Steven Bayer (retired)

**To clarify, we were not undergoing cancer treatments. I must have clicked the wrong Boston IVF option. We were just undergoing standard IVF treatments. Steven Bayer was great in the beginning with the game plan and giving us lots of hope in the treatment plan. After that point, we did not speak with him, see him or work with him until he called us with negative results. During our follow up meeting he did not seem hopeful or committed to finding the right solution.

Go to another clinic.

**To clarify, we were not undergoing cancer treatments. I must have clicked the wrong Boston IVF option. We were just undergoing standard IVF treatments. Birth control (which backfired), injections and a healthy lifestyle. Birth control to suppress the ovaries. Injections to stimulate follicle growth. A healthy lifestyle to give us the best possible chance.

Fortunately, our insurance covers up to 6 rounds of IVF and genetic testing due to my husband's translocation, so we only had to pay co-pays most of the time.

Unfortunately, we didn't make it to this stage during either IVF cycle.

Dr. Bayer was great. I'm a very informed patient (and a RN) and Dr. Bayer always was on the same page with what I was thinking. He was incredibly thorough in his testing, and because of his desire to probe things that weren't quite right, was able to diagnose several issues, including a uterine septum, that would have otherwise gone unnoticed and potentially resulted in a miscarriage. He was very nice and attentive. In opposition to other clinics, the REs at Boston IVF do not do their own monitoring (techs and phlebotomists do it) and retrievals and transfers are done by the doctor on-call and not necessarily your doctor. I heard from my nurse after each appt and only met with Dr. Bayer for wtf appointments or by request. I ended up switching clinics purely because I wanted further testing and to add HGH to my protocol, which Boston IVF does not do. As far as my protocol, Dr. Bayer prescribed the same one as my now current RE. Boston IVF practices very sound medicine, but they aren't very open-minded towards "out-of-the-box" treatments, such as HGH or EFT/E-tegrity tests. This was no fault of Dr. Bayers and I would gladly go back to him if we pursue DE.

I would give this advice regardless of the RE - educate yourself!! You cannot have an educated discussion with any health care provider unless you know what you are talking about and what your options are.

Normal CD3 testing with HSG (yielded Celiac Disease dx and DOR), since I have a tilted uterus he wasn't happy with the view of my ute he got with the HSG and sent me for a 3D saline sono (yielded endometrioma and potential septum), sent me to surgical OB for hysteroscopy and confirmed septum. Surgical hysteroscopy and lap for septum and endo removal. Antagonist protocol with bcp prep = 7R, 6M, 4F - 3dt of 1 7-cell HIP embryo = BFN Antagonist protocol with EPP = 7R, 3F - 3dt of 8-cell HIP and 10-cell = c/p (added CoQ10 after IVF #1) Then switched clinics for more testing and use of different cycle tools such as HGH.

Insurance coverage.

I only did a phone consultation with him because I was out of state, I never met him in person. But in the phone he was very positive, let me ask questions and answered them fully. I wish I had met him in person but it didn’t happen

Make sure you are heard

We used an egg donor at this facility (it didn’t give me that option for this review)

We only paid $12,000 for our egg donor cycle and we had one from frozen embryo transfer

It wasn’t an option for us

Very kind and intelligent, the only bad things were that he seemed so confident in having a positive outcome and when we didn’t I felt like he didn’t dig into why and just chalked it up to bad luck and didn’t really change cycle protocol

Be prepared not to have contact and commiicafon with him-it all had to be filtered through nurses and he won’t mecessaily do your egg retrieval or transfer

But on regular ivf cycle-regular protocol

We spent over 90k on all treatments there and on our gestational carrier.

He would have been fine with putting in two embryos if we had wanted.

Dr. Bayer is extremely nice, however, most of my contact is with his nursing staff. The nurses are not very forthcoming with information and it appears Dr. Bayer is not very involved in my case as I have only spoken to him once, which includes my initial consultation. Our second meeting I had to initiate on the advice of a friend, due to the number of unanswered questions I had.

Be prepared to be in the dark and spend a lot of money.

Three natural cycles and three cycles with medication.

My two office visits with the doctor were covered by my insurance, except for my co-pays. Each insemination was $450, which is performed by a nurse. I was offered a "trigger shot" last minute, with no explanation of its purpose or benefits, at the cost of $650.

Dr. Bayer was attentive and flexible. I suggested back to back IUIs on my last cycle and he was willing to do this although was not what the initial plan was. He was always very calm in delivery of information as well as very patient.

No advice because you are truly in good hands but asking questions , as many as you need to fully understand, is always a good rule of thumb with any doctor

I had 3 IUIS, the third was a back to back (2 days in a row) IUI. I tried Clomid for the first IUI cycle but it affected my mood too greatly so switched to a different medication. Back to Back IUI is what ultimately resulted in a successful pregnancy.

