[name_m]Hi[/name_m]! As someone who knows that they will need IVF to conceive in the future, what advice do people have for me or others? I’d love to hear all opinions and routes I can take generally to be able to have children (my partner and I cannot create a pregnancy, I don’t know if I will have other fertility issues along with this). Thanks so much for all the advice!!
this is not the same person who posted yesterday
I think in terms of the process it will depend on where you live. In the province I live in in [name_f]Canada[/name_f], there is a waitlist for a government funded cycle. When I was put on it a few years ago it was about 1 year. So if you live somewhere with public healthcare look into what is covered and the waitlist. I would recommend starting the process sooner rather than later if you are in your 30s. It can be a long process - testing, different meds, treatment options, etc. I conceived through IUI, so I didn’t end up doing IVF. Here the fertility clinic recommend seeing a naturopath and acupuncture to assist in the process. They also offer counselling and support groups as the process can be taxing on your body and spirit. All the best on your journey!
Pay off your credit cards first, cut out all major luxury expenditures first, keep all your receipts for tax reimbursent.
Also, subdermal shots are a breeze
So I had just completed egg freezing almost 2 weeks ago in the US and was actually about to type much of this up anyway lol. It should be a similar process to IVF with IVF having a few extra steps and meds depending on the fertility issue. Is there something specific you want to know or should I make a detailed post of the entire process?
I’m not sure what specific fertility issue you have but egg/sperm donors is also an option that would be coupled with IVF. There are also surrogates if needed (like the woman’s pelvis is too small or neither of you have a uterus) where you hire someone else to carry your baby to term but this is probably the most expensive option (40k to 220k) so most people will probably try every other avenue first.
Also I saw a previous poster mention a waiting time in some countries. In the US, there’s no waiting time as far as I’m aware so if you live somewhere like Canada and don’t want to wait a year, you could try to see if you can get the process done somewhere like the US if you got the money and able to take off 3.5 weeks from work if you work
not necessarily a fertility issue but i am gay and therefore my partner and i cannot create a pregnancy naturally! thank you so much for the advice, i have definitely been thinking a lot about not going into more debt and paying things off as soon as possible.
Ah ok I suspected that possibility but wasn’t sure. So you would either need a sperm donor coupled with either IVF or At-Home Insemination if you’re both women or will need an egg donor coupled with a surrogate if you’re both men. I can speak more on the IVF experience for a woman but if you’re tight on money, trying At-Home Insemination first might be an option to consider before trying IVF and Elle1 probably has more advice and insight on this. ~ donor conceived babies! - #5 by Elle1
For IVF alone, expect to pay about 10-20k for the entire process in the US as a woman if your insurance doesn’t cover. Sperm donors typically cost about 1k per vial but I’m not sure. So yes, I would suggest making sure you’re financially stable with 15-20k at your disposal in case you have to pay out of pocket before trying IVF. I can give a breakdown of all the costs for IVF when I did egg freezing just a month ago if you’d like.
If you’re both men, then you’re unfortunately probably stuck with the most expensive option - surrogacy. In addition to the surrogate price I mentioned in my previous post, an egg donor probably costs about 15-20k in the US (someone can correct if I’m wrong since I haven’t actually gone through this process). I suspect it might be cheaper if you’re able to find a friend or family member willing to do the surrogacy and/or egg donation for you for a smallish compensation (small compared to a total stranger at least) and would also bypass the middle man (agency fee) who tries to find a match for you. You’ll probably still have to cover all the OB medical bills of the surrogate friend (so probably 20k in the US for an uncomplicated delivery), legal fees and the IVF/fertility treatments so you still need to make sure you save enough to be able to pay for all this.
While I don’t have experience with choosing egg/sperm donors yet, I hear you’ll have to choose between a known, anonymous, and open ID so there’s that to think about too.
Hope this helps. Let me know if you have any other questions!
thank you so much!! all of your advice was very helpful and we definitely are considering at home methods but know that we may run into fertility issues (run on both sides of our families). again thank you for all the advice!!