Steffen Christensen

Dr. Christensen's greatest strength is how personable he is. The whole infertility process was new for us, i.e. our first cycle/doctor/appointments. He took the time every appointment to thoroughly explain what was going to happen, what we should expect, what typical results would be, and how they would deal with atypical results. This was evident in the appointments up to and including the egg retrieval. Dr. Christensen did a walk through of how the egg retrieval day would go several appointments prior. Then a two days prior, he covered it again with specific attention to how my follicles were progressing, how long they anticipated the appointment to take, and how many eggs they hoped for. He has adjusted my medications to lower amounts to focus on egg quality versus quantity, and told us they hoped to retrieve 5-15 eggs. Day of retrieval, Dr. Christensen met with us before heading to the procedure room, made sure we were ready, asked about any more questions, and seemed just as happy for us to have made it to this day as we were. The procedure (before I fell asleep) was professional and scripted, and Dr. Christensen checked on me frequently. It was very reassuring as the nurses prepped the room. As soon as the procedure was over/I awoke, Dr. Christensen was there, big smile on his face to tell me they had retrieved 23 eggs. But, he also cautioned and took proactive measure to help prevent OHSS as he suspected based on the number I may struggle with it (I did, but not nearly as bad because of the extra care and proactive medications he prescribed). This was the level of care, attention, and investment Dr. Christensen showed throughout our treatment!

Do not be afraid to ask the blunt questions - he's okay to see you cry. He can handle dealing with hormonal/emotional type questions. Don't downplay if you are experiencing mood swings, he's very sensitive to how you react to various medications, and wants to minimize the unnecessary effects as much as possible.

Our overall plan was to first try 3 or so rounds of IUI, and if they were unsuccessful, then to discuss further options. During the IUI cycles, Dr. Christensen chose to use Femara, as in his experience it had better results with PCOS patients. After 2 unsuccessful IUI cycles, Dr. Christensen was the first to suggest our efforts would be better spent exploring IVF than to continue with unsuccessful IUIs. He used how I reacted to the medications during the IUI to predict which IVF medications and dosages to use. He elected to use 150 units of Menopur and 150 units of Gonal F for the IVF cycle. Being I was growing more than 20 follicles, he lowered the Gonal F to 75 units mid cycle to lessen the number of follicles producing eggs. He explained over crowding can cause lower quality eggs, and quality was better than quantity. He prescribed Ganirelix to prevent ovulation, and a Lupron and HCG trigger. Results were 23 eggs retrieved. 18 mature. 14 fertilized through ICSI (due to male factor low mobility) and frozen. We elected to do PGS (our choice, no pressure from the clinic or Dr. Christensen), and 5 tested normal.

2018 Projected Costs (All provided up front to every patient prior to care) Trial Transfer - $566 Cycle Monitoring - $3921 Egg Aspiration with ICSI - $6622 Freezing of Embryos (up to 4) - $1995 Thaw & Transfer of Embryo - $4126 Post IVF Cycle - $442 Additional Embryo Freeze - $200 each PGS (14 embryos) - $3800

We elected to do a single transfer for a number of reasons. First, my age and health were big indicators to contribute to a healthy pregnancy, as well as no previous miscarriages. Second, the embryo physical grade and genetic results indicated high quality. Lastly, the trial transfer was very successful and no problems for actual transfer were anticipated. Dr. Christensen felt that a transfer of multiple would result in a multiples pregnancy. He was very concerned about the health of the pregnancy as well as the health of the mother, and urged us to transfer a single embryo. We agreed.

I saw Dr. Christensen only on my consultation and one visit after that. I don’t see him or hear from him. If I message him it’s alway a staff member that gets back to me. The consultation went good but it went down hill after that.

Do your research on different clinics before coming here. I am from out of town and they schedule my appointments all over the place. I have been to three different locations now because they don’t fit me in very well. You might only see the Dr once or twice in total over the course of a year, everything else is done by his staff. Questions don’t get answered in very good detail, if they get answered at all. If there is one thing about you that isn’t average, they won’t take that into consideration. Everything is by the book and old school. Not much for new practice and not great bed side manners. Feels like your always annoying them if you have questions.

