I'm 33. Should I even consider ICI?

mpark46mpark46 Posts: 8
in Share Your Experience
I'm 33 years old. I have no known fertility issues. All my bloodwork came back normal.

I know most people go straight to IUI, but I'd like to try at home first.

However, a couple of donors that I really like only have IUI available. There is one donor that has ICI.

I'm just confused. Is it silly to think that at my age I could do an at-home insemination and get pregnant?

Comments

  • Natalie1605Natalie1605 Posts: 23
    I would thinki of it this way...are you too old to have sex? Essentially that is what ICI is like. However, if there is a donor you really like would you let the $200 or so charge stop you from having IUI at the doctors and getting the one you like the best? I had this dilema as my husband and I had a favorite with CCB and another backup so to speak with another sperm bank. The other bank has an account with our Fertility Institute and so the hospital would have just billed us. This would have allowed us to order more and it was about $200 cheaper. We have an open donor which we didn't care a thing about so that tacked on $100 for our IUI vial. Anyway, the point is we felt drawn to the CCB donor and I picked this donor months ago before my husband even saw the possibilities. HE picked the same one. To us he was the one we really wanted and we didn't want to settle for something so important. Good luck whichever way you go. I had my first IUI on Aug 13th. I think I may be pregnant, but I don't know for sure yet. Good luck!!
  • mpark46mpark46 Posts: 8
    I guess you are right Natalie.

    We are paying out of pocket for all of our expenses and the fertility clinic doing the potential IUI said to expect to pay about $600 per IUI.

    It's not a lot of money if it happens right away, but I'm scared that it won't happen right away.

    So much to think about I guess.
  • Natalie1605Natalie1605 Posts: 23
    Is the $600 just to perform the IUI? Or does that include donor sperm? Ours told us about $500 per time and that was for donor sperm they usually get from another cryobank. We are paying out of pocket too so I understand. We just tried our first and because our donor is open our vials are $590 plus the shipping and then my IUI was $225 at my doctor. What part of the country do you live in? If it were $600 we would not be able to do that every month. No way, no how. I understand how you feel...I'm sure you are overwhelmed. I know I am.
  • mpark46mpark46 Posts: 8
    Natalie, I'm in San Francisco, and yes, the $600 did not include the donor sperm.
  • Natalie1605Natalie1605 Posts: 23
    Have you considered going out of state? I am in Oklahoma and mine was $225. Perhaps a neighboring state might be cheaper? Otherwise ICI might be the way to go.
  • jesselynnjesselynn Posts: 137
    I live in CA and we pay $250 per IUI, including the "office visit" charge. That worked out well for the first 2 cycles, but then things like blood work/lab, ultrasounds, follie scans, etc, started to add up. I think the last 2 cycles cost about $500 each. This is all in addition to the price of each vial. It sure adds up if you don't get it on the first try, thats for sure.

    Good luck to you.
  • alivinalivin Posts: 143
    Wow I'm just reading the costs that you guys are paying and think it is really cheap!! We pay almost $1500 per insemination not including our sperm and we do back to back IUI's. But that includes all of the ultrasounds. And of course meds are not included so we pay for all of that out of pocket as well. We know our RE is top notch so we don't mind paying as long as we get a baby! But I feel you all of these expenses add up. We are going in for our 3rd IUI today and tomorrow. But in the end it will all be worth it when we hold our little one in our arms!
  • Mom4KiddosMom4Kiddos Posts: 83
    I'm sorry, but having sex and ICI are NOT the same thing and do NOT carry the same success rates. In fact, unmedicated IUI with donor sperm will never have an equal success rate as intercourse between a normal couple. My doctor told me that a normal couple has a 20% chance of conceiving in any given cycle, and unmedicated IUI has a 10% chance of working in any given cycle. Unmedicated ICI has even lower rates (around 5%). I personally would spend the money and go for IUI. By the time you exhaust ICI you may end up spending as much as you would have for one IUI cycle, and then who knows? You may need to use IUI with meds or go on to the next step. Just my opinion.
  • mpark46mpark46 Posts: 8
    We're going forward with IUI. Mainly because we found a good donor match that does not have ICI vials.

    I just found out that the $600 only includes the insemination and one ultrasound.

    Other things like "office visits, meds, any additional bloodwork, HCG" are additional costs.

    Oh well. Hopefully we'll get it right with the first IUI.
  • bebesmamabebesmama Posts: 7
    I'm with alivin. We pay about $1500 (includes all blood draw, ultrasounds, office visits, and IUI). Except, I'm in a small town our RE clinic is definitely not top notch :o(.. Don't really have any other choice since the next RE clinic is about 4 hours away (and they just have an "ok" reputation.)...
  • jam1120jam1120 Posts: 30
    My choice was to have IUI and just for the IUI it was $450. For a cycle with more close monitoring it was $2200 - this included as many ultrasounds as needed, blood work, and IUI. So I understand how the costs can add up. The medication cost up to $3000 a try and my insurance will not pay until after 12 tries!!! Lifetime I have 10 tries so if this tenth tries doesn't work I "only" have 2 more to pay out of pocket. Luckily out of these 10 tries I have had 2 pregnancies. One gave me a son, and the other did not go to term.

    Even with the costs, it is worth it to involve a doctor. I know that the sperm are placed in the best possible location without question. Then I don't second guess myself.

    Good luck. The results are so worth it.
  • MistyandCarlaMistyandCarla Posts: 720
    I would just like to add a bit about insurance...

    When I began this journey, I checked with my insurance which is BC/BS. Under my policy, I DO NOT have infertility coverage. But, the lady was nice enough to give me a little bit more insight on it...She said that as long as I didn't have an infertility diagnosis that we should submit all of the claims because they would cover the office visits, blood work, ultrasounds, etc. The only thing that they would not cover is the sperm and the actual IUI charge. Thank God, this is exactly what happened. It saved us a lot of money that we would have just went ahead and paid out of pocket.

    I guess the catch is to know what your diagnosis is. Your doctors office can give you the ICD9 Code that they use for billing and you can call the insurance company and they can tell you if that's a covered code. Just because you're seeing an RE doesn't mean that you're infertile. I just thought I would pass that on.

    Good luck girls!
  • alivinalivin Posts: 143
    While I agree with Misty and Carla on submitting blood work and ultrasounds to your insurance, it will only work if it is not through your RE. Each Dr. has a tax ID number that they use when they submit insurance claims, as soon as your insurance sees that it is from an RE it will get denied. You wouldn't be seeing an RE if you didn't have fertility issues. And even though being a lesbian doesn't necessarily mean we don't have fertility issues, thats not the way insurance sees it. They may very well cover the ICD9 code but they will only cover it if it's a doctor that they will cover authorizing it.

    This is what we did, as we pay out of pocket for everything. The first time around I had my RE do the blood work progesterone and Beta after each IUI. Well I found out that it was costing me a fortune. So i just had my OB/GYN request the same blood work and you know what it was covered in full!! I saved soooo much $$$$. Additionally our overall bloodpanel, FSH, Estradiol and all of that stuff would have costed us almost $1,000 from RE but again I had my OB/GYN order it and I paid $40 for it.

    Just my experience, hope it is helpful
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