drugs like letrozole & injectables, all of the testing (baselines, mock transfers, saline ultrasounds, hsg tests) egg retrieval, one IVF transfer that ended in an ectopic pregnancy and a second transfer (FET) that resulted in our first son. Our 2nd son just required an additional saline and mock transfer and one FET which was around $6K total.

Friendly, comforting and very informative. I was scared to undergo one of my procedures and he calmly walked me through it step by step, which really helped me not freak out. He gives every bit of information relating to your options and answers any questions thoroughly. He also took it upon himself to contact my regular OBGYN and let her know what was going on.

Be ready for a lot of information but don't be afraid to ask questions or clarify things!

Initial consultation, HSG to check for any blockages, left tube blocked but developed a plan for IUI going forward with an understanding that we will consider IVF in the event that IUI fails.

My insurance does not cover UNC but they have reached out about financial counseling multiple times. We have paid for everything up front and it has been fine so far.

Dr. Fritz has a wonderful, warm bedside manner. He is honest and upfront about each step of the process. He was very knowledgeable and went above and beyond when things didn’t go as expected. He would always come up with a plan so I could focus on the next steps. He showed compassion when I was hurting and disappointment when I felt discouraged. He encouraged me to keep going when all I wanted was to give up. He never gave up on us and starting our family.

You are not alone and he will help find the best route to starting your family.

We used follistim and menopur 75 mg for the egg retrieval process. I did injections for 14 days but cannot remember the length of both meds. Then pregynl 10,000 units the night before egg retrieval. Then we did IM progesterone for 10 days prior to embryo transfer. Did not take. Then did a frozen transfer where with did just PO/vaginal estradiol with suboptimal lining, and again did not take. Went to start with another frozen embryo transfer and lining would not respond to PO, vaginal or patches of estrogen. Had a terrible reaction/rash to estrogen patches. Then we scratched that and started again but added vaginal viagra with again no improvement. After that I took pentoxifylline and vitamin e for I think 3-4 months. Lining got better so we added vaginal viagra I believe. And moved forward with 3rd embryo transfer with success. Each embryo transfer we did IM progesterone (50 mg) for 10 days prior.

$20,000

Dr. Fritz is clearly a leading expert in his field, is willing to take risks and adapt treatment as necessary for patients, and clearly cares about success. He is good at explaining concepts and procedures. He is not always the best listener, which can be critical in adapting unsuccessful strategies early (since management is pretty decentralized), or in making patients feel confident about course of action.

Be proactive about your own case management.

In my 3rd - 5th IVF cycles Dr. Fritz put me on his "eye of newt" protocol (estrace flare + HGH), which involved 375 Gonal + 75 Menapur + Lupron + estrace and 20 units of Human growth hormone (HGH). I had very unresponsive ovaries. My memory is that critical factors in these cycles tended to be management at the beginning of the cycle; whether we could successfully suppress follicle growth to get them to grow together, which apparently is a problem with severe DOR. Original intent in treatment was to save freezable embryos before trying to conceive; by the 5th cycle with 0 freezable embryos my goal was simply to have a baby. For each cycle we transferred available embryos at day 3 because there were so few. In the 5th cycle one of the three embryos resulted in a life birth. (whew!)

I had very few embryos and unproductive ovaries, so by the last cycle (#5) we just threw all 3 in. Dr. Fritz discussed risks with me, and his approach seemed to be consistent with my preferences and the specifics of my case.

Dr. Fritz is one of the best fertility doctors in the nation. He literally wrote the infertility textbook that is used in medical schools. I wouldn't go anywhere else. He has worked with us every step of the way to ensure that our questions were answered and that we understood every procedure and treatment we have done. He is warm and personable.

Be as open and honest as you possibly can. If you hold things back or don't tell him everything he can't provide you with the best quality service.

We have done three cycles of IUI with a dosage of 100mg of Clomid with each one and then a follicle scan to determine when I would ovulate and the best time to do the IUI. We have not gotten pregnant with any of these cycles.

My insurance paid for all 3 of our IUI cycles AFTER I hit my deductible amount of $2,000. I think I paid a little over 300.00 for the first cycle and then my deductible kicked in. The rest I'm not sure about.

