So, the news of just how expensive the medications for
IVF were going to be was shocking, and a bit unexpected. I knew I would have a few extra expenses beyond the IVF fee, such as anesthesia for egg retrieval and the assisted hatching procedure, but the full scope of paying an extra few thousand dollars for IVF medications was not really explained to be before my education session. I was told at the beginning that some of the medications might have to be paid for out of pocket. I was not told it would be all of them and that they would be expensive.
Now I was left trying to figure out how to pay for them all with the holidays coming up. I really didn't want to wait another month to get started on the IVF. At the same time, my husband and I barely had enough money on our credit cards to cover the cost of the meds, and then that would leave us with no funds for Christmas. My mother said she might be able to help with the meds after Christmas, so there was that possibility. I just really wanted to go ahead and get started.
Having embryos transferred just before Christmas seemed like an ideal gift to me. However, it was a gift to me alone. My husband and my mother wanted me to have kids, yes, but not nearly as much as I did. No one wanted this more than me. I think any woman who has been through this can probably relate.
I got out my phone calculator and did some financial projections. It really would be much less stressful to wait until January. I'd have more time to save real cash for the medications and it wouldn't mean we couldn't participate in Christmas. The clinic had no problem with me taking the birth control pills for another month and doing it in January. It seemed like a much more sensible and workable solution. Yet, it would mean I'd be one month older, I'd continue to have to wait to get that
positive pregnancy stick I dreamed of, and I just really wanted to do it in time for the holidays. To wait another month or not to wait? It was a real conundrum.