Virginia Houserman (retired)

She’s been great. She knows my history and is willing to do whatever it takes. She always gives us her full attention and she is very kind. When she has done my iui she was extremely efficient and gentle. I look forward to my visits with her.

Write down questions ahead of time, it’s hard to think of them when you’re actually there.

First, clomid, because I had only used letrizole to date. Then we added follistim and pregnyl and iui. For a year, that was the plan every month except those that holidays or travel got in the way. We got pregnant after 5 months with dr. H but lost the baby at week 7. We did everything right, the clinic handled the situation with the utmost respect. After the iui and tons of testing, the Mc was deemed unexplained. We did 2 more iui after that and no result, so now we are preparing to move on to next step

Iui is $400 with sperm wash. My insurance covers most ultrasound and labs, I usually have a $25 copay per visit with doc/nurse. My RX is usually about $400 for follistim and pregnyl

Seems like she agrees to do 2

Overall, Dr. Houserman and my experience have been very positive. I like how caring and positive she is. However, she is also very straight forward, which is something I don’t mind. She also is only willing to try treatment plans that we are comfortable with. She doesn’t try to push certain treatments or procedures we aren’t ready for. We very much enjoy her.

Some people might think that her being straight forward is harsh, but she’s very genuine and has a good heart. So, don’t mistaken that for her being rude or uncaring.

We did many rounds of of timed intercourse and only one was successful but ended in miscarriage. We’ve also done two IUIs which were both unsuccessful. We used follistem injections and letrozole to help me have more follicles and better chances of conceiving. So far it just hasn’t been our time. However, we are still trying.

I have pretty good insurance. It covered most of my treatments and procedures. But I definitely wouldn’t be able to afford everything without the insurance I have now.

At first she seems cold and like she’s talking in a different language. But once you start talking to her she is super friendly and open to any questions or concerns and addresses them. She is just so smart it’s hard for her to tell us things in our way and not the medical way. But if you ask she will clear any confusion up! She’s a great dr.

To trust her. At first we weren’t sure of her so we questioned her decisions a lot. But she knows what she’s doing.

I did iui’s with clomid and then she switched me to letrazole just to see if my body would react better. Same reaction. So then we did a pure shot cycle with iui. Used follistim and HCG shot. Ovaries reacted very well. But my emotions were horrible i was super angry all of the time. Then i quit working and decided to go to IVF. did follistim menopur progesterone hcg leuprolide. Did egg retrieval with good results froze the unused embryos and am currently waiting to see if i am pregnant from the fresh transfer.

Prob around $25,000-30,000 in all

We thought really hard about this. We chose to transfer 2 embryos instead of just one because of me having unexplained infertility. We still don’t know what the problem is so we wanted as much of a chance that was possible just in case implantation has been the problem. We asked dr Houserman and she was immediately onboard with it. I thought she was going to push to do just one bc of the risks but given my age and all of my bloodwork and everything always looking amazing and promising she decided it would be worth it for us.

She is always up front telling me you know you shouldn't be discouraged but then would say something optimistic behind it like I know your going to be a mother I just know it. Which was nice but also hard every time I got negative after.

Ask any questions you have don't be afraid

1st time we met it was just to discuss what was going to happen. 1st IUI was unmedicated just monitor and trigger shot. Negative. So we had to see the dr again she said I have PCOS without the cysts that I don't ovulate on my own so she recommends letrazol was it's less likely to make me crazy. So IUI #2 we monitor and add letrazol days 5-10 trigger shot in office I ovulate! Everything looks great this time they do an ultrasound to show I ovaulated and everything looked great but again negative. So they tell me we are going to do the same thing over so IUI #3 monitor letrazol days 5-10 trigger shot in office only this time no ultrasound. And once again a negative. So we go back to see the dr get told everything looks good on paper but because we use don't sperm we are ok to be more aggressive. So for IUI #4 we did letrazol days 3-7 then follistim shots till I my follicles were the right size then I triggered at home that night then went to the dr 36 hours later for Insemination . No ultrasound or anything this time and once again a negative!!! Now we are trying to raise money to try again.

For the 4 IUI we paid approximately $8000

My experience with her was great. She always told us all of our options and never encouraged us to give up. She also always did what was in our best interest, even if we felt like rushing things or taking things too slow. And she never discouraged us from getting second opinions or talking to other people. She was secure in her knowledge but also knew her limits.

To not necessarily expect a lot of warm and fuzzies. She is super nice and very smart and compassionate. But she is not a “touchy felt” type, which just happened to work for my husband and I.

