Sandy Chuan

Dr. Chuan was very personable and always in a good mood which is great, but I felt like she always had some where better to be. I felt like any questions I asked were annoying to her. She had a way of just talking to my husband instead of me, like I’m not capable of understanding what she is saying but my husband is. That bothered me because I’m the one who’s body is going through this, I’m the one who should be acknowledged.

If you are a same sex couple or need a surrogate, this is a great clinic for you because I later learned that is the demographic they deal with and specialize in with most. I’m not in either of those situations so I don’t feel like it benefited me at all.

From the beginning she told me that I shouldn’t have any trouble conceiving since I was “so young”; I was 29 going to be 30 at the time. Then my results can’t back that I have diminished ovarian reserve, which was a shock, but still she said you have age on your side you’ll be fine. I was put on clomid, gonal F and menopur injections to stimulate my ovaries. Then with the egg retrieval, which she didn’t perform another doctor did who I never met, only 5 eggs were retrieved. She was shocked when she learned that, she kept saying but you’re so young, if I’d known you would be a poor responder I would have kept you on the meds longer. Only 3 made it into embryos. She suggested that we only transfer 2 at most the first time so we did. The nurse at my exam found polyps in my uterus so I had to have surgery to remove those before the transfer could be done to give me the best chance of the embryos sticking. She performed my transfer and that was a nice experience, she was very friendly and warm for those. That transfer failed and I had to wait until I could come up with $4,000 more to transfer my last embryo. About 8 months later I started the whole process again to prepare for transfer. I was put on the usual clomid, progesterone, and estrogen, but this time I had to take triple the estrogen taking it orally, vaginally, and wearing patches since my follicles were not growing fast enough. Polyps were found again so I had to have those removed. Dr. Chuan transferred my last embryo and I Had my blood test on Christmas Eve and was told later that night it wa negative. I couldn’t get an appointment to go over my results until the first of February, which I thought was too long. When we talked she was very uncaring so different than how she was at the transfers. I asked if there anything I can do on my own to help my chances or if she could prescribe me clomid or anything to help my chances of conceiving naturally while I wait to come up with more money to do another cycle and she said no. I even asked if I should change my diet or what she recommends and she said that won’t help, there’s nothing to do. I was told I’m a poor responder but she doesn’t no why. So I’m left with more questions than answers.

$13,500 for a round of IVF. $400 for hysteroscopy. $4,000 for additional transfers. $5,000 for meds.

I initially wanted to transfer all 3 of my embryos in together but she advised me that was not a good choice since I could have multiple babies and that’s dangerous for me. Which I agree was the right decision and safest approach.

From the very first moment I spoke with Dr. Chuan, I immediately felt comfortable. My husband and I walked away from our consultation absolutely refreshed and ready to attempt another IVF cycle (after a previous experience with another provider in NC that was awful). Dr. Chuan never once made either of us feel rushed or like we were taking up her time. She has answered every question with a smile and absolute honesty. She is realistic about expectations and potential problems, but extremely positive and encouraging. As I prepared for multiple surgeries, I always felt a little bit better once she came to the bedside prior to the surgery. I knew I was in good hands! She is an excellent communicator, and I would only trust any future transfers or cycles with her.

Don't be afraid to ask questions - use this amazing resource as an opportunity to never feel like you are being "a bother" to a provider ever again.

Dr. Chuan utilized my previous IVF records and our consult to adjust a care plan for my IVF egg retrieval and frozen transfer cycle. She is more on the conservative side when it comes to her treatment and while I was not a fan of the additional injections at the time, I knew in my heart she recommended it for success. What I really like about Dr. Chuan is she did not just do an IVF cycle and leave it at that. She really cared to find the root of the problem, which for me was also endometriosis and fibroids, which she treated quickly and efficiently. In any previous IVF experiences, I had been shuffled around to different doctors when I did not meet a classic IVF response. Dr. Chuan never made me feel like she was going to just send me back to my OB-GYN or primary care doctor - she truly is a fertility specialist and does not just focus her energy on the high dollar IVF cycles.

