IVF Consultation

We had our first meeting with Reproductive Partners about IVF. Joe and I met with Dr. Denise Cassidenti. She was extremely friendly and very open. We felt good about her from the minute we sat down. She spent a good hour going over our medical history and talking with us about our options. With everything we had been through and with my history with endometriosis, IVF was looking more and more like our best option. Deciding to move forward, we sat down with the financial adviser to go over the two packages they offer. One is a global package, and one is a shared risk package. The global package you pay for each IVF cycle as you go. With the Shared Risk package, you pay more money up front for three IVF cycles, but if you do not take a baby home after those three cycles you would get a percentage of your money back.

Armed with our new information, we went home to discuss our options. Joe made several spread sheets to see how the numbers workout out, what the best options were, how taxes played into the decision, stuff I didn't really understand. But in the end, we decided to go with the global option. This meant we would pay for each IVF cycle as we go. If it worked on the first go around, we will actually have saved money than if we had gone with the Shared Risk program. The shared risk programs don't really make any sense. They cost more in every case except failure. They only work if you are planning to fail. And who would go into this with that attitude? You have to trust that the Doctors are going to do their best to get you a baby and have faith that things will work out. In the mean time, I have started birth control pills as part of the beginning of treatment, so that if we decide to move forward, I am ahead of the game. We are feeling really positive and hopeful with our decision. I certainly have a sense of a heavy weight being lifted from my shoulders.