IVF - for a friend not me

[NaeNae]

Thanks Pam - TBH I didn't get into it too much with her so I am not sure what info she has exactly. She is only new at work so wasn't sure when she should start TTC anyway coz I will be TTC come Jan. Even if she falls in straight away by the time she's ready to drop she'd be with us for 12 months so technically safe for ML and job security.

I think it would be funny if we were both pregnant at the same time

[briggsy's girl]

pam got it hun - i seen doctor Mac Talbot through gippsland assisted conception - they do appointments in Traralgon and clinic in Sale for all the technical bits. let your friend know it might be worth checking out travel to sale as there can be weeks where you have to travel up to three or four times in 10 days, so she wants to be going to the most convenient clinic. Mac isn't a bad doc if you stand up to him and say what you think - he IS old school though, so would prefer to try conventional AC before moving further. it was only our last cycle that i pushed him for suggestions - he was pretty good with suggesting accupuncture and even asked the nurse what she thought in regards to WHO. maybe he was loosening up a little!

if travel from down that way is either/or for sale/melbourne, there are a number of clinics available. friend of a friend travels to the public clinic from Moe as it works out cheaper for her to travel a bit further and get the public hospital system - but the wait is astronomical

if your friend/colleague is looking at assisted conception, suggest she check with her private health insurer if they cover AC procedures - you essentially have to check into the hospital for both egg pick up and transfer and pay for a bed for a day (for half an horur for transfer) - so if her PHI doesn't cover it, it's an added expense that isn't really discussed that much

hope that helps

BG

[Miss.B]

Hey Nae,

When we did IVF through Monash Clayton it cost us $4800 but after about 7 weeks we got about $2700 back. I've also got Medibank insuance ( which I chose because it covers some of the IVF cost ). So when I was booked in for egg collecton I had to pay the $200 excess on my insurance and then the same again at embryo transfer. We also registered for safety net, so now we get back 80% back from the out of pocket expences. Believe me it's very handy.

I heard one friend say that she was looking at doing IVF through a public system but apparently they only let you do 3 cycles, whereas if you go private you can do as many cycles you want ( or can afford !! ).

Hope this helps.

Beata xxxxx

[Ella'sMum]

nae nae - if you jump into the long term ttc section, there is a sticky in there in regards to ivf costs - it's long, and gets updated every now and again as prices jump

your friend may find, after the safety net, that a full stim cycle leaves her about 2k out of pocket. my initial up front cost was about $5500, so she really needs to speak to her clinic - the costs vary lots

do you know who she is going through? if it's the gippsland group, they work on monash pricing. if it's the city mobs, it's different. i believe if you go through one of the major hospitals (maybe royal womens) it is heaps cheaper as you're considered public - but i'm not sure on the exact costs. i went through gippsland - the doc is a nice enough guy, and the nurses i dealt with have been pretty damn good!

briggsy's girl: sorry don't mean to go to far off the subject but was wondering how long after your first appt with dr talbot did you have to wait to get things underway, including initial testing to actual real progress to assisting conception? Sorry am seeing dr. Talbot next week and not sure what to expect or have any idea about how long it's going to take to feel like we're actually "doing" something to get this happening IYKWIM? Also, when you say he's "old school" would you say he's less likely to be open to doing ivf straight up if that's what we wanted? Any info you could give me would be much appreciated!

Me (25) irregular ovulation
He (25) low motility
DD (3) natural baby
TTC #2 for 13 months
Very Early Angel Baby 4/12/08.

[briggsy's girl]

given the combination of low motility and irregular ovulation, they are likely to suggest full IVF first - i used IUI first - for one we were able to start sooner (didn't have to fit in with embriologists or anything as the nurse did the whole thing. ivf clinic in sale is only there for 10 days every 2-3months - the IUI is able to happen anytime. the first cycle is VERY experimental as they test your body response to the meds, so if you jump into IVF and then get a less than ideal response, you'll have to wait another few months before you can start

i had my first appt with Mac on dec 7 2006, they closed for Christmas about a week later til mid January - i had a series of BT's between then and when they reopened, and started meds for first cycle January 19 2007 - this would have been a lot earlier (was an IUI cycle) had it not been for the Christmas closure

my first attempt was an abismal failure with no ovulation as i have a very stubborn body, so it got cancelled. thankfully, being an IUI cycle, i was able to kick off again only a few weeks later - had it been IVF, i'd have had to wait til the clinic was local again. i'm not sure exactly when the clinic is in Sale again (or even if you're going through Sale - i'm assuming sorry!) but i know it was here in December and probably Feb - last year it was late Feb and early May so it might be a bit of a delay to fit you in with timing. it will also depend on how many places they have available (hope that makes sense)

when i mentioned him being "old school" - it wasn't meant as a derogatory thing in any way - Mac is one of the pioneers of IVF in Australia and has seen a lot of different processes - he won't jump on the bandwagon of the latest "hype" until he's seen evidence of it working. he tends to not encourage people to waste their money on things that don't have evidence to back them up (like accupuncture - i was a patient for ummmmm over 18 months, and it was only at the end of this, with me suggesting it each time, that he admitted he'd read evidence that it helped, had seen success himself, so would encourage people to use it in conjunction with their treatment kwim?)

if you're going to see him through one of his Melbourne clinics, i'm guessing timing will be much different - all you'll have to do is either make sure treatment doesn't clash with his time in gippsland, or accept that one of his fellow FS will do egg pick up and transfer - i had another FS do EPU and transfer and had no drama with it at all - but it depends on your comfort level

hope that helps

BG

[Ella'sMum]

Thanks for that BG, you confirmed what I had already suspected about the Sale Clinic, am infact located in Gippsland and was going to be going to Sale, but think I might make the trek to Melbourne instead, after waiting 13 months (which i know isnt that long compared to some) for something that I thought would happen naturally and easily straight away I just want to get in there and get it done, IYKWIM!
Probably a very bad thing that i'm not very patient, especially if we don't get our longed for BFP straight up! Which I realise is completely likely... Oh well, I'm just so anxious about this whole thing its been the longest month to even get to my first appt!

Thanks again,

Ella's Mum

[briggsy's girl]

meet with Mac locally and see what he says - for preliminary testing you may as well stick to the local clinics - if you need IVF scope out the timing with the Gippsland clinic and talk to him about travelling to Melbourne. in all honesty, after one cycle, they'll make you wait at least 4 weeks - in that time, you meet with Mac again, to work out what happens next. if you're going to down regulate (pill etc) again before next transfer, you'll be on that for four weeks, which fills two of your two to three month break - so it might be better to stay local. just my opinion - travelling to Melb was only a diff of about 30 mins for us, but sale was far more convenient, esp for scans and things - they booked around us kwim - if you go to Sale then want FET earlier than the clinic dictates, you can sign documentation to arrange to have embryo's moved to melbourne

ummmmm, maybe get onto Amanda and ask what the go is with a counselling appointment too - the counsellors don't go to sale often, so you may want to try to get an appointment early as it is compulsory for you to have counselling before embarking on IVF. we managed to get our appt (in Clayton) two days before we kicked off our first full IVF cycle