Becoming your own Advocate

If there is one thing I have learned while going through infertility treatments it's this; you and you alone must be your own advocate. There is not a single person out there who is going to fight for you, but you. Sounds pretty harsh doesn't it? It was such a hard thing for Matt and I to accept. I couldn't believe that people were not willing to open up their minds and hearts, and help us when we just wanted to have a child. The sad news is, it all comes down to the almighty dollar. I know that is such a hard thing to hear and understand. It was for us, it was a great financial strain to pursue treatments. The good news is that there are a few tips and tricks to becoming your own advocate. I wish someone would've shared these with my husband and I while we were going through infertility.

1) Call your insurance company and get an exact statement of what they will and will not pay for - I know this sounds simple and you're sitting there going DUH, but it really does come down to the fine print. For instance; our first insurance company would've paid for my first IUI cycle but I had to call a special number and get pre-authorization and then get signed up in their infertility program. It never occurred to me that calling their 1-800 number on the back of the card wasn't enough. It also never occurred to me that the person who I was talking to wouldn't hand out helpful information. I was naïve in my belief that people were more than willing to just hand out all the advice and help we needed.

2) NEVER EVER go through a treatment unless you really believe it has the chance of working - My husband and I wasted 18 months and over $6000 before we put our foot down and said "We will not do Clomid anymore we want injectables and 2 IUI's per cycle." You should know that the minute we put our foot down we felt a whole lot better and consequently, ended up pregnant that very same cycle.

3) Infertility medications are expensive ask your clinic if they have any donated medicines - I wish with all my heart I would've thought of this because I now know that our clinic did have donated medicines for people who could not afford them. Clomid is not that expensive around $100 per cycle but when we moved to injectable repronex it was at least $40 a vial and we used 13 vials our first cycle. Figure it out, we're talking about $520 a cycle. When we ended up pregnant I went back to my clinic and donated the last 12 vials of repronex we had left so that some couple could have a chance at a baby even if they couldn't afford the medicine.

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