Duke Fertility Center

Dr Eaton is very intelligent and was knowledgeable about treatment options. She was able to answer all of our questions without hesitation. She is honest and told us what she thought would work best for us.

Come prepared with questions for her to answer. She took the time to answer all our questions.

When I started seeing Dr. Eaton I was already on Femara that my OB has previously put me on and increased my dose. She had me continue taking this dose and had me come for baseline day 3 ultrasound, day 12 ultrasound & bloodwork and then had me trigger with Ovidrel if I was ready that night and come 36 hrs later for IUI. I have responded to well and have been ovulating but just haven’t gotten pregnant. Dr. Eaton now recommends IVF for since I’ve had 4 IUIs now.

I am a Duke employee so I have a special insurance plan with my employer. I paid 55$ for visits where I saw Dr. Eaton and 55$ per IUI. All my ultrasounds and blood work are free.

I only see her when I make specific consultation appointments, never for procedures like IUI, which hasn’t enabled me to develop a strong rapport with her or talk about things more informally during visits.

Do your own research and come prepared to advocate for yourself.

I began with IUI using minimal stimulation (Menopur and Ovidrel), and after 6 failed IUIs, I switched to IVF. My first IVF cycle (Cetrotide, Gonal F, Menopur, Ovidrel) was converted to IUI because I didn’t respond as expected. I’m currently on my second IVF cycle with Lupron microdoes flare and a higher dosage of Gonal F (450 instead of 300 per night).

15K and counting

Haven’t gotten there yet but I think she recommends multiple at my age (>40)

Dr.Eaton truly loves her job as a reproductive endocrinologist. She works tirelessly to make sure her patients are heard, taken care of and respected, even by her own staff. Through all of the ups and downs of the infertility journey, I always felt like I had her in my corner to help me pick the best option for me, my spouse and our plans to be parents.

She has high expectations of her patients, staff and self.

We were introduced to Dr. Eaton after for failed unmedicated IUIs. Since I did not have any noted health issues, she recommend that we try medicated IUIs. The medication worked great, but the fellows who performed the IUIs could not navigate my spec fix and most likely the sperm never made it to the corrrct location. After 4 unsuccessful medicated IUIs, we decided to proceed with IVF. The protocol was birth control for ~22 days to suppress ovulation, stimulation medications to include Gonal F and Menopur. The doses given were high and caused me to stimulate too quickly. 15 eggs were retrieved after a week of stimulations. 8 eggs were mature, 4 fertilized and 3 made it to day 5. We transferred two fresh embryos, which resulted in a negative pregnancy test. After the difficulty with passing my cervix, Dr. Eaton wanted to only proceed with frozen transfers so that she could be the one to perform the transfer rather than the RE On call that day. We then transferred the remaining frozen embryo which also resulted in a negative pregnancy test. We then proceed per another IVF cycle. Repeated the birth control for ~22 days, but lower the dose of Gonal F and Menopur stimulation meds. Dr. Eaton pushed my body to 10 days, which resulted in borderline OHSS estradiol levels, so we did a freeze all. We retrieved 15 eggs, 14 mature, 13 fertilized and 8 made it to day 5. We transferred 2 eggs first which ended in a negative pregnancy test. Transferred two more, negative test. Transferred one more, positive pregnancy test and early miscarriage/chemical. Dr.Eaton found this to be promising as I finally got pregnant. We then decided to proceed to IVF Cycle#3, same protocol as IVF cycle #2, but do PGS testing. We retrieved 23 eggs, 15 mature, 13 fertilized, 12 made it to day 3, 2 made it to day 5, one was normal and one abnormal. We transferred the normal and remaining embryo from IVF cycle 2. We had a positive pregnancy test, a healthy 41 week pregnancy and a healthy baby boy born via c-section. We are now discussing steps for IVF cycle #4 for baby #2.

For my first thre cycles as a Duke employee, I received a discount. My fourth upcoming cycle is no longer eligible for employee benefits do it will be $20k for IVF retrieval, ICSI, PGS testing, medications and one transfer.

