When it comes to infertility there are many decisions that you have to make. The first big decision we had to make was to go with the adoption or infertility/in vitro route. That alone was a very hard decision. Adoption can range anywhere between 15,000-30,000. In Vitro can range any where from 20,000-45,000. They are both a whole lot of money. Adoption is pretty much a sure thing if you are willing to patiently wait for the couple to choose you, the baby to be born, and then you just have to hope the birth parents sign the papers. There is always the chance that the birth parents will not sign the papers which means you have to start all over again. Then there is in vitro which is by no means a sure thing. It is a gamble but all infertility treatments are. Going to infertility cost a lot of money from day one. First both Stephen and I had to have a combined total of 2,500.00 worth of blood work done that insurance did not cover. Then we both had to have tests done to rule out many possible things that could be wrong. They check sperm count, they make sure that I had eggs (which I did) ,and they make sure your fallopian tubes are open (which they were). Depending on what they find during those tests there are even more tests that could possible come up. While they were doing the not so fun test to make sure my tubes were open they found the polyp in my uterus. Which meant that I had to have another expensive test done to check that out further. After having all of those tests, that is when the doctor decided to have us try IUIs first. Like I said in a early post neither of the IUIs worked....so it was a waste of a lot of time off work and waste of about 4,000.00. That is when we made the decision to try in vitro. Even though it is a gamble it is worth it to Stephen and I to have our own child.
That brings us to present day and the big decision we need to make this weekend. There are 3 different options when it comes to how they price in vitro. Here are the three options... When looking at these options, remember that the decision has to be made before you start the in vitro process. (Plus this is all out of pocket, no insurance coverage)
Option 1- 15,000- One round of in vitro. It either works or it doesn't. No second chance unless you want to pay the 15,000 again. Even though we have a 70% success rate...you never know if it will work or not.
Option 2- 25,000- - Four rounds of in vitro- 2 fresh eggs/ 2 frozen eggs. In this option you pay for two chances but you get four. BUT IF YOU GET PREGNANT ON THE FIRST TRY YOU LOSE THE OTHER 3 THAT YOU PAID FOR. Plus you have to have the egg retrieval surgery done twice.
Option 3- 30,000 (With a 70% refund if none of the six work)- Six rounds of in vitro - 3 fresh eggs/ 3 frozen eggs. In this option you pay for three chances but you get six. BUT IF YOU GET PREGNANT ON THE FIRST TRY YOU LOSE THE OTHER 5 THAT YOU PAID FOR. Plus you have to have the egg retrieval surgery done three times. So if we got pregnant on the first try we lost 30,000 dollars that we didn't need to spend. But you have to look at it from the other way that with that 70% you could possible get back you could put that towards adoption.
So Friends here is our big decision...What is your Input?????
That brings us to present day and the big decision we need to make this weekend. There are 3 different options when it comes to how they price in vitro. Here are the three options... When looking at these options, remember that the decision has to be made before you start the in vitro process. (Plus this is all out of pocket, no insurance coverage)
Option 1- 15,000- One round of in vitro. It either works or it doesn't. No second chance unless you want to pay the 15,000 again. Even though we have a 70% success rate...you never know if it will work or not.
Option 2- 25,000- - Four rounds of in vitro- 2 fresh eggs/ 2 frozen eggs. In this option you pay for two chances but you get four. BUT IF YOU GET PREGNANT ON THE FIRST TRY YOU LOSE THE OTHER 3 THAT YOU PAID FOR. Plus you have to have the egg retrieval surgery done twice.
Option 3- 30,000 (With a 70% refund if none of the six work)- Six rounds of in vitro - 3 fresh eggs/ 3 frozen eggs. In this option you pay for three chances but you get six. BUT IF YOU GET PREGNANT ON THE FIRST TRY YOU LOSE THE OTHER 5 THAT YOU PAID FOR. Plus you have to have the egg retrieval surgery done three times. So if we got pregnant on the first try we lost 30,000 dollars that we didn't need to spend. But you have to look at it from the other way that with that 70% you could possible get back you could put that towards adoption.
So Friends here is our big decision...What is your Input?????
6 comments:
Wow Lyndsay, that is a huge decision to try to make. First, let me say that I'm sorry that you guys are having to go through all of this. It really sucks that good people like you have such trouble while there are people out there who don't deserve children who have tons of them. But anyway, I have to say that I definitly wouldn't go with the first option. It seems way to risky. I know that with the other options you have a chance of losing money, but that is a risk that I would take. It seems like you guys have really thought this through and really desire to have your own child. If I were you guys I think that I would go with option 3. Option 2 is also a good choice, but like you said, you don't have the option of getting any money back in the end if things don't work out. I think it really just depends on how many medical procedures you think you can handle. Anyway, I sure hope that everything will work out for you guys.