I have went though 6 medicated cycles with his team and 3 IUIs. One ultrasound for each cycle. It’s like throwing a dart at a dart board for timing my cycles. They haven’t had one cycle correct on timing yet. I have been having 50 day cycles and ovulating on day 8 of my cycle. The meds they have had me on only made my body loose it normal cycle and ovulation times. They switched up my cycle meds a few different times and each time it only got worse. They tried IUIs thinking that would help and it didn’t do anything. My lining and egg size has only gone down hill since going to the clinic.

Most medicated cycle meds where about $200 a cycle plus ultrasound. My ultrasounds where covered under my insurance. Then the IUIs are about $1,000 out of pocket, none where covered under my insurance. I will not be doing IFV with this clinic but the paperwork said it was around $15,000-$17,000.

He was straight forward, helpful and made me feel like my concerns were heard and met. He made sure that we got more information on my endometriosis and what further issues I might have from that. That we were in good hands, and definitely felt like we had hope of conceiving.

Be prepared to see everyone on the fertility team, but know that they all care and are really thoughtful when it comes to treatments/procedures and everything. Also that their entire team is dedicated to you, and great at responding!

I have one tube and an ovary on the missing tube side that likes to produce eggs more than the side that's completely healthy and working. We went with Femara/Letrozole 5mg for 5 days on CD5-CD10 to get follicles growing, checking their growth on CD10-CD14 depending on when my cycle falls. Trigger shot of Ovidrel and then timed intercourse. They believe that doing this will result in pregnancy and don't want to be too aggressive because I do have one working side.

My body is not very good at growing follicles and he would follow the growth of them each cycle and tell me how many I had and the size of them, good or bad, it usually wasn’t the greatest. But he would always be so honest with me on how each cycle was going to go. He wouldn’t necessarily tell me “no I don’t think it’s going to take this time” but he would say I would need more time before the ovulation shot. When I got ovarian hyperstimulation syndrome he was very quick to respond to my discomfort and my concerns and got everything taken care of very quickly. I feel like he really wants a child to happen for me and my husband.

Tell him your concerns because he will listen. Ask him questions because he will answer them to the best of his knowledge.

Femara 2.5mg, ovidrel 250mcg for 2 cycles. Follistim in increasing doses which I’m not completely sure of anywhere from 50 units to 150 units along with femara 2.5mg (two pills) and ovidrel 250mcg. He also did an HSG to make sure my tubes weren’t blocked. All pregnancy tests were negative and with the iui I ended up getting ovarian hyperstimulation syndrome and had to have 350cc of fluid drained from my abdomen.

I’m not exactly sure what the costs have been. My insurance has been good to provide a decent amount of coverage. I would say my bill has been no more than $2000 out of pocket

I have been with Dr. Christensen for a couple months. I have been through infertility treatment for 5 years and having him as a Dr. Has been a blessing. I only wish I would have started with him sooner. He covers absolutely every detail and makes sure you understand moving forward. I would say the only downfall is he is long distance for me but telemedicine has made it very easy to still have that patient doctor relationship.

Make sure you write down all your questions, he is very good about answering everything.

I have only done one round of treatment with Dr. Christensen as I just switched to him. We meant in person at a consultation where we discussed everything we have done and any issues that had happened before. He explained all my options and gave his professional opinion on what he felt would be the best options for us. We decided to do an IUI cycle with injections, menopur, this would be our 6th but our first with him. During the process over that month. I had several questions and he always responded back in a timely manner and was very helpful. We had appointments every couple days, we would first do an ultrasound and then meet with Dr Christensen via telemed and then follow up with labs to check my estrogen and progesterone levels to make sure I did not hyper stimulate with the injections. I really appreciate it how thorough he was with every step and every appointment. I felt like things were missed in the past with our years of fertility treatment. when it became time for the actual IUI procedure we seen dr. Klemin at Sanford Women's Health Center. This is standard because Dr Christensen is 3 hours away from the town that we live in. We did have the choice to drive there and have the procedure done there but he recommended that the staff was very good at the clinic here and we had no reason to worry or feel the need to travel to him. A few days after the procedure we started progesterone and did the long two week wait and unfortunately I started my cycle. Of course we were disappointed but we knew this was a chance of this happening and we've experienced it five times prior to that. Dr Christensen and his staff were extremely supportive and compassionate with the cycle not working for us and have recommended IVF moving forward we are considering it it's just the initial expense that we have to save up for to be able to do this procedure. he went through every step of the process with us and made us feel very comfortable and if we do pursue this in the future we will be doing it with Dr Christensen.

