Robert Gustofson

Dr. Gustofson brought the perfect balance of science and humanity. His bedside manner was just what a 7 year infertility patient whose lost hope in her body needs. He has a genuine love of life, people and a passion for what he does. His approach (as well as CCRM's) is super structured, extremely diligent which allows him to move through patient challenges and resolve them in an appropriate timeline. Within 1 day, we had all the answers we needed to correct our 7 year battle. Dr. Gustofson built a strategic plan that day and for 13 months we followed it diligently. We are currently 11 weeks pregnant. Our success is directly related to his knowledge, diligence and surgical skillset.

Trust him, no matter how much your hope has diminished. There is a reason he requires all the tests he does—they provide him immense knowledge and give him all the tools he needs to make the most educated plan for you. No matter what has happened in your past, trust that he will lead you down the right one.

When we met with Dr. Gustofson in May of 2017, he diagnosed us with a uterine infection (endometritis), a polyp and a septum (one that was supposidly removed 3 previous times). He created a plan that included—a 2 month treatment to remove inflammation and the infection, then a hysterscopy with septum resection, a follow-up in office hysterscopy to confirm the septum, infection and scar tissue were no longer, a mock cycle to test my responsiveness, a uterine biopsy (Beta 3 Integrins Test), another follow-up in office hysterscopy, a retrieval (midluteal oral estrogen priming antagonist protocol), another follow-up in office hysterscopy with endo scratch and FET (Blast, BCPs/Lupron/Suppository/P4 in Oil QOD. All procedures were smooth. The most important step we believe was the constant checking of my uterus to confirm what had been done to it, was in fact done and showing the intended results. As a patient who has a thin lining due to multiple D&Cs, this step was essential. I was told previously that I had Asherman's—Dr. Gustofson never mentioned he. He in fact, never was intimidated by my uterus. Baby step, by baby step, he treated it and scrubbed my uterus till it was in the most perfect state. We tested meds till we found the right ones. In fact, we almost did not transfer because there was fluid in my uterus (which had happened in the past) HOWEVER we did because he believed in it. He said the fluid was mucosa and would go away, if not, they'd suction. Well, transfer day is was gone. He was right, AGAIN and we are currently 11 weeks pregnant.

We spent around 24k for retrieval & transfer with with CCS. This included all labs and scans for both. Not included was meds which were around 6k. We spent another 10k on surgeries and in-office hysterscopies. Our full day of tests cost around 4-5k. Travel was additional.

We transferred 1 very high quality embryo and it worked. Due to thin lining, we felt 1 was best.

I can't recommend Dr. G highly enough. I felt like he was 100% committed to getting and keeping me pregnant from the day we first met with him. He has a wonderful sense of humor and great bedside manner, both of which I knew I needed for this journey. That said, he always explains everything with solid data behind it, and really clearly described every step along the way so that we had a full understand of the treatment, risks, success rates etc. I also appreciated that he was honest with the success rates and only addressed live birth rates, since getting pregnant and having a miscarriage accomplishes nothing but heartbreak. We went through a very difficult period after the egg retrieval where my lining simply wouldn't get thick enough to transfer an embryo, despite every trick in the book. Dr. G never lost faith, and did an unusual protocol for me that they hardly ever do, but he was confident it would work in my situation. It did, and I'm now pregnant! I can't recommend him highly enough if you are just starting out, or have almost given up at other clinics. It is so important to have complete trust in the RE steering the ship for you.

Ask as many questions as you need to feel like you understand your treatment, success rates etc. He is incredibly patient and understanding. He and his wife went through fertility treatment, so I think he understands the anxieties more than most doctors. Another tip? If you're at a crossroads in your treatment, ask him what he would do in your situation if it was him/his wife. He'll give you the real honest answer which can sometimes be different than the doctor answer, and can be a valuable data point to help make your decision.

