How in God's name do you pay for IVF??

[endo-freak]

We are in the "I want a baby so badly we'll do anything to get pregnant" stage, but I just cannot get the cost of this damn procedure out of my head. How on earth do you (when I say you I mean every woman out there having to go through IVF) even make the decision to fork out that kind of cash? And all that money for something that isn't even a 50% guarantee??

I never thought I'd be in this position to make this choice. All I can think of is Why me? Yes, I'm feeling sorry for myself. But I can do that since we are in limbo and not starting anything as of yet.

Our ins doesn't cover IVF. They paid partial for the 2 IUI's that failed but IVF is out of the question. We're hoping DH job is switching ins in the next few months, but not certain of that as of right now.

I keep reading posts of women spending over $20,000 for 1 round and that just puts me in a daze. And then half of them fail. How do you cope having to pay for something that expensive and then not have it take?? I know if it takes then the cost isn't an issue because it's all worth it, but.....

I just can't wrap my brain around that, how do you do it??

[KatieG]

endo-Well I feel your pain. Im young and definately not rich! We knew we wanted kids and we decided we would try ONE cycle of IVF and all our FET if necessary. Now mine wasn't quite 20K but enough to put a dent in things. We just put ourselves in a position to suck if up and have no regets regardless of the outcome. We got rid of a high car payment and went to something a few years old. We had a light x-mas with family and payed off our debt. We set a goal to pay off our credit card before we started IVF. And we did!! now that money we spent on debt over the past few months is going to the savings. (in case I want to stay home) So we just buckled down and lived comfortable & cut lots of extra's we didn't need. I definitly didnt have the funds to just throw downthe money. Our insurance covered only $700 of the meds. Lots of places can refeer you to financing compays but they all pretty much have high interest. We just put it on a 0% card and will pay it off slowly. What can you do. I wish I had 50K of disposal income for IVF but thats not the case. Im no Hilton!!

[waitingforMia]

endo: All I can say is patience helped pay for our treatments. We've spent $10,000 of our own money that we spent years saving. This IVF (which will cost about 13,000) we are financing through ARC. I did a lot of research and there are quite a few ways to finance treatments. I know it is a lot. And for some ppl it is not worth getting into a bit of debt. Dh and I decided we would regret not giving it all while we could. People go into debt for stupid things all the time! Why not go into debt doing something that gives you a chance at a life-long dream.

Good luck with whatever you decide!

MP

[nicaliw]

Its not quite as bad as it may seam. In addition to a company called ARC that someone already told you about here is a company called integramed that will charge you a set amount based on your age group and which exact procedures you are going to have. Mine was for IVF with ICSI and cost $29, 050. For that I get 3 fresh cycles and 3 frozen cycles. If I don't take a baby home from the hospital I will get a 70% refund!
You can also get loans expecially for infertility. Capital one does an infertility loan. The max they will lend one person is $25k but they will approve you and your partner so you could get $50k.
One more thing about the integramed I should say is that it doesn't include the cost of work-up prior to beginning IVF (you should expect to pay a few thousand on that depending on the RE, I paid about $3). It also won't include your meds that will be anywhere from $2-$5 per fresh cycle, depending on your individual protocol.
I hope this info helps a litte. My hubbie and I could never have afforded this without the loans and Integramed's money back programe. Oh, and don't forget, all health expenses are a tax right-off! We have $41k in health care expenses from 2007.
Good luck with whatever you decide to do!!!!!!!!

[Kabillion]

Yes it is expensive and you get NO guarantees. My husband and I forked out about $22,000. NOTHING was covered by my insurance. My husband makes good money thank god. He is the creator of Discovery Kids show "Growing Up Creepie". Yes that was a plug : ) But anyway we don't have that kind of Money to just throw away. I got 2 for the price of one (twins) but I know we were very lucky. I say fork out the cash and do everything in your power to up your chances. Stay off your feet for the first 24 hrs after transfer, de-stress yourself, and even meditate. I actually did this exercise during my 24 hours off of my feet where I just focused on thinking I was implanting my eggs. I know it sounds kooky but they say the power of the mind is the most powerful. Good luck!

