Michael Sullivan

Dr. Sullivan was an excellent listener and a great communicator. Prior to being referred to Dr. Sullivan, my OB/gyn sent me to a local general radiology group for my hysterosalpingogram. The tech explained what the test would include and shared that they would be setting me up and I would have to lay still and wait for the Radiologist to perform the test. It was a very cold and uncomfortable experience. I needed to have the test re-done when I started at Buffalo IVF. On the day of my re-test, Dr. Sullivan met with me before hand and was there from start to finish. He asked me questions about my life beforehand and talked through what he was about to do. I didn't know it was possible to feel so at ease during a test like that.

I would tell a prospective patient to not be afraid to ask any question that pops into their head.

The first strategy was to take Femara (letrozole) for three cycles. I showed low AMH, but no other hormonal imbalances and my partner's sperm samples appeared to be normal. My cycles have always been normal and predictable, but I was almost 34 years old. The first round of Femara we timed intercourse based on an ultrasound. After one Femara cycle , I had a hysteroscopy to remove a polyp near one of my fallopian tubes. After healing I was given two more courses of Femara with IUI. Then, we moved to IUI with injectables. I did one round of Follistim, with a trigger shot on day 10 of my cycle. I was monitored closely with ultrasounds and bloodwork. The next cycle included Follistim, Ganirelix and a trigger shot; also closely monitored with ultrasounds and bloodwork. After repeated attempts of IUI, we determined that IVF would be our next best option. I am now in the midst of injectables with an egg retrieval in the next 5 - 7 days. The IVF sperm / DNA fragmentation showed my partner's sperm to be borderline, which explained why the pre-ivf measures may not have led to a pregnancy. We are very optimistic that IVF will work for us.

My husband and I have a high deductible insurance plan, so we had to spend $3,000 out of pocket. This was rather easily achieved early on, following my hysteroscopy. We then paid co-pays for visits, including the bloodwork and ultrasounds. All medication was covered in full. We were lucky enough to have some left over injectables from IUI, to offset the IVF costs that were not covered by insurance. The cost for one round IVF is $5600.

I do not have comments at this time, as we have yet to do our embryo transfer.

Dr. Sullivan was knowledgeable and easy to talk to. He sometimes could start to go too fast in a conversation but would stop and explain in further details when asked. He was positive but realistic. I never felt like I left an appointment confused or not understanding what to do next. There was always a plan to look forward to.

Ask questions if you don’t understand.

I think this was more of a General protocol for unexplained infertility but the plan was to do 3 oral medicated cycles and 3 injectable cycles of IUI before moving to IVF. This became frustrating towards the end of the 6 cycles, but I understand that many people get pregnant this way and we could have chosen to Move to IVF sooner if we wanted to. The 3 oral cycles were with Chlomid. The 3 injectable cycles were with follistim and an Ovidrel trigger shot.

I live 2 hours away. Typically monitoring hours were at the clinic before 9am but they allowed me to get my bloodwork closed to home in the morning, then travel to buffalo to have my ultra sound around 3:30 so I could take as little time as possible off of work. This was so helpful!!

My blood work and ultra sounds for IUI were covered by insurance. I paid about $400.00 for the procedure plus the cost of medications which ended up being around $$2,000.00 total. I selected a $5,000.00 IVF package (not including bloodwork, ultra sounds, and medications) it ended up being around $7,000.00 but I was given some medications free of charge donated by another patient.

My consultation for IVF was with Dr. Sullivan and he strongly suggests 1 embryo transfer but when asked stated it is up to the patient.

Dr. Sullivan is very knowledgeable and passionate about his practice and helping his patients. He wants what is best for you and your future. He is hundred percent transparent even if it's unfortunately not what you might want to hear. In the event that things might not go as planned he is very compassionate and expresses his gratitude/concerns. As a patient it can be upsetting but he has what is best for you in mind. He is hardworking and dedicated as he has waited for me to arrive after work when I was experiencing overstimulated ovaries. He always makes himself accessible and/or his staff as they have an after hours line that you can call if needed. He is dedicated to his practice and his patients.

Go in with an open mind and know that him and his staff will take your under thier wing to give you the best care. They are very accommodating and friendly!

