Is it possible to START with IVF?

[hopers03]

Hello ladies. I'm new to this site. My partner, Hope, and I (I'm also Hope) are going to start the TTC process this week. We have our first appointment with the RE on Friday. I have 2 almost OOPS! daughters from my unsuccessful attempt at hetero marriage.

My partner is the one who will carry this time around and she has had some trouble conceiving by donor sperm in the past. It took her 5 IUI's to get pregnant in her twenties (she's 39 now) and then lost the baby at 3 months and never tried again until now.

In case you're unaware donor sperm is expensive! And, unlike infertility treatments, sperm is NOT covered by her insurance. So we'll be shelling out like $500 per 1cc of sperm. Fun times!

Anyway, my point being, does anyone know whether it would be possible to convince the RE and her insurance to skip IUI's and Clomid and go straight to IVF? I almost guarantee that the amount of IUI's that she'll need will be more expensive than a round of IVF.

I never ever realized how frustrating it is to have so many breeder friends conceive without even trying and we want a baby so badly and have to go through such extensive measures. Especially since for me...it was easy.

I hope you'll accept me here. We have our own infertility issues...even if they're not quite the same as hetero couples. There aren't really many message boards that fit that mold. Thanks for your input in advance, Hope and Hope, mother to Evangeline (03/06) and Lorelei (02/07) and hopefully a couple more...hopefully.

[lesliesara63]

Of course you are welcome here! I have no idea if you can convince doctors/ins. co. to go straight to IVF but I definitely see your point. Maybe given the history of multiple iui's they would consider it. Does your insurance cover ivf at all or is it just the doctor that would need convincing. Anyways I love that you both have the name Hope! That's awesome! Best of luck.

[mayari]

Originally Posted by hopers03

Hello ladies. I'm new to this site. My partner, Hope, and I (I'm also Hope) are going to start the TTC process this week. We have our first appointment with the RE on Friday. I have 2 almost OOPS! daughters from my unsuccessful attempt at hetero marriage.

My partner is the one who will carry this time around and she has had some trouble conceiving by donor sperm in the past. It took her 5 IUI's to get pregnant in her twenties (she's 39 now) and then lost the baby at 3 months and never tried again until now.

In case you're unaware donor sperm is expensive! And, unlike infertility treatments, sperm is NOT covered by her insurance. So we'll be shelling out like $500 per 1cc of sperm. Fun times!

Anyway, my point being, does anyone know whether it would be possible to convince the RE and her insurance to skip IUI's and Clomid and go straight to IVF? I almost guarantee that the amount of IUI's that she'll need will be more expensive than a round of IVF.

I never ever realized how frustrating it is to have so many breeder friends conceive without even trying and we want a baby so badly and have to go through such extensive measures. Especially since for me...it was easy.

I hope you'll accept me here. We have our own infertility issues...even if they're not quite the same as hetero couples. There aren't really many message boards that fit that mold. Thanks for your input in advance, Hope and Hope, mother to Evangeline (03/06) and Lorelei (02/07) and hopefully a couple more...hopefully.

I don't know what your policy is like, but my insurance definitely wouldn't let me skip IUIs. In fact, if you are in a non-heterosexual relationship you may not even be able to get the IUIs covered (although your partner's history might help you get around that). I know donor sperm is super expensive, but at least you guys have insurance coverage. A lot of people don't.

Welcome to the process and good luck!

[KCMichigan]

We went straight to IVF.

Our RE decided that with our 'issues' (male and female) that IUIs were useless and we never tried Clomid.

Our insurance did not cover IVF at all, but it did cover bloodwork & u/s. We had to pay for the procedure and all the meds....it was expensive. There is no way we could have afforded IUI meds and then IVF meds if IUI failed!

We were successful w/ IVF.

The talk of donor sperm and eggs was brought up if our IVF failed. Both were expensive and actually the eggs were more expensive than the sperm!

We also looked into embryo adoption, but it was the most expensive option.


Good Luck!!

[dbsam]

Like the pp, my RE wanted to skip Clomid and IUI's. He said with my medical issues it w/b a waste of time and money. I wanted to try once though prior to trying IVF. He was right the Clomid and IUI did nothing; but our IVF was successful.

Good luck!

[goldfinches]

I went straight to IVF, after 2 years of unsuccessful trying and 2 more years of testing and treatment. It's standard policy for my RE to try IUI first, then move on to IVF, but due to my health, they skipped IUI. My insurance did not cover IVF.

FYI, unless you're going to one of the cheaper, take a number clinics, you should expect to pay over $15K per IVF. Mine was well over that amount.