When IVF Doesn't Work

The decision to do IVF is one that doesn’t just happen on a whim for most couples. It typically comes after months or years of different fertility treatments, months of planning financially, and then emotionally preparing yourself and your spouse for the physical and mental toll that the whole process is going to take on your body. Getting to that first day of your IVF cycle is a whole process in and of itself. Then there is the actual process of IVF to go through. The shots that happen 2-3 times per day, the daily appointments and blood draws, the ultrasounds, and that is only the physical side. Emotionally it is a roller coaster of a ride. You find yourself wanting to be so positive and so hopeful, but on the inside you are having a meltdown, over analyzing every aspect of the procedure, and then you find yourself asking every single person you know who has gone through IVF for their experience. Did they have cramps? Spotting? Did their nose start imagining smells like yours did? It’s pretty crazy what you go through during an IVF cycle. And, if your anything like me, you may have been 100% positive that IVF was going to work for you. That this was the last thing you were going to have to do to get that sweet baby you’ve been dreaming of. In fact, you’ve taken a poll of all of those women you know who have done IVF and it worked for all of them… so you’re sure it will work for you too. So sure you’d bet your life on it. So what happens, what do you do, when IVF doesn’t work?

I will never forget the day we took our second blood test for our first round of IVF. I was nervous and excited and so anxious. After my blood draw, it seemed that the clock stopped moving and the phone call with the results would never come. Maybe you’ve experienced this too? And if you’re like me… you’ve experienced the phone ringing and your heart beating out of your chest. You’ve experienced thinking to yourself, “This is it! This is the phone call that is going to change my life! This is the moment where I find out I’m going to be a mom.” And if you are like me, you’ve also experienced when that moment goes from potentially the best moment of your life, to your world collapsing in on you. When the nurse tells you, you aren’t pregnant and that all that work you just put in, all those shots, blood draws and appointments didn’t work. And it’s at that moment that with a broken heart you have to face the reality of when IVF doesn’t work. So what do you do? I personally went through a few stages of healing and I wanted to share them.

The first was the tears. I am sure lots of people can relate. Allow yourself to cry. It’s healing. Allow yourself to cry and be heartbroken. Don’t bottle that up. Cry to your husband, your mom, your IVF person, and your pillow. Allow yourself the ability to feel. For me, this lasted a few days. And it was off and on. I’d be ok and then I’d break down and cry again, but boy am I so glad I cried.

The second, for me, was a bit of anger. I suppose this phase may have slightly over crossed with the tears phase, but that anger was real. It wasn’t necessarily directed at anyone in particular. For me, it was mostly that I was just mad at the universe. I was mad that I had been dealt the cards I had.

After anger, I immediately needed to start planning. Within just a few days of our first round of IVF failing, my husband and I were back in the office with our doctor discussing what to do next. Having a plan made me feel like hope wasn’t lost. Whether your plan is to try again immediately, to wait a few months, wait a few years, move on to adoption, or plan that next vacation and give yourself a break from trying, make a plan for yourself. Some days my plan was to simply get through the day, but I always had a plan and for some reason it made a world of a difference. So make a plan, keep moving forward, even if it is just baby steps.

I realize that everyone heals differently and that what worked for me isn’t going to always work for someone else, but my hope in writing this is that, if you’ve already found yourself in this situation… or you find yourself in this situation now or someday, that you don’t give up. Sometimes it’s when you think you can’t possibly handle something, you learn that you can and that you are stronger because of it. So don’t give up. Remember what Margaret Thatcher said “You may have to fight a battle more than once to win it.”

-Kamryn

The Pryor Journey

My husband and I were married in 1995. We were young, just before my 21st birthday. The following year, a friend of mine had a little girl and I bought an outfit for her to take over after she was born. To my shame, I never made it over to see the baby in the busyness of life. I decided to just hold onto the outfit for a little girl of my own someday. My dream was to be a stay at home Mom. In fact, I had dropped out of college when I got engaged because I figured there was no point to having a degree in finance if I was just going to be a stay at home Mom. I just figured we would be having children (hoping for 5) right away. But, time went on and no babies. All of my friends began to have babies and I went to baby shower after baby shower for years. I played almost every baby shower game out there! After 7 years of trying and waiting, I remember getting angry with my husband for not getting me pregnant. I was pretty irrational and confused at this point as to why I couldn’t get pregnant. My husband looked at me and said, “who are you really mad at?” I burst into tears and realized I was angry with God for not giving me what I wanted. My heart changed after that moment. Sure, my heart still ached to have children, but my husband and I had decided to completely give this desire to our God. The Lord had given my husband and I faith to wait on Him. My husband’s analogy was this: A child asks his mother for a cookie for breakfast, she (knowing what is best for him) tells him no, not yet. We did not want to be a child that then decides to do it on his own and crawl up to the cookie jar and get a cookie anyway. Because of how we prayed for children, and the faith that God had given us to wait, we wanted to be faithful. We thought about adoption, IVF, even just going to see a basic doctor, but in the end left it to our Lord. You see, we don’t think there is anything wrong with doing IVF or any other method if it is in your heart to do. It just wasn’t for us. 