At first I started on a hormone pill. I want to say Femera? They gave me this to help ovulate. After a while I went from taking that to Gonal-F and Ovidrel with IUI's as the pill was not working and they wanted to begin the next step. On my second or third IUI with Gonal- F and Ovidrel I ovulated sooner then they expected. Therefore, the next time. So the next two cycles I was using not only Gonal-F and Ovidrel but I began to use Ganirelix so I would not ovulate so fast on my own and they could manage it. They also added endrometrian. The first time with Ganirelix I had 4 mature follicles and they proceeded with my IUI. It didn't work. Therefore, we continued to the next cycle and Dr. Sullivan canceled my IUI cycle because I had 6 mature follicles. I was heartbroken but he was just looking out for me. He now recommends IVF as my body responds well to the treatment.

Most of my insurance covered a share of my treatment and medications. However, it does not cover IVF or medications. I currently am working with them to pay them as I owe them $1,200. They are being very flexible and understanding.

I unfortunately can't fully comment on this manner as we unfortunately have not made it this far. We had a consult with him about IVF. We just do not have the money to go through with it right now. Very heartbreaking.

Straightforward and honest, he was clear of what the expectations were for someone my age. He didn’t make it seem impossible but he was honest about the challenge. He performed the retrieval but his staff performed the IUIs. He answered all our questions in a manner we could understand. The process was very emotional and long it seemed to me. I only saw him 2 or 3 times and mostly saw his staff.

Ask all you want, he was always willing to answer. Don’t be afraid.

I don’t remember all of it. We did Clomid for each of the IUI cycles. For the egg retrieval we did injectables and have many sonograms to evaluate how my follicles were developing and measuring them. Once at the right size we did the retrieval. If I remember correctly we had like 28 follicles but only got 13 eggs.

Including medications, monitoring, labs, retrieval and all the appointments we spend $17,000

We didn’t make it that far sadly.

Although I did not become pregnant, I do not blame dr Sullivan or the clinic. Dr Sullivan has the perfect personality for such a delicate topic and hard journey for so many people. He is kind, gentle when addressing issues, and stays on topic and addresses every question I could have. I never felt rushed out of his office and I always felt welcome to come to him with questions and concerns.

Go in with an open mind and trust the doctor. Also, do some of your own research but don’t take it all to heart as research online isn’t always accurate. Lastly, become knowledgeable with options so you can ask what’s best for you.

We did femara with trigger shots three times for IUIs and once did an iuI with gonalF injections and trigger shot. Definitely got more response from gonalF and even got a phone call after hours to talk about follicle count

Each ultrasound is around $150, blood work is around $75 (for estradiol) and the IVF itself had two different packages. One cycle for $4000 ($3k upfront) and two cycles for $7000.l ($4k upfront)

I did one transfer with one embryo and one transfer with two embryos. They aim to do one but my body hasn’t been cooperating so we tried two.

He was very patient and understanding during my dye test. I was terrified because I had never been in a hospital for any reason. I so appreciated the time he took to explain the procedure and make sure I was ok.

Be patient. Educate yourself and ask as many questions as you need to make yourself feel comfortable.

I did a dye test to evaluate my Fallopian tubes. I took Femara, had an ultrasound to evaluate how it was working. Then tested for ovulation at home. Once I got a positive I had an IUI done the following day. I start my second round tomorrow as the first IUI did not work.

Luckily, we uped our insurance and had HSAs so just have copays at this time but we do not have coverage for IVF so we shall see.

Dr Sullivan and Dr griffin are a team. So I sometimes see dr Griffin, whom I trust and care for equal to dr Sullivan. My frustration lies in being "unexplained". But i do feel that the Drs are trying everything they know to do.

Be patient, it is a long journey. Every time you think "this is going to be the answer". That's not always the case. But the Drs truly care ans are willing to try and suffest whatever it takes to reach your goals.