Just copays and deductible. My insurance covered

Dr. Bayer cared about all of us, Parents and Surrogate. He communicated to all of us equally, and didn’t shrug things off or treat you like another dollar sign. He gave great advice, and education in a way that we all could understand. We all felt extremely cared for and relaxed- opposed to the first time with another provider.

You will love him. He will make you feel at ease.

Progesterone IM every 3 days, two pills of estrodial vaginally twice a day, and progesterone vaginally twice a day. Then we did the transfer two embryos each time. First pregnancy with him was a singleton, second was triplets.

I did not handle finances

I’m glad he did two embryos, even with the resulted triplets- it ended up being worth the risk. We were lucky the babies and myself were all healthy.

He seemed very knowledgeable and helped us feel confident that our treatment would work. We walked out feeling comforted and excited to begin treatment. We only saw doctor Bayer a couple times because I got pregnant the first round of treatment which was amazing!

Trust the process!

He started us with Letrozole and then the plan was to use a trigger shot to get me to ovulate but my LH was high enough on its own that I didn’t need it. I ovulated naturally and got pregnant!

My insurance pretty much covered everything which was amazing and I’m very grateful for that.

Dr. Bayer shows compassion and goes above and beyond to make sure as a patient you feel his compassion. I have only worked with Dr. Bayer for a few months and his expertise and caring ways have already exceeded my expectations.

Realistic about low chances for IUI but allowed me to try anyway. Encouraging about acupuncture. Warm and supportive.

Dr Bayer explains in detail what he knew to be our issue with our 2 known miscarriages. He took the time to explain we could try cloned and gave us the odds of it working. He was very understanding how we felt and truly wanted to be parents. When cloned didn’t work, my husband and I chose to keep trying naturally. Over the last 4 years we’ve endure the adoption option which ended in a disaster with information we were told but didn’t happen. We pulled out of the adoption last year. We then saw another fertility specialist closer to home, he didn’t care as to why we were there, he told me to lose 50lbs and call him once I did. He went as far to say, he’s seen shorter and wider do it do I can if I put my mind too it. I lost 23lbs hurt my back in the meantime and was killing myself to lose. Then decided to go back to see Dr Bayer this year. Upon entering his office we had the typical how are you doings, then lead to say it’s been a very long 4+ year journey for you. How have you been doing with this? He went into detail as options available and told us honestly he felt the best option would be embryo adoption given we had started an adoption process just last year. Dr Bayer leads with his heart, and truly feels what his patients are experiencing. Not once but twice he told us he can help us become parents, our life long dream. I left there with tears of joy and a heart that was full of happiness finally. We started the process in February, found embryos in August and are in the process of waiting for cycles to do the transfer. I can’t thank Dr Bayer and his team enough for all they have done. Dr Bayer has reassured me on more than one occasion, helping couples become parents is “what his team and Garrison” does!! He’s excited for us

Any and all questions you ask, he will answer truthfully and honestly. He’s in this profession because he truly cares for his patients. Highly recommend him

We tried 3 cycles clomid due to being younger and having regular periods at that time. At this time in order to begin the process for my frozen embryo transfer, we have started and finished medications to induce a period. Once that happens I’ll take 2 and 1/2 weeks of estrogen, have an ultrasound and if the uterine lining isn’t thick enough, we’ll increase estrogen and have another ultrasound. If uterine lining is thick enough, I’ll have the transfer scheduled then begin progesterone for 10 weeks there after. Everything needs to be perfect in order for my embryo to attach. There is still a chance of miscarriage

Dr Bayer is part of my out of nextwork coverage so all bills are paid by me until I reach my deductible. That deductible is very high, so that will not happen. His consult was $350 and the cost for the day of my embryo transfer is $4400 that includes 1 yr of storage fees at their facility.

We will do a single embryo transfer as soon as my cycle begins with a followed ultrasound. One embryo transfer is best for me and my baby at this time to ensure a happy healthy pregnancy.

He is very caring and has a really good bedside manner even over zoom. He provides a lot of hope to you as a patient which I appreciate. He asks about details of your life but also gets all the information about your medical experience thus far

It is an all in experience but I think that’s typical with infertility

I used letrozole 7.5 to get me ovulating then ovidrwl to trigger egg release

Nothing has been covered which has been tough

Doctor Bayer was compassionate and thoughtful. However, he works at a high cost clinic - we felt like we were constantly repeating the same protocol with no changes. And we couldn't afford to continue to go there.

He is great - just wish he worked at a more affordable clinic.

Letrozole

Approximately $3000