I began to do things to keep busy. We didn’t want to look back at this time without children and regret not doing things with our life. We took European vacations, trips to Hawaii, Mexico, etc. I took a master gardener course and remember the instructor telling us how sad it is to create watermelon as seedless so it cannot even reproduce. Yes, it is sad not to be able to reproduce! I used to look at couples who could get pregnant and called them “breeders”. I was jealous. I was happy for them, but I was jealous. Our friends got younger and younger until we were 35 years old and our friends who were in their early 20’s got pregnant with their first child. We laughed and realized it was time to hang out with people our own age again because they no longer needed babysitters as their children were in high school now. We still had a yearning to have children, but we were content with the life God had given us.
Then after 16 years of marriage, my husband began to have a midlife crisis. The term, midlife crisis, gets a lot of laughter, but they are real, and not a laughing matter. It was my husband’s turn to question whether we had done the right thing in waiting and how we had lived our life. Our marriage struggled for 2 years before he moved out. I was 37 years old and alone. No husband, no children. Not even a possibility of children now. I collapsed. I didn’t eat or sleep much during this time. But, God took care of me and taught me many things about LOVE. Unconditional LOVE. He granted me courage to love when I wasn’t being loved. My husband and I were separated only for 6 weeks. A very short time really, but it felt like much longer. He moved home and we began the very difficult task of trying to restore our marriage.

During this time, a friend came to stay for a while with me. The day she left to fly home, she looked at me and said "the Lord is going to grant the desires of your heart." I thought how sweet it was, and after I dropped her off at the airport, I went home, sat at my kitchen table, and prayed about what the desires of my heart really were. I realized there were 3 things: my husband’s return to a faithful servant of God, my husband’s heart to fully love me once more, and a child. The next day, I went to church, and a woman in church came to me and told me that the Lord would grant me the desires of my heart. No one else knew what had been said to me the day before. I always feel like the Lord has to tell me things twice before I believe Him!

Once my husband and I came back together as husband and wife, I got pregnant the first time. Eighteen years of trying and I was suddenly pregnant. This was not an easy pregnancy. My husband had lost his job due to his midlife crisis, so he was home and able to care for me. I was not able to walk hardly at all, was very sick, and had problems with the pregnancy in general. He learned to clean house, cook meals, and take care of all the things I had always done for years. It was how the Lord began to restore our marriage. We had each other and we needed each other again. He hardly left my side for three months. At sixteen weeks, my water broke, and I was delivered of a tiny baby. It was heart wrenching. My heart was broken. But my husband and I grieved together.

Exactly one year from the time I found out I was pregnant the first time, I found out I was pregnant again. Both times I found out I was pregnant was during Thanksgiving; like God was telling me to be thankful. This pregnancy was different. Sure, there were complications. There were nights I didn’t sleep much because I was worried about losing this baby as well. But our God keeps His promises. The doctors just kept on saying they wanted to get me to 30 weeks. I went 39 1/2 weeks, full term. I gave birth to a healthy little girl. We named her Taylor. Her name needed to mean something to me, after all, we had waited 19 years to have her. You see, a “tailor” mends things, creates things, takes fabrics and makes something beautiful out of them. She is the gift from God to mend my broken heart: Taylor Rose Pryor.
And yes, she did wear that outfit I kept for her.

Male Factor Infertility: Do's and Don'ts

While it seems like most infertility diagnoses and advice are geared towards the female reproductive system, when you’re trying to conceive it takes two to tango!  According to the Mayo Clinic, male infertility plays a role in half of infertile couples.1 During our infertility journey, the first couple of years were spent thinking that my body was the only one with a problem- we had gotten pregnant before so my husband’s sperm must be just fine, right?  Thank goodness for a doctor who was concerned enough with our situation to at least rule out the possibility of male infertility being a factor.  As sad as it might sound, I felt a sense of calmness and renewed confidence learning that we were both a part of the problem.  Apparently we were two peas in a pod.