We started with birth control, lupron, a baseline scan and bloodwork, added follistim with regular scans and bloodwork (sometimes daily) then trigged with ovidrel. I had 18 eggs, 10 mature, 8 fertalize and 2 make it to 5 day blast. I did a fresh transfer of one embryo, using endometrin tabs and froze the 2nd. This resulted in a chemical pregnancy. I then prepped for a FET. There was a shortage of PIO, so again I did BC, lupron and a light, monitored stimulatuon with follistim. I triggered and fm5 days later transferred my frozen blast. This resulted in a BFN. I did a miscarriage BW panel checking for blood clotting disorders and autoimmine diseases. My husband and I both did BW to check for chromosomal abnormalities. Everything came back normal. We proceeded for our second retrieval. We followed the same protocol. We retrieved 12 eggs, 6 fertalized and 2 made it to 5 day blast. We did a fresh 5 day transfer. Transferring both embryos. Resulting in another chemical. We proceeded with another consult. We decided in a hysteroscopy. I had that done, he scraped my lining to smooth it out, but didnt find anything suspect. I then prepped for my 3rd retrieval. He felt like the lupron supressed me to much. So we started with birth control, I did a baseline apt and proceeded with follistim, we also added in a low dose of HCG. I did regular bloodwork and US and added in ganirelix. I triggered with ovidrel. We retrieved 24 follicles. I can't remember how many fertalized and all that jazz, but again, we wound up with 2 blast. Which was very disappointing. I did a fresh transfer, with endometrin, both blast. And it resulted in my 3rd chemical or a possible ectopic. My hcg slowly raised before dropping. At a loss, we decided for another retrieval. The next plan was to do a freeze all and let my body rest before transferring. We were lining up for our best retrieval yet. Same protocol, BC, follistim and LDHCG, bloodwork, US, ganirelix. My bloodwork showed my progesterone rising. So they had me trigger and brought me in the next day for retrieval, hoping I didn't ovulate prematurely. During retrieval, the embryologist stopped the doctor and said the follicles were empty. I lost one ovary of follicles. He convinced me to come back the next day and retrieve the second side. We got 19 eggs and 16 fertalized. And sadly, we only ended up with two blast again. I froze both. After a few month break, we started prep for FET. Birth control, lupron, estradiol, PIO. Transferred one blast. Ended in a chemical pregnancy. Compeletely defeated at this point, I opted for the ERA test which just became available in NY. So i took all the same FET meds. I am currently awaiting the results and prepping for my FET of my last embryo. During all,of this it was suggested that I take prenatal, vitamin D, baby asprin and CoQ10.

I believe it is $7200 for retrieval, monitoring and freezing. And roughly 1800 for FET.

When 2 single transfers didnt work, we got more aggressive with transferring two embryos. And after that failed twice, we felt like we were blowing through our embryos so we decided to go back to single embryo transfers. And they supported our decision.

He likes to stick with tried and true protocols but they don't work for everyone. Most protocol changes i suggested were shot down very quickly if he didn't have hard proof they would work. Many times I'd have to beg for something to change. I really felt if I didnt fight for something new we'd still be doing the same treatments

Don't be afraid to advocate for yourself. Your body may not respond like everyone elses.

We started with femara and timed intercourse. Then moved to femara with trigger and timed intercourse. No success. Then we tried femara, trigger and iui. Nothing. Then we did a cycle of gonal-f, trigger and iui. Next we tried lupron microdose, gonal-f, trigger and then iui was cancelled because I ovulated through the lupron. We took a break then tried femara, trigger and iui again. Still no luck. There were issues along the way. I don't feel I was being monitored enough. There were cycles that probably never should have been started but I didnt have bloodwork done so there was nothing to back up the feelings of something's not right

I am very fortunate that everything weve done have been covered by insurance. So, Ive only had to pay co-pays

I really liked how Dr. Sullivan went over the details in how an IUI would work. He did explain that I had a blocked tube and that surgery was expected if the first 2 cycles were unsuccessful. I was sent to a teaching after to explain how injections would work instead of doing clomid. Dr. Sullivan had also explained about my husbands infertility issues as he was not able to produce viable sperm. I really wish he had more contact with me during each cycle and after all the failed cycles as to what I should be doing next

I would let them know Dr. Sullivan was very nice but I felt like he was talking from a script like he would explain things to each patient this way. He was very nice but I just feel like he was very vague in explaining and giving detail in my own fertility issues.

