24 June 2010

Money

Last week as I was wandering the blogosphere I came across a lot of posts about the amount of money we all spend in infertility.  And it's a lot of money.  No so much us personally - I've managed to get a lot of stuff covered by my insurance because it was basically for something else, and not for infertility specifically.    In any case, because I'm kind of an anal-retentive, details-oriented person, I just had to sit down and figure out not only what we've spent on infertility treatments/diagnosis/etc. already - but the possibilities of costs for IVF.  I think that posting our costs is a good idea in general.  It gives others an idea of what they might be looking at if they're just facing this themselves.  It also allows us to look out at others in this world and see where we are on the continuum.


I still have couple of other things to add - but I was thinking of adding them as they happen.  It's still possible right now that we're done.  Jakobe's worried that he won't feel ready to move ahead or make a decision as much as a year from now, and until then I'm in limbo.  For now - I'm just including the definite costs and estimates.

Here's the scary part:  The absolute cheapest it could be - for IVF/ICSI alone - If we were completely optimistic (And - we were right) is $13,260.  That number is more than my car and Jakobe's car put together.  It's more than our wedding was.  It's more than we owe my mom for 10% of our house.  And, if I'm honest, we're not that hopeful or optimistic.  The universe has spent enough time shitting on us that I don't think that it's about to stop and all become sunshine and roses.  So, more realistically, if we hedge our bets a little bit, the smallest amount of money we're going to spend on IVF/ICSI is $19,400, and likely to be more than that.

If you pop on over to the Money page you can see the complete breakdown.  It's big, it's bad, and it's a whole lot of "I don't want to think about that."  But I have to - because you have to walk onto the path knowing where it might lead.  And it could lead to spending a whole lot of money we don't have right now - and still having to figure out how to live our life without this dream.


4 comments:

  1. Thanks for posting this Jenni. The money issue is SO huge and it is helpful to be able to see what others are paying, if only so we know when our costs are out of line. We paid 17 for our first SA, and I read about another couple who paid 250. it makes me wonder.... For anyone else who visits here, I've also posted our costs on my page, and so has Jeff at "Don't try this at Home.", and also BBB at "Waiting for a Baby Bump".

    I am so sorry that you have to be in that place of limbo. It doesn't get much harder than that. Be strong.

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  2. I could talk for HOURS about how insane the cost for IVF is. I mean c'mon people, having a baby should be FREE!

    Way to bank on all of us wanna-be-mommies.

    I think its ridiculous and that insurance should cover it 100%.

    Best of luck to you!

    Ashlee, ICLW #180

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  3. You are brave. Very brave. I have never totaled up our costs. If I did I would have to also include the surgeries and hospital stays that came from complications from treatments.It would be a lot and we never even did IVF.

    My husband and I are doing domestic adoption now. Sometimes we play the "what else we could do with the money" game. Especially when the wait feels painful and we wonder why we are spending so much money to be in so much pain. But, of course we know it will be worth it in the end.

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  4. Here from ICLW. The Money is absurd! I live in a state where insurance covers it, and I consider myself VERY lucky. Even with insurance coverage, I spent over $4000 on meds for the last two cycles. It's robbery!

    I wish you the best of luck with your journey!

    ReplyDelete

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