The current infertility doctor we were seeing, Dr. Chin, no longer preformed IVF procedures so we knew that we needed to find another one. Luckily this decision was basically made for us. We discovered that there were a couple of different programs to pay for IVF: 1. You can pay the doctor per procedure or 2. you can apply for a program called Attain, formally known as IntegraMed. Attain is a shared risk program that provides multiple tries if needed. It works like this: you pay one discounted fee, this fee is about the cost of 2 cycles (tries) for most fertility centers. This fee will cover up to 3 fresh cycles and 3 frozen cycles (tries) for a successful outcome. A successful outcome is defined as bringing a baby home, not just a positive pregnancy test. The biggest selling point of this program is the refund policy. If you are unsuccessful after all cycles are exhausted or if you decide to drop out of the program you are guaranteed 70% of your money back. The risk part is getting pregnant on your first cycle. If you are successful on your first cycle then you have paid a lot more than you would have if you just paid the doctor out right. If you need multiple cycles then you end up saving money, but if you are never successful you are only out 30% of your original fee which would barely cover 1 cycle otherwise. You receive no discount or refund from the doctor regardless of outcome or number of cycles. Studies show that most couples require multiple tries and 3 out of 4 couples that use the Attain program bring a baby home. After discussing these options with Mom and Dad Beaumont we all decided that the 70% guaranteed refund was enough to sway our vote in that direction. Plus, it is a much less stressful process knowing that you can try again if needed. So back to finding a doctor, the Attain program requires that you only use doctors in their network. These doctors are the ones with the best success rates across the country. They listed only 1 center in Cincinnati: The Center for Reproductive Health, part of UC Physicians located downtown in the Christ hospital district and in West Chester. Like I said, that decision was easy. Dr. Williams worked mainly out of the West Chester office which was closer to us, so Dr. Williams it was.
Our first meeting with Dr. Williams and Dr. Wu was on March 12th. They were very impressed with how organized we were with all our previous fertility records and how much we already understood about the process. Turns out that we got to skip a lot of the preliminary tests and procedures because all of them were very updated due to everything we had been doing for the last 2 years. This saved us at least 2 months. Dr. Williams told us that the next couple steps were to apply to the Attain program and schedule our Education Day. We were approved to the Attain program right away but the earliest appointment we could get for Ed Day was April 8th.
Sunday, December 27, 2009
Wednesday, December 9, 2009
A Little History
Jason and I met in the 6th grade when he moved to Mt. Orab. We remained friends all through school and started dating in November of 1999, our senior year of high school. Jason proposed Valentine's Day 2004 during my final year at Ohio University. We had a beautiful spring wedding on May 29th 2005. We had talked about having babies and raising a family throughout our entire relationship so the decision came easy and early in our marriage to start trying for children. First we tried the "we are not actually trying but we are not preventing method", next, about 5 months later, I started buying ovulation kits and tracking my cycles. It took another 6 to 8 more unsuccessful months before we decided to talk to my OBGYN, Dr. Lewis about possible fertility issues.
Dr. Lewis ran a bunch of preliminary test but all my blood work and basic tests came back normal so Dr. Lewis started with putting me on a low dosage of fertility drugs and timed intercourse. After about 3 months of trying that we decided it was time to test Jason for potential problems. Well, that's where we found the culprit. Turns out that Jay has an extremely low sperm motility. What this basically means is that he has plenty of sperm, they are all shaped correctly, they are all alive, but they don't swim. They just kinda hang around in one place which means they don't travel to the promise land. Once Dr. Lewis saw these numbers she referred us to a fertility specialist, Dr. Hoffman.
Dr. Hoffman started with confirming Dr. Lewis's sperm test results and immediately referred Jason to a urologist to test for possible causes and/or cures to the problem. This was around Christmas in 2007. They tried medications, vitamins, and even nightly ice pack treatments, but nothing improved the extremely low motility numbers. By March of 2008 Dr. Hoffman and the urologist both agreed that there were no present problems or conditions causing the low motility and that it must be a permanent condition. Dr. Hoffman told us that he thought our only chance of conceiving was to try Intro Vitro Fertilization (IVF). At this point, so early in our infertility journey and after barely grasping the severity of Jason's motility problem, it was a little to soon to hear that his first and only suggestion was the most extreme procedure available. Jay and I had barely begun to research and educate ourselves in this area and I think this was just too much to take in at that time.
Dr. Hoffman rubbed Jay and I the wrong way from the start so we decided to get another opinion. Dr. Chin was referred to us from a good friend at work. We had our first meeting with Dr. Chin in May 2008. We LOVED Dr. Chin, he was much more personable, knowledgeable, honest, and very funny. We felt very relaxed and comfortable with him. We expressed our feelings with Dr. Chin explaining that we were not sure we wanted to jump right into the invasive, not to mention extremely expensive procedures of IVF. Dr. Chin told us from the start that he had never had a successful IUI procedure with numbers as low as Jay's but he would try his hardest for as long as we wanted. IUI is artificial insemination which basically means that they take the sperm, wash it, spin it and inject it into the female who has been pumped with fertility and ovulation drugs. This injection is timed very precisely so that the sperm is present during ovulation. This procedure is fairly simple, is preformed right in the doctor's office, and is somewhat affordable considering that neither of our health insurance policies cover any fertility cost. We tried IUI for the rest of the year, month after month after month. We decided in December that we needed a break, we were out of money and the disappointment after disappointment was really getting to me. I was an emotional and bitter basketcase. By this time, I really started to believe that it was just never going to happen for us.
