Infertility Drugs and Techniques. Would you do it?
 

Ok gang,
What do you think about infertility drugs and techniques such as in vitro for example.

Would you do it? Which technique? At what age?

Would you be afraid that you're (if you're a woman) going to have a situation where you are carrying (and possibly losing) multiple babies?

Recently there was a very sad story of a woman that used one or more techniques had six babies but because she delivered early, unfortunately, there are only two babies remaining alive.
Is it unfair to the babies?

I pesonally wouldn't hesitate to use any type of treatment that I could afford to assist me in becoming a mother. There are risks to having children under any circumstances. So, I wouldn't really consider it any different.

I would seek out more holistic approaches to increasing my fertility (ex. acupucture, nutrition & herbs, etc.) before even considering IVF or anything like that.

I hope that I would never have to use them but I think that I would at least be willing to try a technique that is not extremely expensive and which might have a low probability of resulting in multiple births. I would not want to have a situation where I'm carrying more than three babies. I have heard that even twins sometimes have difficulty getting all of the food and nutrients that they need from the mother since they have to share so I would not feel good about having so many babies trying to eat and receive the nutrients that they need to develop into healthy babies. Then, I'd be afraid that they'd be premies.

I guess that I would also prefer the kind of technique where my husband and I could use our own eggs, sperm and body.

SC

Is there such a technique?

Hi Ladygreek,
I'm not sure. I was saying that in the sense that that would be one of the factors for me in deciding on a technique if I needed to go the route of these techniques in general.

Everything regarding IVF/fertility treatments is expensive. Trust me I researched all the possiblities and prices. When we were considering it we were given a pamphlet which discussed financing cycles of IVF. People actually mortgage their homes for these treatments.

The IVF process is timely and requires strong support. I had a co-worker that went through it and she was a mess emotionally when she went to have her eggs removed and when she went to get the viable embryo's implanted. She was out for a few days in each case. Luckily for her she carried to term.

As a couple we decided not to go the IVF route. First neither one of our insurance companies covered IVF treatments and we were not willing to sacrifice our financial security. We decided to adopt and have been blessed with a beautiful son who is taking all our money.:p:p:p

Congradulations on the adoption ;) That is wonderful!!! In regards to IVF, I think that your coworkers story is not being told. IVF is not easy, there are no guarantees, it is very costly (passing the 10K mark easily), and the process takes an emotional toll on couples.

Congratulations! I'm glad that your patience with the adoption process paid off for you and your family!

Thank you to you and Confucius. We are actually thinking about possibly adopting another child, but we need a bigger house. The condo is just not big enough.

i would never use fertility drugs. i would never want more than 3 at once, and i couldnt live with the selective abortion option. i feel like it is playing god. ivf is completely different, and even then, i wouldnt want more than 2 or 3 implanted at a time.

i cant imagine the pain that mother is going thru now, having 6 and losing 4. i wonder if she feels it was still worth it? it would absolutely break me down. if the lord saw fit and naturally gave me 4 kids at once, it would take about 9 months to truly accept it and get used to the idea lol, but having these 6 at a time reminds me of dogs and cats: its a litter of children, and if it doesnt happen naturally, maybe it isnt supposed to happen like that...

Right now I would have to say I would not consider IVF. When I am older and I have exausted my resources, maybe. Adoption is always an option, plus there are fewer single people w/o kids, so.....maybe later in life if I am married w/o kids and my husband (should I get married) has kids then I may just be content being a stepmother. But I would like to have at least one child of my own.

Ladies,

I forget the exact name of the drug injected, but it is similar to that of several hormones. A good IVF place would make the best recommendation for you given your overall health. And yes, it is expensive. Last I heard between $16K to $20K per injection with 3 insertions per cycle. So much so that Suze Orman in O magazine says it is not worth is--June, 2007 edition.

Interesting that this comes up, I can try to do a scientific search.

All I would say is KNOW THYSELF if you choose to take this course of action and please, try to do this with your partner or loved ones...

BWAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA:D (wait a minute, I have four....:p)

Ladies,

I hope you don't mind me intruding on this thread, but my wife and I decided to go the IVF route a few years ago and YES it was expensive even with good insurance.

The process we went through took about 2 months from start to finish. Although there was a hospital/clinic that was a mere 70 miles from where we live that would do the entire procedure, our insurance considered it "out of area" so we had to drive 45 miles (one way) to another hospital to see an IVF specialist.

My wife could drive 90 miles each day to get her shots from a nurse, or do her own self administered shots. Which in the end meant, I was doing the shots every day. I can't tell you ladies how much I hated causing my wife so much pain, for something that wasn't guaranteed.

Medicine with our insurance was about $760, but I know people who paid at least $2500. Once we started the shots (my guess about 2 weeks into this process), my wife was driving that 45 miles every other day to get her blood and hormone levels checked. As if the daily shots weren't enough, you guessed it...more needles to do the blood work!

Keep in mind, with the gas companies fleecing motorists for $2.85/gallon (at the time) we were driving about 360 miles a week, on top of the cost of medicine, and $20 co-payments. When we were finally ready for the egg removal, we had to drive 200 miles to Indianapolis to have the procedure performed (closest place apparently). The procedure took place at 6 AM EST, which is an hour ahead of where we live in Illinois. So the only way we could make it there on time was to rent a hotel room. Then a mere 3-4 days later, we were back in Indianapolis renting yet another room to have the egg reinserted.

In the end, I'd estimate that we did spend between $7000 - $10,000 for something that didn't work! Furthermore, when we were there the doctor tried to get us to "freeze" our unused embryos in case we wanted to try again. If we decided not to use them, she informed us we could "SELL" them to other people wanting to have kids. All this for the low, low cost of another $500. That would allow us to keep the frozen eggs for up to 5 years. Well, I just heard a news story just a few short weeks ago about the first successful child birth from frozen embryo. We went through the entire process back in 2004 and the FIRST successful birth took place 3 years later in 2007.

My wife wanted desperately to have children on her own. She didn't want to adopt and I respected her decision at that time. We were fortunate enough to finally have another child naturally in 2006. So for what it's worth, if we had to do it over again....we'd adopt or just keep trying the old fashion way. We spent way too much money, way too much time, and endured much heartache to find out it didn't work.

When we stopped TRYING and put it in God's hands. Everything happened according to his will.