Cycle one I was placed on a low dosage of femera not sure the exact amount I believe it was 2.5, we then did a sonogram to look at the eggs we did one IUI after it failed we did a second IUI and was placed on a little higher dosage of femera and was prescribed 250 mg ovidril. After the second cycle failing Dr. Sullivan recommended I have the surgery to have my left tube operated on. The third cycle I was placed on follistm they started me on a dose of 125 mg after my eggs were growing rapidly they lowered me down to 100 then 75 everything looked great as the nurse described. We also did 250 mg of ovidril that cycle after that cycle failed we did another round of follistm starting at 150mg and decrease again to 100 then 75, I had 4 mature eggs and they advised Id have to go on Lupron instead of ovidril because I was at high risk for overstimulating my ovaries. My hormonal level was also at great height as it was 3,574 a good amount for IVF. I was then giving estrogen medicine to help my lining also was placed on progesterone. After the 4th failed cycle we've decided to get a second opinion.

Most of my procedures were covered under Bluecross Blue Shield I only had to pay co-pays of $10. Some sonograms were more during the time I had worked for a different company and procedures were around $50 for an IUI. For medicines I had to pay about $500 total for injections and femera. I had to pay about $700 for my surgery and since we needed a donor for sperm we paid about $5,000 total for sperm.

Not applicable

Dr Sullivan spoke with me on a real person level and didn’t use terms that I did not understand. I did not feel as if he were rushing me through the appointment as most doctors do and he was exactly on time... no waiting in the office for 45 minutes before being called. He also made me feel relaxed and even joked around with me a little. My husband and I also had a setback on egg retrieval day that caused my husband to need TESE surgery right away and he was able to call a colleague and get us in almost immediately. While the results from that procedure were not what we hoped, we were super thankful for the sense of urgency he put on the situation and how well we were accommodated. He was by far the best doctor I have ever seen.

Feel free to ask any questions to get clarification.

I have only done 1 IVF cycle and the protocol that was used was the “antagonist method” which put me on more Gonal-F than typical (325iu). I was not sure what that even meant at the time, but I continued as directed with the Gonal-F, low dose HCG and Cetrotide. I went in for monitoring/bloodwork every other day and I ended up stimming for 9 days in total. On egg retrieval day, I had 11 eggs retrieved, 11 eggs mature and 11 eggs frozen. At the time I was upset that I did not produce as many eggs as I had hoped but I was thankful that the eggs I got were all mature. We plan on doing another full cycle this fall.

I came to this clinic in Buffalo,NY as their costs were the most reasonable that I have seen. The IVF cycle in total was $4000 and that includes embryo transfers for 1 year. They also offered a payment plan which was very helpful as well. For most people with insurance the bloodwork and ultrasounds for cycle monitoring would be covered. My husband and I were not insured at the time and all of our bloodwork, ultrasounds and TESE procedure were all out of pocket. However, the clinic let us know about these costs ahead of time so there were not any surprises.

Our doctor had not mentioned specifics about our single/multiple embryo transfer. He wanted to wait until we graded the embryos to see what our best chances were. However, he did mention that because of my age (30), that typically they only recommend a single transfer. Unfortunately we did not make any embryos during our cycle due to MFI so we did not transfer any.

Dr Sullivan does have good bedside manor, but its not outstanding. I sometimes feel a bit overwhelmed/rushed while talking to him and think of questions later. He does however answer every single question I do have and goes over options with me. I appreciate that he also takes into account my feelings and ideas. He allows me to advocate for myself and listens to my suggestions.

listen to what he has to say but also advocate for yourself. Ask lots of questions and discuss all options

I do not have an infertility diagnosis other than MFI. I occasionally have irregular cycles so Dr Sullivan first put me on Femara to motitor and track my ovulation. We did several rounds of TI and then one IUI with Femara. We moved on to IUI with injectables. Because of my husbands poor semen analysis we decided to move to IVF quickly. I respond well to meds. We did BCP, lupron, follistim and low dose HCG for my IVF protocol. We retrieved 27 eggs, 20 mature, 16 fertilized with ICSI, 12 made it to day 3 and 5 were good quality to freeze on day 5. Due to a spike in my progesterone, my fresh transfer had been canceled and we had to freeze all. We chose to do an elective single embryo transfer due to my age (30) and the good quality of the embryos. FET protocol was BCP, lupron, estrace and PIO. Day of my frozen transfer I was told that the first embryo thawed, did not survive and they had to thaw another for transfer. My FET failed and we now have 3 blasts left. We are trying a semi natural FET with support from Femara and a trigger shot. So far I am not having response to the Femara despite the success in the past. Hoping to do a transfer in the upcoming month if we can get good lining and follicle growth