3 IUI's with increasing amounts of femera - all negative IVF with gonal-f, menapur, cetratide No trigger due to possible OHSS - I really appreciated this last minute change Fertilized with ICSI due to MFI Freeze all cycle so we could do CCS testing - 14 day 5 embryos After testing, 13 were normal (he advised against the testing due to my age of 31, we did it for piece of mind) 1st transfer attempt with estrogen priming - cancelled due to thin lining 2nd transfer attempt with increased estrogen, estrogen shots and viagra - proceed with 6.4mm very boarderline lining. Very tough call for both of us. Transferred 1 embryo and test was negative. 3rd transfer attempt - He said he was bringing out the "big guns" with completely different protocol called a Stim FET. I was on gonal-f and cetratide to stimulate my lining with my own estrogen, since my lining got to 8 during my egg retrieval cycle. He also had me do viagra again, and do the Antihistamine protocol of pregnisone, claritin and pepcid in case my immune system was rejecting the embryo. This doozy of meds got me to a 7.2mm lining, and we transferred two embryos. His recommendation was still to do one, but he was willing to do 2 at our request since the lining protocol was so tough for me, and we were ok with the prospect of twins. That cycle worked and I'm now 12 weeks with B/G twins!

All in start to finish, we spent about $65k.

He very strongly pushes for eSET for the first transfer if your prognosis is good. The general rule at CCRM is two single transfers with CCS embryos, then doing a double transfer if both fail. In our case we were so wrecked after the first failure, and the drugs I had to take for each transfer attempt were essentially all the IVF stim meds (with the associated cost as well) that he didn't have a problem with our request to transfer 2 embryos on our second try. For reference, all our transfers were with CCS tested embryos. He was honest about the risks of multiples and the goal for one healthy baby. He's not interested in you "trying" for twins, and he's absolutely right. But, if you get to the point where its just not happening, he's absolutely willing to adjust course and put in more than 1.

I would highly recommend Dr. G. He was honest about the odds, but still could be very personable and warm. I never felt rushed and could always ask as many questions as I needed to feel comfortable. He was also very available via the clinic's portal and answered emails within 1 business day. There were also a few occasions when he called me to discuss my situation. I appreciated the personal touches. I would have no concerns about recommending him to anyone.

Always ask questions. He will share all of his knowledge and expertise.

Being over 40 years old with no other challenges, he tried a typical protocol for retrieval. When I'd ovulated prior to retrieval, he switched up the protocol and monitored more closely to prevent premature ovulation. That second cycle didn't produce the desired amount of eggs. He'd then recommended embryo banking. The next two cycles were more successful given the changes he'd made to encourage more eggs. Unfortunately PGS testing revealed that age contributed negatively and all tested embryos were abnormal.

$60,000 for embryo banking plan (3 cycles) plus one FET

I appreciated that Dr. G was able to regroup after each cycle to come up with a game plan that worked for me.

Couldn't ask for a better provider for our journey. He is great in every way. I have no complaints about him as a provider. He is compassionate about what he does and wants to best possible outcome for his patients. Eases my anxiety about this journey and focuses on my needs for treatment.

IUI x 3 with letrozole - 5 days at 5 mg. Injection of pregnyl or novarel for trigger. Several ultrasounds throughout. Follow up as needed depending on test results. 1-2 mature follicles for each round. Negative pregnancy tests x 3 but I responded well to the medications and changes he made along the way based on test results.

Our costs were affordable as my insurance covers 50% IUI, labs, other tests. It does not cover IVF so we won't be able to afford that.

NA

Dr Gustofson was very thorough and knowledgeable. You can tell he loves what he does and understands how emotionally draining the process is. We always felt comfortable and in good hands. We had 2 transfers that ended in miscarriage. As heartbreaking as that was, we never felt like Dr Gustofson was to blame. We’ve had several Doctors that we felt it was more about the money to them and we were just a number. We have never felt that way with him. He came highly recommended to me and I would recommend him to anyone looking for a fertility specialist.

If you’re ready to make the IVF jump, you can fully trust Dr Gustofson and his team. It’s a scary journey and you should feel confident in your Dr. You will find that with him.