So what now?

After so much time spent looking into what I could do differently, what my husband could do differently was now added into my endless hours of Internet research.    Although treatment is sometimes necessary for male infertility, here are a few “do’s and don’ts” that can help!

Do:

1. Maintain a healthy diet- Eat lots of fruits and veggies! They have lots of antioxidants that can be beneficial to reproductive health.  
2. Take a daily multivitamin-Being deficient of essential vitamins and fatty acids aids in a decrease of sperm count and quality.  
3. Exercise regularly- but don’t overdo it either! An inactive lifestyle, very similar to being overweight, can weaken sperm production.  Moderate exercise is the key, as extreme workouts can slow things down a bit too!
4. Minimize stress- stress can interfere with necessary hormones for sperm production. 2
5. Have regular sex- With low sperm count, the recommended dose is every couple of days.  This will increase sperm motility and health.  
6. Give Robutussin Cough Syrup a try- This was something we actually hadn’t heard of before, but it was recommended to us by our doctor to help improve motility.  This was one of the many things we tried and something seemed to work, maybe this played a part!
7. Avoid hottubs, saunaus, or anthing with extreme heat that could kill the little swimmers.  
8. Use a fertility friendly lubricant if needed- some of the “more natural” lubricants like egg whites and canola oil can be used (we couldn’t bring ourselves to try these), but you can also use baby oil or a lubricant specifically for baby making such as Pre-Seed.  

Don’t:

1. Smoke- smoking has been shown to decrease sperm count AND motility, as well as “misshapen” the little guys. 3
2. Drink- Limiting alcohol intake is important as drinking can reduce the production of testosterone, and of course, sperm production.  
3. Set laptop directly on your lap- this goes along with avoiding extreme heats; laptops can increase the temperature down there, and why take the chance?
4. Wear tight pants- Although there’s not a whole lot of evidence on this one, this is one we had heard time and time again, and it’s all about keeping everything at an optimal temperature.  
5. Expose yourself to toxins, chemicals, and pesticides.  Try to minimize your exposure as much as possible to these things as they can affect the quality and quantity of sperm. 4

1 Mayo Clinic Staff.  (2015, August 11).  Definition.  Retrieved from

http://www.mayoclinic.org/diseases-conditions/male-infertility/basics/definition/con-20033113

2 Mayo Clinic Staff.  (2015, June 2).  Healthy Lifestyle: Getting Pregnant.  Retrieved

from http://www.mayoclinic.org/healthy-lifestyle/getting-pregnant/in-depth/fertility/art-20047584?pg=2

3 Mayo Clinic Staff.  (2015, June 2).  Healthy Lifestyle: Getting Pregnant.  

4 Mayo Clinic Staff.  (2015, June 2).  Healthy Lifestyle: Getting Pregnant.  

-Rachel

Becca and Zach's Infertility Story

My husband, Zach and I have always wanted children.  We were both raised in happy homes with what I would call exemplary parents.  As I have become an adult, I have developed the deepest gratitude for my Mother(s) and Father.  From them I learned to be hardworking, honest, independent, selfless, and loving.  My heart is filled with joy and admiration when I think about their love, hard work, sacrifice, patience, and examples as I have been molded and shaped into the person that I am.  I hope to be as big of an influence as my parents were to me in teaching those same principles to my nieces, nephews, other youth and hopefully my own children someday.

                  Zach and I were married in May of 2008 and two years later we began our journey to start our own little family.  In the spring of 2011, after almost a year of no luck, Zach and I had some initial testing done to see if there was some sort of infertility.  After all, we’d never thought it would be so hard to conceive.  Little did we know what kind of adventure we were about to embark upon.  Right off the bat, Zach’s sperm had tested poor motility and morphology.  His Urologist put him on a medication therapy in the hopes that in 6 months’ time we may see a change, and we did!  At that point we were cleared to do IUI’s.  When preparing for our third IUI the ultrasound tech noticed a polyp in my uterus.  Without hesitation a surgery was scheduled a week or two later to remove it.  About this time, we received the results of another semen analysis, and to our disappointment the medication had lost its luster.  His sperm were no longer within the parameters of what was recommended for an IUI.  We were told the next step was IVF.

