day 3 & 4 - gonal-f 300 & the REAL cost of IVF

Hello again! I missed a day because I was babysitting my adorable God-daughter, Charlotte. She helped give me some practice for parenthood, good practice since she is teething! It made me so sad that she couldn't just tell me what was wrong :( I ended up rocking her to sleep like I did when she was little though and that made my whole week! Alright, so my husband and I have been trying to figure out the details on how to pay for IVF. So just how much is it REALLY? Scroll to find out!

When my husband and I started researching this, we came to find that the IVF would be about $10,000. While still a lot of money, it's manageable. Well no one told us about the SECRET costs of IVF. Some of these things are optional, but we thought if we are going to do it and spend all this money, we might as well take every precaution we can to make sure the transfer takes!

First off, my husband and I were both genetically tested to see if we were both a carrier of a disease. This is an optional test. We found out my husband is a carrier for a rare disease called Osteopetrosis. We found that I was a carrier for a common disease, Cystic Fibrosis. We found out that nearly everyone in the world is a carrier for something. As long as you and your spouse are not a carrier for the same thing, the chances of you passing it onto your children is slim. This testing was a total of $8,223.29. We were lucky and our insurance covered most of this ($7,787). We paid the rest out of pocket (about $435). Total Out of Pocket: $435.00

After we got this testing, we had to wait awhile just for personal reasons. In April, we really started our journey. You usually are put on birth control for a month before you start taking your shots. Our insurance covered all of our birth control, so we did not pay for this. Total Out of Pocket: $0.00

When we got our medications, we got complete sticker shock. All anyone ever tells you about the medications is that "it is expensive". Well it would have been really, really nice to know just how expensive. I was prescribed Gonal-F, Cetrotide, Pregnyl and Progesterone Oil. These medications and costs could vary depending on your situation. In our situation however, we ended up paying $3,647.00 for our medications. Our insurance does not cover anything coded as infertility so these were not covered at all. We did get a 10% rebate back from a company that we applied for discounts. Your doctor will most likely give you this information. We got $350.00 back from our rebate. Total Out of Pocket: $3,297.00

My egg retrieval is scheduled for May 17th. This procedure (which you will be under full anesthesia) is the procedure in which to retrieve any mature eggs that have developed. This procedure at our clinic is $6,850.00. This is coded as infertility and thus, this is all out of pocket. You may want to speak with your clinic to see if there are any payment plans. Unfortunately ours does not offer this and it is due at the time of service.

Total Out of Pocket: $6,850.00

Now this next procedure is special to us and could be special to you depending on the circumstances. Since my husband is the infertile spouse, we need to do a testicular biopsy to retrieve sperm samples. This too is a procedure requiring anesthesia. The cost of this procedure is $1,500.00 for the lab fee and $1,500.00 per side for the Urologist fee. So this may vary slightly when the time comes. This is coded as infertility and thus we pay out of pocket. Total Potential Out of Pocket: $4,500.00

We decided to do a PGS (Preimplantation Genetic Screening) test on our embryos after they have developed. This is an optional test. This is a test in which our clinic will send our embryos to the lab for them to get tested. The lab will duplicate DNA and make sure every embryo is usable. This increases our chances of getting pregnant and having a healthy baby as they will look for an chromosomal issues. This test is coded as infertility and paid out of pocket. This test can vary too depending on the amount of embryos sent. Total Out of Pocket: $2,500.00

After the lab tests all of our embryos, they will send back the usable bunch. Then it's transfer time! This is when we finally get to transfer 1 or 2 of our usable embryos and just pray, wish and hope that they stick and develop further. Our Frozen Embryo Transfer is obviously coded as infertility and is paid out of pocket. Total Out of Pocket: $4,192.00

You will have lots of ultrasounds and blood tests done during the time you are taking shots. I believe they said up to 4. We were surprised our insurance did not cover this as they coded it as infertility. It is $311 every time we go in to do the ultrasounds and blood work.

Total Potential Out of Pocket: $1,244.00

You will also need to be sending your unused embryos off to CryoStorage for long term storage. I can't quite remember how much this costs but you can pay by year. So just know that this will be an extra cost as well. If I remember correctly, it was less than $1,000 a year.

So I think that's it! At least that is what we have encountered so far! There is always the possibility of having to get more medications or tests. Of course all of these procedures and costs can vary depending on your clinic and insurance. If your insurance covers infertility, well great for you! Let's add it up! Total Out of Pocket for IVF: $23,018.00

Alright friends, time to drown my financial sorrows with a glass of wine ($2.89 Wine from Aldi's because we're broke, but hey it's not that bad!). I hope this helps someone out and I hope someone will actually read this, because it would have been so nice to be fully financially prepared for all of the extra tests and procedures that come along with IVF. Please feel free to ask me any questions!

Thanks for reading and stay tuned! xoxo

UPDATE:

If you don't progress as fast (like me), chances are you will have to get more medication. So add $1,535.50 to the total for 3 DAYS worth of medications! I'll still keep you updated! UPDATED Total Out of Pocket for IVF: $24,553.50