I had a blood test that came back elevated in a certain area which meant my blood was too thick. So after each transfer I took daily injections of Lovenox to thin it out and prevent blood clots. With the 2nd transfer they did an antihistamine protocol which included a steroid, allergy med, and heartburn med. It is a protocol they follow if the first transfer was unsuccessful. After both miscarriages they had me come in for bloodwork and an ultrasound to make sure everything had passed and my hormone levels were returning to normal. With the first miscarriage Dr Gustofson said he thought it was a fluke and the embryo had a cardio or neurological problem. But after the second miscarriage he said he thinks there is something else besides the PCOS going on with my body and they need to do more testing. He doesn’t want to keep doing transfers when obviously something is wrong.

Testing and bloodwork was covered under insurance. We only had to pay 5%of those costs. Each medication varied expense wise. Some were under $50 and others were a couple hundred dollars. In total they probably cost about $800. The egg retrevial, monitoring, and transfer were one payment of about 25,000. The second transfer was 6,500.

Dr. G is a great communicator and really cares about his patients. I work in healthcare and he does really have the natural ability to deal with this very emotional issue. I appreciated him and felt very comfortable with him right away.

Make sure you are aware of all the costs going into it

We did one egg retrieval using a normal protocol and I had 21 eggs retrieved. We opted not to do PGS genetic testing as it costed 6,000 more. We did do ICSI and had 11 embryos make it to day 5. My first transfer started out with BC and then Lupron, progesterone suppositories and injections as well as estrogen patches , famotidine, loratidine, and asa. I transferred one embryo and my hcg came back at 34 after 9 days and resulted in a chemical pregnancy. My second transfer looked identical but they put me on prednisone as well. I transferred 2 embryos and got pregnant with a singlet but miscarried at 9.5 weeks. Now I am hoping to move on to surrogacy

We spent approx 40,000 for one egg retrieval and 2 transfers

He is very responsible in this area and I feel he does the safest thing for the patient and potential baby. I don’t think they ever transfer more than 2

Dr. Gustafson is wonderful. He is extremely knowledgeable and makes you feel very comfortable. It is obvious that he truly wants success for you, and will do everything in his power to make that happen. Each time that I have met with him, I haven't felt rushed and I have felt like he allowed me to get all of my questions answered no matter how long it took. He always takes notes and provides the notes to me in the end. That way if I forget something that he said, I can look back at the notes. He also gives you his honest opinion every time without sugar coating anything, but does so in a compassionate manner. I could not be happier with my experience with Dr. Gustafson so far.

Seeing a doctor who truly cares about you and your treatment like Dr. Gustafson does is worth every penny.

I am still in the workup stage of an IVF cycle with Dr. Gustafson. He has told me that once I begin the IVF cycle, he will be doing an antagonist protocol with ICSI and CCS.

The totally costs for my treatment are expected to be around $28,000.

Dr. Gustofson typically uses eSET but will do a transfer of two embryos on some occasions.

From the moment we walked into CCRM we felt like we were finally in the right place. He was excellent at answering all questions we had and also gave us hope. He did not make promises he could not keep, he did not sugar coat anything but he communicated in such a friendly and caring way. He is excellent.

If you openly communicate what you would like, whether it is changes in plan or choices he will be open to this and he is excellent at receiving feedback.

For our first cycle we used high dose medications, menopur/gonal-f, clomid, omnitrope, ganirelix, and viagra. We got 4 follicles more than we ever had before. This cycle I asked if we could adjust to less medications and do "mini-stim" and he was open to this.

The cost of ER was around 12,000. The cost for embryology department was around 5,000. This is a rough estimate. They did give us a discount for being active duty military.

We have not got to the point of transfer so I can not say.

Dr. Gustofson is always smiling. He was always patient and took time to answer all my questions. I never felt rushed. Dr. Gustofson does not speak down to you or try to dumb things down - he’ll answer your questions scientifically and wait for additional questions. For me, this gave me a great deal of confidence in his knowledge and experience. His bedside manner is second to none. He is calming and kind at all times. If I had to include a weakness, it would be his support (and maybe experience) with complementary practices such as acupuncture, reiki and yoga. I’m a yoga instructor so I may be a bit biased, but I think meditation and fertility yoga should be more highly emphasized. But otherwise, Dr. G was the best I could have asked for.