His clinic excepts my health insurance so one my deductible is meant, I'm required to pay 20% of any appointments, procedures and medications.

He is so kind and compassionate. He knows we have been trying almost two years since our loss and is getting more aggressive with treatment to give us the outcome we want. I have PCOS and most doctors I’ve seen is always scared because I have 30 antrial follicles on each ovary at baseline scan. But he isn’t scared to up my dosage just enough to eat a coupe more follicles to grow. We normally only get two good ones after 10 days of injections. He is hoping for 4 this cycle.

Always be open and honest and don’t be scared to ask your questions.

We started it with femara days 3-7 and the menopur 75iu daily until eggs were ready. I always had two but never conceived. I then had laparoscopy and then started straight menopur cycles. Cycle one we started at 75 iu for one week and no growth, then 150 iu for 4 days. No growth. Then 225 iu for 4 days. I then had 9 12 mm follicles. My estrogen was super high and my body surged on its own. Cancelled cycle and afterfliw showed up a week later. Second cycle 150 iu for a week. 2 follicles at 16 mm. 150 iu two more days and then triggered with 2-21 mm. Timed intercourse day of trigger and the next two days. BFN. Cycle number 3. 225 iu mneopure cd 5-7. Then 150 iu cd 8-12. Have my scan the next day. He expects I’ll be ready to trigger cd 14. 🤞🏻

Because we did timed intercourse I would pay for meds and my insurance covered scans and visits.

Dr. Christensen was always patient to answer any questions I had, described why he was prescribing/planning they cycle and gave me all the details of what to expect. He is very personable, interested in more than just getting another patients. I had him for my consult as well at during many appointments. He was very detailed in the consult, he took time to read over my chart, ask questions and create a plan for moving forward with more fertility treatments. I always left appointments after seeing him feeling confident in what we were doing as far as treatment.

Listen to what he has to say and don't be afraid to ask questions.

We did timed intercourse and one IUI cycle with just femara initially. Once that didn't work we added in gonal-f and ovidrel. Since I have a high AMH he started with lower does of the meds to avoid creating too many follicles, as that wasn't working he would adjust the doses and when they were given.

An IUI cycle was roughly $1,500 with monitoring (medication were extra). They actual procedure and sperm wash was about $550.

Dr. Steffen Christensen is very personable and makes you feel like he really cares about you. In 2012, I went through some treatments and they were unsuccessful. I know that he would adjust my treatments each month. It was very frustrating to continually have a negative test but Dr Christensen always keep it positive. We ended up pausing our treatments due to having insurance that didn't cover anything. One this that was very nice was that many time Dr C would give us free samples of some of the injectable medication. This was very helpful to us at the time.

He is an awesome Dr and very personable. This is a stressful time and he helps to put you at ease.

I started out with clomid but my lining was thin so I was switched to another med but I cant remember the name. My lining was still thin so we started injectable medication. Follistum and did this for 3 months. Everything seemed to be good but I didn't get pregnancy so we did the follistum with an IUI for 3 months and still no pregnancy. We decided to take a break and ended up getting pregnant on our own. We will be starting with the injectable medication again as soon as I start my cycle. We will not be doing the IUI as he doesn't think I have a problem getting pregnant. Had a miscarriage a year ago. He thinks it a quality of egg issue. I'm not ready to do IVF.

the main cost I remember was the injectable medications and the going to many ultrasounds per cycle. The IUI was also expensive and needed to be paid before the procedure

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I felt like Dr seemed so busy each time I saw him and just was concerned about following procedure rather than treat as an individual. He would answer my questions if I had them. I felt like he was trying to push me into IVF without doing more investigating if there was something else going on that could be treated first.

