New Fertility Treatment Center pros and cons

Officerofthelaw

Today we went to a new clinic which location wise is perfect for us. I feel like there were pros and cons based off of our clinic and was wondering if others have wen through this...
So price wise our old clinic was $300.00 per insemination so basically $600.00. The original consultation was $150.00When we entered the new clinic today it was an automatic $315.00. Then they charge you $230.00 for storing the sperm even though they only store it for a few days. The cost is based on a yearly rate and is not prorated. Then they charge $200.00 for a psychologist to meet with you. My other clinic did not make you do that all. Then they charge $200.00 for lab work which my old clinic did not even take lab work. Then the insemination is $900.00 which cover 2 back to back IUI's, ovulation monitoring and the first pregnancy test and sonogram. So as you can see it is quite more expensive and although I'm not thrilled about the cost my experience with this clinic had been a completely new experience for me. I never felt like my last doctor cared and I felt more like a paycheck than a person who was desperately trying to conceive. The other doctor was an Obgyn and not an RE which is what my new doctor is. In fact the fertility clinic we are going to only deals with infertility. So the new clinic took a sonogram today of my ovaries and my right ovary was 5 times the size it is suppose to be, it was 30cm, it is only suppose to be 5cm. Also I had a very large cyst on that same ovary. My doctor explained to me that the clomid more than likely caused this and that it is an estrogen blocker. So it will go down on its own while I'm not taking clomid. I am doing a completely in medicated cycle which I'm excited about! He also says that clomid should be taken with the trigger shot(I never got the trigger shot and always was on clomid). He advisd that the clomid can give false LH surges so when I tested myself on my surge and it was positive more than likely it wasn't and so my timing was not on track. I am hopeful this time and feel like I'm in good hands. How much do your IUIs cost ?
P.s. I work overnights so that is why my posts are always really early in the morning!

2MamazInSeattle

I never could do an IUI so I'm not sure about cost, but wanted to say it sounds like you are in way better hands, despite the additional costs. FX for your upcoming cycle!!

ball.and.chain

2MamazInSeattle said:

I never could do an IUI so I'm not sure about cost, but wanted to say it sounds like you are in way better hands, despite the additional costs. FX for your upcoming cycle!!

My IUIs were all covered by insurance, so I'm also clueless about cost, but I agree with @Mamaz about being in better hands here!

StacyLH24

From my time over on TTTC, my best advice is to leave the OBGYN in the dust and embrace the RE. Yes, you are spending more money, but you are getting quality care. I was never on Clomid (Femara instead) but my understanding is that it can be very dangerous if you are not monitored. Some women have ended up in the hospital.

The general saying over on TTTC is that a RE gets you pregnant and the OBGYN delivers your baby.

If you lurk on TTTC you may find some useful information regarding REs. You can also ask here as many of us have used them/are using them. One word of caution, do not intro on TTTC at this point, unless you have been diagnosed with an infertility issue. Three failed cycles will not be welcomed there, I promise. Everyone there has either been trying for over a year and/or has been diagnosed with an infertility issue.

Karlamo

We paid OOP for our IUI's. Those prices seem right. That's about what we paid for medicated cycles. My only suggestions are bill your insurance for the consult and bloodwork. Ours were covered.
Also there isn't that much more success with back to back IUI's, just more cost. We only did one cycle with 2 inseminations and the RE felt it was unnecessary based on the research out there. But I'm sure those who got pregnant doing 2 would argue otherwise. It's what you and your wallet feel comfortable doing.
Stay with the RE. Getting you pregnant is their speciality.

2momsinCA

Personally I would not go to an OB for anything related to fertility. It's not a matter of price but of expertise. I'm not a fan of clomid but the couple of (terrible) times I took it it was so important that an RE was monitoring me, watching my paper thin lining, managing that with vaginal estrace, and figuring out when to trigger.

The cost of my IUI cycles varied dramatically depending on the amount of monitoring necessary. 2 or so ultrasounds for clomid cycles, 4 or 5 for menopur injectable cycles. Insemination itself was always around $200 I think.

The RE is where you should be, definitely.

Himee33

I had one appointment with my OBGYN and told her I wanted to have a baby. She referred me to my RE and told me she would see me back after I got pregnant. I'm not sure the cost of my IUIs, only because L handles all out finances and we hit our out of pocket max awhile ago.

mallory4284

Himee33 said:

I had one appointment with my OBGYN and told her I wanted to have a baby. She referred me to my RE and told me she would see me back after I got pregnant. I'm not sure the cost of my IUIs, only because L handles all out finances and we hit our out of pocket max awhile ago.

This is what happened with us. When we first started trying, J insisted I go see out OB and we could talk to her about it. She referred us to an RE when she found out we wanted to start trying. I can't remember the exact price we paid for our IUIs either!

StacyLH24

My insurance covered my IUIs, but I know that each ultrasound was about $250 and the actual IUI was about $210. That was what we would have paid OOP if my insurance didn't cover it. I don't remember what the blood work is before insurance.

With a non-injectable med round, you should expect about 2 monitoring appointments and potentially an ultra sound the day of insem. So, $900 for monitoring plus insems and everything else honestly isn't a terrible price. With injectable meds, my monitoring alone was probably about $1250 before insurance.

StacyLH24

Also, the lab work is necessary. They need to know specific things to help dose your meds and look for any initial signs that something is wrong. It wasn't happening at your OBGYN because, frankly, they don't know what they are doing...not properly anyway.

Officerofthelaw

Thanks everyone for your advice. I feel in good hands now and will be trying my first in medicated cycle.

Amber&Reva

All my initial blood work, HSG, and CD3 ultrasound were covered by insurance.  The IUI itself was $450 a month.  Good luck!  REs our in the business of getting people pregnant where as OBs aren't. 

Officerofthelaw

Thanks@amberandreva! I've learned that!

JGY

I'm feeling really badly that none of us caught that you were taking clomid without any monitoring.  Have you mentioned that and I just wasn't paying attention?  I'm so so sorry, that is incredibly dangerous (as you have found out with the sonogram showing that cyst)!  It's not your responsibility to educate the OB, and unfortunately they likely wouldn't listen anyway, but I wish the message could get back to them about the effects of the clomid and how dangerous it could have been to continue.

Anyway, PP have covered it all ... you should definitely move forward with the RE.  Also, though the prices seem higher, there's a good chance that you will get pregnant faster with the RE thereby lowering your overall cost in the long term.

Good luck, I'm glad you found some better care, and good for you for being willing to contemplate the switch!

Officerofthelaw

I don't think I ever mentioned that I wasn't being monitored because I didn't know any better. Thanks for your comment:)

JGY

Nope, not your responsibility! Instead of saying "taking," I should have said "prescribed." It's the dr's responsibility to understand the drugs they prescribe. Anyway, I'm really glad that the cyst was caught and that you're getting competent care now!

Officerofthelaw

Thanks @JGY‌