She is a great doctor and I feel very respected by her. She is warm and compassionate while also being direct and honest. She has a good sense of humor, she provides a lot of hope and optimism, and she has a great sense of humor. I’ve had several doctors perform procedures and I had honestly less Pain after she performs the procedure than others. Sometimes it is hard to get an appointment with her in a timely manner. Overall, I highly recommend her.

You can trust her to be honest. She does follow pretty standard treatment protocols, so if you are looking for someone with an alternative approach, it might not be her. But she is very very grounded in research, and can quote the latest research findings for you.

We used the same approach in all five cycles. She was happy with the results, so we repeated to the same strategy every time. My issue was not egg quantity, and our embryos tend to live for five days, but with PGS it turns out we have lots of chromosomal issues. Each round was about 8-11 days of stimulation with 75 menopur and 150 gonal F. We did a natural FET transfer with estradiol patches for 4 weeks and acrimony vaginal progesterone. At 6 weeks we had a heart beat, at 7 nothing. Next transfer she recommends switching to IM progesterone in oil due to recent published study.

My doc Only allows a single transfer at a time for me because they are five day old blastocysts and PGS normal. I have not challenge this recommendation.

I started seeing Dr. Steiner after my previous RE retired. I immediately saw the changes she brought not only to my care, but to the way the clinic did things. She has the best bedside manner, she is warm and compassionate, nuturing and really looks out for her patients. She takes the time to make sure all of your questions are answered and that you feel comfortable with every stage of treatment.

Keep an open mind and don't be afraid to ask questions.

When Dr. Steiner took over my care, I was "on the bench" due to a large ovarian cyst. Previously, we had done one cycle of timed intercourse using 5mg Letrozole plus an Ovidrel trigger and one IUI also using 5mg Letrozole and an Ovidrel trigger. The following 2 cycles I had to sit out due to the cyst. Dr. Steiner recommended birth control pills to help shrink the cyst and they worked! For the 5th cycle, Dr. Steiner recommended increasing the Letrozole to 7.5mg, plus the Ovidrel trigger and another IUI. It was negative unfortunately, but Dr. Steiner encouraged us to keep going and also talked with us about options for the future (ex: doing a HSG, adding in FSH injections or thinking about IVF). We did one more cycle (the 6th) with 7.5mg of Letrozole, the Ovidrel trigger and IUI, which was also negative. At this point, we had a consult with Dr. Steiner to talk about moving on to FSH injections (a min-stim cycle). Dr. Steiner really took the time to explain exactly how it would work and answer all of our questions. She also recommended switching from Letrozole to Clomid. For the 7th cycle, I took 100mg Clomid and 8 days of Gonal F injections (75iu, 75iu, 75iu, 75iu, 150iu, 150iu, 125iu, 125iu). Dr. Steiner made sure to communicate with me throughout the cycle and explained each time the dosage was increased/decreased. At the time of trigger, I had 1 18mm follicle, 2 17mm follicles and 2 16mm follicles. I was very nervous about the high risk of multiples and not sure if I should continue with the IUI. I contacted Dr. Steiner multiple times and she eased my fears. The 7th cycle was successful and I am now expecting my second child.

A consultation with Dr. Steiner was $55- my specialist co-pay. All monitoring and bloodwork appointments were fully covered. IUI appointments were $55. Medications: I purchased Letrozole ($5-$10) and Clomid ($15) through Walgreens. I purchased 3 Gonal F redi-pens from Freedom Fertility pharmacy ($330 per 300iu pen) and one from Town Drugstore ($270 per 300iu pen).

Dr. Eaton was pleasant and knowledgeable. I wish she and not a fellow would perform the IUI’s. I felt safe and comfortable in her care, but I didn’t feel like things were tailored to us as much as they could have been.

I would say to come with a list of questions. In our meetings, I was surprised that some things weren’t covered, outside of my questions at the end. (Like at the end of the day, what is our liklihood of bringing home a baby using IUI vs. IVF or how does my weight impact these numbers?)

