Oh Baby!

So when I think of babies, I now see this:

 

It's obvious that babies and children are expensive.  You're liable for them until a minimum of 18 and we know true love never ends...sometimes that includes money.  In my case and for many others that have gone through treatment to cause infertility or early menopause, the money starts well before the baby takes their first breathe.  Say what?

Certain treatment can cause either men or women to become infertile or to go into menopause earlier. For instance, in my case, I had chemotherapy at 29 which killed both my mature and my immature eggs thanks to a certain chemo cocktail I was on.  Cancer treatment can age our bodies.  Earlier articles I read said it was 10 years but more recent one said it could be more than 10 so that was not so fun to read.  For some cancers, ovarian for example, removing the ovaries right away to rid the cancer can pretty much be a deal breaker for biological children via Mother Nature UNLESS...drum rolls please...unless us humans intervene.
 

Good doctors will recommend their patients see a fertility specialist to possibly bank their sperm or eggs. Thankfully there are actually many organizations now that can provide help covering this expensive process. Unless you make a lot of money then you should qualify for at some assistance because unfortunately most insurance companies will cover any of this.  I truly hope this will change in the near future.  Also, most of these will fund those up to 40 years old!  I think it's great that it's 40 because 40 is the new 30.  So if you are younger and still think of possibly having biological children, check out the links below.  There is no harm in saving some of your eggs/sperms because you just never know what the future holds.
www.fertileaction.org

www.fertilehope.org

www.reprotech.com

www.caporalassistance.org

I recently found out that Fertile Hope actually will help with expenses too for those post treatment as long as a doctor signs off that they had treatment to cause early infertility.  Again, the max age is 40 but I think this is great!  
I think this is great because there is a very good chance I may not be able to naturally conceive and the longer I way the less quality eggs I have leading to  a decrease chance to natural conception.  The fertility doctor feels they can stimulate my ovaries to reserve and freeze some of my eggs but he feels my egg quality pretty much is old and dry. He didn't actually say that but that is what I took from our conversation.  Then when I am ready to have a baby they can do IVF.  For someone with my low AMH levels he hasn't had any successful births.  He's smart.  Therefore he did not recommend this option.  Overall he said it would be a 2-3% success rate.  

He recommends using a young, good quality donor egg from someone in their early 20's and then doing IVF when I'm ready. He estimates at 55% pregnancy rate THOUGH  pregnancy doesn't actually mean there can't be chances of complications and miscarriages.  The success rate is better but it wouldn't be my eggs and it's almost like a flip of a coin.  

Egg donor IVF cycle fee is roughly $14,000 and this does not include other medications and labs.  I don't think this includes the cost of paying for the donor eggs. Most likely it would be $20,000. This route it typically more expensive since you have to pay for their lab work, etc so easily over $20,000.  
 
Standard IVF Cycle with all the medications and labs are close to $20,000.
Again, even going through all this it does NOT guarantee a successful birth because of miscarriage, etc.  

Key points:  Speak with a fertility specialist if at all you may consider having children one day.  Don't let the expense scare you. There are programs to help fund it!  Also, most treatments can be delay a few weeks unless all those on your medical team feels as if you need to move on your treatment ASAP.  The younger you are, the more good quality eggs (and I'm assuming the same with sperms) you have.  However, if you're like me and felt to overwhelmed when it all started, there may be options post treatment but try to do it while you're younger.  It's not impossible but it sometimes feel overwhelming.

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