Feel free to come up with, and ask, as many questions as you need to. He will never make you feel dumb for asking or rushed out of his office.

Microflare protocol with patches. Estrace Testosterone Provera Lupron Saizen Menopur Gonal-F Increased egg production since I had low ovarian reserve and low follicle count.

Pricey

Dr. G was amazing. Being a health care professional, it was very important to me to have the best and he was. He never rushed us through an appointment, made sure we understood everything, he was always free for questions and quick to respond via the patient portal. He was caring, compassionate, empathetic, incredibly smart and a great problem solver.

Just to make sure to double check if you are not sure about something or if something doesn’t sound right. Sometimes there is a break down in communication between the doctors and the doctors and nurses.

For stim-estrace, cetrotide, menopur, gonal-f, saizen, dexamethsone with pregnyl for trigger. For FET-vivelle, endometrin, progesterone and antihistamine protocol. I did not use BCP or lupron because I kept ovulating through both.

We paid $5000 for our one day work up, $26,000 for the IVF, $12,000 for meds.

Due to my age and quality of embryos, we decided to just do one embryo.

I have nothing bad to say about him. He made us feel very comfortable throughout the whole process. We have since moved out of state but will go back to him when we are ready to have our second child. There is another location that would be much closer, but it isn’t in consideration because we love him and the office so much

Trust what he says. He knows what he is talking about and can answer any concerns you may have.

We were one of the lucky ones where the whole process seemed to move right on track, but I am dealing with mommy brain and some of the process I really don’t remember. I just remember that we were beyond pleased with everything he said and did.

At the time we had insurance coverage, but parts of their billing was out of next work so we had to file claims without insurance. We also had to pay everything up front and file claims with our insurance for what we could. This is were the issues with the billing office started. In the end we only ended up getting back about half of what we should have do to one issue or another.

He was will to do what we wanted, but highly recommended doing only a single. He explained that while the percentage of a pregnancy that would take from a multiple embryo transfer, the percentage for multiple babies was also greater. This would put more of a strain on my and our babies which could possibly cause more issues. He looks at your overall health instead of padding his stats for pregnancies.

We absolutely love Dr. G and would recommend him in a heartbeat. He's straightforward, honest, doesn't sugar coat things and leaves room for hope if there is a possibility of hope. He has a good sense of humor and genuinely cares about his patients and their success.

Ask questions, don't be afraid to email him directly.

I was on the MicroFlare Lupron protocol with Omnitrope and estrogen and testosterone priming. We did this for two cycles and got a total of 4 normal embryos.

Dr. G strongly recommended a single embryo transfer, which brought us relief as we were worried about the risks of multiples and he brought those up as concerns on his end as well.

He was nice enough during testing but once my numbers revealed I wouldn't be a good candidate for IVF (and I was not inclined to use a Donor Egg ) he grew cold and no longer returned emails. He was compassionate when he revealed I had poor egg health but then immediately launched into Donor Egg and adoption without even giving the option of IVF, even if we knew it would be "throwing away" our money.

I assume he's great if you fit his profile for a successful IVF; otherwise, you will get no help from him. Look for someone else who is actually willing to treat you, regardless of whether it is good for THEIR numbers.

After being told IVF was not an option due to poor egg health, they then said I could do IUI if I wanted to pay. If my numbers aren't good enough for IVF, why would they be ok for IUI?! (Because they don't have to report IUI numbers to the CDC and are more than happy to take your money if there is no risk to their reputation.)

Dr. G is personable, kind, empathetic, caring, knowledgeable and a terrific doctor. He explained everything thoroughly, answered all questions and reassured us we were in good hands. He is the reason we chose CCRM.

Be upfront with your goals and any preconceived notions. Dr. G will help you understand if they are realistic but he will do so in a kind, compassionate manner.