Dr. Chuan spent a lot of time with me on a phone consult to discuss my options of transferring embryos. We discussed the pros and cons, she recommended me to a genetic counselor (which was FABULOUS and helped me to understand so much more), and she made me feel like the decision was ultimately up to me. She was supportive of transferring two embryos, when in the past clinics have said only those over the age of 40 can do so, as long as they were all a healthy quality, and she told me when she was uncomfortable with one of my choices. I respected her decision and we were successful for the first time ever.

Dr. Chuan is great! She is very good at explaining things and is encouraging. I just wish she was more available for questions. I have only seen her once at our consultation appointment. After our first IUI failed I wanted to change up the protocol and Dr. Chuan's staff said I couldnt do that unless I made an appointment with the doctor and I couldnt speak with her for 3 weeks (telephone appointment). Besides that, Dr. Chuan is the only reason why I have stayed with this clinic.

Make sure you're prepared with all of your questions at your consultation appointment because you'll be dealing with her staff afterwards.

Clomid 50 mg days 3-7 & trigger for IUI #1 which failed (only produced 1 mature follicle). IUI #1 scheduled 36 hours after trigger. IUI #2: clomid 100 mg days 3-7 & trigger 36 hours prior to the IUI. They actually wanted to schedule it 39 hours after my trigger (which didnt make sense to me) so I had to speak with the PA about having to do my trigger shot later. IUI #2 failed. I think their timing of the IUI's arent very accurate.

Each IUI was $700 not including meds which were another $100 per cycle.

We absolutely adore her! We felt she truly cared about our case individually and she made it very clear what our treatment plan was. We appreciate her honesty when I came to our fertility issues but she was still extremely positive and made us feel like we will leave with a baby either way. She did not push any additional cost on us. When it came to PGS testing she definitely told us the pros and cons and completely left the decision up to us. We did not at all feel pressured to spend more money then we already were

Give yourself a few hours for your consultation because she does not at all make you Feel rushed at all! We got individual time with her and the nurse and the financial advisor

We are still in the process of qualifying for guaranteed IVF. It is a little bit higher in price than your standard cycle but we feel given our circumstances it is absolutely worth every penny!

I would say it definitely goes case by case. She does both however we are only 23 years old and have never been pregnant so in our case she said she will transfer one embryo a few times and depending on results she may go to two

Dr Chuan was great she broke everything down so that i understood everything from whats happening and what our options are and the next steps are. She is truly an expert and you can see that with her conversations i had with her.

Have questions prepared because she is super receptive and great at answering questions.

I took letrozole on cycle day 3 to 7 and would scan the follicles on day 3 and 12 and 14 if needed after size is sufficient i would trigger on day 12 or 14 and beta would happen on day 12

My consult and follow up were covered but i had to pay for the medication cycle and the medication was a separate cost in addition to the office visits.

Extraordinarily compassionate, and eager to listen to our unique circumstances and fertility strategy. She quite effectively communicated all processes, options, and risks. She immediately gained our trust, and through the multi-month process, we felt we were in very good hands. We also felt as though we could speak to her at any time if/when we had any questions or concerns. On more than one occasion, we were able to schedule candid phone conversations, on the same day as our request. Initiating these services, I expected our Dr to act in a one-dimensional role as a service provider. Our expectations were vastly exceeded as we not only found an excellent provider in Dr. Chuan, but also found an engaging partner and thoughtful teammate through the entire process.

Start here.

Their billing team worked diligently with my insurance plan, which was not an easy task. They showed perseverance to work with my plan to establish a pricing plan which we could adhere to.

We agreed that as we had a good number of embryo candidates to select from, and we only wanted 1 birth, that we would perform one transfer at a time. Coupled with relative motherly youth, we found success only after a couple attempts.

Dr Chuan would always visit before and after any procedure. She would explain in detail before the procedure started and also go over the details and results afterwards. She always had a smile on her face and had compassion and understanding for ALL of my many questions!

As with any doctor, have all of your questions and concerned prepared before an appointment as her time is valuable and you want to make sure she can address everything at your appointment with her.

