At my first follow up appointment after my last tubal, I was referred to a place in Cambridge. Our insurance would cover the cost of the initial appointment which ranges anywhere from £190.00 to £600.00 and I was ready to get this process started. I called the facility as I had several questions and was completely turned off by the attitude and lack of response to the important financial inquires I had. I immediately started looking for a different facility.
Every time I would google IVF (okay maybe I have done this more than just that one day!), a place called Bourn Hall would pop up. I looked at their website and was impressed, but was even more impressed after speaking to one of the physicians at the center. She was super sweet, patient, and understanding of my current situation. Our insurance will not cover this particular place, but our thought was that we will be paying for the majority of this out of pocket and the difference between comfort and £190.00 (consult fee at Bourn) did not seem like a huge difference for peace of mind. Not saying that this is not a large amount of money, but compared to the expense of the process itself it didn't seem impossible. After that phone call, the decision was made that Bourn Hall was the place for us and so started all of the baby steps to baby steps.
Before the initial sit down with the physician there are several test that must be completed. Lab work is a big one. For the female, an AMH (Anti-Mullerian Hormone) is usually required, but in some cases places will allow a FSH (Follicle-Stimualting Hormone), LH (Luteinizing Hormone), and Estradiol in place of an AMH, all of which have to be taken during a woman's cycle. For the male, regardless of the situation, a sperm test must be completed. Last but not least for both parties HIV antibodies, Hepatitis B Surface Antigen, Hepatitis C antibodies, and Hepatitis B Core Antibodies must be done.
It seemed like so much to do, but we have already finished everything with the exception of female only testing which I must wait until the "perfect time" for these to be drawn. I think most women can agree that you never look forward to a period, okay a slight few of you might be jumping for joy when yours arrives, but for most of us it is dreaded. I can honestly say, I wish mine would hurry up so I can get these test finished. I may not ever repeat this again, but bring on the bleeding!
We have scheduled our initial consult date for March 3rd and I was very excited to receive the paperwork in the mail. With that said, it seemed like a lot of paperwork, but took us less than half an hour to complete. We were going to Cambridge to do Chris's "man test" on Monday, so we made a day of it and dropped the completed paperwork off at Bourn Hall ourselves. We were only there a short amount of time, but the kindness of everyone only reassured us that we made the correct decision. We would not have come this far in such a short amount of time if it had not been for really wonderful physicians, friends, and family. With everyones continued support and donations, we look forward to making our dreams a reality.
The Paperwork
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