We went through 5 rounds of IUIs and 2 rounds of IVF over the past 3 and a half years. Dr. Houserman seemed to find a good balance between aggressive and safe. She knew that we did not want to half do things, so she allowed us to keep increasing medications and the protocols when she felt like it would help. But if my ovaries were too large or I had cysts, she would make us wait a month.

Everything was very expensive because our insurance did not cover any testing or procedures. I don’t think they were necessarily better or worse than any other clinic or doctor. The medications and the procedures are what cost the most.

She’s very matter of fact, but courteous. We had to ask specific questions about certain things that weren’t obvious, but she answered our questions/concerns without hestitation. Hopefully our first cycle will be successful.

She’s blunt, don’t take offense. Ask questions no matter what.

I don’t remember the overall strategy, but some of my meds included Ovasitol, Menapur, Follustim, and a trigger shot before retrieval. We retrieved 10 eggs, all 10 were mature and frozen. My wife is currently doing a “down-regulation” protocol with BCP, Lupron, Estrace, and Progesterone.

Monitoring appointments were scheduled to my liking.

Around average. Meds and monitoring were covered by insurance with copay.

I’m 40, so multiple embryos being transferred was discussed.

Dr. Houserman does not beat around the bush, which I greatly appreciated. If you want someone to be direct with you, but also kind and empathetic then she will be a perfect choice. Sometimes I feel she got our hopes up a little too soon, but that also could have been our own interpretation of her information. She was always professional and gave us the good, bad, and the ugly so we could make an educated decision. I never felt that she forced us into a plan that we did not like and she always answered all of our questions.

Ask questions. Sometimes I wouldn't have received as much information as I needed in order to make a decision or process, but I always felt comfortable asking questions and she always gladly answered them without hesitation.

In the beginning my infertility was unexplained and we had already had one miscarriage after getting pregnant using Clomid and under the care of my regular Gyno. They began with two cycles of Letrozole (5 mg per day), but they were unsuccessful. They then moved to letrozole and follistim injections. I took the same dose of Letrozole and then did three consecutive days of 75 IU of Follistim. The second cycle was successful and we became pregnant. Unfortunately, after 7 weeks we miscarried. They had to perform a D&C to test the tissue for what may have cause this. The pregnancy was perfectly normal. They did a full thrombosis work up and discovered that I have a blood clotting disorder. After I recovered from the miscarriage and surgery we continued with the same treatment, but were unsuccessful after two months of the letrozole/folllistim combo. We then moved to straight injections for 2 months and I took 75 IU every day for 6 days. We were unsuccessful in this method as well.

My insurance covered most of my appointments and procedures. I never felt that there were unnecessary or extreme charges.

We have not had any discussions about either of these because we have not reached this point in our plan.

Dr. Houserman was kind and direct. I normally do not like to see women doctors, but I was pleasantly pleased with our initial meeting. She was very educated on *studies* and statistics which I found helpful. She laid out options and I told her what I wasn't comfortable with and we moved forward. Overall, I was so pleased and will continue to see her as my doctor.

I would know where you draw the line in fertility treatments. How far down the fertility treatment path do you want to go? You need to know what you are and aren't comfortable with.

This is my first cycle with Dr. Houserman so I do not know if I am pregnant. This cycle i had to have an HSG test performed. I also used follistim {8 days of 75 UI}, ovidrel trigger shot, and IUI. Progesterone was also prescribed to take after my IUI. She actually wanted to go straight to IVF considering the amount of years we have been without conceiving but we took a step back. I am satisfied and happy with our protocol and steps we've taken this cycle.

My blood work/ultrasound visits were about $30. My IUI was was $395. The meds were about $125 total.

Dr. Houserman is very realistic, without being overly blunt. She will answer any questions you may have, but over my entire course of treatment, I've only seen her a few times. Almost all of my interactions have been through the Nurse Practitioner. If I do "meet" with Dr. Houserman, it's a teleconference. If I want to meet in person, I have to drive to Birmingham, which is over 2 hours away. When she comes to the Montgomery clinic, it's only for new patients. It makes me feel like a level of personal understanding of my needs and goals is not being met.

She is practical and realistic. She is not overly soft & sensitive, so if you're looking to be hugged and coddled, she is not the doctor for you. She is warm and kind but matter-of-fact when it comes to prognosis, treatment, etc.

