I thought the hardest decision to make regarding IVF was the decision to do the actual procedure.
Wrong.
Turns out, that was the easy part. As I previously mentioned, our clinic offers 3 options for us out-of-pocketers:
1. Pay cash. Ha, Credit card. Who am I kidding?
2. Multi cycle discount (no refund)
3. Multi cycle refund program (no baby in 3 fresh and 3 frozen cycles = refund of 70% of your money)
I basically decided not to even worry about the refund program. Personally, I feel like this program is made simply to make money, and doubt that if I were to qualify, that it would be worth it for me. Why would I qualify if chances of it working before 3 fresh and 3 frozen cycles weren’t really good?
So that leaves us with option 1 and 2.
Bryan is leaning more towards pay out of pocket. I vascillate between OOP and going Multi cycle. A friend of mine who has been through this suggested a graph with all possible scenarios and what it would mean financially:
The cost of one out of pocket IVF+ICSI at our clinic is 11,848 + about 2,000 for meds. The first cycle would actually cost about 15k total because of pre IVF testing that needs to be added, and freezing sperm. The cost of a multi cycle (2 fresh, 2 frozen) is 21,450 + 2,000 per fresh cycle for meds. From what I understand, meds for frozen cycles are minimal, so I didn’t add anything for those.
Plusses are what we would pay extra, minuses are what we would save, based on choosing the multi cycle plan.
- Cycle Out of Pocket Multi Cycle Difference
- One Fresh cycle 15, 000 23,450 + 8,450
- Two Fresh cycles 28,848 25,450 – 3,398
- One Fresh/One Frozen 18,500 23,450 + 4,950
- One Fresh/Two Frozen 22,000 23,450 +1,450
- Two Fresh/One Frozen 32,348 25,450 – 6,998
- Two Fresh/Two Frozen 35,848 25,450 -10,498
(Sorry for the poor spacing, I couldn’t get it to format correctly. )
At the most extreme ends, basically if we paid for the multi-cycle and it worked the first time we’d be paying an extra 8,500 (or saving 8,500 if we paid cycle by cycle). If we needed 2 fresh and two frozen cycles and paid out of pocket, we’d be paying an extra 10,500.(or saving 10,500 with the multi-cycle). Its that second fresh cycle that’s really the kicker, and where the money really starts to make a difference.
Just for a comparison, for the price of 2 fresh and two frozen cycles, you can buy a Lexus.
I hate that there is no way to know how my body is going to respond. That there is just simply no way to KNOW which choice is the smarter one. It’s making my anxiety ridiculous, and the calmness I felt about deciding has been replaced with a desire for several glasses of wine. I need to decide, and be ok with the decision.
Rock paper scissors, anyone?
January 26, 2012 at 9:21 pm
It’s such a hard decision! We were given GREAT odds for our first IVF (65-70% chance)… And it failed. After that, we switched clinics and went with a money back plan. It cost $16,000 and would have covered 3 fresh/3 frozen, or an 80% refund if it didn’t work out. One cycle cost $9200. We got pregnant on the first cycle and I wouldn’t change our decision for anything! Knowing we had cycles to “fall back” on, if the first didn’t work, helped put me at ease. Sure we paid $6800 more than we “needed” to, but I’m still happy with our decision. I don’t know if that helps, but I thought I would share :). Oh, and we definitely put all of that on 0% interest credit cards that we are still paying off!
p.s. My hubby and I met on Yahoo! So, yay for meeting our spouses online :).
ICLW #75
January 26, 2012 at 9:22 pm
p.s. I will be following from here on out!
January 27, 2012 at 8:20 pm
Just so you know, I tried to comment on your blog and it isn’t working. BAH!
January 27, 2012 at 8:10 pm
We must have a ridiculously expensive clinic. The refund program quoted me 27k and that was without meds.We don’t have many options in the area, either.
Woo hoo for meeting spouses online, and thanks for following me!
January 26, 2012 at 9:28 pm
We’ve faced similar decisions (not that one, since I’ve never qualified for a discount of any kind, but whether or not it was worth spending extra money for something), and the way I’ve looked at it is which would I regret more. If I paid for a multi-cycle program, and got my baby from the first round, the $8k would be annoying, but compared to the baby it wouldn’t matter. So, for me, the additional money is relatively inconsequential if everything succeeds, but saves money in the bad outcome that it didn’t, when saving money is at least a silver lining. Your mileage may vary. 🙂 Good luck!
