Hi girls,

I have had a long break from this thread and just thought I would let you know that I have just started an IVF cycle.

I have been following your stories and have had my fingers crossed for you all.

OriginalP- Congrats on the birth of your baby, I am so happy for you!

Sa79- all the best for this month, it is great that your FS organized for you to try again straight away.

chellie88 and sharon19977- you are both facing the decision I had to make about ivf. The Medicare safety net was a big issue for me. I couldn't face going through 5 months of iui only to find I had to do IVF. By then it would have been next year and I wouldn't get the rebate.

The advantage to IVF money wise is that if it all goes well then there should be some frozen embryos which means that you won't have to got through the whole cost cycle again if it doesn't work first time. To give you an idea of cost, I have reached the Medicare safety net so at the end of the cycle I should be out of pocket about $1300. This also includes the fact private health insurance covers day surgery. I did have to pay the full amount upfront though so I have paid $5000 and will get the money back from Medicare at the end of the cycle. Depends on your clinic though, I am with MIVF. IVF also has a higher success rate then IUI.

Depending on the protocol you are on the whole process is between 6-7 weeks long. So it is a longer process than IUI.

Having said all that, there is no way I would have been ready to go through IVF without experiencing the clomid and IUI treatments.

I admire all the ladies here that are persevering with IUI. It is amazing how you deal with the hormone injections month after month. OriginalP is a great example of how IUI can work rather than IVF.

As my FS says, it is a numbers game, the more cycles we go through the higher chance of success.

Sorry for the long post, wishing everyone success with their chosen path.