WOW!!! Lyndsay, I am praying now!! I am personally struggling as if it is not enough what you have already been through and still have to over come you also have to make decisions like these. I totally respect yours and Stephen's decision to do in vitro however, as I am sure you know it is ultimately God's choice. He is in control and I challenge you to leave it completely up to him. If you ask you shall receive. He is the amazing God that will guide your every decision based upon his will. With that said I truly feel that I am a middle road kind of girl and i would go with option 2. It doubles your chances!! Honestly, what is the likeliness that you would pay for one and it not work then pay for a second before you gave up? I would say its your best beat with the least amount of money lost if you do get pregnant first time around (which is my prayer~!!!)
Please know that you are on my personally prayer list and pray for you guys daily. I wish the best in which ever decision you make.
Love ya lots!!!
Ashley
If you have a budget of 45000 try option 3 ..if works (i hope in the first try )..but if do not work ..you have your refund back..and try adopting a baby....If you try option 1 or 2...and fail ..you have to have more money (total) for adopting.....30,000 (option 2) fail...you need more than 15000 for the adoption ..option 3 six chances lots of possibilities..and if not you have, like 34000 in refund (i don't now if mu math is right) ...I just wish the best for you and your husband...you deserve to be a mom..and you are going to be the best one, because you are a sweet girl, with lot and lot of love to give..
OK, first of all, I am so sorry that you have to make this tough decision! Second of all, I am disgusted that insurance will not help two responsible, loving adults with fertility. That could be another blog in itself though!
Without knowing things like your tolerance for medical procedures, financial situation, ect. I can't really advise you on what to do but since you are looking for input, I can tell you what I would do. I even discussed it with my husband since if I were making the decision it would obviously be with him too. The first thing he asked was the success rate and when I told him 70% he said he would for sure do option 2 because if, God forbid, it did not take the first time then the chances are it would have to take the second time. And, of course, you would still have the 2 more if needed. I agree with him.
At first I was thinking that if money were NO object, then 3 would be the best choice but with a 70% success rate, it is highly unlikely that you will need the 5th & 6th try so you can use the extra $15,000 for diapers :-) Therefore, if it were me, I believe that I would go with Option 2.
I wish you the best with your decision and all the steps to follow. You are in my thoughts & prayers. If there is anything I can do or if you just need to chat, please let me know.
Hey Lyndsay,
I totally understand what you are going through and you guys will definitely be in my prayers. My husband and I are in the midst of our first IVF cycle (after 4 failed IUIs); we'll find out on 2/15 if it worked or not. I'm not sure if this is an option with your clinic but we were able to pay the ~$18,000 for the first cycle (blood work, ultrasounds, egg retrieval, ICSI, transfer, and cryopreservation), which left us with 2 embryos to transfer and 7 good embryos to freeze. If this cycle is not successful, the next cycle will be about a quarter of the cost because we already have embryos frozen. If you have to choose between the 3 options; I would go with option 2. Everything that I have read says if IVF is not successful within 3 cycles, it's probably not going to work. My MD confirmed this but also said that some people are more successful with frozen embryo transfer. Let me know if you have any questions about the actual process or just want to talk to someone going through the same thing...I know that it has helped me!! Good Luck and I hope you are successful on your first try!!
ok, I got a few ??. 1)which RE are you using? 2)how many eggs are they willing to transfer each time? 3)if you got pg on try 1, can you not pay to freeze other eggs for use at later date?
When we did our first and only IVF, we were not given all these options. You pay each time until you got pg or gave up. check out www.ivf.com this is who we used and there is alot of helpful info. It sounds like there are really no known issues for you and Stephen. With us, dh had slow and low sperm counts, me, bad endo and low and poor quality eggs. At age 34, after taking high doses of the "drugs", we got 7 eggs/embroyos, which the docs picked the best "looking" 3 and put the other 4 back to grow and hopefully freeze. Well they fizzled a few days later. Well, you know we were blessed our very first time and delivered our triplets at 32 wks. I wish you the very best and hope you will have twins. And btw, the egg retrieval was not bad at all. If you got any questions or just want to chat, let me know. :-) Kris W
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