At the age of 40, with PCOS, one ovary and very low egg response to three -four previous IVF attempts at a different clinic, Dr. G recommended donor eggs and ICSI. I also had to have a uterine fibroid removed prior to transfer, which was not previously diagnosed at the other clinic.

For all procedures, meds, two transfers and donor, the cost was around $40,000.

Dr. G helped us decide to transfer only one embryo based on my age and potential for risks.

Dr. G somehow was both gentle and very honest when talking to us about our chances of success. We had the utmost faith in his abilities when treating us - we felt like he was extremely knowledgeable, experienced and a top caliber physician. Even if we didn't see him at one of the routine lab appointments, he still reviewed our results and gave notes to the nurse, which made it feel like he was there every single step of the way. In retrospect, the only thing that stood out as sort of challenging was us not fully knowing what would happen if things didn't go according to plan. To be totally fair - this was to keep us focused on the plan successfully working rather than potentially needlessly worrying. For example - When we were gearing up for the frozen transfer and selected the embryo to transfer, I asked what would happen if this one didn't take. He assured me that there was a plan B (and wouldn't reveal what it was), but wanted me to be focused on plan A succeeding.

Dr. G is very happy to answer questions and to meet with you. Take advantage of this.

OCP Antagonist protocol with the goal of fresh embryo transfer. We ended up just going through egg retrieval and not doing a fresh transfer since my estrogen levels were through the roof and I was at risk for OHSS. Protocol included ~2 weeks of birth control, followed by stim meds. Those were Menopur in the morning, Gonal F + dexamethasone at night. Then after 5 days I added in Cetrotide in the mornings for another 5 days. For the trigger I ended up not needing Lupron and just did an injection of HCG. I also was on antibiotics around time of egg retrieval. They retrieved 30 eggs, which was a great number. I was hoping for 20-25. About 15 of them fertilized (half with ICSI, half on their own) and 8 looked good by day 5 and went into the freezer. We then had to wait for me to start my period (took about ~12 days if I remember correctly), and on day 3 of my cycle i started birth control pills again for about ~2 weeks to kick off a Frozen Transfer cycle. This cycle started with estrogen patches (Vivelle) which i swapped out every other day. Then after about 10 days I started Endometrin (progesterone) vaginal suppositories 2x a day, Medrol, Estrace, Doxycycline and a intramuscular Progesterone in Oil injection every other day up til transfer (about 6 days of this regiment). We transferred 1 frozen embryo and continued on the patches, endometrin, estrace, and progesterone in oil. 10 days later I went in for a pregnancy blood test and found out that afternoon that we were pregnant. I am currently 9 weeks pregnant and have just received instructions for weaning off the meds, and expect to be totally finished with them in about a week and a half.

Our fresh embryo transfer through Optum Parent Steps program (a program offered through our Insurance agency United Healthcare) cost about $14,000. Medications for the fresh transfer were about $3500. Our Frozen Embryo Transfer (also through Optum Parent Steps) cost $4500. Medications for the frozen transfer were about $600, and once I was pregnant the meds were another $1200 to last me through week 10 (at which time I weaned off).

Very strongly encouraged eSET. Said our chances of success was about 70% for SET due to my age (under 35) and the quality grade of our embryo (4AB), and that our risk of multiples was very high if we transferred 2 (like 60% chance of twins). He positioned it like "The ASRM guidelines recommend 1 embryo to transfer since you have a favorable prognosis, so we're going to transfer 1 embryo right?". I had considered transferring two because we were so desperate for a baby but I'm so so glad we followed the recommendation and transferred one.

Dr. G is young-ish (I'd say early 40s). He is a nice man and clearly strives to be compassionate towards his patients. He is very knowledgeable and I rarely felt that a question I had that wasn't answered to my satisfaction. He goes into each consultation with lots of information, so usually most of my questions were answered by his initial spiel. We picked him because we wanted to go with CCRM and heard that he had a better bedside manner than Schoolcraft or Surrey. Overall, I'm happy with our choice.

