The lovely thing about health insurance is that all initial testing for infertility is usually covered. However, once you are tested and find out you need IUI or IVF, it’s up to you to pay for everything else out-of-pocket since having a baby is not a medical necessity.

In addition to paying for the procedure, you also usually have to pay for the meds. On our first Clomid cycle, it wasn’t bad at all. I want to say we paid around $50 for the Clomid and $90 or so for the trigger shot, and I was given a coupon for the Endometrin so there was no charge. When we moved on to injectables, we were looking at spending thousands. Much to my surprise, the specialized pharmacy called (yes, there are pharmacies specifically for fertility meds!) and informed me that my injectables would be covered minus a $60 copay that they had a coupon to cover. I only had to pay for the trigger shot! Even in the middle of the second cycle when my doctor upped my dosage, I didn’t have to pay.

Just to illustrate how extremely lucky we are, I ordered another round of meds today. In these cycles with injectables, I am prescribed Bravelle for follicle stimulation (stims), Ovidrel for my trigger shot (an HcG supplement to force ovulation), and Endometrin, which is a progesterone supplement used after the IUI. I did a little digging online to see how much these meds would cost if I had to pay out of pocket. Here’s what I came up with:

Ovidrel: $136
Endometrin: $280 (for 2 boxes)
Bravelle: $3,876 (30 vials)

TOTAL: $4,292.00

This is in addition to what we paid for the IUI procedure! Guess how much I paid? $35 for the trigger shot. Total. The end.

So while I complain sometimes and feel sorry for myself, I have to put things into perspective and realize just how lucky I am in some areas of this journey. This is my reason to be thankful today. What is yours?