William Hummel (retired)

Dr. Hummel was kind, knowledgeable & compassionate. I was somewhat disappointed in the infrequency with which I saw him. I was a patient of his for approximately 1 year an I think I saw him 3 or 4 times.

Be sure to ask questions if you become confused with the process or terminology. I have a medical background and struggled myself at times to understand the process, especially when it came to the explanation of the IVF treatment packages.

I had 6 failed IUI cycles and 1 successful IVF cycle. During IUI I did 2 natural cycles, 2 with oral clomid and 2 with injectables (I can't remember the names). During the IVF I used several different injectable medications in a specific series as well as intravaginal estrogen suppositories after the implantation. The injectable series was complicated but with good organizational skills, was manageable. The vaginal suppositories were inconvenient & messy (twice a day for 2 weeks). However I was told the only other options were daily intramuscular injections of estrogen. I was tired of injections so I went for the suppositories which were effective in holding my pregnancy.

Approximately $35,000 total with IUI, IVF & medications.

Dr. Hummel gave me the option of single or multiple transfer. He explained the risks vs benefits and was ethical in that he would not consider transferring 3 or more embryos based on my personal story (single mom by choice). I felt he was being very responsible in his advice.

Dr. Hummel was good at explaining the process of IVF in a caring and gentle manner. One thing that stood out was how he made a point of complimenting my husband which made him feel included (when sometimes I think husbands can feel left out). He is soft-spoken and thoughtful and made us feel like we were important to him. The only negative I can say is that he suggested moving on to donor eggs while I was on the table having the last embryo transferred. I thought the timing was not so good.

All of our IVF cycles were long prototcol with either ganirelix or cetrotide as antagonist, Gonal-F/menopur stimulations, Ovidrel trigger shots with Lovenox for blood thinners. The first two cycles were fresh day 5 transfers, transferring 2 the first time and 3 the second. We froze the rest and transferred them after the fresh transfers did not work. The last 2 cycles were frozen transfers with PGS. We used ICSI in all cycles because of my husband's low morphology. None of the cycles worked.

We did the "success guarantee" plan which is supposed to give you money back if you use all of your embryos and have 3 rounds of IVF and do not have a live birth. This is not actually what happens- we ended up paying more money for each round and did not get anything back in the end. And the financial coordinator is difficult to work with- she does not answer phone calls or emails timely and then send you late payment warnings. This is the only part of the clinic that I did not like. They should not call it success guarantee, they should call it a discount plan for each additional cycle if you sign up for 3. It is misleading.

He was happy to transfer more than one embryo from the start, but I was 35 at the time that I started treatment and had low ovarian reserve. We discussed the possibility of twins- my husband is a twin and so we were up for it.

The most gentle and kind medical professional I've ever had the pleasure of dealing with. He was like a grandfather in his care with so much respect for us and what we had already been through. Extremely gentle, kind and compassionate but also was the one to say enough is enough. We can't get you pregnant and you need to look at other options such as surrogacy, adoption or being childfree. Amazing man.

You are in the best hands possible. If anyone can get you pregnant he will do it.

I had only two experiences with Dr. Hummel. The first was a telephone initial appointment to discuss my history and whether I was a candidate for donor egg IVF. The second was my embryo transfer. On both occasions, Dr. Hummel displayed kindness, intelligence and humor

He is terrific!

I don't know the details of the protocol used because I was the recipient. I had to take Lupron, birth control pills, estrogen tablets and progesterone in oil injections during my cycle

I believe our donor egg IVF cycle cost $16,770, and our donor's fee was $7,500