For IUI, I started with clomid, which gave me horrible side effects - so I switched to letrozole for the rest of my IUI cycles. Each cycle was about the same. Med doses didn’t change as we continued doing IUI’s. For IVF, we learned that we didn’t stimulate long enough, and many of my eggs were not mature. I did one more IUI after this, and I didn’t feel like that was taken into consideration during the IUI.

Monitoring appointments were smooth, but always done by different providers.

I am a Duke Employee with set pricing for going to a Duke fertility clinic.

She refused to do a multiple embryo transfer.

Dr. Hurd has a wealth of information due to the number of years he has been practicing, but I feel he lacks the ability to connect or empathize with his patients. During my appointments, his delivery of information has always been very clinical. With such a very sensitive and emotional experience dealing with fertility issues, I would prefer if he could be more compassionate and empathic. It would also be helpful to have a clear and concise summary of what was discussed as well as any follow-up instructions.

I would recommend bringing someone with to each consultation so they can help take in all of the information provided during appointments. If you are able, I would also advise taking notes during the appointments. Additionally, research as much as possible before the appointments so you can advocate for yourself. I have found that Dr. Hurd is open to suggestions.

After being diagnosed with unexplained fertility, Dr. Hurd initially presented several IUI and IVF options. He outlined the benefits and drawbacks of each option including estimated costs. Since my husband and I were new to the fertility process and due to the lower initial cost, we elected to try IUI with Clomid and Ovidrel trigger shot. While I was provided with a lot of information concerning the IUI process for each cycle, I felt some of the basic information (when to test for ovulation) was left out. To date we have only tried one IUI cycle which did not result in a pregnancy.

Dr. Hurd seems like a very kind, knowledgeable doctor during the consult. However, he recommended we do regular insemination, and then that changed to 50 regular/50 ICSI, and then we were told that really the best case was all ICSI. We wanted the best outcome, and were very confused as to why this changed 3 times during our process.

You will rarely see Dr. Hurd, so during your consult, really take the time to ask ALL the questions you have.

We were first recommended to do regular insemination, then that was changed to 50 ICSI/50 regular, and then all ICSI. We did a regular IVF cycle, which resulted in retrieving 24 eggs, and 5 made it to the blastocyst stage. 1 was transferred, and a positive pregnancy test was confirmed. It's only been 5 weeks so it is still early to know the final result.

Under my husband's insurance we had a discounted flat rate, and this is why we had to use Duke. 50% off all medications, medications totaled around $4,000. IVF cycle (including monitoring, egg retrieval, transfer) = $4500 and additional $450 to wait until Day 5.

Multiple embryo transfer was not even discussed for me. I don't believe that Dr. Hurd or the clinic would do this for someone under 35, unless they really did not see 1 being successful.

My husband and myself did not have the best experience with Dr.Hurd. We felt as though he never read our charts before we came for a visit or was aware of our situation. He was very nice, but he didn’t seem up to date on the latest research and best practices.

Be sure he reads your chart before discussing anything.

He prescribed me gonal -f, menopur, and crinoline gel for the progesterone. From what I remember the item that stands out the most is that Dr.Hurd and Duke fertility makes your order two different trigger shots in which you will only use one. Their reasoning behind this is that they aren’t sure which one will be needed day if so it’s best to order both.

At this time our insurance still covered all our costs so we only had to pay copays, however now we have run out of insurance coverage.

N/A

I wrote this above, but I think he genuinely cares. He may not be the most sensitive man when it comes to speaking, and can be very blunt. But he knows what he's talking about and is thorough. He's good at explaining issues, reasons, medications, and treatment plans. And he's usually quick to respond (and will respond to a ton of questions, even if he may think they're silly). He gives pros and cons, laying out options and helping you understand them, but lets you make decisions about your own care when there is a choice to be made. He hasn't been pushy about treatments and has been caring when I have experienced loss.

Understand that his personality might not meet your needs, and that is fine. He is a bit socially awkward and seems to have an all-absorbing interest his field -- but that interest and knowledge is why I like him. He knows his stuff but may not have the "bedside manner" that some people need/want.

