Hi, my name is Michele and this is my first time posting here. I am a mom to 2 kids. My son was conceived through IVF and will be 2 in January. My daughter was adopted through Heart to Heart Adoptions and will turn 1 in February.
We did our IVF at the U of U with Dr. Mark Gibson. We were very lucky that we had a successful outcome, because when it came to transfer, we only had one embryo left, and that led to our sons pregnancy. The reason I am posting here is because we are considering doing IVF again in 2010 to try and achieve one more pregnancy. I always assumed we would just go back to the U, but after reading about some of your stories on this blog, I am wondering if we should be considering more options. I have heard a little about Dr. Richards, and know he has good success rates. We have female and male factor infertility though and ICSI will be necessary, so does that mean Dr. Richards is not an option for us? I read that he doesn't perform the ICSI procedure? What about mini IVF programs? Programs in Vegas and LA? I just wanted someone to give me a list of places to check out. I would GREATLY appreciate it. I had no idea that things could change so quickly, but it seems they have. We were told when we had to do IVF, that there are only 2 places in Utah to do it, U of U and St. Marks. Apparently that is not the case and I want a comprehensive list before I jump in, ya know? Any info would be nice! Thanks ladies. Best of luck to you all. Infertility is really, really hard, but the rewards in the end can be that much better because of our struggles.
our miracles.
www.johnandmichele.blogspot.com
4 comments:
Hi Michele. I'm just curious--tell me about IVF at St. Mark's. That's really close to our house, and since our dumb insurance doesn't cover IVF anyway, we might look into that.
We did IVF last May at the U. Dr. Gibson ended up doing our transfer because I took so long to stim that it passed our regular doctor's rotation. We did ICSI because we have moderate to severe male factor, and who knows about me. Everything has been normal (except for some endo I had removed), but I didn't stim very well. We only had 3 poor quality embryos to transfer, and I didn't get pregnant. I'm terrified that there's something wrong with me no one has found yet.
Anyway, we have some friends who did IVFs through doctors in Las Vegas and LA, but they turned us onto different centers in Phoenix. There are so many to choose from and they are definitely expensive...but the best part: they offer a shared risk/money back guarantee program. For something like $30,000, you can have up to 3 full cycles and any FET's resulting from those, and if you don't get pregnant AND take a live baby home from the hospital, you get 80% of your money back (aside from what you spent on meds, obviously). Sounds pretty good, doesn't it?
Hillary,
I didn't do IVF at St Marks so I know nothing about it. We did IVF at the U with Dr Gibson and liked him so we just moved forward right away and never even had a consult at St. Marks. I think i have heard that they have a shared risk program also though. I didnt like the sound of the shared risk program unless we thought there was a good chance we would not be sucessful, because the way i understood it was that if you got pregnant on the first try, then you spent 30,000 grand instead of 10 grand and still got one baby and one pregnancy. ya know? maybe i misunderstood though. thanks for this info. good luck to you.. im so sorry to hear about your failed cycle.
Yeah, I understand your point of view on shared risk programs, especially because you've had success with IVF. I guess I'm just a worrier (pessimist?) who has to have a plan for what would happen if one cycle (or two or three) didn't work. So I'd probably be so amazed that it worked that I wouldn't mind forking out the $30,000!
I heard a while back that the U is working on developing a program like that too, but maybe something to look into would be a clomid IVF where you still got to have ICSI, but saved money on the stimulation drugs and all the ultrasounds? It might be worth asking about at the U or RCC.
RCC also does shared risk but you get more fresh cycles. I think you pay $25,000.00 but get it all back if it doesn't result in a live birth. You don't get back the $$$ you spend on meds. So much to think about for all of you.....there are so many options and all of it costs so much money!!! It is excting though and I am so glad you are all posting this info. It makes it easier for everyone to know all of our options!!!
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