When I was first thinking about how I would become a smbc, I did my research and thought, “Ok, it looks like I spend a couple thousand dollars and do a few IUI’s and, boom, baby.” But after my first consultation with my RE, I learned that was not quite how it would work….
I was nervous for my first appointment with Dr. P. This would be the first time I said the words out loud “I want to have a baby alone.” She immediately jumped into the conversation with ease, just another single woman who is ready to become a mom to her, no judgement whatsoever. She started explaining the differences and success rates between IUI and IVF for a woman at the age 38. The success rates were much lower than I originally thought. She also told me that as a single woman, my insurance would not cover infertility. Ouch. I would have to pay out of pocket for 6 rounds of IUI in order for IVF coverage to kick-in. And the cherry on top, at my age, there is only a 7% chance of IUI working.
She went on to say that as we reach our late 30’s (gasp) time is of the essence, and I may not want to spend 6 months on IUI with such a low chance of success. The cost of those 6 IUI’s with medications and donor sperm, would be the same as one round of IVF, where my success rates would be much higher.
As a woman who has frozen her eggs twice already, I’ve been through the process of IVF (at least the needle and surgery part). So the idea of IVF didn’t scare me, but the price did ($18,500 for 1 round with PGS testing.) Once you hit your late 30's, PGS testing is highly recommended to help prevent miscarriages or transferring chromosomal abnormal embryos, which sadly at 38, the majority of your eggs will be abnormal. However, once you have a PGS embryo, no matter what your age, there is a 60% chance of it leading to a live birth!
It's a huge investment to go straight to IVF, but I trust my doctor. She is real and honest with me. She doesn't sugarcoat the science of our fertility. She may have told me my window to have children is closing, but I am a realist. I appreciate the facts so that I can make smart decisions with the eggs I have left. So after that consult and doing more research on statistics, and reading forums, I said, “Ok, let’s do it, straight to IVF we go!”
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