Wondering about IUIs

AustinBride06 · December 2011

I'm not giving up hope, but I'm not assuming I'll get pregnant by March (when my OB says that we should start looking into further testing, options, and when I'd like to consult an RE). I'm not really convinced that Clomid alone will help us... based purely on my own gut feelings I think that an IUI would be a lot more effective. But I've only barely begun to research that.

Can those of you who have done or considered IUIs tell me what your experience was? Why did you decide for/against that route? Did you conceive? How many tries? Medicated or unmedicated? Anything else I need to consider?

Also, if you don't mind sharing, what was the ballpark billed cost (or insurance negotiated cost)? My insurance doesn't cover it. Stupid A e t n a.

damabo80 · December 2011

IUIs that aren't medicated are rather pointless, IMO. When you start wil an re, you'll be tested up the wazoo. This will pinpoint whether it's you, your dh, it both, or unexplained. If there's severe MFI, your re may suggest skipping the iui and going straight to ivf.

Your course of treatment wont necessarily be the same as someone who has ouiui covered. I have Aetna too.. Do they cover your meds? What about ultrasounds? That's a large chunk of the money right there. The actual iui which includes sperm washing and insemination runs just shy if $1k. However, once you add in all the drugs and blood work and ultrasounds, it pushes the cost to upward of $5k. If your doing clomid or femera, it's pretty cheap and they'll usually only do one or two ultrasounds. Usually, the first iui or two are done with these drugs and a trigger shot. Once you get into iui #3, or if you don't have any response to the oral drugs, then they bring out injectable drugs. This is the expensive sh!!t.

Carolee · December 2011

We did 4 IUIs with Clomid. We conceived on the 3rd IUI, but it was a chemical pregnacy. We only did the 4th one because our 3rd was successful. Our RE basically told us that he really only recommends 3 before moving on, and we only did them because insurance covered them (we're dealing with MFI so IVF with ICSI is our best shot). We were supposed to pay 50% of cost, but we have yet to receive a bill so insurance likely ended up covering them. If I had to estimate based on the price sheet the RE gave me, I would say each IUI was close to $600. If you use injectable meds, the cost is significantly more.

CashewsMommy · December 2011

Our next step, whenever we choose to accept it, is an IUI which is not covered.

We will be doing femara, trigger, and IUI. The femara and trigger shot will be about $300, the u/s are about $200 each, and the IUI itself is about $700. And for us it's totally OOP. We are trying to save up $1,500 for one IUI.

Laurakat81 · December 2011

I can't answer most of your questions as we will be doing our first Clomid IUI in January. My RE quoted the cost at $850 for a Clomid cycle. I have BCBS insurance and they don't cover fertility treatments. A friend of mine with BCBS insurance broke down her bill for IUI for me as follows: Clomid: $18, $60 for the HCG trigger, $275 for the actual IUI, and they coded the u/s and lab right so that insurance actually picked it up but I don't know what they would have been otherwise. She did an injectable cycle recently with Menopur and Ganirelix and those two combined were $1000. So that's where it gets pricey.

islelily · December 2011

**ticker warning**

The RE tested us for almost everything, and it took about 6 months before they'd even start any kind of treatment. We did 3 IUIs in 2009 since those were covered by insurance. I was on clomid all three times and did not conceive. The RE switched me to Gonal-f and let us do timed intercourse. At that point, I wasn't convinced that an IUI would work for us (we are/were unexplained IF).

We were very lucky that the IUIs were covered by insurance and we had to pay a co-pay for each visit. The medications were covered under a prescription insurance I had and all I had to pay was a large co-pay.

With our new insurance, they only cover 80% and I'm not even sure about the prescription coverage.

Good luck! I hope the IUIs are successful for you!

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