I have PCOS. I initially went to Dr. Houserman years ago, but my follicles would never grow to maturity to do a trigger shot. I was concerned about my weight, and I wasn't having cycles on my own. She told me it was a non-issue, as my treatments were essentially controlling my hormones and their roles for me. I took a break for over two years. I lost 40 pounds, and came back to her for treatment again. When I visited her for a new consult, she said they weightloss was great, but another 40 pounds would be even better. I was confused because years earlier, it seemed to be a non-issue. Anybody who's ever gone through fertility treatments knows what a difficult task it is to lose weight while injecting all of these meds. I didn't lose any weight during the next 7 months of treatment, but I didn't gain any either. My follicles definitely responded better this time, as I was ready to trigger just 10 days in! I went through 7 months of treatments, each ending with a negative beta. I started out with clomid+menopur for a couple of cycles, then just menopur, then increased menopur, then follistim+menopur. The longer I continued with treatments, the slower my follicles began to grow. It's as if my body was just tired, and nothing was working. I met with her a couple of months ago, where she told me I had made a 'valiant effort', but it was time to move on to IVF.

Insurance did not cover IUIs, so out of pocket they were around $400 per cycle. IVF starts around $11,000 per individual cycle.

She took the time to cover everything to expect with us. We only met with her twice because our first cycle with this clinic was successful. She does have a dry personality but at the same time was very caring when I needed it.

Go in ready to ask questions and be honest on what you want for treatment.

Treatment was monitored medicated cycles with a trigger shot and possible IUI. She did a PCT to determine if IUI would be needed. IUI was recommended for us, but we elected not to on our first cycle. We took letorozle instead of clomid because I had serevel failed clomid cycles with my previous doctor. I had irregular cycles due to PCOS (she discovered my PCOS) so that was why we did monitored cycles. The plan was to get more aggressive with treatment each cycle but our first cycle with Dr. Houserman was successful.

Someone went over what our insurance would and would not cover at our first appointment. We knew exactly what the cost would be for us, and it was much more affordable than we expected. They have their out of pocket prices listed on their website as well.

When I met Dr.Houserman, I had previously seen a different specialist. To be honest, I was a mess. She had reviewed all of my records before my first visit! She knew about our previous treatment and failures. We discussed my options. It was so refreshing to have someone actually explain the options available in so much detail. She told us IVF was our best option due to previously failed inseminations and my husband's sperm issues. I really didn't want to do IVF but once I understood why it was the best option, I agreed. I sure am glad that I did!!!! We have a beautiful baby boy and we are so grateful to this wonderful doctor and her staff!

Make an appointment and go see her!!

Our plan was to do IVF with ICSI. We did discuss that I might have to do a frozen transfer if my blood levels began to rise.

The IVF procedure was about $11,000.00. The medications were going to be about$5000.00 but the billing person gave me a packet of information where I could apply for assistance with my medication. It saved us about$1500.00.

We trusted her judgement and experience when it came to deciding to just transfer one embryo.

She was very thorough and explained everything to us very well. We knew and understood everything that was going on. Everything was laid out to us. When we left the first day from our visit with her, we were excited and ready to get started. She made us feel comfortable talking about things you normally would not like to discuss with others. We put our total faith in her. She is very well educated on infertility and discussed several things with us about the matter. She is compassionate about what she does and expresses that through the whole process. We were very pleased with her and at the clinic. I would highly recommend her to anyone that is going through infertility. We, however did not get the results we wanted, but hope to be able to go back in the near future and try again.

She is very thorough and educated on infertility. Ask her all of your questions and be sure you know everything you feel you need to know to get started.

Monitoring appointments were very convenient. Several appointment times were available to my choosing.

$10,975 was due at suppression check. We paid about $4000 for screenings and monitoring.

Dr. Houserman recommended transferring 2 embryos. She did however recommend not transferring anymore than 2.

Strengths were that I did eventually get in to do an exploratory laparoscopic surgery to evaluate the structure of my reproductive organs. Weakness - Although I had already been trying for over year and a half to get pregnant before I came to Houserman, it still took her over 7 months to give me any kind of diagnosis and she was willing to suggest I do costly fertility treatments, even if my problem could have prevented them from having any chance of working. I went to Dr. Houserman the first visit and gave her a comprehensive list of my health problems (heavy, long periods; back pain; pelvic pain; pain during intercourse; bowel trouble and bleeding bowel). What I know now is that all of these symptoms were reason to look into whether my problem was endometriosis. Instead, she prescribed me fertility medications which contained estrogen, which makes endometriosis worse and increases the inflammation, which decreases the chance of an egg getting fertilized and implanting. I feel like the 7 months and the hundreds of dollars I spent on fertility injections were a complete waste of time and money. Weakness - they do not do excision surgery on endometriosis and perpetuate the false information that burning off endometriosis with a laser will treat it and increase your chances of fertility. In reality (there is scientific evidence to back this up), the endometriosis can grow back as soon as the month after the surgery, so there is no guarantee that you have any period of better fertility. Instead of referring endo patients to an excision specialist, they continue to prescribe fertility meds and recommend iui and/or ivf without telling you anything about your decreased chances in those working if the endo grows back. Weakness: Do not give you any information on the possibility of any of your problems being cancerous. I went in the month after my lap surgery and was told I had a 7 cm cyst on my ovary and not given any information on the type of cyst, the precaution I should take to not increase the chances of the cyst growing bigger, or given any reason as to why a cyst that large popped up in a mere 3 weeks after my lap.