                  We were referred to a Reproductive Endocrinologist.  After a consultation with her we were refreshed and hopeful as we learned more about ICSI and the amazing advances in technology and medicine to make such things possible.  I feel so blessed to live in this day and age.  Zach and I decided that this was the best route to take.  My R.E. asked that I do a water ultrasound so that she could get a good look at my uterine cavity.  She also did a follicle count to know what to expect in the coming round of ICSI.  At this time, I learned that I might have a Low Ovarian Reserve in comparison to those in my age group.  My R.E.  didn’t seem to worry about this revelation so neither did I with a limited understanding of what it really meant. 

Fast forward two months later to November 2012 and we were ready for IVF with ICSI.  The process began by stimulating my ovaries to produce several follicles through a series of hormones and medications administered through abdominal injections.  If you were to look at my stomach after the last shot was given in this series, it would look black and blue from all the injection sites.  I had to do those myself, as Zach wasn’t usually home when I needed to administer them.  Ouch is right!  That was something I never got used to.  Ultrasounds and blood work were done on a regular basis to monitor the follicular development.  Once the follicles reach maturity in the ovaries, an HCG trigger shot in the abdomen was done so that they would then be released from the ovary walls in preparation for ovulation.  The doctor went through the uterus and surgically removed the follicles from the ovaries with a special needle through ultrasound guidance while under anesthesia.  Recovery was awful the first go around, my ovaries were definitely not happy.  After this procedure was complete, they inserted Zach’s sperm into each egg hoping for a fertilized embryo.  Once an embryo reaches a certain stage it is then carefully put back into the uterus in hopes that it will attach to the lining.   On average, someone my age would have 15-20 follicles/eggs.  After the retrieval I had seven eggs.  Of these, six eggs had matured and three had fertilized.  Two were transferred back into my uterus on a day 3 transfer. 

ANNNDD there we were; the painful two week wait. I had to continue to take hormones until a pregnancy was either confirmed positive or negative.  Sometimes those medications can cause symptoms that are similar to those like pregnancy, so it was hard to tell.  Leading up to results day I kind of had a feeling that the procedure didn’t work.  My intuition was right; words cannot describe my heartache…. our heartache.  It was like mourning for something we were so close to accomplishing yet still so far from achieving.  We were sad and disappointed but still eager to fight for our dreams.  I think Heavenly Father was gracious to bless me with an optimistic heart.  The last embryo didn’t survive and we were left with nothing to freeze for future use.  If we chose to repeat this process again, it would have to be from square one.  At the close of this ICSI cycle round we reviewed the outcome with our R.E.  My body didn’t seem to respond to the hormone stimulation because of my low ovarian reserve.  This hadn’t been seriously discussed with her until now.  I then learned the seriousness of having an abnormally low egg count for my age.  We talked about other options. Zach and I weren’t sure what we should do. 

When looking for a second opinion, a cousin of mine referred us to Dr. David Richards in Utah which lead us to his partner Dr. Marrs, a Reproductive Endocrinologist.  He seemed to have a different approach and more experience that catered well to our infertility needs.  He felt that with the right meds and letting the body naturally do the work, that could make a difference and give us a better shot.  He was confident but very honest.  We could be successful but it was going to be a tough road to take and obviously there was no guarantee.  November 2013 we began our second round of IVF with ICSI.  Dr. Marrs did every single ultrasound and prescribed my meds and hormones based on those ultrasound findings.  This cycle seemed to be going very well and he seemed pleased every time I met with him.   I absolutely loved Dr. Marrs and would recommend him to anyone.  At the retrieval we had nine eggs, this was an improvement from last time!  Five of those eggs matured, in which four fertilized.  Both the grade and quality of these embryos were much higher in this second round of ICSI.  Three eggs were transferred.  Two of the three eggs were of excellent quality.  We reached the point of the dreadful 2 week wait again.  This whole cycle I had felt at peace and was willing to accept whichever outcome came.  The day of my blood draw determining the outcome, caused much anxiety. I was on the verge of tears all day and scared to relive the same results I had received the year before.  Kathleen, one of the Physician Assistants in the clinic that I work for and also a good friend, came in on her day off with news of the results.  She seemed slightly nervous as she took me back into one of the exam rooms where Lori, a close friend and Ultrasound tech at the clinic there, waited.  I couldn’t believe what I just heard.  Not again…….my heart sank and I started to cry.  Kathleen and Lori cried with me.  No matter how much I thought I was prepared to possibly hear “You’re not Pregnant”, turned out to be a false feeling.  I was wrong.  All the preparation in the world could not have made this day any easier.  Thinking about this scenario still makes me feel awful.  After consoling and many words of encouragement, I left work early that afternoon.  I probably have never cried as much as I did that day.  Zach came home after work and brought Café Rio, my favorite.  We talked and he listened and comforted me as it was also hard for him as well.

