I know that most of my post about infertility are depressing and angry but I wanted to share some feelings and upcoming things that are allowing me to feel a little more hope and just embrace my trial and look forward to the future.
We met with our fertility doctor (RE) back in July and even though the money aspect is terrifying, I felt hope and peace while talking about our options. We were given a 75 percent chance with the first IVF round and a 98 percent every cycle after that, unless there are unforeseen problems. Our doctor's office is one of the most affordable for IVF in the state, which is great but it is still expensive. So we met with the financial advisor at the doctor's office and were given a few options for how to pay, since our insurance covers absolutely nothing. I don't want to go into detail right now but I will one of these days. After talking it over, here are the choices Adam and I are left with in no particular order:
1- Financing- The doctor's office offers financing for our IVF. They offer low interest rates and we shouldn't have a problem to get approved. The reservation I have is I feel a little funny "paying off" our baby for the next 5 years, especially since this won't include all of the doctor bills( that hopefully insurance will help with)
2- Paying for multiple cycles upfront. This one is a little harder to explain. Basically we pay for 4 cycles up front, 2-Fresh cycles, 2-Frozen cycles. Because we are paying upfront we get about a 40 percent discount. This plan is kind of like an insurance plan. If we do all 4 cycles and do not leave the hospital with a baby in our arms we get 50 percent of our money back. We can do this plan along with financing. The only downfall is that if we get pregnant on the first cycle and it ends with a baby we do not get to use the other 3 cycles on a future date. But a lot of times it takes a time or two for IVF to work, so we will more than likely go with this option along with figuring out how to pay for it. The only down-fall to this option is that it only covers IVF. It does not cover meds, anesthesia, or the freezing of our eggs for future uses.
3- Save, Save, SAVE! We also have the option to try and save for all of this on our own. We are definitely putting a plan into action to try and save what we can, but it might take a while and I can feel my eggs drying up ;-)
4- Fundraising. This one has been a hard one for me. It is not because I am too proud to accept help. The biggest thing that I am struggling with for fundraising is thinking that I am burdening someone else with my trial for this life. I never want anyone to feel like they HAVE to help me. I know everyone has trials in this life and this one just happens to be ours and I don't want it to be a weight on anyone else. I wish that we had the money to pay for IVF out of our own pocket, but to be honest we don't at this time. With the encouragement from some our friends we are working on a few fundraising ideas that I want to share here. I can't express the gratitude and out-pouring of love and concern we have experienced from friends and family so far. So many people willing to help anyway they can. It brings me to tears almost daily. We have the best support team.
First, if any of you follow me on Facebook, we are building a team for a 5k at the end of August. This 5k is put on by Footsteps for Fertility. They will be doing a drawing at the end of the 5K for two free rounds of IVF and for as many $5,000 grants as possible It works like a raffle, every time someone signs up under our team name we get another ticket entered into the drawing for IVF or a grant. You can register to walk/run or sleep in for the 5K. The sleep-in option just means that you are registered under our team but you do not have to show up to the event.
Details:
Date: August 30th
Time: 8:00 am- 10:00 am
Place: Liberty Park
Team Name: 2 Nicholes for a Baby
Register here: http://www.active.com/salt-lake-city-ut/running/races/footsteps-for-fertility-5k-slc-2014
$5 off registration with code: UFC5OFF
If you would like to join our team to try and increase our odds we would be forever indebted to you. If you would like to share this with others who might like to join our team please spread the word. If you cannot join our team at this time, please don't feel bad, just wish us luck and keep us in your prayers and that will be more than enough.
At this time we are working with some of our friends to set up a puzzle campaign to try and raise money as well. If you don't know what a puzzle campaign is I will have more details coming in the future. We got the idea from some friends and other couples saving for adoption or IVF.
I am sorry this post is so long. I will go into more detail on our procedures and costs as soon as I have a grasp on it all.
I am excited, terrified and hopeful. Wish us luck!