This may sound a little strange, but come armed with some ice-breaker small talk before your initial consultation appointment. The first time we met with him, he tried to ask us questions to break the ice, but we were so tired, overwhelmed, and nervous that his attempt fell flat as a pancake. He clearly really wants to connect with his patients and make sure their experience is pleasant, but he's not a super gregarious guy. We like him, but have never felt a great rapport and I wonder if we would feel differently if we had been able to make a personal connection during this first visit. Also - this is true of all CCRM doctors - but you won't see him much. But, if you have questions, he's very good about responding to emails. He's responded to all of my email questions within 24 hours.

I have unexplained infertility, with the only known issue is a short luteal phase. We started out with Clomid + IUI (including HCG trigger shot and progesterone support). He explained that Clomid works better than Femara for short luteal phase. He gave us a 40% chance that IUI would work over the course of 3 cycles. We never had a positive pregnancy test from the IUIs. We then moved on to IVF. He recommended ICSI to give us the best odds of fertilization (since we've never had a positive pregnancy test and don't know where the problem is occurring). He also recommended CCS testing followed by an FET given my age (38) and to give us the best odds of a pregnancy the first time around. He predicted that one cycle of IVF would yield 6 embryos, 3 of which would be CCS normal. Our first egg retrieval, we did estrogen priming with Protocol 3 and a lupron trigger shot. We ended up with 14 eggs, 9 mature, 6 fertilized, 3 blastocysts, and one CCS normal. In our regroup, he explained that he was surprised by our results, but suspected that it was probably a pattern that it explained why I hadn't gotten pregnant naturally. It took a year's worth of eggs in perfect laboratory conditions to get one viable embryo. We decided to do a second IVF cycle to bank more embryos, because ideally we want two children. He switched the protocol for this next one in the hopes of getting more eggs/embryos, and noted that this part of the process was more art than science. We did testosterone priming and microdose lupron flare (protocol 6). This cycle was much more exciting and dramatic! At my first follicle check, one follicle had shot way ahead and was already over 20mm! After this, he told me to stop the microdose lupron and added ganorelix to keep me from ovulating. Ultimately, we let the lead follicle "go" and waited for the others to reach a good size. This time we did an HCG trigger shot, which I think helped a ton with egg maturity. We got 22 eggs, 13 mature, and 12 fertilized. 6 made it to blast this time, but, alas, only one was CCS normal. In some ways, the second retrieval seemed way more successful, but the ultimate result was the same as the first. This experience confirmed that there was definitely a pattern of something wrong with my eggs (or possibly the combination of my eggs and my husband's sperm). Even though it wasn't the result we wanted, I felt relieved to find out what was going on. Rather than bank more embryos, we moved on to an FET, which fortunately was successful on the first attempt! I don't think we did anything special - just the standard month of birth control pills, followed by estrogen patches, vaginal estrace, vaginal progesterone (endometrin), and progesterone in oil injections. The vaginal estrace was added once it was determined that my lining was borderline too thin. Those drugs continued until we started weaning after our 8.5 week ultrasound.

I think the initial testing was $4K; we spent around $5-6K on three IUIs. We spent about $50-60K for two rounds of IVF/ICSI/CCS and one FET (including medications).

Dr. G recommended single embryo transfer because we will be doing CCS. He said the odds of a pregnancy after transferring one chromosomally normal embryo would be 65-70%. If we were to transfer two, our odds would go up to 80%, but the risk of twins would be 60%. We were concerned about the risk of twins (and preferred to use our only 2 embryos to try for two, non-twin siblings) so we went forward with the eSET, which was successful.

Dr. G was very thorough when it came to our treatment options. He is very genuine and personable and helped make this difficult process a lot easier on us. We ended up going back to see him to get pregnant with baby number 2 and would definitely recommend him to others.

I know there are a few different Dr's to chose from within CCRM but I would definitely recommend using Dr. Gustofson. He will explain everything fully and is open to any questions.

