Hey sistas,
I (Tami) have received so many questions about my IVF journey that I decided to write a blog post about it, giving as much detail as possible (including fees). I love sharing my journey with others who are about to start the same process that I went through. When I was about to start IVF, I would scour the internet for hours trying to get more information on people’s experiences and trying to get all of my questions answered. So I hope that this post helps many people who are on a similar journey. Please remember that I am in no way giving medical advice, I am simply sharing my story.
So, my husband and I were trying to get pregnant for a long time with no luck. To me, it seemed like we had been trying to get pregnant for forever. I couldn’t help becoming very sad every time I got a negative pregnancy test. Time seemed to move so slow and I was just so frustrated. To me, it was seriously heart breaking. We decided to get tested so see if something was wrong.
We set up the first visit with a fertility doctor on May 20. It was a brief meeting with the doctor to ask us questions and then we met with the finance representative to get an idea of typical costs for fertility treatments. Between May 31 – June 17, we went through all of the initial fertility testing. My husband gave a sperm sample, urine sample, and a blood draw. I did “day 3” hormone blood work, ultrasound, sonohysterogram, HSG (hysterosalpingogram)/flouroscopy, vag cultures & pap smear. Now, the only difficult part of this testing was my HSG and sonohysterogram. These tests were so painful for me! The HSG test is when they push dye through your fallopian tubes and the sono is when they inject saline into the uterus. I was literally screaming during the HSG/Flouroscopy and the doctor decided to stop the procedure half way through. However, I have a friend who only felt some discomfort during both tests, so it just depends on your body.
On June 23, we had our follow up consultation so that our doctor could tell us what he found and what fertility treatments he recommended. He let us know what the issue was and told us that our chances of getting pregnant naturally were not good. He recommended going straight to IVF as other methods like artificial insemination wouldn’t work for us.
On July 6, we had our first meeting with a different fertility doctor. We found out that this doctor worked with our insurance much better than our first doctor. Our second doctor required additional blood work and another semen analysis. I also had to go to a different doctor to get cleared for surgery and we had to get some legal paperwork notarized.
On July 12, we started our IVF cycle. On this day I began taking birth control so that the doctor could control when my period would start. I also got the list of medications that I would need for the entire IVF cycle. I could not believe how big that medication box was when it showed up at my front door! It was so overwhelming when I opened it and found tons of needles, bottles, etc. I took a long time sorting through and organizing all of my meds. My doctor provided online videos of how to take each med, and if I ever had a question, I could call/email my nurse. My nurses provided me with a calendar that told me what to take every day. I prayed that I was doing everything correctly!
On Aug 23, I took my first daily at-home shot. I took over 200 at-home shots during the process, with many different meds. (I am still taking 1 shot per day until I am 6 weeks post pardum.) Aug 30 was the day for my initial ultrasound and blood draw. Sept 3 was the day that I started my stim meds. A few days into my stim meds, was the first time where my body started to notice the effects of everything. This was also the time where I had to cut out any workouts that “bobbed my ponytail.” I took my HcG Trigger shot on Sept 12.
My egg retrieval occurred on Sept 14. I went in about three different times prior to this date for ultrasounds and blood work, until they determined that my eggs were ready to take. My husband and I showed up to our fertility center for the minor surgery on that day. I was prepped and taken to my patient waiting room. They rolled me into the surgery location and put me under anesthesia while they performed the retrieval. I was unconscious for under 30 minutes. (The days following this procedure, I had ALOT of stomach discomfort). The next day they let us know that we had 16 mature eggs, and that 13 fertilized and 2 might fertilize. I began Progesterone shots on Sept 15.
Sept 19 was my transfer day. I had a day-5 transfer. You have to show up with a VERY full bladder. This was a very uncomfortable process for me! The nurse pushed on my full bladder while we watched (on the screen) the doctor inject our two embryos into my uterus. I think it was a quick procedure, but it felt like an hour to me. The day after, they told us that we could freeze 5 more embryos (so we had 7 embryos/blastocysts in total).
Then the 2ww (two week wait) began! On 8dpt (8 days post transfer) we had our first beta blood draw, on 10dpt we had our second beta blood draw and the nurse gave us THE phone call. I was at work when she called, so I actually booked myself a conference room to chat with her for a couple of minutes. She gave me the best news ever – we were PREGNANT! I immediately called my husband to confirm our good news. Now, I had taken home pregnancy tests (hpt) since 5dpt (however, they ask you not to take hpt’s because of all the meds/HCG shot). So, I had a heads up that we were probably pregnant, because everyday my second line got darker! PS – I took my first hpt on 5dpt at 1am because I couldn’t sleep since I knew that a pregnancy test might work by that date. I fell to the floor and started crying with joy and immediately woke up my husband! We both were so happy that we couldn’t fall back asleep that night! The nurse also let us know that according to my blood work, it seemed like only one embryo took.
My seven week appointment with my OBGYN finally arrived! They began the ultrasound and my heart was beating out of my chest! Then the best sound that I have ever heard came across from that monitor, our baby’s heart beat! I started crying because I was so happy and sooooo relieved. The ultrasound confirmed that there was just one little baby in there, and we were just so happy that we were pregnant!!
As for fees, I will start by saying that every doctor is different, every insurance is different, and everyone’s medical needs and procedures are different. These numbers are specific to my situation, and yours may vary. However, this will give you a good idea of what to expect.
My insurance covered $6,000 lifetime. Sometimes doctor fees billed to the insurance are different than fees that they will bill to out-of-pocket. With my first doctor, we had all of that initial fertility testing done, which billed about $1,100 to my insurance. So, with my second doctor, I had $4,900 left to bill to my insurance.
Out of pocket, I ended up paying my anesthesiologist ($960), co-pays every time I went to the fertility centers ($30 each), special blood work for my second doctor ($630), all at-home medications and vitamins ($3,000), and payments to my fertility doctor after my insurance ran out ($2,630). So my total out-of-pocket was about $7,800. I am estimating that if I had no insurance coverage, the total out-of-pocket would have been about $16,000 (because like I said, out-of-pocket is typically billed differently).
I would love to answer your questions! It is easiest for me to see your messages via Instagram direct messaging. @Sincerely_Jean_
Sincerely,
tami jean
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