Big Decisions to Make

I submitted my New Patient Registration forms this week to Dr. Braverman's office in New York to get started on the immunology testing that we wanted to have done prior to another pregnancy or another IVF attempt. Today I spoke to Judy, the very nice billing specialist, the go over the fees for services before the doctor goes forward with contacting my OBGYN and getting these labs ordered. Brace yourself.

It will cost us $3,000 up front in physician fees, and another $1-2,000 up front in lab fees. The $3,000 covers Dr. Braverman's time and expertise in consulting with our OBGYN on the tests he would like ordered, the analysis of the results, development of a treatment protocol, and coordination of caring during a natural or IVF cycle with our OB or fertility doctor in Ohio. It will also include a "courtesy" office visit with a color flow Doppler exam of my uterus and ovaries. The Lab fees only cover the initial testing, so any follow up labs we need completed during our cycle will be charged separately.

If/When we do get pregnant, we will be charged an addition $3,000 for the "first and second trimester monitoring." This includes Dr. Braverman's time and expertise of analyzing any blood tests we have completed and response to the treatment he places me on. It also includes his communication with our OB or fertility doctor to inform them of the test results and any changes he wants to make to my treatment. The $3,000 does cover up to three pregnancies until I get past the 12 week mark. This means that if I have a miscarriage before 12 weeks during the first or second pregnancy, I would not have to mpay any more money for him to monitor a third pregnancy.

So we know for sure this would cost us $7-8,000 just for initial testing and monitoring. We do not know how much more we would end up needing to pay along the way for all the additional testing throughout my cycle or pregnancy. And we do not know how much the medication or treatment would cost us either.

Deep breaths.

This is a huge decision we need to make. I know I do not want to attempt another pregnancy or IVF without the testing to at least see if there is any other cause to my miscarriages. And in my opinion, the results that he finds will guide our next decision, rather it be natural pregnancy with the immunological treatment, IVF with donor eggs from my sister with or without immunological treatment, or adoption. If we choose not to undergo this testing, I will not agree to attempting another pregnancy and we might just be in limbo until my husband gets on board with adoption. This isn't to be a mean and controlling wife...but to protect myself from the insanity I feel every time we lose a baby that we desperately wanted.