Do your research on all possible infertility problems before you visit her and if you think you might have a particular problem that they have not looked into or diagnosed, push for the specific tests that can diagnose that problem. Also, set your boundaries with her up front to let her know if you do not have the financial means to do iui or ivf. That way, she knows to be honest with you and tell you there is nothing more she can do to help you besides doing one of those procedures. It will eliminate wasting more time and money.

Dr. Houserman is a very knowledgeable and nice woman. She is blunt which I am ok with. Her bedside manner is pretty good. During a procedure she was very confident and reassuring, though quick. She is like most doctors where her time is stretched a bit and it’s a quick interaction

Don’t wait. If you think you need to see a specialist then do it. Houserman will do all in her power to try and get you to your end goal

The first strategy was IUI. And if/when those didn’t work we would start something more in depth. New plans are being set at the moment

Care and pricing seems about the same as all specialists in AL.

Dr. Houserman always listens to all my questions and concerns. Takes all the time I need. I never feel rushed. She is very knowledgeable and thorough. She is very kind. At my 3 month follow up she talked about all the treatments I had done and my results from them. She listened to all my questions, concerns, and symptoms. There we discussed what treatments needed to be done next.

Write down all your questions and concerns. She will listen and discuss all of them with you. She’s very professional.

First treatment was a cycle of Letrozole and HCG trigger shot with timed intercourse. Followed by vaginal progesterone. Resulted negative pregnancy test. HSG test was performed and results were great. No blockages found. Second treatment was a cycle of FSH shots, HCG trigger shot, IUI, and vaginal progesterone. Resulted negative pregnancy test. Third treatment was a laparoscopy, hysteroscopy, and hysterotomy. Endometriosis, adenomyosis, and scarring was found. Waiting to begin fourth treatment cycle.

I

Very straightforward but compassionate. Her knowledge is exceptional. We have been so impressed with her. There has never been a time where we have had anything negative to say about her. My only wish is that we could continue treatment from start to finish.

Just listen to her suggestions. She knows what she is doing.

We used letrozole and trigger shots for each round and had great results with the response from my body. Once we got a positive pregnancy I began progesterone shots through 12 weeks. We were able to get pregnant however she was stillborn at 20 weeks.

I have insurance but it does not cover everything.

She's a blessing and so reassuring that my family will be complete. She goes beyond to make sure i am informed aware. and the best treatment option to help me achieve my deeams of having a baby. Her kindness is sincere and loving.

Be open to her opinions

I was monitored closely and was allowed to try naturally however that resulted in a miscarriage twice, then i was treated for vitamin deficiency for progesterone and needed to use those for extra help 3x day 100mg, i was given folgard and told to take d3 5000. I was put on clomid 100mg 2xday for cycle days 5-9 and did the trigger early am. I did the tww and by urine and blood test i was told i was pregnant.

I think its pretty affordable

She answered all of our questions and explained things very well to the both of us. During the hsg test she was gentle and comforting. She also experienced infertility so I think she truly has a heart for her job.

When in doubt ask questions

Letrozole was our drug of choice. US were done for my first cycle 3 times a week. Monitoring follicles. Hcg trigger shot was done and progesterone was checked a week after ovulation. Labs were drawn with every visit.

Doctor Houseman was very understanding she explained everything to me each time that I went in she always called me and my Husband by name we felt like family to her She made me feel like she was going through this with me she and she staff were extremely supportive

She is very concerned and very aware of what your going through because she has been there she is one of the Best

The cost was a little high

She told me all the details about my embryo and even made sure was sure on my transfer before she set up my transfer Day

she is very personal and caring with treatments and decisions to be made with each cycle/retrieval/transfer. she always assured us she was acting with our best interests in mind. she personally checked on us after each failed cycle

be honest in what you want and don’t hold back

we transferred one the first two transfers and then she allowed us to transfer two the next cycle bc one embryo wasn’t graded as high as the rest.

When I saw her she explained everything she believed needed to be done. When I had a chemical pregnancy, she called me herself and showed compassion and talked to me when she thought needed to be changed to improve my chances.

Don’t have any

Cost a lot. Each visit was $400.

Dr Houserman can be very business and then personal at times as well. Dr Houserman seems very intelligent and helps to ease the nerves knowing she’s knowledgeable in what she is doing. She has always exhausted all options when doing treatments.

To ask a lot of questions.

At times expensive.