She chose the IVF for us as we had very fertile numbers. She chose and suggested that we just transfer 1 embryo as she felt transferring 2 could result in a higher risk pregnancy and since we had fertile numbers she thought there would be a good chance both would take. During injections for the egg retrieval, she put me on cetritide so that my body would not ovulate on its own.

We did the success guarantee program which was $21,915.00. This program was also refundable by a percentage each cycle.

We are glad that we listened to her suggestion to just transfer 1 embryo as it was a successful pregnancy and I wouldn't have wanted a higher risk pregnancy carrying multiples.

Our first meeting with Dr. Chuan was very simple and clinical. She was very receptive to our feelings and carefully looked through the stack of paperwork from our previous dr about the treatments that we’d already done. The appointments that I did see her, she was very kind, informative and had great bedside manner. If she saw that I was nervous, she always reassured me and let me take my time getting my emotions under control. Overall it was a wonderful experience, but I don’t think that I saw her as much as I expected to

Ask questions… Don’t be afraid to ask for clarification on things.

Injections and treatments leading up to anger triple were pretty standard, when my egg retrieval occurred they found polyps in my uterus, so they decided to freeze my eggs, scraped my uterus and allow time for my levels to go down before embryo transfer. They did a biopsy on what they found in my uterus, it came back clear and as soon as my next cycle came around we prepared for embryo transfer. All went as planned and I received a positive pregnancy test two weeks later resulting in a full term birth of my son.

I love my nurse stated that she was amazing. All my expenses are wonderful

20,000-30,000

I only had two embryos to transfer, so we decided to transfer both… We didn’t have a need to select a specific embryo, as long as it was healthy we are ready to transfer.

Dr. Chuan spent an extensive amount of time on our initial consultation because I was in shock by what I was being told and had so many questions and needed her to repeat to me again what she said . She explained all our options. She was very sincere and empathetic. She kept me focused and reminded me to take it day by day. I would highly recommend Dr. Chuan.

Read everything you can about your situation, I know it's hard because your depressed or like me in shock, but try to read up and come prepared with your questions, any question you have are important.

We did 1 cycle of injections d/t my age= no follicle response canceled 2nd cycle of high dose injections same as above no response from my body canceled. She gave me the option of trying Clomid pill; so far 3 cycles on this Cycle 1 ovulated before retrieval, she decided to keep a closer eye on me. Cycle 2 led to egg retrieval and 2 frozen embryos Cycle 3 ovulated 1 of the 2 follicles we decided to save our money instead of going after 1 egg and try another cycle Waiting to start my next cycle.

6,000 for medication 11,000 for cycles and egg retrieval

Being a woman I was looking for a female doctor, and found exactly what I was looking for. Professional, very personable, warm and caring, smart and funny. She would always make me feel at ease and safe. I knew right away I was in great hands. She creates the woman to woman connection, which is very comforting.

Trust the process and the doctor, she would do the best for you and would tell you exactly what your chances are.

It was suggested we do 2 cycles of frozen embryos, considering my age (42) and my test results. We retried 10 eggs total, 3 embryos and after the PGS testing got one good quality, male one, exactly what we wanted. Waiting on the transfer in 5 days, then positive pregnancy test!!!!

around $23,000 for 2 rounds of frozen embryos transfer, $4,600 for genetic testing, $5,500 for meds

Sandy is absolutely the best. She is warm, friendly and extremely knowledgeable of all procedures, medicine, outcomes, surgeries, etc. Each time she meets with you, you're greeted with a hug and she's always sincerely concerned with how your body is feeling and yourself mentally. I always felt very cared for and I never felt any form of anxiety, going through any of this. Something I can say is very comforting, considering this is an extremely emotional process to go through. I left everything in the hands of Dr. Chuan, having her definitely lifted a weight off of our shoulders- knowing we could count on everything to be taken care of, in the best way possible for myself, my husband & our future child.

Prepare to be hugged.