So far we have spent $5000 on medication, bloodwork, and scans. This includes insurance coverage and a high deductible for all. We spent an additional $6000 out of pocket for an IVF package that includes 2 retrievals within 1 calendar year along with frozen transfers. Also includes ICSI

Dr Sullivan highly recommended eSET due to my age and the grade of my embryos. He was open to discussion on transferring 2 but we agreed to try with 1 especially for our first transfer

He was the doctor that we saw first and made it sound like we would have no problem achieving pregnancy. He did not do our retrieval or transfer, or see me during the ivf cycle. He was only writing orders for meds, then after transfer when the baby wasn't developing he was involved.

Make sure you do your own research and ask every question you can think of, the doctors don't tell you how much could go wrong.

Birth control pills for 3 weeks, followed by Lupron then stimulating meds, Lupron and hcg. I had a good amh and produced many eggs.

$4000 for one ivf retrieval $600 to freeze husband's biopsied sperm $50 to thaw that sperm $350 for genetic blood work Monitoring blood work and ultrasounds were covered by my insurance

Sometimes I feel like he is somewhat dismissive of our concerns, like after my first injectable cycle went awry and I had to beg the nurse to let us talk to him. He seems knowledgeable but doesn't seem troubled by how chaotic and circus-like the office is.

Insist on getting your questions answered, even if he seems rushed. We pay for his time, and he's making a lot of money for it.

We did some rounds of oral medication and two rounds of injectables. I had a lot of trouble with the injectables, including two cycles that had residual cysts, for which I had to take birth control. All negative pregnancy tests.

Thousands and we're not even done.

They prefer to transfer as few as possible to avoid multiples.

Dr. Sullivan is a very busy doctor. When meeting with him he always presented the facts and statistics. He was personal to a certain extent. We are greatful for our 2 miracles under his care! I felt he along with the team of doctors there worked together to help us through this difficult process.

Always ask as many questions as you think you need to fully understand everything. You are not alone... there are many avenues of support.

Dr. Sullivan begin with oral medication first which after a few rounds we learned was not aggressive enough. We then moved on to to injectables. It took a while for us to figure out the "perfect" way to get my ovaries to respond without over stimulating (which happened once). We did a conversion to IVF with my first child which was successful. Two years later I had success with my 2nd try of an iui!

We were required to pay co-pays for most meds.. ivf was not covered under our insurance so we had to pay out of pocket for that procedure when a last minute conversion from iui had to be done

Would have liked a slightly more personal experience instead of him having a plan in place before i walked into his room. Always wanted to be conservative with me since I’ve been able to get pregnant on my own 3 times but only 1 resulting in a live birth.

Speak up on what you want and don’t let him do all the talking

I’ve done 9 IUIs with clomid, femara, gonal f, ovidrel and all resulting in not being pregnant.

All treatments were covered under insurance at appropriate copay

Haven’t transferred an embryo yet

Dr. Sullivan is genuinely nice and helpful. He knows what he is talking about and has done his best to try and help me get pregnant. While currently still going through the motions, I completely trust him and believe he is doing everything he can to help my situation. He is so understanding and reassured me that he is able to help me achieve my goal.

He knows what he is talking about and makes you feel so comfortable.

He informed me that I have PCOS and that he is putting me on femera to start since I would more than likely have a better chance than with clomid. He reassured me that he will help treat me to get pregnant.

He was very knowledgeable and listened to all my concerns. He was able to help me build my care and would listen to any suggestions I had and would have evidenced based information to help make decisions reguarding my care.

I appreciated the less is more approach. We are gratefully that we built our cycles around what we learned from previous cycles and that the least intense protocol needed was used.

Our first IVF was stimulated with low dose hcg, Lupron, and follistim and half the retrieves eggs were fertilized through icsi and half naturally. Small changes were included in our secon cycle including changing from vaginal to IM progesterone, and using only natural fertilization. Our second IVF resulted in our current pregnancy.

IVF is $4000 for first cycle $3500 for second and $3000 for any more cycles that are needed

They were comfortable transferring a maximum of 2 embryos in my IVF cycles.