Don't be afraid to ask questions and push for what you think is right for YOU and not what the doctor wants that has worked for other patients.

I believe it was standard protocol. I believe he only performed 2 of my IUI's which seemed very routine for him. He performed my egg retrieval and I remember waking up from surgery and my first question was how many eggs did we retrieve and he didn't know and had to call up to a nurse...I was very suspicious about that!

These appointments were very quick and easy

My insurance did not cover any preocedures for infertility. They would still try billing my insurance and then I would get the bills weeks later and they were very confusing. I ended up calling the finance dept with questions often.

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Dr. Christensen never rushed the appointments, he always made sure all of my questions were answered and that I fully understood everything. He's kind and sympathizes with you when you are having a hard day with everything. He always makes you feel like you are the priority.

Always ask questions! Never hesitate in calling or brining a list of questions. They are happy to answer all of them!

My first round we used clomid and ovideral (trigger shot). I had awful side effects from clomid and the cycle failed. Dr. Christensen saw the side effects and he recommended we tried Femara next time first. The second round I started with Femara and the follicles didn't grow to optimal size so they put me on clomid and they grew but my uterine lining was thinned so they started me on estrace. I took the trigger shot and 2 weeks later I finally got a positive test! Dr. Christensen continued to monitor me until my 1st appointment with my OBGYN. At around 7 weeks I was required to go on progesterone and finished it at 12 weeks. I went on to give birth to a beautiful baby boy!

I’m so happy that I found Dr. Christiansen. He was a pleasure to work with. He was very genuine during all my encounters with him. He made sure to answer all my questions and ensured I understood everything that was happening with each visit. He also made sure to follow up with written instructions after every visit. He made the process as easy as it possibly could be.

We first tried pills to help, along with a trigger/ovulation injection. Followed by intercourse. After 2 unsuccessful months, he recommended IUI. Same pills and trigger shot, but manual placement of my husbands semen. After 2 unsuccessful months, Dr C recommended IVF. They retrieved 10 eggs from me. 7 of them fertilized. 3 of them made it to day 5. At that point, we elected to do genetic testing. 1 was completely normal, 1 was mosaic, and 1 was abnormal. IN December we transferred the one healthy embryo. It resulted in a positive pregnancy. Unfortunately I miscarried at 19 weeks on April 14th due to a weakened cervix.

The IVF costs (ultrasounds, bloodwork, procedures, etc) was around $20,000.

He is very knowledgeable and makes sure you fully understand everything planned. He treats patients like individuals, not just a number or diagnosis. We fully recommend him and the Fargo Reproductive Medicine clinic.

Don't be nervous, this is a good step to get answers and hopefully help you on your journey. He reminded us that everyones path is different and he really cares about all aspects of this, physically and emotionally.

Clomid to induce ovulation-didnt work well for us Femara to grow follicles-working so far! Ovidrel to trigger ovulation- He also makes sure you have monitoring done throughout your cycle to make sure everything is working correctly.

They do their best to code with diagnosis' that way insurance will cover medicines and procedures. They offer many payment options and plans available for IVF

Dr. Christensen came recommended to me and I recommended him to several friends. Since then, we all have children or children on the way. He is a remarkable doctor and his only downfall is his age. I hope he never retires from this profession.

Be thorough with asking questions, he is always there to answer them and he listens to concerns. He told us what hr thought we should do, we wanted to start smaller and he was okay with that. Worked hard to get us medications at an affordable price. In the end, he knew best and his suggestion worked.

Dr. Christensen was a more open book doctor. He took what we wanted as patients and what he thought would work and went with it. I over stimulated on a high dose round, but it was our 4th iui round and he was hoping for more eggs. My body just responded differentlu that round.

IuI was about $5000 a round. Ivf was closer to $20,000 for the full round with retrieval.

Again, he was very open to hearing our thoughts while providing knowledgable and thoughtful insight.