As I said previously, this is a very emotional process with a lot of moving parts. My husband is active-duty Military and was set for a deployment. We had to do a freeze-all cycle, with my eggs- as my husband has fertility issues & we were on a time crunch. The Clinic was very accommodating of our schedule and worked diligently to make sure I got into the next egg retrieval cycle- to ensure we could create the embryos, prior to his departure. During the course of my treatment, I was monitored closely for all of my levels doing blood work/ultra sounds continually. There were times my levels would go too high & we would adjust medications accordingly. I would always receive a call the evening of the change, prior to administering my medications to let me know how to proceed. The day of my 'trigger shot' prior for my egg retrieval, my levels again went a little high. So we had to change course and order a new trigger shot. We were able to go to a nearby pharmacy and adjust for my body. Dr. Chuan and her staff were always very informative as to why the change, what it would mean & how to facilitate.

Again, she was great. During our egg retrieval cycle, we were out of the state. Due to being at a different clinic, we had to pay an 'offsite monitoring fee' payment to the OB/GYN clinic we attended. Dr. Chuan deducted what we paid to the other provider, off the balance at her clinic. It is obviously an expensive procedure, but they were very helpful with picking the plan that worked best for our family and our finances.

I was very lucky to find Dr. Sandy Chuan. Being a younger patient it was all very scary and confusing. When I first met her, she was so kind and professional. Her knowledge of my issues and her ability to explain it so my husband and I could understand was greatly appreciated. She took the extra time to help us and never made us seem like we were holding her up and she never tried to rush us, which is something we so greatly appreciated. She was not only professional and sensitive she was also willing to work with my work schedules so I did not have to take extra time off work. I would recommend her to anyone having issues with fertility.

To get in ASAP because it will be the best decision you ever made.

I cannot remember the first part of treatment and what they were called, but I do know she tried two different methods that failed before moving to egg retrieval and embryo transfer. I have only done the embryo transfer once, and it was successful with one egg that split into identical twins, but I lost them at 16 weeks. I am in the process of doing my second transfer with Dr. Chuan now.

$20,000 one time fee, success guaranteed or money back.

We could not have loved having Dr. Chuan as our doctor any more than we did. My husband and I had been trying to get pregnant for over two years by the time we first saw her. She was warm, friendly, and extremely knowledgeable. She took the time to explain everything to us in terms that we could understand and relate to. The month before we were to start the IVF process we ended up pregnant naturally and I miscarried at 7 weeks. The first time I saw Dr. Chuan after she found out she couldn't have been more sympathetic and caring. We decided to skip IUI as an option due to my age, 37 at the time, and the fact that we had been trying to get pregnant for so long at that point, we all agreed that IVF would have a higher possibility of success. We initially were going to do just one retrieval due to the high cost of IVF (our insurance covered nothing of course) and ended up with 3 fresh blastocysts of poor quality. We transferred all three and received a negative result which was obviously emotionally devastating. My husband and I decided to try again and the clinic was amazing in working with us. They offer a discount if you buy a three retrieval package and they rolled over the money we spent on the single retrieval into the package so we saved a lot of money. We did two more retrievals back to back and froze everything. For every new cycle of treatment, Dr. Chuan changed the protocol to try to find what worked best for us. Our first retrieval she was only able to get viable eggs from one ovary so she changed our medications the next time and got better results. She tried a change to the medications for the third retrieval as well to try to give us the best odds. Our second transfer ended up as a blighted ovum miscarriage. Another devastation. Our third transfer resulted in a negative result. By this point I was pretty frustrated and concerned about the quality of my eggs. We spoke to Dr. Chuan about possibly using an egg donor even though we still had six of our own five day blastocysts frozen. She was very empathetic and understanding about our frustration but urged us to give it one more shot with our own eggs and to try transferring three (they normally only transfer a maximum of two) blastocysts. So, we gave it a shot and I honestly fully expected it to fail since I was pretty disheartened at this point. I couldn't be more thrilled to say that I am 24 weeks pregnant with a healthy baby girl! To say that I was shocked by the positive result would be an understatement. After all of our HCG numbers came back and we were where we were supposed to be, Dr. Chuan called me to congratulate me. At this point in the process generally the fertility doctor is done but she knew how much we had struggled and wanted us to know that she truly cared about us. I have never dealt with a doctor who cared more about me and everything I was going through. If Dr. Chuan could be my lifelong doctor for everything I would be thrilled.