Somewhere during this journey we started researching adoption. After attending an adoption meeting we found that this was actually more expensive than IVF and realistically would take around 3 years or more to bring a baby home. We also learned about some other modern day adoption procedures and policies that we were not entirely comfortable with. All this considered, we still decided that if this was the only way that somehow we would find the means and patience to proceed. After the first of the year we started talking more seriously about it and even began to complete some of the mounds of paperwork that came with it. Then came the blessing in disguise. Interest rates dropped and I was so completely slammed at work that I was working over 60 hours a week. This left no time to further discuss and complete the adoption paperwork but did allow us to save some money. That kind of overtime is extremely stressful and exhausting but the money is great, especially when you don't have any time to spend it.
Our blessing may have come during January but our angels came in early March. Jay's parents, Ed and Tanya Beaumont told us that if we decided to move forward with IVF that they would help us pay for it. At this point it was go time. A few years ago, I remember myself saying that I would never go as far as IVF but once faced with the possibility of never having children things change quickly. Before I knew it I was saying, "If I won the lottery today I would be at the doc's office ready to go tomorrow." So, needless to say, Mom and Dad Beaumont eliminated the only excuse we had left. Now that we had the much needed financial and emotional support there was nothing to do but move forward. So, led by the prayers and support of family and with hearts full of excitement and hope we began our journey.
Dr. Lewis ran a bunch of preliminary test but all my blood work and basic tests came back normal so Dr. Lewis started with putting me on a low dosage of fertility drugs and timed intercourse. After about 3 months of trying that we decided it was time to test Jason for potential problems. Well, that's where we found the culprit. Turns out that Jay has an extremely low sperm motility. What this basically means is that he has plenty of sperm, they are all shaped correctly, they are all alive, but they don't swim. They just kinda hang around in one place which means they don't travel to the promise land. Once Dr. Lewis saw these numbers she referred us to a fertility specialist, Dr. Hoffman.
Dr. Hoffman started with confirming Dr. Lewis's sperm test results and immediately referred Jason to a urologist to test for possible causes and/or cures to the problem. This was around Christmas in 2007. They tried medications, vitamins, and even nightly ice pack treatments, but nothing improved the extremely low motility numbers. By March of 2008 Dr. Hoffman and the urologist both agreed that there were no present problems or conditions causing the low motility and that it must be a permanent condition. Dr. Hoffman told us that he thought our only chance of conceiving was to try Intro Vitro Fertilization (IVF). At this point, so early in our infertility journey and after barely grasping the severity of Jason's motility problem, it was a little to soon to hear that his first and only suggestion was the most extreme procedure available. Jay and I had barely begun to research and educate ourselves in this area and I think this was just too much to take in at that time.
Dr. Hoffman rubbed Jay and I the wrong way from the start so we decided to get another opinion. Dr. Chin was referred to us from a good friend at work. We had our first meeting with Dr. Chin in May 2008. We LOVED Dr. Chin, he was much more personable, knowledgeable, honest, and very funny. We felt very relaxed and comfortable with him. We expressed our feelings with Dr. Chin explaining that we were not sure we wanted to jump right into the invasive, not to mention extremely expensive procedures of IVF. Dr. Chin told us from the start that he had never had a successful IUI procedure with numbers as low as Jay's but he would try his hardest for as long as we wanted. IUI is artificial insemination which basically means that they take the sperm, wash it, spin it and inject it into the female who has been pumped with fertility and ovulation drugs. This injection is timed very precisely so that the sperm is present during ovulation. This procedure is fairly simple, is preformed right in the doctor's office, and is somewhat affordable considering that neither of our health insurance policies cover any fertility cost. We tried IUI for the rest of the year, month after month after month. We decided in December that we needed a break, we were out of money and the disappointment after disappointment was really getting to me. I was an emotional and bitter basketcase. By this time, I really started to believe that it was just never going to happen for us.
Somewhere during this journey we started researching adoption. After attending an adoption meeting we found that this was actually more expensive than IVF and realistically would take around 3 years or more to bring a baby home. We also learned about some other modern day adoption procedures and policies that we were not entirely comfortable with. All this considered, we still decided that if this was the only way that somehow we would find the means and patience to proceed. After the first of the year we started talking more seriously about it and even began to complete some of the mounds of paperwork that came with it. Then came the blessing in disguise. Interest rates dropped and I was so completely slammed at work that I was working over 60 hours a week. This left no time to further discuss and complete the adoption paperwork but did allow us to save some money. That kind of overtime is extremely stressful and exhausting but the money is great, especially when you don't have any time to spend it.
Our blessing may have come during January but our angels came in early March. Jay's parents, Ed and Tanya Beaumont told us that if we decided to move forward with IVF that they would help us pay for it. At this point it was go time. A few years ago, I remember myself saying that I would never go as far as IVF but once faced with the possibility of never having children things change quickly. Before I knew it I was saying, "If I won the lottery today I would be at the doc's office ready to go tomorrow." So, needless to say, Mom and Dad Beaumont eliminated the only excuse we had left. Now that we had the much needed financial and emotional support there was nothing to do but move forward. So, led by the prayers and support of family and with hearts full of excitement and hope we began our journey.
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