Dr. Fritz was extremely professional and thorough as he reviewed the options that were available for our fertility situation. I did not feel pressured to accept the most aggressive approach to getting pregnant. He drafted more than one treatment plan as we sat there and discussed the pros and cons (regarding cost and success rate) of each plan. We left the initial consultation feeling relieved and comfortable with pursuing one of the plans that was discussed, knowing that the additional plan was available if we needed to refer to it.

He will definitely draft your treatment plan but may not be the actual doctor to complete the procedure; however, all of the doctors in the office are capable of carrying out the plan according to how Dr. Fritz writes it.

We were identified as having unexplained infertility. Dr. Fritz suggested that we consider IUI or IVF. He told us that IVF may have a higher success rate than IUI but IUI was also a reasonable choice. He prescribed 150 mg of clomid, ultrasound monitoring to check my follicles, and an IUI after a positive ovulation test. I got pregnant from my first medicated IUI.

The entire process (IUI, meds, office visits) cost between $800-$1000. However, the office assisted in billing some visits with our insurance at that time.

n/a

Dr Fritz explained from the very beginning that IVF was probably our last resort, and we had approached that point (not a hard sell, just informative). He listened to my concerns and considered my requests for extra tests, procedures, etc. My husband and I had several unsuccessful FET's and I felt like we all learned from each one and implemented steps to make the next one more likely to succeed. Eventually, we did have success.

I had unexplained infertility so I think I had a very basic protocol with Lupron, menopur, and Gonal-F. This did not change much through the course of four cycles. My retrievals produced good results for my age (38-39). We did PGS testing on all our day 5 embryos, then froze them all. We never did a fresh transfer because we were embryo banking.

We were accepted into the Attain program, which was $18,900 for two cycles. We ended up doing two cycles with embryo banking and then two FET's, which did not result in a successful pregnancy. Then we did it all over again, two more cycles at $18,900 with embryo banking and one FET. The medications were extra. Overall we spent approx $50,000 on IVF. None of it was covered under United Healthcare.

Dr Fritz encouraged us to do eSET for our FET's. We did eSET for the first two FET's, which resulted in a negative beta and a chemical pregnancy. For our third FET my husband and I decided to transfer two embryos. Dr Fritz was not in favor of this decision, but considering our history and age, was willing to do as we wished.

Dr. Fritz was incredibly knowledgable and helpful in determining why it was taking us so long to get pregnant. We never felt rushed with him, and he always provided very detailed explanations of what was going on and why.

Go see him!

I presented some symptoms of having PCOS, including increased hormonal acne once I stopped taking birth control, but did not have many of the most symptoms (I'm tall and very thin). He identified this immediately, and tracked my ovulation to find that I was not, in fact, ovulating. We tried letrozole, two different doses, to induce ovulation, but they did nothing. We then went to climbed, which resulted in two back to back cycles of ovulation. On the second, I went in and they saw two very mature eggs on my ultrasound, and so gave me a shot that caused the eggs to release. 2 weeks later, I had a positive pregnancy test, and 7 weeks ago I gave birth to a perfect baby boy. The whole time, the office and Dr. Fitz were incredibly supportive, and watched over my early pregnancy with great care until they discharged me to my normal OB/GYN.

We have great insurance, and they covered it all.

Met with him 3 times. He was very cold, lacked the ability to listen. His immediate and then persistent insistence that I use my sisters eggs gave me the impression the clinic is overly concerned with their success numbers. I was informed of my infertility in one breath, and pushed toward my estranged sister's eggs in the next... I suppose that was a natural transition for him, but not for us. He also had a constant sniffle and struggled to look us in the eye, constantly staring at his computer. I was also pushed toward surgery, and then could not get him or his office to follow up as I tried to schedule it.

Be mentally prepared to feel treated as just another patient in a factory of infertility. Science and numbers are his strength, not compassion.

My routine physical revealed the presence of uterine fibroids, which after a few other steps, led me to this clinic. He ordered the blood work, which ultimately sealed my fate... Nearly nondetectable AMH. He ordered the X-ray test to determine the patency of my tubes, which were determined to be fully open. At which point, he recommended surgery to remove the fibroids as a first step toward the possibility of conceiving. Our discussion left off with me needing to check into work and insurance, at which point I would call to schedule. I did all this as planned, but could not get through to get it on the books. I gave up after several phone calls, one I was able to get with another clinic.