For the first pregnancy, we did 8 cycles of clomid and letrozole and 4 of those were IUI's the 4th one took. I only ovulate on one side because of my uterine malformation that's why there were cycles without an IUI. For the second pregnancy all it took was 1 cycle of Letrozole and 1 IUI and it took. We now have 2 beautiful babies thanks to the help of Dr. G and CCRM.

17k ish

Dr. G is very personable and manages to balance a difficult topic with grace and humor. He helped us to feel very at ease throughout our treatment. Although he would write things out while talking to us about them we would still sometimes feel a little overwhelmed at the sheer amount of information. He also at times covered things very quickly. However we always felt that we had time to ask questions or clarify anything we might be confused about. We always felt like we were the patients he was focused on in that moment - it never seemed like we were rushed during our consults with him.

Be prepared for a lot of information and to ask questions and not be afraid to clarify when you need to. He's open to it.

We had to adjust out diet to take out caffeine completely and avoid alcohol. I was also put on levothyroxine to manage my TSH levels. Once we did the cycle I had to take clomid for several days and then took estrogen and progesterone supplements as well.

Much of our treatment was covered, but we probably paid about $2000 out of pocket for the various tests and treatments that we had.

Dr. Gustofson provided the reality of my chances, but did so in a friendly and professional manner. It was fairly blunt and stark in a way, but mainly because he was sharing less-than-promising chances based on test results. His manner of speaking was appropriately kind. I definitely got the impression Dr. G (and CCRM) believe in the school of thought of being up front with the worst-case scenario, versus being overly encouraging.

Consider being a patient at his other office in northwest Denver, versus Lone Tree where you feel like a number.

We spent a month "priming" with a lot of supplements geared towards my likelihood of being a "poor responder." Toward the end I had three days of Ganirelix. Then when I got my period, we started the stim cycle with the various oral and injected medications, leading to retrieval. I had five egg sacs but only two matured - they were both large enough for retrieval and the others weren't. Of the two retrieved, only one matured enough for fertilization, and it didn't fertilize.

$25k plus $8k for medication

Dr. G is very nice and sets the course of action while listening to your concerns as a patient. (Vs some doctors who do not deviate, and others who will do anything you want.) He lays out the best course of action and admits when results aren't entirely what he expected, hoped for or communicated to you.

Not sure I have advice I'd give separate from general IVF advice : just do your homework and ask lots of questions.

Not sure I remember, sorry.

Expensive.

We were comfortable with transferring only one, and that's what he recommends as well, so there wasn't much of a discussion on this.

We have been patients since 2014 when we saw one of his competitors who we didn't feel had the bed side manner for us or our journey. I have secondary infertility, recently married, and my husband has never had a child of his own. Dr G took the time to get to know us and our situation and recognized the importance of us having a baby. He performed corrective surgery and gave me every chance to carry before we decided it would be best to use a gestational carrier. Our egg retrieval and transfer were successful and we would be due with twins October 4,2017 had one not implanted in our gc's c scar. Dr G has personally contacted us through every important step to give us results himself. We are continuing our journey with him and have 3 remaining embryos.

Be honest with him about your goals and he will be compassionate and help you through your journey

We started with corrective operative hysteroscopy in 2014 followed by 3 ock cyckes to see if my lining would thicken. The mock cycle protocols resulted in getting my lining thick enough but I had New scar tissue form inside the uterus which we mutually decide it was time to use a GC. Our Stims and egg retrieval went flawlessly and resulted in 13 mature eggs, 9 fertilized, 8 made it for testing and 5 were genetically healthy. Our GC had some set backs, we could not complete her work up until she was 1 year PP, and had 2 periods after stopping nursing. She then had to lose enough weight to have a BMI of under 30 to proceed to FET protocol which also went flawlessly. Our transfer went off without a hitch, both embryos thawed perfectly and were hatching which resulted in a twin pregnancy.

For Stims and egg retrieval the cost was around $14,000 not including medication, and for our GC frozen transfer including her one day work up and testing was about $13,500.

