Where to begin

 

Not many of you knew Jarrett and I were dealing with infertility.  We are not the type who broadcast our problems to the world. We are the type who when faced with an obstacle, we just get to work trying to solve the problem. That is exactly what we did when we first visited our doctor to figure out why we couldn't get pregnant.

Our plan was to only reveal when we were expecting. We figured why make others feel sorry for us, worry about us, etc. Plus we thought this would be a quick fix. Well the truth is there is no quick fix for infertility.

In March of  2017 we learned we would have to do IVF if we wanted to have a baby. We had already spent about $4,000 out of pocket  for testing, medications, and other procedures. Now we were looking at estimate that totaled nearly $20,000. Unlike when you buy a car there are no sales on IVF. You can get a medical loan but they often charge huge interest rates no matter how great your credit is. All cost must be paid in full before you can begin treatment.

The vast majority of health insurance plans do not cover infertility, including ours. Unfortunately too many still view IVF as an elective procedure and do not view infertility as a health issue. We are here to tell you that infertility is NOT an elective. We did not chose infertility, and we did not do anything to our health to cause infertility.  Infertility is a recognized disease by the CDC. The good news is slowly more & more companies are starting to included infertility coverage in their health plans. 15 states even mandate that employees provide coverage. Here are some quick facts you may not have know about infertility.

• Fertility decreases with age in both men and women

• The World Health Organization (WHO) estimates that approximately 8-10% (1 in 8) of couples experience some form of infertility problem. On a worldwide scale, this means that 50-80 million people suffer from infertility

• The average cost of IVF is around $15,000 per round, not including medications which range from $3,000 to $5,000 extra.

Jarrett and I wanted to start this blog to share our journey through IVF with our family, friends, and whoever else might find their way to this site.

We are no longer in what many who have faced this call the "infertility closet."

In our next blog we are going to tell you about two very special people who helped out us out.

 

 

Nena & Jarrett.