It's been a while, and I have a terrible memory... But, I believe the charges were around $400 to sit and speak with the Doctor- to get results and recommendations.

I consider Dr. Fritz to be one of the most knowledgeable doctors in his field. He has a ton of experience in this field and is very smart. He is personable and easy to understand, and takes the time to explain.

Ask questions! If you don't he will assume you understand.

Fresh IVF cycle: Gonal F, Menopur, Cetrotide, HCG, and Crinone. ICSI used to to husband's low sperm count. 30 eggs retrieved, 18 fertilized, 3 survived to day 5. 2 embryos were transferred and 1 was frozen. Of the 2 transferred, 1 implanted and split. Frozen cycle: estradiol and progesterone. The frozen embryo did not survive the thaw.

I don't remember exactly. I want to say around $15,000 for IVF and about $5,000 for meds. I used the Attain program though, so I paid for more cycles than needed, since I got pregnant on the first try. All expenses must be pain up front before IVF can be scheduled. Frozen transfer was around $5,000.

Dr. Fritz prefers to transfer 1 embryo, but leaves the ultimate decision to the couple. He would not transfer any more than 2 due to my age.

He is very good at explaining exactly what is going on to the best of his knowledge. He makes sure you feel comfortable with the option you have chosen and genuinely cares about his patients. He called me himself the first time my hcg dropped and I lost the pregnancy. He also was there for the first ultra sound of my second transfer. He is very involved and very willing to help in any way he can, including working with your insurance for any extra paperwork needed.

Be willing to listen.

I paid about $1300 for the first cycle and about $1000 in medications. After that each FET was about $1000 each and $30 for each pregnancy test. so far we have spent between 7-10,000

He prefers not to transfer more than one embryo at a time for risk of pregnancy with multiples

He listens to all of my concerns and treats each one with high importance. He is very thorough and straight forward, never leaving me to second guess what is next. Phenomenal doctor! Even when he was pretty certain both my tubes were open from a previous HSG test, after seeing hospital notes from 2004 that said one tube was scared and possibly blocked, he decided to perform another one to be sure. That spoke volumes to me!

Be total open and honest so that he can help as best as possible. Don't be shy or embarassed to share anything.

So far he has checked hormone levels, my egg reserve, and even performed an HSG. Everything looks good on my end but we do know my partner has a sperm count issue. We are waiting for him to be seen to see if IVF will be our only option. So far we think it is.

So far I've only paid for the visit fee.

Dr. Fritz was very nice, yet very professional. He was very approachable and didn’t make us feel like a just a number. He seemed very knowledgeable and explained everything to us very detailed. He also had a lot of patience to answer all our questions. It’s sad that he’s retired but I wish him the best.

Dr. Fritz is retired now but UNC fertility is a great clinic.

They were competitive and reasonable

I only had one healthy embryo formed so never got to that conversation.

Dr Fritz explains everything in detail so that we could understand the process. Always greeted us with a smile and spoke even when we're not seeing him directly. Responded to email in a timely manner or had his nurse to contact me right away

Be in charge of your own care and ask questions

We did max stimulation with PGT testing due to failed implantation attempts. The result from PGT were not what we or Dr. Fritz could explain

No problem

I was over charged for surgical procedures that resulted in a balance that paid for the remainder of services but I was never given the total balance forwarded. Just told that I didn't owe anything

Caring, compassionate, an expert, and true professional. Plan on returning to him for the next go round despite the distance, would not want to go elsewhere. Every doctor every encounter at this clinic was impressive. Even those completing their soecializationa post med school! (Fellows)

Ask questions and trust he has your best interest at heart.

At my request we kept the dosing lower for the egg retrieval so as not to harvest a million eggs we wouldn’t end up using.

All the doctors plus the embryologists recommended single for the first two and were on board with double for the last round.

Dr. Fritz is a compassionate doctor with a kind bedside manner. His wealth of experience in infertility treatment is incredibly valuable to me as a patient. He also consults with other doctors (in and out of the practice) when necessary.

