IVF question

ThisIsJenni

I'm new to the world of fertility treatments and i've been doing some reading to prepare for my first RE appointment next week. It seems that IUI success rates are pretty low, but most couples try a few IUI cycles before moving on to IVF.

Is there a reason for trying IUI first? I know that IVF is much more expensive, but if the success rates are higher, why not just go right to IVF? I'm sure there is an obvious answer that I'm missing! Thanks!

kimberm0511

I would say it depends on your DX and, of course, the expense.  I have a cervical factor, so in theory it seems like IUI would totally work for me!  But, it didn't.  It is true that the success rates are pretty low, but I was really hopeful that IUI would work because our insurance covered IUI, but not IVF.  We wound up having to do IVF anyway and it worked, but I sadly had a m/c. 

kofmkg

Along with what the pp said, for me, I have some personal struggles to resolve before/if I commit to IVF-- there are some religious/ethical dilemmas that I need to get comfortable with in IVF.  If/when I am faced with the decision, I'd love to hear any thoughts from those of you who also had these considerations in reaching your decision.

ThisIsJenni

kimberm0511:

I would say it depends on your DX and, of course, the expense.nbsp; I have a cervical factor, so in theory it seems like IUI would totally work for me!nbsp; But, it didn't.nbsp; It is true that the success rates are pretty low, but I was really hopeful that IUI would work because our insurance covered IUI, but not IVF.nbsp; We wound up having to do IVF anyway and it worked, but I sadly had a m/c.nbsp;

Thanks for the reply. That makes sense re: insurance. My insurance only covers diagnostics, no treatment.

jtorgersen

Just answered your other post...but we did 3 IUIs before moving on to IVF...my RE started with IUIs and was hopeful that would work...I also struggled with moving on to IVF (as the paperwork you sign does make you stop & think about ethical dilemmas - like what to do with frozen embryos)...ultimately we are thankful for going on to IVF..and from my siggy you can see we did not have any frosties.

Aliki

Our insurance would not approve IVF unless we tried at least 3 IUIs. For us, there was a big price difference between IUI and IVF. 

 

IUI was no medications, just the cost of a co-pays ($10 each visit, about 10 visit in the cycle) = $100. Everything else was covered by insurance.

IVF was 80/20 (we paid 20%, which came to $5,000) plus medications ($300) plus cost of co-pays ($10 each visit, about 15 visits in the cycle) = $5,450.

Again, BIG price difference.

We did multiple IUIs with no success, but we did 3 IVFS (2 fresh, 1 frozen) and had a 1 in 3 success rate.