I started seeing Dr. Price for recurrent loss. He ran a slew of tests, more than most doctors seem to, and gave me options for further testing. Due to some of my numbers, we tried Femara/Letrozole for 1 cycle (had a CP) and Clomid for another (had an ectopic). Our next plan of attack is Clomid again.

This is very different with insurances, so I can't say specifics.

Dr. Eaton is very straight-forward and patient and willing to explain all of the medical information clearly and in detail. She presented us with options, listened to our concerns, didn't pressure us into treatments but was clear about what she felt was the most likely to work. That said, I had a few occasions where I felt like I would have liked a more compassionate response from her, especially when it came to missed cycles due to clinic issues.

I'm not sure.

I had previously undergone letrazole+trigger shot IUI for about 6 cycles with an OBGYN, so when I started seeing Dr. Eaton, she recommended trying min stim (150 menopur) IUI. We did that for about 3 cycles (she recommended going to IVF sooner, but for scheduling and financial reasons, we had to put that off). Then moved to IVF. The first IVF, I started with 300 gonal f/150 menopur and after 5 days, increased to 375 gonal f/150 menopur. I think retrieval was on day 11ish. They got 18 eggs, about half fertilized, and 5 made it to day 3. 2 of those were low quality, so Dr. Eaton transferred all 5 eggs (rationale was that the 2 low quality would not survive freezing so choice was to transfer to dispose of them). Resulted in a chemical pregnancy. I am doing the second IVF cycle now. Started with 375 gonal f/150 menopur and then reduced to 300 gonal f/150 menopur on day 5. similar timing for retrieval. This time, they got 12 eggs (but more were mature than 1st IVF), 6 fertilized and grew to day 3. Transferred 3 and froze 3. I saw Dr. Price at the transfer, so we talked through options for how many to transfer vs. freeze. This seemed like the best approach to both me and Dr. Price. Waiting for result of transfer now.

IUI meds plus treatment (with insurance) cost about $4000-5000 per cycle, I think. IVF meds cost about $6000 and cycle with my insurance cost $4800. Although, I spent the past 3 months fighting with Duke Medicine over a $15000 bill for IVF because my insurance was improperly registered in their system, and my claims were being rejected.

Dr. Eaton recommended transferring 3 embryos prior to starting IVf, due to my age and the fact that I was okay doing selective reduction. That said, I was a little nervous about the 5 embryo transfer, but I trusted that Dr. Eaton is conservative and doesn't have a high multiples rate, so she was advising us well.

I really liked Dr. Hurd since our first visit with him and throughout the 3 years we were at Duke Fertility. He is really warm and respectful and took all of my suggestions into consideration. He told me what to expect and was always there to answer questions (in person, phone, or email). He never seemed annoyed with my endless questions and he took all of my suggestions into real consideration. He always seemed very invested in helping us get pregnant.

I would say advocate for yourself and push for things to be more aggressive or faster if that is what you want. The pace was perfect for me, and I never wanted more than a single embryo transfer. This clinic follows the guidelines, so it may not be the best for someone who wants twins or is willing to get OHSS for more eggs. Also, do not blindly trust the financial office and be sure to double check everything with your insurance.

I started with Clomid to induce ovulation, which didn't work. Then we did injectables with IUI, but had to cancel two cycles (one because I ovulated too early and one because I did not respond). Then I did my first IVF cycle with Menopur and Cetrotide (no FSH alone because my LH is low so they thought I needed the extra LH from Menopur). We got 13 eggs, 3 embryos, and 2 negative pregnancy tests from that egg retrieval. My second IVF cycle used Menopur, low dose Gonal-F, and cetrotide, and was much more successful. We got 18 eggs, 12 blastocysts, 6 PGS normal embryos, and 1 beautiful little boy from that egg retrieval. We still have the other 5 genetically normal embryos in the freezer for future children.

IUIs were covered under my insurance, so they were copays of maybe $300 for 3 IUIs. IVF was not covered, so my first cycle was about $15K and my second cycle with PGS testing was closer to $20K. With copays, acupuncture, supplements, counseling, etc., I'm sure we spent $40K.

