Anyone use Wilford Hall or Walter Reed Military Facility for IF?

Courted

DH is military and I am looking into getting on the wait list for IVF at Wilford Hall.  Apparently it is impossible to find out any information though until you are in the program.  So I am looking for some info:

1. How much did an IVF w/ ICSI cost? I hear it was more of a "donation" of about $4000?  Do they provide meds or is that extra?

2. How long did it actually take to find out if you get into the program?

3. What are even the criteria to get into the program?

4. Once you are in the program, then how long did it take to begin treatments? I heard there was a 6 mo-12 mo long waiting list!!! 

5. If you live hours (I live 4 hours away from Wilford Hall) away from clinic then do you have the option of going somewhere local for monitoring?

Thank!  I am have been getting such a run around from the these people and it is so hard to get a hold of anyone who knows anything!! 

InACitySoNice

I might be wrong, but I think SmudgesMom either checked out or used Walter Reed ...

Smudges*Mom

My LO is a result of the IVF program at Walter Reed Army Medical Center. Keep in mind that my responses to your questions are from my experiences two and a half years ago.

1. For us, it was a $6,000 fee for IVF with ICSI. The fee paid for lab fees. The Army, at the time, paid for all the meds, but they stressed that this is not always the case. Wilford Hall is Air Force, right? Not sure how they handle meds.

2. To be accepted into the program, I had to submit all supporting information on a very thorough checklist. It was quite a PITA. One thing that almost derailed me was that they needed a Clomid Challenge result that was less than a year old. I don't tolerate Clomid well--it causes me to develop persistent cysts and makes me an emotional wreck. They got me in just under one year of my Clomid Challenge. The secretary was the gatekeeper for the IVF program at WRAMC. She told me that my DH didn't have the required blood work done. I knew that he did, but in order to make her happy, we braved a tropical storm to drive two hours (each way) to get the blood work done, on a Saturday. First thing Monday morning, I got a call saying we were "in"--they hadn't even processed DH's blood work. Grrrrr. But, once in the program, it there were no more problems like that. There was no wait, at that time, to cycle.

3. Aside from a current Clomid Chalenge result, I can't remember the specific criteria, and, it may be different between the two clinics. Sorry I can't help you much with this one.

4. Two and a half years ago, at WRAMC, there was no wait once you were accepted. I don't know what the current waits are at any of the four or five military infertility clinics that do IVF.

5. I understand having to travel for IF treatments. When we lived at Fort Irwin, I saw the Navy RE down in San Diego, it was a 3.5--4 hour drive each way. When we moved to Fort Lee, VA, life got easier as WRAMC was only 2--2.5 hours away. That said, you have to do everything at their clinic. When I did my second Clomid IUI (where we determined that Clomid was evil for me), I had my cd3 u/s done in Barstow, closer to home and it was a PITA and part of the problem. At least at WRAMC, the IVF program is a bare bones operation. Monitoring is done in the AM, starting at 6:30am before the OB/GYN clinic opens. They do not provide chaperones, you have to have or find your own. I would arrive at WRAMC at 5:45am to get in line for monitoring, because it was first come, first served. Because of the distance from home, DH was not with me for all but the ER and ET. There was another patient in line right ahead of me whose DH was home with their twins. She and I became chaperone buddies. One of the reasons that the military can offer IVF at reduced rates is because it is part of a teaching program. They need you to fit into their processes. Being monitored outside of their clinic does not provide the teaching/learning process. Plus, communication between MTFs is seldom easy, and between MTFs and civilian docs is even worse. There are patients who come from out pf town. Typically they stay at extended stay h/motels. They require you to be local or within driving distance. One woman who had her ER the same day as mine drove three hours, each way, for all her appointments. I was lucky and had a friend in the area, I stayed at her place.

Good luck with finding the answers to your questions. It can be frustrating and challenging, but, for us, it was totally worth it. Oh, you may want to post your questions on Military Families. There are a few ladies over there who were treated at Wilford Hall. I t remember if they did IVF, but they may have better, more current info, and, maybe even at contact.

Courted

Thank you! That is some good info!

Dawn827

Not sure I'll be much help at all b/c we cycled at Womach at Fort Bragg. I did have to do all monitoring there (we were about 4 hours away) I had to go there 2 times prior to the IVF for initial appt, then baseline u/s and orientation. Then when it was time to start we went and stayed for about 2 weeks. We were able to do all the preliminary tests and b/w at our current base. I did hear Wilford Hall is hard to get into. Hope you don't have any problems, we are about to FET at Madigan in WA this spring.

eta- We paid just under $6000 total for the IVF and frozen embryo storage. This did not include ICIS.