Dr. Christensen has a kind of quirky personality. He tends to give you all the information, and yet is still able to be lighthearted with you. The only thing he ever did that bothered me was an offhand remark about having two kids in one bedroom when we were first trying for our second baby. But other than that, he was a really great guy.

With our first child we use Clomid and a trigger shot and was pregnant with the first cycle. With our second child we did Clomid for 3 months, my body didn't respond to it. So he switched me to Femara and the trigger shot. We got pregnant on our fourth cycle, which was the first with Femara. For third baby we tried Femara, my body didn't respond and so he gave me a second round of Femara within that cycle. My body ended up ovulating on its own, but having sensed that my husband and I were together and it resulted in a pregnancy.

Dr Christensen spends real quality time with his patients. He sees you after every ultrasound to go through the results and let’s you know any adjustments to your medications and care right away. He answers all questions thoroughly

Be expected to love your doctor! He is so kind, funny, and willing to do whatever he can to help you

I used Gonal-F, Menopur and Ganirelix throughout my IVF cycle. Doses were adjusted numerous times to try and help with the number of eggs being made

We paid $15,000 for one IVF cycle and another $5,000 for FET. The costs were high

Doctors will leave it up to the patient to transfer 1 or 2 embryos

I was able to have very detailed conversation with Dr. Christensen. He took in to account my science/health knowledge, and gave me very informative responses to any concerns I had. He was very warm and welcoming at all appointments. We would chat about various events occurring in my life which made me feel more comfortable talking to him as a provider.

Don't be afraid to ask questions if you have any. ART is a challenging process with many intricate details. If you don't understand an aspect of your treatment, simply ask for clarification.

My IVF protocol involved the usage of 75 units Menopur and 225 units Bravelle. A few days prior to egg retrieval I also administered Ganirelex.

I don't recall specifics of my costs. My insurance covered reproductive treatments which helped considerably with cost.

He suggested either eSET or a max of two embryos transfer for me. We were given both the risks and benefits of doing both procedures.

He is an amazing doctor! My experience as a patient there have yet to get my desired results but we are not done yet! Look forward to working with them again in the near future! He was always very informative and understanding of feelings. I always enjoyed seeing him, great personality and humor to go with it! Very smart and always made myself and my husband feel good about what we are doing!

Listen to him!

We tried a few different types of medication.. Ending with the best dose of Femara 10mg for days, with a follow up trigger shot...Over our journey we have had 3 unsuccessful IUI treatments.

The costs have been what I expected, my insurance does not cover any kind of treatment

He is Friendly and knowledgeable and am very happy that I got twins on my first try. Just saw him in person once and over video conference twice. It was great since we live 4 hours away so it was great to do the video conference.

Understand what your insurance covers and does not cover is very helpful to know since you do get a lot of bills.

On day 2 I had an ultrasound then on day 3 of my period I started a drug called letrozole for 5 days. Then I had an ultrasound 2 weeks later then I took a shot of ovidrel and then I had an IUI and 2 weeks later I was pregnant from a home test then got it confirmed at a local clinic.

$2500

Kind, compassionate. He didn't care that you may be a little above your bmi. He spends time with you. Fully explains processes. Makes you feel hope again which is extremely important during this difficult time in your life. He travels 3 hours to my town and doesn't make you feel like a burden.

Be open. Don't hold back with your questions and concerns.

Dr. Christensen always made me feel comfortable is what were very uncomfortable situations. He is kind, caring, and endearing. I always felt calm seeing him. He made sure we understood what was going on and what we could expect. He shared things with us in a very straight forward manner while still being compassionate. Dr. C. was also my parents doctor back in the day. They loved him then just as my husband and I adore him now.

Relax. He will take care of you.

Dr. Christensen was very friendly and honest. I had a very good experience with him(even though we did not end up pregnant)the only reason we had to stop our fertility treatments were due to the financial burden was all covered by us since insurance did not cover our care.

Stay calm and let Dr. Christensen help.

I started on clomid and then had to take Ovidrel injections.

Around $3,000.00 was spent trying to get pregnant.

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