Dr. Hurd was pretty adamant that we only do eSETs with our 5-day blasts (they allow multiple embryo transfer with 3-day embryos). He follows the research and guidelines, which I always respected and appreciated. After two failed eSETs, he probably would have let us do 2 if we wanted, but we did PGS testing and he definitely would not have let us transfer 2 genetically tested embryos (nor would we have wanted to!).

I have really liked Dr. Hurd since our first visit with him over a year ago. He is really warm and respectful and takes all of my suggestions into consideration. He tells me what to expect and is always there to answer questions. He encourages me to send him emails and doesn't seem annoyed with my endless questions. He seems very invested in helping us get pregnant.

I would say advocate for yourself and push for things to be more aggressive or faster if that is what you want. Also, do not trust the financial office and be sure to double check everything with your insurance.

I started with Clomid to induce ovulation, which didn't work. Then we did injectables with IUI, but had to cancel two cycles (one because I ovulated too early and one because I did not respond). Then I did my first IVF cycle with Menopur and Cetrotide (no FSH alone because my LH is low so they thought I needed the extra LH from Menopur). Second IVF cycle is Menopur, Gonal-F, and cetrotide, but I can't say yet if it is more successful.

IUIs were covered under my insurance, so that was copays of maybe $300 for 3 IUIs. IVF is not covered, so my first cycle was about $15K and my second cycle with PGS testing will be over $20K.

We went through a IVF cycle with a different clinic that only does frozen cycles, so they would freeze our embryos on day 5. The problem was our embryos didn't live past 3-4 days, so we had none to freeze. From the first consultation with Dr. Suheil Muasher we new that we were in the right place even if we weren't successful. It truly felt like a different experience then the first clinic. He reviewed our records from the first IVF cycle and thought it was best to do a fresh cycle, we agreed. We retrieved 13 eggs and only had 3 embryos on day 3 that weren't showing signs of deterioration. So we transferred those 3 on day 3. We had a vanishing twin that they never got a heart beat from and was no longer there after 7-8 weeks. We had one healthy baby, which is now our beautiful almost 2 year old daughter. We are more than thankful and felt a tremendous amount of pressure because that cycle was the last that our insurance would help pay for, we new it was our last chance! I tell any one who might be considering IVF about our experience and Dr. Muasher.

Trust the process, this is what he does every day!

We used 3 day embryos and transferred them on day 3 because in a past cycle, are embryos died on day 3-4. It proved to be the right decision.

15,000

Her strengths are very organized and thorough. She knows exactly what should be the next steps as it relates to you. However, if patients have additional questions or concerns, I feel a return email should happen versus the patient coming in each time there is a question especially if University of Southern California is doing research on a cheaper option that your clinic offers. Her weaknesses is not having empathy when they are trying to decide best options along with financing IVF.

Respond to emails and voicemails.

After removing my right Fallopian tube based on complete blockage and inflammation, she determined that I had chronic endometriosis. Therefore, she recommended Lupron Depot to reduce the endometriosis and begin the fertility process with injections and IVF.

Over 10, 000 since I had to have a surgery.

I do not remember.

Appeared very knowledgeable but did not have any patient compassion. He honestly made us feel like we were taking up his time when we asked lots of questions, did not give me blount information, always “danced” around some topics and have more statistics than honest answers.

Expect statistics and no real answers. When asking him about further treatment and knowing that my egg quality is poor along with severe endometriosis, he continued to suggest IVF when asked about egg donors.

$18000

I feel like she had a plan in mind five minutes into our first appointment and did not defer from the course. She skips certain testing done at other clinics that is vital for information in diagnosing causes of infertility. My husband had poor SA results and I feel like it was dismissed without being addressed, she did not order another SA to confirm the poor result, nor refer him to a urologist. Feel like the plan is dead in the water until we give up and go on to IVF.

Do your research on what testing is done at other clinics to diagnose infertility causes and be sure she orders them.

2.5mg Letrozole with Ovidrel trigger

So far I've only had to pay $40 copays at appointments.

