To do a mock cycle or not?

sam23lc · January 2019

Hi everyone!

A little background on me and our situation. I’m 28 and my husband is 26. We have been planning and saving for IVF since we got married almost 3 years ago. We knew we would have to do IVF in order to have children since my husband has a genetic disorder that would require PGD testing. My blood work and ultrasound have come back good and my husbands sperm analysis came back fairly good (morphology could be a little better).

We we are currently slated to begin our first round of IVF with my period in mid March. Our doctor feels comfortable that given my follicle count and blood work we should have at least two genetically and chromosomally normal embryos. He doesn’t think we will get much more than that though and is encouraging us to complete a mock cycle for our FET transfer. This would be an extra expense ontop of our estimated 36k in IVF expenses but we would could make it really would increase our chances.

Have any of you had a mock cycle done? Do you feel it was worth it? They are also offering for me to start my mock cycle now to get it out of the way. Has anyone down a mock cycle before there actual IVF round?

Sorry for the super long post and thank you in advance for all your help!

kristimh80 · January 2019

@sam23lc I did a mock FET before starting IVF. They do this so can measure where exactly they need to place the embryo. It's really good to have done, as you don't want the doctor going in placing your embryo blindly without measurements. I'm assuming this is what your doctor meant, not a whole cycle of meds like you are doing the transfer. If so, I myself wouldn't bother with it. Maybe good to check with the nurse to clarify, but that's usually what they mean. I think mine was labeled MOC, so sounded like a "mock" trail run so maybe the confusion

sam23lc · January 2019

I was super confused when they first brought it up but apparently they want to do a mock cycle with the PIO shots 😬. Apparently this helps them know when my body is most ready to receive the embryo and if I need more or less progesterone. Sorry I should have explained this better in the op. 😊 I hadn’t heard of it before that why I wanted so second opinions.

kristimh80 · January 2019

@sam23lc Oh that's an ERA cycle. They will usually send a sample off to have tested at a lab to make sure your timing it right for your FET. I did that as well after my failed FET. I am glad I did that one, as there is 20% of women that need their timing adjusted. Just most doctors don't do it unless there's been a failed cycle (least that's how my RE was). I wish I was given the option to do that at the beginning. I felt like the scratch they did for it helped my cycle after it work.

suzycupcake · January 2019

@sam23lc I know nothing about ERA cycles, but curious as to where you're doing IVF that will cost $36K.

sam23lc · January 2019

We are going to a clinic in LA but what really is driving up our price is our PGD and PGS testing. We have a couple extra fees through the genetics company because my husbands genetic disorder is a mutation versus a heredity disorder which means more work up front to build the probe. The price also includes one FET.

sam23lc · January 2019

Thank you so much for the help everyone! Hearing everyone’s experiences is very helpful! I’m definitely leaning towards doing the ERA or mock cycle. I think we will wait till after the Ivf cycle and do it just prior to our FET.

suzycupcake · January 2019

@sam23lc I recommend researching other clinics in Los Angeles. I also live here and there are other clinics that don't charge $36K even with PGS plus PGD. We did ICSI, embryo freezing, egg retrieval with anesthesia, PGS, meds, ultrasounds, everything for less than $20K. If we had added PGD, it would've been less than $25K. My RE has a 60% success rate and is one of the pioneers in making the cost of IVF more affordable by allowing payment plans and 1/2 off labs and such.

They have many different kinds of packages. They include one FET but if that fails, the next cycle is only like $2800 which is really great. Another great thing is the PGS test price is included for up to 8 embryos. If you only test say like 5 or 7, you not only get a credit back for the 8th embryo that you didn't have to test, but they don't recharge you $4K for the next batch if you should need to do another egg retrieval. Instead, it's like $200 per embryo.

USC fertility doesn't even charge as much as you're paying. There's a great RE there too who also works at Kaiser's fertility center if you want her info. I also know of a fertility pharmacy in Northridge where you can get your meds for like half the price and they will deliver to you. Message me if you want any info from me. I'll share all that I know as I was at this for 7 years. At the end of the day, you will choose the place that's right for you and your family. I'm just letting you know there are other options in case you didn't realize. Sometimes we think that uniqueness means we have to pay a bunch more and have to just deal with it, but it doesn't always mean that.

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