He explained things well but I am in the medical profession. My husband left without understanding much, which is okay. However when it came down to testing at the end of a procedure I told him we hadn’t decided yet and he told me that he wouldn’t have done the procedure if he knew that. Okay I should have communicated better but he didn’t phrase this particular step as an option

He is blunt and straightforward

My insurance covered nothing so the cost of IVF was 35K

They only transfer one at a time always

He listens to what you're saying and acts accordingly. He's aggressive in terms of trying to get a woman pregnant. He sets the program and changed it whenever we needed. When I had to do an HSG, he walked me through exactly what would happen and when my results came back negative, he let me know immediately.

He's 100% on your side when it comes to doing everything he can to get you pregnant and listens.

I was on nothing until after my 3rd try and then I went in for an HSG and was put on 50mg of clomid.

They were cheap because infertility was actually covered under my healthcare plan at the time. At most it was about $150 per visit.

Only saw him for the consultation. He explained everything in a manner in which we could understand. He was knowledgeable and answered all questions that we had. He responded promptly when I sent a message in the patient portal.

He is very knowledgeable.

Femara, clomid, injectables, and iui. We wanted to start with iui due to the cost of ivf and Dr. Fritz was confident that we could get pregnant either way.

My insurance would not cover so we had to pay out of pocket.

He was outgoing, knowledgeable very friendly and energetic. He took our opinions into consideration. It was more discussion than him just saying what we will do. I didn’t like that we didn’t see him for the iui’s

Be prepared for expensive treatment

He recommended in vitro or iui because of low sperm motility. We chose iui for cost. Wife took femara and clomid.

Over $2000 foot consult and iui

There simply is no one better. He has been in the field for so long and was so encouraging through the entire process. I wouldn’t have my babies today had he not been the angel he was. There is a reason he’s in such high demand throughout the triangle.

Tell him all your concerns. Ask any question.

He wanted to be as minimally invasive as possible and let God be God and do the work.

He was much more economical than the first clinic I used. He also ALWAYS tried to bill insurance before charging me out of pocket.

Two words... love him! There is nobody better, guaranteed! The next best is God himself. Dr Fritz is a top notch docto, friend and cheerleader during the entire process. Without him and God my twins wouldn’t be here.

Go! Don’t wait!

We used fertility drugs and did two fresh transfers and one frozen transfer.

Given my age he allowed me to put 2 embryos in.

Dr. Fritz was awesome! We felt very comfortable talking to him and asking him questions. He put everything in terms that we could understand, and didn't make light of our stressful situation, although realizing that this is a time that we should always be excited and hopeful for. I'm glad he was able to not be too serious and crack a joke or two; laughter is still important during this journey.

My one piece of advice is to just be prepared. This isn't an easy journey but Dr. Fritz will do all he can to help you through, answer questions, and put you at ease, no matter your age, race, or sexual preferences.

During my treatment, we started with birth control to control my cycle, then onto MenoPur and Gonal shots for a few days. During this time I was traveling back to the clinic every other day to have my levels checked. After a week or two my levels were where they needed to be and my final trigger shot was given.

$11,650 for procedure up front for procedure(monitoring, transfer, level checks, +200 for initial/post consultations) $3,600 for meds

I loved that Dr. Fritz went with multiple embryo transfer instead of a single embryo transfer. Although I was close to 40, I felt like that was the best thing for me.

DR FRITZ IS A STRAIGHT FORWARD PERSON TELLING YOU WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW WHILE ON YOUR JOURNEY TO CONCIEVING AND HELPING YOU MAKE THE BEST DECISION GOING FORWARD WITH TRYING TO HAVE A LOVING BUNDLE OF Joy!!He felt very concerned of the JOURNEY that I had been on!! Even making me feel special when I told my story to him!! Full of tears an heartache!! Of me wanting a baby so so bad!! And then him giving me hope that it could happen!! By using donor eggs!! But he mad me feel comfortable with myself to except the decision that I mad to move FORWARD

Express your JOURNEY to him!! And he will do his best to make a plan work for you

Really he was just able to explained a put a few plan option in place for me to choose from

$18,000