Costs

I know I promised I'd return with a cost break-down post.  After a couple of weeks I have returned to do just that!  But first some other house keeping.

My period came and went and I finally started to feel less bloated.  It probably took a good 2 weeks before I started to think I felt "normal".  However, I have noticed that I still sometimes feel my side where my ovary is.  I have not had a follow-up appointment with my clinic (though I hope to arrange one next week).  Part of me is concerned that my cysts somehow grew a lot and that's what I'm feeling.  That seems slightly irrational, but I have no other way to understand why I feel "something" even when the rest of me feels normal.

I'm also slightly disappointed that my clinic did not mandate a follow-up appointment post retrieval.  That seems poor form to me.  I'm not sure if it was an oversight, or if it's standard, but I think follow up care is important.  So I'll call that out as something that has not made me happy about my clinic.  But, as I say, I'll try to get an appointment next week.  Mainly because I need to discuss how to proceed with cycle 2 in June.  So while I'm not thrilled with every aspect of my clinic, I'm also not unhappy enough to go elsewhere.

Now, on to costs.

A caveat.

After looking around at IVF blogs, it came to me that in the UK other people try to price their drugs cheaper at certain pharmacies.  It may be that I could have gotten my drugs for less had I shopped around.  My clinic did not suggest this to me, and it honestly did not occur to me.  For my second cycle, I will try to shop around for cheaper drugs, and I will post about that here as I do it.  However, below were the costs of my first cycle, using the drugs provided by the clinic, at the clinic cost.  I had no left-over drugs at all, which I really appreciated.

Service	Cost
Initial consultation and blood work	£490
Norethisterone plus mail fee (£6)	£11
STD Blood work	£115
Gonal F 450 pen	£180
Gonal F 900 pen	£360
Cetrotide x4	£128
Egg Freezing Medical Cost	£2800
Ten year storage (unused refundable)	£1800
Gonal F 450 pen	£180
Cetrotide x1	£32
Gonal F 450 pen	£180
Cetrotide x3	£96
Gonal F 450 pen	£180
Cetrotide x1	£32
Gonal F 450 pen	£180
Cetrotide x3	£96
Ovitrelle single dose	£16
Total Cost	£6876

So here are some quick facts:

• The 'egg freezing medical costs' included all of my clinic visits, all of my scans, and the retrieval procedure and associated drugs (including suppository)
• The initial consultation and the storage are one-off fees which I won't pay again. Total: £2290
• Total drug costs: £1671
• Projected cost of cycle 2 if no changes: £4471

I suppose it's also important to note that I was on drugs for 15 days which is longer than average and so obviously increased the costs.  If I can reduce the drug cost, that will obviously make a difference.  If I could get my cycle 2 cost to under £4000 I'd be happy.  But, I'm also happy to note that this is all pretty close to my rough estimate of what it would initially cost for two cycles (I'd assumed £10k) and that was assuming I wouldn't be on the stimulation drugs for as long.  So there you have it.  Just my experience of course.  I would be very interested in hearing from women in the UK about their comparison costs.  Please leave me a note if that's you!!