CCRM in general is pro eSET and we chose to transfer two embryos only because we were using a gestational carrier and had already previously gone through ttc ourselves and our first GC backed out after medical clearance so the amount of time we had waited was worth taking the risk of twins to have a baby in the end which didn't work out for us. Dr G supported our decision but gave us all the information with the risks of multiple pregnancy and highly urged a eSET.

Dr. Gustofson did an excellent job explaining every step in the treatment process he didn't make any of it sound scary and was very understanding of our opinions on some of the steps. He was also very understanding and patient with us. He took his time to explain all of our options and made sure to address all of our questions.

I would advise him to be a bit more aggressive in the timeline of things and possibly explain things in a little more detail or provide more information to digest at a later time.

We were diagnosed with Male Infertility. My husband had already been seen by a urologist and Dr. Gustofson's first approach was to better understand the treatment thus far. From there we were given the options to use a donor. We were then advised on the donor banks, then the IUI and IVF process. These decisions have yet to be mad on our part we are currently in step one which is getting the information from the Urologist to Dr. G. for review and his opinion on if we should pursue any further treatments for Male Infertility.

Not yet provided with this information.

The doctor did not address this option.

I honestly can't say enough good things about Dr. Gustavsson. He is kind, caring, and compassionate – as if he's been through the process personally he seems to really relate. He has celebrated in our joy and been kind and understanding during our loss. We had a small issue with the clinic at one point and Dr. Gustavsson met with us one on one, personally excepted responsibility and apologized, and he and his staff resolved the issue quickly. It was a testament to the honorable way in which he operates during a stressful situation. He did the right thing; my husband and I could not have been happier with the resolution. Less than stellar things will always happen in life and what matter to us was the way that he handled it.

I had one egg retrieval, one fresh transfer resulting in a twin pregnancy, one frozen transfer which I miscarried in my first trimester, and another frozen transfer which resulted in another twin pregnancy. The protocol for the retrieval and transfers were very standard - there were slight adjustments made along the way based on my hormone levels but nothing out of the ordinary.

He is empathetic and knowledgable. At the end of the day, there is so much that we don't understand about infertility, so he explains the boundaries of knowledge, sets expectations, provides a personalized experience and stays with you through the ups and downs of treatment.

Work with him, you won't regret it.

My diagnosis was advanced maternal age. I followed the Linear Antagonist with testosterone priming protocol, which resulted in 6 embroys, 4 of which were CCS normal. I also have a blood clotting disorder, although he did not feel this caused either of my miscarriages since they were before 20 weeks. My first FET resulted in a chemical pregnancy, so we added the antihistamine protocol. Second FET was a BFN. At this point Dr. G asked if I would want to consider a gestational carrier. When we asked if we could try a third transfer with a more natural approach, he was supportive instead of pushing us down the GC path. The third "natural" transfer worked and resulted in our son.

Overall, we spend about $65K on fertility treatments

He recommended we transfer one at a time, and we did not want twins, so we followed his advice.

We cannot say enough positive things about Dr. G. We came to CCRM after having been unsuccessful with multiple clomid cycles, 3 IUI's and 3 IVF's at a nationally-recognized clinic in Ohio. From the start Dr. G. was supportive, caring, optimistic and professional. We had a difficult decision to make about whether to do a family building plan or stop after one cycle (we retrieved 11 eggs). Dr. G. sat with us and helped us weigh the pros and cons and come to a decision. His calm demeanor and optimistic disposition went a long way to putting my wife's mind at ease, which I think very much helped our successes. We were completely impressed with Dr. G. and CCRM and have recommended both to multiple friends.

My advice would be that Dr. G. is a wonderful doctor and using him will give you the best chance for success.

Neither of us remember the combination of drugs, but we do remember that Dr. G. regularly adjusted dosages and timing for all 3 of our retrievals.

$53,000

We did not get the sense that Dr. G. had a preference for single vs. multiple. He left the decision to us and did explain the probabilities, risks, etc. with us. We ended up putting in two embryos and had twins.