He's genuine, kind and respectful. He takes time to hold my hand and reassure me. I met him in 2015, when my husband and I decided to start fertility treatments after a miscarriage in November 2013. Dr. Muasher takes time to meet with me anymore my husband to go over results and our plan. He called me personally to discuss my concerns.

Trust in him, he'll tailor your plan of care to what you need and what you feel comfortable with.

2015 Clomid 50mg days 3-7, follistim 75ui 8-10, times 2 .... failed IUI cycles 2017: 50 mg clomid, 75 gonalf days 8-10 =R- 20.5, 14, 19.5,13,11.5,10 3less L- 19,19,12 5 less 6.4 tri LH 4.22 E2 1751.02 ,... Failed IUI cycle Femera/75iu gonalf and iui cycle, only one large 26mm follicle, failed

Approx $7500 out of pocket for first 2 rounds of iui with meds and all workup in 2015 Approx $650 for each iui cycle w/ meds and visits in 2017... Insurance helps some now

Dr. Hurd was always very open and honest in a good way. He explained our options and we are now waiting for our next appointment to discuss starting our IVf journey since we have had 3 failed iui's. He shows compassion and seems to really care about his patients. When you are going through such a stressful day difficult time, it is nice to have someone who seems to truly care about you.

Don't be afraid to ask as many questions as you want and if there is something you don't understand, he will take the time to walk you through it.

During all of my iui's I took 50mg of clomid on cycle days 3-7. I would have my monitoring ultrasounds on the days that were necessary and then the insemination when it was suppose to be during my time of ovulation. I used ovidrel 250 as my trigger shot.

I have no insurance benefits due to my husband's vasectomy reversal so I am self pay for everything.

Dr. Price is a very straight forward person. He is very serious in his practice. He rarely smiles but makes eye contact when needed. He only saw my husband and I twice and we had to deal with other doctors and nurses in the clinic.

He will remain professional and be straight forward with you but do not expect any warm and fuzzy feeling.

After the first visit we had with Dr. Price we had to deal with other doctors and nurses in the clinic for other testing and blood work and they adjust medication and dose.

At least 50% of cost of doctor visit and medication were covered by insurance and even despite that we have spent more than 10,000.00 and to continue with IVF or egg donor was impossible for us due to additional cost.

He is very delightful and compassionate, and the Fellow under Him was equally amazing. I saw her more than him, but she took care of me just as good. He was easy to communicate with through their portal, but I did feel he was strongly opposed to putting in more than 1 embryo. I didn't push but, should've, bc it resulted in no preg.

During the consultation, interview them as much as you can, so you are on the same page.

Lots and lots of injections, and medicine for the egg retrieval cycle. My current provider at a diff clinic was shocked at how much I was on. We transferred 1 embryo fresh, and new Dr. Felt like it should've worked but maybe my Progesterone/hormones were too high, from all the meds

Was insured; cycle was $2600

Strongly preferred only 1embro Transfer which dissappointed me

While initially my impression of Dr. Price was positive, looking back I question the course of action that he directed us to take knowing our history.

If you don't like a doctor who's style is very direct, consider a different doctor.

cycle one - Femera (5mg cycle days 3-7), trigger shot, timed intercourse, progesterone supplementation after BFP, chemical pregnancy cycle two - clomid (50mg cycle days 3-7), trigger shot, timed intercourse, progesterone supplementation after BFP, first trimester miscarriage

I really like Dr. Eaton! Only downside was she didn’t spend much time with me. I liked how she asked me what treatment plan i’d prefer before setting one up herself. She seemed optimistic which helps me also feel optimistic.

I would probably say that it’s kinda a pain to get ahold of the office or have a nurse call you back.

So far I’ve only had an HSG and follow up consult. The HSG resulted in a total tubal blockage on the right and some sort of spasm on the left. She thinks I do have atleast one good tube so she’s given me clomid and ovidrel next cycle to help. I previously saw an OBGYN who prescribed me 6 cycles of clomid with no results.

My insurance covered it but the initial consult was around $600. That was for ten minutes of her time. The HSG was over $1000

We can’t afford any IUI or IVF so this doesn’t pertain to me.