Our IVF Journey for Baby Stober
Donation protected
A little over a year ago we found out if we wanted to have biological children, in vitro fertilization (IVF) was our only option. While we were disappointed to learn IVF was the route we would have to take, we were grateful to have this as an option. However, as I’m sure most people know (or can guess), IVF is extremely costly and rarely covered by insurance. Knowing this, we started saving up what we needed to cover the cost of IVF.
We debated opting in for genetic testing of the embryos since that was an option and ultimately decided the extra cost was worth it. When I was 14, I was diagnosed with a hereditary genetic condition called Familial Adenomatous Polyposis (FAP). Long story short, I had my entire large intestine surgically removed to prevent cancer. This included three major abdominal surgeries that resulted in several complications, one being infertility.
While FAP is a condition that can be managed, we want to do everything we can to make sure this baby (or babies) does not have to live with FAP. While I had these surgeries 10 years ago, I have yearly appointments with my doctor to monitor my body and make sure I don’t develop various cancers I’m at a higher risk of. These appointments will continue for the rest of my life. Thankfully, if we can prevent this baby from getting the FAP gene, it cannot be passed to their children and the FAP gene will be gone from our family. However, statistically half of my eggs will carry the gene for FAP, which is why we feel so strongly about genetic testing.
When we had our retrieval for IVF at the end of May we never dreamed we would end up with 20 viable embryos, so we saved the $7,000 to cover the cost of testing 8 embryos (this is the basic package, like I said earlier, crazy expensive right?). However, earlier this week we found out it’s an additional $525 to test each embryo over 8.
IVF is such a numbers game, so testing only 8 of the 20 embryos makes us extremely nervous. We don’t have the option to go back later and test individual embryos, if we don’t test them now, we will have to pay another $7,000 to test 8 more. With statistically half of the embryos carrying the FAP gene, there is a chance all 8 embryos we test will have the FAP gene. We also need embryos to come back chromosomally normal which will likely result in the loss of more embryos, possibly FAP free embryos. So while 20 embryos seems like a high number, we are preparing for the likelihood of losing more than half of them due to FAP and chromosomal abnormalities.
We have tried so hard to prepare financially for IVF on our own, but we have to make a decision of how many embryos to test in 2 weeks. And while we are trying to find and earn extra money… We know it’s not realistic to come up with $6,500 on our own in the next 2 weeks. Even if we aren’t able to test all 20 embryos, we hope to test as many as we possibly can. We are grateful for you each taking the time to read our story. For any who feel inclined to donate, please know we are extremely grateful and humbled by your compassion.
We debated opting in for genetic testing of the embryos since that was an option and ultimately decided the extra cost was worth it. When I was 14, I was diagnosed with a hereditary genetic condition called Familial Adenomatous Polyposis (FAP). Long story short, I had my entire large intestine surgically removed to prevent cancer. This included three major abdominal surgeries that resulted in several complications, one being infertility.
While FAP is a condition that can be managed, we want to do everything we can to make sure this baby (or babies) does not have to live with FAP. While I had these surgeries 10 years ago, I have yearly appointments with my doctor to monitor my body and make sure I don’t develop various cancers I’m at a higher risk of. These appointments will continue for the rest of my life. Thankfully, if we can prevent this baby from getting the FAP gene, it cannot be passed to their children and the FAP gene will be gone from our family. However, statistically half of my eggs will carry the gene for FAP, which is why we feel so strongly about genetic testing.
When we had our retrieval for IVF at the end of May we never dreamed we would end up with 20 viable embryos, so we saved the $7,000 to cover the cost of testing 8 embryos (this is the basic package, like I said earlier, crazy expensive right?). However, earlier this week we found out it’s an additional $525 to test each embryo over 8.
IVF is such a numbers game, so testing only 8 of the 20 embryos makes us extremely nervous. We don’t have the option to go back later and test individual embryos, if we don’t test them now, we will have to pay another $7,000 to test 8 more. With statistically half of the embryos carrying the FAP gene, there is a chance all 8 embryos we test will have the FAP gene. We also need embryos to come back chromosomally normal which will likely result in the loss of more embryos, possibly FAP free embryos. So while 20 embryos seems like a high number, we are preparing for the likelihood of losing more than half of them due to FAP and chromosomal abnormalities.
We have tried so hard to prepare financially for IVF on our own, but we have to make a decision of how many embryos to test in 2 weeks. And while we are trying to find and earn extra money… We know it’s not realistic to come up with $6,500 on our own in the next 2 weeks. Even if we aren’t able to test all 20 embryos, we hope to test as many as we possibly can. We are grateful for you each taking the time to read our story. For any who feel inclined to donate, please know we are extremely grateful and humbled by your compassion.
Organizer
Nicole Stober
Organizer
Herriman, UT