I’ve never felt so low. Were we meant to be parents? Are there any sweet little spirit children waiting to come down to be a part of our family?  None of these thoughts were true, NOT ONE bit, however that’s what ran through my head.  I now recognize that it was Satan pushing me down into despair because I let him.  The serious trials I have overcome in the past didn’t compare to this.  I had sweet friends call me to give comforting words or drop off yummy desserts to show their love.  This was a hard weekend.  I don’t feel that I lacked hope or faith; I was just utterly confused, weary and sad.  Infertility can be exhausting physically, mentally, and financially.  It’s truly a constant roller coaster of twists, turns, detours, jolts of acceleration and abrupt stops.  I hated feeling the way that I did, this wasn’t me, but I felt so deep under water. That Sunday was the LDS Christmas Devotional Broadcast from Salt Lake.  Elder Russell M. Nelson gave a simple but powerful talk, “Jesus the Christ-Our Prince of Peace.”  It was exactly what I needed to hear.  I think it was written for me.  At that time my heart was overflowing with the spirit and the Savior’s love and I knew that I needed to lay my pains at his feet.  The Lord said, “Blessed are they that mourn: for they shall be comforted.” (Matthew 5:4) I needed to relinquish the hurt and trust in him.  He has been there for me all along and he knew the sorrows in my heart.  What I was going through, the Savior had already felt himself.  I knew that the trial itself wasn’t going to get any easier, but the power to get through it would be increased.  After all, how are we going to learn and grow if we aren’t challenged, even if the task seems impossible.  I definitely think this is a testament of God’s love.  We can do hard things!  I believe this with all of my heart.

It has now been 6 years as we have earnestly tried achieving what we would perceive as such a sweet miracle.  In 2014 we decided to focus on student loan debt and applying for a grant through Pay It Forward Fertility Foundation.  It was an extensive process getting an application together.  After a couple months of waiting, we found out we were not chosen as one of the lucky few out of 100 other couples who would be receiving grant money.  No set back here, we had nothing to lose in the first place.  After such an intense application process that required us to relive past feelings and open up about our journey, I realized how truly blessed we were.  Most couples hit road blocks when it comes to financing infertility.  Some don’t even get the opportunity to even do these costly procedures.  In reflection of our journey I can't help to feel so incredibly grateful to have been able to do all that we've done and how close we have become. Never once have I regretted or felt like it was all a waste of money or time. We have been very blessed and lucky not to have gone into debt for our efforts.  We realize that many couples do have to take out personal loans for the same reasons and have nothing to show for that BIG negative balance they have to pay off.

 Our dreams of becoming parents have not been achieved, but we have gone leaps and bounds and have gotten sooo close.  Even in uncertainty, I know that everything will be okay.  My heart is full, and my empathy for others has grown in a way that I could have been so oblivious to before.  This journey has been both a blessing and a heartache.  It has truly given us the opportunity to learn and grow, and has reminded us of all that we’ve been blessed with even through these hardships.  I am again reminded of the importance of family relationships as Zach and I could not have done this without them.  They have been a support to us in so many ways and more than they could possibly know.  I know my journey in life is unfolding exactly as it should be and even though it has been hard at times, I wouldn’t want it any other way.

My IVF Medication and Shot Experience

The day our medications finally arrived, I experienced so much excitement. We had been trying for so long to become pregnant and it finally felt like we were able to do SOMETHING to increase our chances of achieving that goal. You see, after experiencing month after month of not becoming pregnant, at some point, intercourse kind of started to seem pointless and ineffective. So, as you can imagine, we were so excited to actually be doing something a little more beneficial!

Some of our medications had to be put into the refrigerator right away, so we had to be there when the package arrived. By the way, when people say the box is rather large, they aren’t kidding.

This is me with all my medications laid out the day they arrived. It looks like a lot, which can be a bit overwhelming, but you don't start them all at once! Our clinic also provided us with a color coded calendar to help us keep track of what we should be taking each day, which was a life saver.

My mom and sisters came over that day and we spent some time checking out the medications, making sure they had all arrived, finding the ones we needed first, and thoroughly assessing the size of each needle, as that was one of my main concerns. I had spent a lot of time researching what the shots were like and how they felt since that was one of the things that I was pretty worried about.

