My husband and I are trying to conceive via Invitro. Unfortunately our "wonderful" government health insurance does not cover any of the procedure or medications required. If anyone has any left over Follistim they would be willing to donate, it would be greatly appreciated. I think it is sad that after 15 years of service and 3 recent deployments to Iraq/the middle east, we are still stuck paying out of pocket for the beautiful blessing of having a baby. Please help. Thank you and god bless you!
Tina
Military Family in need of help!!!
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Stephanieford78
- Regular
- Posts: 533
- Joined: Fri Mar 05, 2010 1:46 am
- Location: Fort Hood, Texas
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Re: Military Family in need of help!!!
Tina,
Sorry to see you are having trouble finding the funding for IVF. I too am a military wife and it took 5 years of planning and 3 tours of duty to Iraq to get where we are. I know all too well how Tricare doesn't like to pay for IVF. We had 2 fresh IVF cycles and one FET before getting pregnant and had to spend around 20 grand to get where we are on an E5 pay. Not easy right? What we did was use his last tour and saved out the ying yang. lol It's hard to give up certain things, but it is well worth it in the end. We gave up an 04 Mustang, voluntarily repoed that sucker and that saved us over 600 a month in car payments and insurance. Then we sold everything we had worth value, a motorcycle, 4 wheeler, a 66 Mustang that we just restored and of course saved on other things that we all gave up along the way. Another thing that will help you save money is ordering your meds through London! IVF meds are much cheaper there. Also, talk to your RE about other possible meds you could use other then Follistim. It is a great drug, but very expensive no matter where you buy it. I saved literally thousands by going with a generic Repronex from the UK. Even the name brand of Repronex over there (Repronex is being discontinued from what the pharmacy told me) are less expensive and will still save you tons! I am sorry I don't have Follistim to help you in your IVF journey, but thought I would share how we made it happen on our own. Good luck and much baby dust your way!
PS. It actually IS possible Tricare can cover IVF. All you have to do is ask where your closest Military base/post is that hold IVF as a specialty. For example, I live on Fort Hood, but our closest is Wilford Hall which is on an Airforce base 3 hours away. I know a few ladies who have used that option, however we chose not to so that we could be closer to our RE and dished out the extra cash. It is an option though. One of my friends did it that way and is also pg with twins due just a day before me. lol Something to look into. Again, good luck!
Sorry to see you are having trouble finding the funding for IVF. I too am a military wife and it took 5 years of planning and 3 tours of duty to Iraq to get where we are. I know all too well how Tricare doesn't like to pay for IVF. We had 2 fresh IVF cycles and one FET before getting pregnant and had to spend around 20 grand to get where we are on an E5 pay. Not easy right? What we did was use his last tour and saved out the ying yang. lol It's hard to give up certain things, but it is well worth it in the end. We gave up an 04 Mustang, voluntarily repoed that sucker and that saved us over 600 a month in car payments and insurance. Then we sold everything we had worth value, a motorcycle, 4 wheeler, a 66 Mustang that we just restored and of course saved on other things that we all gave up along the way. Another thing that will help you save money is ordering your meds through London! IVF meds are much cheaper there. Also, talk to your RE about other possible meds you could use other then Follistim. It is a great drug, but very expensive no matter where you buy it. I saved literally thousands by going with a generic Repronex from the UK. Even the name brand of Repronex over there (Repronex is being discontinued from what the pharmacy told me) are less expensive and will still save you tons! I am sorry I don't have Follistim to help you in your IVF journey, but thought I would share how we made it happen on our own. Good luck and much baby dust your way!
PS. It actually IS possible Tricare can cover IVF. All you have to do is ask where your closest Military base/post is that hold IVF as a specialty. For example, I live on Fort Hood, but our closest is Wilford Hall which is on an Airforce base 3 hours away. I know a few ladies who have used that option, however we chose not to so that we could be closer to our RE and dished out the extra cash. It is an option though. One of my friends did it that way and is also pg with twins due just a day before me. lol Something to look into. Again, good luck!
IVF#1 BFN IVF#2 BFN FET Feb '10 BFP!
TWINS!! Born 10/13/10
Ethan Andrew and Angelina Lilly
TWINS!! Born 10/13/10
Ethan Andrew and Angelina Lilly