January 27, 2012 at 8:11 pm
You do have a good point there. What I worry about in shelling out the additional 8k is wondering where money would come from to pay for the baby stuff! Ugh! It’s always something!
January 26, 2012 at 9:32 pm
Hope you don’t mind me posting this, but this has been helpful and encouraging to me. Taken from the New Testament: “Now may the Lord of peace himself give you peace at all times and in every way. The Lord be with you.” 2 Thessalonians 3:16
Praying for peace as you move forward!
January 27, 2012 at 8:11 pm
I can use all the peace I get can. It has been few and far between lately.
January 26, 2012 at 9:39 pm
Eek! I’m not going to pretend to have advice or wisdom of any kind, so instead I’m just sending you good luck and all the good vibes I can that you have an easy time making a hard decision!
Good luck!
January 26, 2012 at 10:18 pm
This is a terribly hard decision that only you guys can make. I do agree with you on the shared risk program. My doctor said that he thinks of shared risk as the scummy used car salesman of the IF world!
January 27, 2012 at 8:12 pm
HAHA! That’s a great analogy!
January 27, 2012 at 2:37 am
I have no words of wisdom to help you decide, but I just wanted you to know that I’m thinking about you and your husband as you make this decision. But regardless of what decision you make, at least you know that you have looked at all of this from every angle and perspective you could to make the decision that is right for both of you. Best of luck! Keep us posted!
January 27, 2012 at 1:51 pm
You can’t know how your body respond to the drugs and that’s very frustrating. I have no answers but for you to do what feels best in your situation. The cost is just ridiculous. I really feel for you, we were lucky enough to have our first funded and the second on insurance coverage. With that said, we needed two fresh cycles to have a (so far) healthy pregnancy, we never got anything to freeze. Don’t know if that helps at all since everyone is different. Best of luck with the decision.
January 27, 2012 at 8:13 pm
The not having anything to freeze concerns me also. If we are paying for frozen cycles, what if we have nothing to freeze? I need to call and ask about that….
January 27, 2012 at 2:39 pm
Hardest decision ever! I wish I had the magic answer. I like what Brave IVF Girl and Christine said above. I think you have to also balance your own medical issues to be able to make the final decision. My issue was that I couldn’t keep a pregnancy going, so for me I chose one cycle since I was pretty sure I’d get pregnant…not certain I could stay that way. Sending good vibes…..
January 27, 2012 at 8:14 pm
I just don’t have any way to know. I’ve never been pregnant. I have PCOS but mild, and my hormone levels have all been within the normal range. I ovulate on my own and our biggest issue is MFI. I would think that my chances of getting pregnant and carrying to term would be good if we can get the sperm and egg issue figured out!
January 27, 2012 at 6:52 pm
It is so frustrating to now know how your body will respond because that would certainly make it a tad easier to decide. Good luck trying to figure this out.
January 27, 2012 at 8:14 pm
No joke. Are you guys paying per cycle?
January 27, 2012 at 9:37 pm
Wow! All those numbers make my head spin! It’s going to be a tough decision any way you look at it. Hope you find peace with the decision you make.
January 28, 2012 at 10:33 pm
Hi! Thanks so much for the comment on my blog. I wanted to chime in here because we faced the same decision and it was so tough. We ended up going with the shared risk program and it did work out for us, but I remember struggling with the possibilities for a while.
Our shared risk program cost $25,000 for 3 fresh cycles and as many frozen cycles as we would have embryos to freeze.
Our first fresh cycle ended with no pregnancy and no embryos to freeze and after taking about 2 months off we went back in for another fresh round with success (plus 5 embryos to freeze). It worked out for us because a stand alone fresh cycle costs about $15,000 including meds. It would have cost us $30,000 if we didn’t go with shared risk.
Which is why it is called shared risk. 😉 The refund we would have gotten had it not worked would have been 80%.
I think the graph was a great idea, it helps to see your options in front of you. Take your time, ask questions and you and your hubby will be able to make a decision that you are comfortable with.
I’ll be following along to see what you decide to go with and be with you as you go through IVF!
January 29, 2012 at 10:55 am
Wow! Having never thought about this before – I can see it is a touch choice! Extra good luck and best wishes through the your experience – I hope you end up with a beautiful, healthy baby and all the stress and anxiety of the choices long be forgotten!