Always be honest about your feelings. I am fully aware about what a serious process fertility treatment is but my husband and I always use sarcasm and humor to deal with stress. Because we joked around, Dr. Chuan adapted fully to our personalities and that really helped us through the process. Had we been super serious about the whole thing, she would have been also. We were able to be ourselves around her which made the process infinitely easier and more comfortable.

I remember that Dr. Chuan changed up our medications during each retrieval to try to get the best results but I don't remember exactly what she changed. I do know that I responded very badly to Estrogen during the egg transfer process and so she tried three different routes for me to take the medication to make me less ill, i.e. patches vs. orally. I was very grateful because taking the pills orally made me horribly nauseated.

The IVF three egg retrieval package was $26,790. Our medications per cycle were about $6,000.

Dr. Chuan was one of the most compassionate doctors I have ever known. She treated me like you would a good friend, yet she remained professional. She was positive, kind and caring. I was extremely confident in her medical and fertility knowledge. We had to make several changes in my protocol over the 2+ years I saw her. She was always accommodating with my requests. I had some reactions with either birth control pills, hormone creams or injection medications that she would work with me to figure out new protocols to try. I felt like Dr. Chuan worked so hard to find the right protocols that would work with my body each cycle.

Stay patient and eliminate stress from your life as much as possible

Dr.Chuan thought we would reach the best results if we started right away with an egg retrieval due to my age, 40. Our most successful retrieval was the first. After a month of birth control pills to suppress my ovaries, we then stimulated the follicles with injections and retrieved 6 eggs. My husband and I wanted to do genetic testing and the clinic charged same fee whether you had one or eight embryos, so over the next 2+ years we tried to retrieve enough eggs to fertilize into embryos so we could have eight embryos for the testing. It took 2+ years due to my body reacting to the protocols. The protocol that worked perfectly the first round did not work again. I think we tried around 6-10 different protocols over the whole process. The first egg retrieval resulted in the one embryo that genetically would be a viable pregnancy. We implanted the one embryo that was a success!

Over the 2+ years the total cost of medications and clinic procedures was $60,000

From day one she made my husband and I very comfortable. She explained everything she planned on doing with risks and expectations. Every major procedure was done by her. Even though my husband and I had unexplained infertility she never gave up, wanted to make sure we got pregnant-and here I am, 6 1/2 months pregnant!

Although she explains everything if there is something you don't understand don't be scared to ask. This is a big confusing time-she will go over everything so you understand

At first my husband and I did ever test possible to try and determine why we were unable to conceive on our own. We decided to skip IUI and go straight to IVF because there is a better chance of success. We did a normal protocol for egg retrieval and froze them to give my body time to recoup. For our first FET the protocol was normal and unfortunately neither of the two stuck. For our second FET we changed protocol to use drugs like an egg retrieval to try to use my own bodies hormones. It worked, of the two used one stuck.

I would say that we were lucky having fertility coverage through our ins. So we only paid a co-pay for drugs and a small percentage for procedures because the center was out of network

Dr. Chuan is very dedicated to her profession. I appreciated the way she made me feel like that our dream of conceiving a child would come true. I had a really hard time going through everything, but thankfully Dr. Chuan always lifted my spirits when she entered the room. Her optimism kept me going!

Your journey started long ago, but now your future awaits you. Don't be scared of the process and take everything one step at a time. Ask whatever questions you have, even if they seem like silly ones. Dr. Chuan's experience and knowledge will help guide you through. Be confident that not only will she do her very best to handle your case delicately, but that you will meet you bundle of joy soon!!! My motto through everything was "Where hope grows, miracles blossom."

The only thing that stands out to me was my initial reaction to the progesterone tablets I tried. I told Dr. Chuan that they made me bleed uncomfortably, so she had me try progesterone in oil. Well, the needles in my backside didn't work either, because I don't have much muscle or body fat in that area and it hurt way too much! So, then she had me try the cream, which was way more comfortable and I was able to get through the entire length of dosage prior to my transfer.

I believe we spent roughly $5,000.00 total in medication; Medication for the egg retrieval and 3 transfers. I did end up with a little more medication than I needed for my last transfer, and I donated it back to clinic. The overall cost was about $20,000.00.

