Infertility Drugs and Techniques. Would you do it?

[OneTimeSBX]

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...

[1908Revelations]

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.

[AKA_Monet]

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...

[pinkies up]

Originally Posted by OneTimeSBX

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...

BWAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA (wait a minute, I have four....)

[Maestro1]

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.

[Drolefille]

I'm rather surprised you had to drive so far, a co-worker of mine drives to Champaign, IL which had to be closer for you

/end hijack

[Maestro1]

Originally Posted by Drolefille

I'm rather surprised you had to drive so far, a co-worker of mine drives to Champaign, IL which had to be closer for you

/end hijack

Drove to Champaign at Carle Clinic for most of the blood work, etc,. but the IVF specialist didn't do the procedure at Carle, so we had do drive to Indy for the actual procedure.

Originally Posted by dzdst796

Maestro 1 Congratulations to you and your wife. That was a long and rigorous journey that you and your wife had to endure. I am so glad that in the end it worked out in your favor.

Yes it was, but well worth the wait. I think it was a blessing that we were able to conceive the old fashion way but it definitely brought us closer together. Most men are somewhat detached at the concept of childbirth. We think of it as 9 months of nagging and complaining. Having to endure all that comes with IVF, and being involved first hand made me appreciate my wife and what lengths she was willing to go through to have another kid. In the end, we cried about the failed IVF, but we cried even harder when our son was born. Tears of joy!

[AKA_Monet]

Originally Posted by Maestro1

Drove to Champaign at Carle Clinic for most of the blood work, etc,. but the IVF specialist didn't do the procedure at Carle, so we had do drive to Indy for the actual procedure.



Yes it was, but well worth the wait. I think it was a blessing that we were able to conceive the old fashion way but it definitely brought us closer together. Most men are somewhat detached at the concept of childbirth. We think of it as 9 months of nagging and complaining. Having to endure all that comes with IVF, and being involved first hand made me appreciate my wife and what lengths she was willing to go through to have another kid. In the end, we cried about the failed IVF, but we cried even harder when our son was born. Tears of joy!

Thanks for your story. I am at that age too where a decision like that may have to be made. However, my husband does not want to have children... Different story.

I do think that you were duped into a serious medical decision for gross failure. Fortunately, you all were able to get it done the "old fashioned way". But, it is my personal PROFESSIONAL opinion, that your wife risked alot getting those super ovulatory drugs that were "relatively" successful, and if I were you, I would DEMAND from my professional healthcare provider some kind of medical health directive.

My concern is for every report I read that does not do this, there is one that actually does, and that is breast cancer risk. It is only the risk increases with these drug treatments. It is NOT 100% but for the amount of stress it has caused and high failure rate, I would want some kind of medical health directive in my health record.

Just a protection. Especially since watching "SiCKO"...

[rho4life]

I think it's a lot like Vegas. Before you get started, you need to figure out how much you're willing to spend, and stick to it. To me, it is crazy to take out a home equity loan to pay for the *chance* that you could have a kid, versus adopting one of the many kids who needs a good home and putting some cash in a college fund.

[dzdst796]

Maestro 1 Congratulations to you and your wife. That was a long and rigorous journey that you and your wife had to endure. I am so glad that in the end it worked out in your favor.