Making Baby Blodgett

10,000 dollars. That is what it takes for the possibility, just for the chance, ONE opportunity to get pregnant. This is the out-of-pocket cost due to my fertility clinic at time of service. 10,000 dollars. Over the past two years my wife and I have been trying our damnedest to conceive our second child. We have been using a fertility clinic, a known donor, a lawyers office and one hostile uterus. The emotional and financial burden over the past two years has nearly depleted my soul and my pockets. After seven failed intrauterine inseminations and one devastating miscarriage Jessica and I have decided to move forward with IVF. In-vitro fertilization on average costs between 10 and $20,000. One week ago our insurance company called us with great news your IVF cycle will be “covered” because of the evidence provided that I could not conceive via IUI. What a sigh of relief. Twenty-four hours after getting this phone call our fertility clinic called us and emailed us with a spreadsheet of what our out-of-pocket costs would be. $3650 for genetic testing of the embryo $1200 for the process where they inject the sperm into the egg in a petri dish (this is not covered by my insurance because the sperm we are using is not my marital spouse). $1500 to freeze the embryos to await their implantation. $1200 to test my uterine lining…just because. About $2000 in insurance deductible. And thousands of dollars in injectable medication‘s to trick my body into holding this pregnancy.

Despite the cost (and the blackeye my two year old gave me last week) we still desperately want to grow our family. I’ve always longed for more children and my wife as well. Please help us achieve our goal. I can’t even believe we are here asking for help. But today, I feel brave. I feel hopeful.