Dr. Chuan has very nice shoes. That is what I remember as she always seemed to talk about her very high end shoe collection and we certainly felt like we were paying for those shoes with each expensive visit. The clinic would give us pricing estimates on tests and we would receive invoices for thousands more than we were told. We were frustrated by our experience since we were not taken seriously and decided to move on to another specialist after a few months of working with Dr Chuan.

Be prepared for more costs than you are initially told. There were charges for every visit, monitoring visit and blood test for our clomid cycles. We ended up paying more than we would have paid for an IUI for a clomid cycle.

Since we were young, I was prescribed clomid and tried at home. We had monitoring appointments every other day up until ovulation. We repeated the same exact protocol for the second month without any adjustments.

We ended up paying about $12,000 for initial fertility testing since our insurance covered $0. The clomid cycles ended up costing about $2500 each due to all the monitoring appt

We encountered several issues with the clinic missing key medications in my protocol. In addition, we had 10 cycles where she did the exact same protocol expecting different results. It was so disappointing.

Better record keeping of medications in protocol, and not trying the same treatment 10 times when it wasn't working.

I had poor lining so she used estrogen tablets and injectables.

With insurance it was $4,000 per frozen cycle, not including medications.

Dr. Chuan was great! Honest and I have recommended her to many friends. She was great at explaining everything that was happening. It was great to have a clinic closer to Riverside instantly of having to drive all the was to San Diego every time.

Make sure you go to the informational meeting the clinic holds about once a month, before your consultation.

I don’t really remember, but for the successful cycle I had Testosterone gel, clomid, menopur, Gonal- F. I had fewer eggs retrieved (6) but they were all mature and 3 made it to embryo. 1 day 5, 2 day 6 and we had a full term daughter with the transfer of the day 5 embryo.

For the retrieval and transfer it was about 15,000 and then the medication was about 5,000. Each time.

Dr. Chuan was with me through my entire journey. She showed general concern and was pragmatic and honest with her treatment plans. She was always honest and gave realistic expectations. My favorite quote from her was “every embryo is precious and we treat it as such” this made me feel like she felt the same way I did about my frozen embryos.

Trust her treatment plan. She honestly cares and wants you to get pregnant as much as you do.

22k for retrieval and first transfer, 4700 for frozen embryo transfer and 500 per year for embryo storage

Our experience working with Dr. Chuan has always been very positive. I always tell anyone going through what we are what an amazing Doctor she is and how much she cares for us. I'm so thankful she has been our doctor through this whole experience.

Dr. Chuan is an amazing Doctor and to trust her professional guidance and decisions. She always has your best interest in mind.

I don't remember all the meds but I do know it was important to take everything as directed so I did.

Very easy to schedule and attend. No wait time at all.

The costs were well communicated to us and that part was absolutely fine.

Dr. Chuan is very knowledgeable and I trust her opinions. The nurses were great too but the receptionist does not communicate well. I felt comfortable with the doctor and nurse Michelle. I just wish I saw dr chuan more often instead of just when we were going over any test results.

She is amazing but ask her nurses for clarification when needed.

Two medicated cycles and then two medicated cycles with IUI. After that she wanted to move on to IVF.

$700 per cycle after initial testing was completed.

Not applicable. We haven't gotten to that point yet.

Sandy is very caring and has always had our best interest in mind. She always explains what's going on and why. She leaves the decisions up to us but always gives us her honest feedback and advice. I trust her completely with our care.

Trust the process and the doctor!

Our first Stim cycle my body did not respond to the meds in the way the dr had hoped. She highly reccommended we cancel the cycle and give my body a chance to heal and produce better results. She put me on a new protocol and always talked me through the process.

Dr. Chuan was so supportive at every visit. She always took the time to answer the many questions that I had and to thoroughly explain each process to my husband and I. I really felt like she always had my best interest.

Don't give up!

I believe our IUI were about $600 then we did them with injectables and it went to like $1100.

Dr. Chuan treated my husband and I as if we were her only patients. She is warm and caring but also scientific and precise.

Don't give up hope in your quest to have children!