My Medication Regime and Injection Experience:

The first day that we began our IVF round I began taking baby aspirin, an antibiotic, and birth control (which I had already been on since three days after my last period). My husband was also prescribed an antibiotic in order to ensure that we were both as healthy as possible throughout the whole process! Fortunately, I do not experience any significant side effects of “craziness” when taking birth control so I felt fine and normal on these medications.

In addition to the above listed medications, I also had to do daily injections. For these, I would squeeze my husband’s hand to death, stare at a picture of my baby niece (for inspiration!), and pray as my mom or friend administered my shots every morning. (I was not one of those people that could give them to myself. Hats off to you brave souls out there!)

   

This is the Lupron injection, which was my very first injection. I had to do this one every morning until the day of egg retrieval. This injection had to be administered subcutaneously (into my belly).

The needle for my Lupron shot was pretty small. When the needle went into my belly there was a little sting, but it was not as intense as getting a shot in your arm. The medication itself did not really sting at all going in. Sometimes there was a little blood or a bruise that formed at the injection site, but overall this was the easiest of the injections.

After fifteen days of the Lupron injection, I also began taking Menopur and Gonal-f.

This is a photo of the Menopur. Each morning these two containers had to be mixed.

This is a photo of the Gonal-f. This the one that had to be refrigerated. It was the easiest of the injections to prepare as we just had to turn the dial to the dosage level and it was ready to go.

We were able to mix the Menopur and Gonal-f into one syringe. That way I only had to do two shots each morning rather than three. Yay for that! Like the Lupron they had to be injected subcutaneously. With this one, the liquid was a little thicker and honestly did sting going in. I believe that it was the Gonal-f that really made it sting. (Toward the end there was a day that I only had to do the Menopur and no Gonal-f and it felt similar to the Lupron). Overall, it was my least favorite of all the injections.  

After another ten days, I finally got the phone call that it was time to trigger ovulation!

This is a photo of my trigger shot. I was prescribed Ovidrel and it also had to be injected into my stomach. Overall, it was pretty similar to the Lupron, a small sting, but nothing overly significant. Plus, it was a little easier to do as it was my last shot and it meant egg retrieval was coming!

Additional Tips and Tricks:

These are just a couple of things that helped me get through the shots each morning:

1. We went back and forth each day on the side of my stomach to insert the injection and made sure to avoid bruised areas as much as possible.
2. We were told that the closer the injection is to the belly button, the more you can feel it. Therefore, we tried to stay farther to the sides when possible.
3. I liked to watch the shot go in. That way when there was a slight sting I was prepared for it and expecting it to come.

-Shauni

So How Much Do Fertility Treatment Options Actually Cost?

After getting diagnosed with infertility, I was dying to know exactly how much money it was all going to cost so I could start saving and preparing right away! I found that it really is hard to get exact numbers as treatment cycles and adoption fees vary based on each individual circumstance. Therefore, below lists the average range of prices in Idaho for each treatment option.

All of the prices below were derived from talking to and visiting the websites of local adoption, surrogacy, and fertility clinics. The prices include all the components of each cycle (treatment, medications, ultrasounds, blood draws etc.) and all components of a full adoption or surrogacy experience.

Intrauterine Insemination (IUI):

• IUI: $2,000-$2,500

In Vitro Fertilization (IVF):

• IVF: $15,000-$18,000

• IVF with Intracytoplasmic Sperm Injection (ICSI): $15,000-$19,000

• IVF with Anonymous Ovum Donor (Egg Donor): $23,000-$26,000

• IVF with Anonymous Ovum Donor and Gestational Carrier (Surrogate): $24,000- $29,000

*If Preimplantation Genetic Diagnosis or Preimplantation Genetic Screening is required, there is an additional cost of approximately $5,000.*

• Frozen Embryo Transfer: $3,500-$5,000

Surrogacy

• Traditional Surrogate or Gestational Carrier: $20,000-40,000
• Agency Fees: $6,000-$12,000
• Legal Costs: $3,000-$5,000

Adoption:

Adoption: $15,000-25,000After getting diagnose with infertility, I was dying to know exactly how much money it was all going to cost so I could start saving and preparing right away! I found that it really is hard to get exact numbers as treatment cycles and adoption fees vary based on each individual circumstance. Therefore, below lists the average range of prices in Idaho for each treatment option.

All of the prices below were derived from talking to and visiting the websites of local adoption, surrogacy, and fertility clinics. The prices include all the components of each cycle (treatment, medications, ultrasounds, blood draws etc.) and all components of a full adoption or surrogacy experience.

-Shauni