I believe he is a great doctor. He made me feel important at first. Then my results came back and I had tubal blockage everything changed. I wasn’t seen as quickly; I had to seek out information from the office.

I would say ask a lot of questions don’t be shy to ask

I was put on femara for to me to ovulate

I thought he was very smart and kind. I wish I could of spoke with him more. But I did so iui with him and the nurse performed the iui. My first visit with Dr. Sullivan he got started right away. I had bloodwork and ultrasound that same day. And I started meds almost immediately. I really loved that.

Be prepared to listen more than you question. He will answer your questions. He’s just very informative and knows a lot. He talks a lot. Haha! Also he doesn’t do any type of exploratory surgeries. But he explains that reason very well.

He kept a good eye on the dosage of my meds for stims for iui. But with PCOS sometimes I would under or over respond.

About $6000

He was very friendly used words of encouragement and hope. Always listened to my concerns and questions. Was very thorough precessional. He really cares about his practice and patients. Talks to you like a person and explains things so they are easy to understand

Have a list of your questions ready to ask

Baseline ultra sound, Uterus biopsy, HSG scan, ultra sound saline test, femara, ovidrel, iui, and a lot of blood work. Biopsy should a polyp so saline test to look for more polyps. HSG to look for blocked tubes and possibly clear tubes. Femara to stimulate ovulation. Ovidrel for ovulation. Iui do to spouse morphology.

So far 4,000 if not more

He is informative and knows what he is doing. He is a little blunt and not exactly warm and fuzzy. We did 2 IUI with Clomid and once with injectables. They were not successful. Next step was IVF but my BMI was more than 40 so I was asked to lose weight before we could proceed. We ended up going to another clinic due to my weight and financial reasons.

Ask as many questions as possible. He is not warm and fuzzy but very well informed and a good doctor.

3 IUI. First two with Clomid and the third with Follistim. Had follicles every time and triggered with ovidrel and confirmed ovulation with ultrasound but unfortunately did not get pregnant.

The IUI's were covered by insurance. Medications did not cost much and the Follistim was donated to me.

He prefers eSET for IVF I think but we never got to IVF.

Dr. Sullivan is a fast talker, but he takes the time to answer all of your questions. He doesn't sugar coat things, which I liked knowing what we were up against. He has always been kind and understanding to me.

That he jumps right in and throws a lot of information at you. Don't be afraid to stop him as ask questions.

We started with blood work and a "dye" test, decided to start with IUI's and now are moving onto IVF

My insurance covered everything except IVF. They offer a payment plan

Dr Sullivan was very compassionate when we weren’t able to get pregnant. I do not feel that he really tried to find an answer for our infertility though. I feel like we had a false sense of hope and he always said the procedures should work.

Advocate for yourself.

3 iui with femara. 3 IUI with femara and ovidrel. 3 IUI with bravelle and ovidrelle. 2 full rounds of IVF with the same protocol- used bravelle. First one we got about 12 eggs, 2 were transferred on day 3, none to freeze, negative beta . Second we got about 17 eggs, 2 were transfered on day 5, 1 to freeze, negative beta for fresh, positive beta for FET- miscarriage at 6 weeks.

$3500 per round of IVF not including monitoring. Exact prices are on their website.

Dr Sullivan allowed us to decide if we wanted one or two embryos transferred.

Mike took the time to get to know us as a couple. He was our doctor for both of our pregnancies and I wouldn’t have gone to anyone else. Not only did he have a good bedside manner, but he was an advocate for all of his patients. He even helped us fight the insurance company when they were refusing to pay for some of my treatments.

None

I had injections to stimulate egg growth and release. They worked to find the right levels and never overstimulated me. I went in for blood work each day and internal scans every other to make sure things were progressing right.

I don’t remeber

None

Dr Sullivan came highly regarded by friends and past patients. I feel as tho I have had to take charge of my treatments by asking for the next steps instead of him suggesting we move onto more aggressive treatments, infertility is a tough struggle and it makes you very sensitive, you want to feel like you're the doctors biggest priority it is not always the case with him although I do feel like he is great at what he does and I have seen his methods working we have yet to achieve a pregnancy after over a year of treatments and are now moving on to Ivf

Go into his office prepared with questions, he talks fast and throws a lot of information at you at once