Wednesday, September 9, 2009

thoughts on money and getting corn-dogged


*heavy sigh*

so... i called the RE to tell them that its CD1 and they called back with excited energy and a plan for the next few weeks. yay!

step one: baseline ultrasound tomorrow morning (it will be my first corn-dogging experience that early in the cycle. um... fun.)
step two: start clomid on CD 3. stop clomid on CD 7
step three: follistim 150 on CD 8, 9 & 10
step four: second ultrasound on CD 10

sounds exciting, right? ok, aside from CD2 corn-dogging....it sounds like a great plan, no?


*sigh*


what started as excitement about being back on the insemination horse quickly morphed into a panic attack about how the hell we are gonna pay for this.

step one = $300
step two = $40
step three = $125 per shot for a total of $375
step four = $300
for a total of $1,015. and that's not including the cost of new swimmers and the inseminations. new swimmers will cost us $2,570 (after we use our $1000 credit at CCB), shipping will be $200 and then we still have one rogue vial at the old doctor that we will have to spend $125 to get shipped to the new doctor. then each insemination costs around $200.

so... the grand total for getting back on the horse will be.... *drum roll*.....$4,310.



*dry heave*


how the hell can i justify spending this kind of money? that is more money than i get paid to teach an entire course for the entire semester! it makes me so frustrated... and sad. *sigh*


and you know, i fully understand that we...as a non-hetero unit...are gonna have to face some additional challenges when it comes to getting prego. i mean after all, we are going against mother nature's plan and all that jazz. i get it.


so im totally ok with the notion that we might have to deal with doctors or pay more money to get knocked up. im certainly not advocating for free sperm dispensers on every corner. (although, i wouldn't fight anyone who attempted to get such a system implemented). what is so annoying to me is the grandness of the bills... the shear enormity of the cost...and that it isn't applied to everyone the same, across the board.


for example, if we lived in massachusetts, much of these costs would be covered by insurance. then, after a certain number of attempts, the entire bill would be covered... even up to IVF! its a trip for me to read posts written by women living in mass who are sad because they are "getting down to only a few more IUI attempts before they will switch to IVF because its free". um....what?? dont get me wrong, i fully understand and support folks for feeling sad because they aren't getting prego the new-old-fashioned way with IUI. IVF is painful and long and pretty invasive. but shit... at least folks have the opportunity to take that next step! for less than $30,000!


i think two things are bugging me right now.

1. if folks in other states have a policy that saves them THOUSANDS of dollars then for god's sake we should all have access to that same option. its not like NM and i live in some backwards country where gays cant get married...err, wait. you get the point.

2. and.... its so frustrating to make a decision and then immediately second guess our decision. we have talked sooooo many times and for soooo long about whether we should just stop now and move towards adoption but in the end we want to experience the process of pregnancy as a family and the process of birth together as a family. so we make the decision to try again and then one conversation later im back to feeling sick and scared and discouraged. not to mention the fact that im one day into my period (read: emotional) and im not really looking forward to getting corn-dogged tomorrow at the doctor.


so, in closing... im kicking rocks right now. not boo-hoo for me because im gay and we can get prego. more like boo-hoo for me because we cant afford to even try.

5 comments:

  1. The cost of this is so insane. I can't believe that sperm banks get so much money for a tiny vial of stuff that most guys throw out in condoms and tube socks. Highway robbery I tell ya!

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  2. Wow, I can't believe how much an IUI cycle costs there!!! And the injustice of it all is unreal. As a Canadian, I don't know much about they whole health care reform stuff going on where you are (I am embarassed about this-- I really should read more about it) but I think it points to some of the perks of a public health care system... (oy, I hope I am not getting too political here). All cycle monitoring is covered here (blood work, wandings-- etc) and most employers provide beneifts with drug plans. The good ones have fertility meds covered. So here an iui cycle will cost me about 300$-- The cost of the IUI itself (since we are using KD sperm we have frozen-- and quarrantined) And an IVF cycle is about $10 000 at my clinic. Which is substantially less expensive than the 30k you are facing. And its just not fair!!! But neither are your family leave policies (we gat a paid mat leave for a year at 55% of your salary. Many employers even top that up... I get 75% of my salary for the whole leave).

    Its crazy. And the IF business is crazy. I commend you for hopping back on the horse and totally get why you want to, even if it seems crazy. Its not crazy. You have a right to your dreams being achieved. you have a right to your baby...

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  3. i read this when you posted it but i can't get it out of my mind or find anything online about it. please tell me everything you know about insurance paying for this in mass?

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  4. Gaybe Rabies: lol at tube socks!
    Alex: Im moving to canada!!
    Metalstork: i dont know a whole lot about coverage in MA, but i know that in MA all insurance policies that offer maternity coverage must also offer fertility coverage. there are a couple exceptions like self insured companies, experimental treatments and "reversal of self-inflicted sterility such as vasectomies and tubal reversal surgery".

    you can read more about it at:

    http://www.asrm.org/Patients/insur.html#MA

    http://www.fertilitylifelines.com/payingfortreatment/state-mandatedinsurancelist.jsp#Massachusetts

    http://www.rscnewengland.com/insurace/infertility-insurance-approval-process.html

    the other issue at hand is that insurance plans that cover infertility can also be applied to GLBQ partners. since we dont have legal marriage here in CO, i cant receive coverage under my partner's insurance. (not that her insurance covers infertility anyway!)

    i did a google search for "state mandated insurance for infertility" and got some pretty good results.

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  5. ah i just saw this response! i guess my mistake was putting "gay" in my search terms. these links are very useful. thank you for taking the time to explain it!

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