PS: Check out my beautiful boys at www.gaudtwins.com

[nicaliw]

Your babies are beautiful Kab, I really like the target photo!

[TammyS]

Your boys are soo precious! Love those faces and your captions! LOL

[Kabillion]

bump

[PrincessB]

endo-freak,
We didnt have insurance either. I got the meds at a discount because I didnt have insurance. My RE recommended them.
We paid about 9000.00 out of pocket for everything. We were blessed to have help from our parents plus you pay as certain things take place so it wasnt all at once.
Also you can claim all the money on your taxes and maybe recoup some of that. I am currently in my two week wait and if it works I will never think of the money again. It is a scary, i know. Life savings out the window for something thats not guaranteed. But I feel like it was worth the try to start a family[/quote]

[endo-freak]

Thanks everyone for your replies. I guess I'm still in more shock than I realized. Since I've only known since October that we'd have to do IVF if we wanted to get pregnant, it's only really been a few months and the first couple my head was spinning. I'm slowly coming to my reality and trying to begin the steps of regrouping myself. It's funny, if you would have asked me 6 months ago if I would even consider IVF I would have laughed in your face.

Now I'm practically buying every book I can find to educate myself on the procedures. Which I know is good, but is also overwhelming at the same time.

I guess I just need to get past the 'No guarantees' part of it before starting the whole thing. That seems to be my toughest area so far...I wish my family was rich and then we wouldn't have to think of a way to pay for it.

Ahhh, the land of 'if only'.

Again, I so appreciate all of your advice and support. It means more than you know that I'm not a whacko! Just scared.

[riogirl71]

Big Bump! Any other creative solutions out there?

[jenice]

endo - I was lucky I had insurance for one full fresh, and an FET with meds pretty much paid for, except some copays. Now we will go for another fresh and have to put half of the $$$ out of pocket I really thought I would of gotten preggo on the first shot since I do have a DD via clomid. I would love my DD to have a sibling. If this goes well, I would DEFINITELY consider going back for FET's. FFET is cheap @ $3,0000 approx. My RE is through HANIVF pretty cheap prices compared to alot of women I see what they spend. My DH always says people prioritize what they feel is important to spend $$$$ on. Maybe a car, or really nice vacation or home improvements but you can't hug them @ the end of the day I quit my job to cycle and it unfortunately has become my life. This will be my 5th cycle I'm ready for this chapter of my life to be done I hope with a baby of course but there are no gaurantees. I can still hope though.

[Ghost]

Watch for research studies. These can cut the cost dramatically, sometimes to zero.

[riogirl71]

Ghost - I always wondered how safe these studies are, if it is a new drug (I saw one for new progesterone) did they do some prior research or are you the guinea pig? Does your clinic do ARC? Do they really get a discount on the regular price or is it just another kind of financing?

jenice - where are you located? Have you looked at ARC, I am 39 and don't qualify for the $ back though. My RE charges about $9,000 for IVF and $1,800 for ICSI which we have to do. All bloodwork and ultrasounds are extra... so it adds up. He does not take ARC or anything like that.

[audraespino]

Ok. I have a couple of questions.

The first medical loan my dh and I applied for (yesterday, via online) was denied.
We have a few other options (we hope) in regards to financing IVF.
We applied to another medical loan company via online. Its the company that is on my RE's website to use for financing.
If we get denied should we call the office and explain we were denied & ask if we should try to reapply during the appointment on the 1st with the assistance of a financial adviser/counselor?
The loan amount we asked for was $30,000. Maybe we asked for too much? If we lower the amount we are asking for, do we stand a better chance of getting approved?
We could lower it to perhaps $23,000 and see if insurance will cover the blood tests, ultrasounds, etc.

Our other options are;
Bank loan?
Credit Card? ~ He already applied (yesterday).
Perhaps a different online medical loan company someone can suggest?

Also, how much do the medications run?

I would LOVE & NEED ANY AND ALL REPLIES ON THIS! PLEASE!!