Thread: Reduce Your Fertility Carbon Foot Print with Micro IVF

By Pamela Madsen, The Fertility Advocate

For decades women struggling to conceive a child usually have had two choices for fertility treatments: the high-tech but high-cost process of invitro-fertilization (IVF) or the much lower-priced alternative of intra-uterine insemination (IUI), also known as artificial insemination - a clinical technique that reproductive endocrinologists generally consider a hit-and-miss proposition.

Now, I must say - I have experienced the hit and miss of intra-uterine inseminations. When I was 25, I began my treatment experience for infertility. I was started on IUI's just like so many other women. I actually did six cycles of fertility medications and IUI's and spent a year in infertility treatment hell before I gave up and tried IVF. I got pregnant on my first cycle. My husband and I did so many IUI's because it was cheaper per cycle than IVF - but in the end looking back - IVF was a much cheaper alternative if you factor in all of the cycles and emotional anguish. So, my interest was peaked around this new third option for treatment - "micro IVF" apparently an IVF priced competitively with artificial insemination. This might have been perfect for a couple like Kai and I was - way back when.

"Micro-IVF," lowers the cost of in vitro treatment by more than 60 percent but is expected to triple the roughly 10-percent chance of pregnancy from a single IUI course. And it will reduce your fertility drug carbon foot print!
Don't you want to take less fertility medications? And fewer medications is not just easier on your body - it is easier on your pocket book.

The $3900 price tag for a single Micro-IVF treatment contrasts sharply to the $12,000 to $15,000 national average that patients usually pay for a round of IVF (including medications). Yet with most fertility clinics charging from $3,000 to $4,000 for IUI, some doctors who are going Micro believe they have the makings of a breakthrough offering.

IUI is suitable only for a very limited group of women and it has a very high multiple birth rate. In terms of success, in vitro fertilization is greatly superior to IUI, and now it's much more within the financial reach of the same population of infertile patients.

The big question is who is Micro-IVF for? Younger, PCOS patients do great with Micro IVF! In fact almost any patient that is a good IUI candidate, with no insurance coverage should explore this option. At East Coast Fertility, you can even combine the Micro IVF program with their Single Embryo Transfer Program! What does that mean exactly? Well- most patient who do Micro IVF create on average about three embryos. If you agree to put them in one at a time - East Coast Fertility will freeze, and store your embryos at no cost to you. Then if you do not get pregnant on your fresh transfer, they will transfer your remaining embryos one at a time at no cost to you until you either get pregnant or use up your remaining embryos. For the cash paying patient that is an incredible gift. If you elect Micro IVF with SET - and you make three embryos - you could have three chances of pregnancy without the fears of multiple births - for $3900 plus medication. And the medication cost is very low since you are on Clomid for only a few days - plus only about two days of injectable fertility drugs.

So, if you doctor recommends IUI - please take a closer look at the procedure and compare to Micro IVF.

The average birth rate with IUI is under 10% per cycle.

* Anticipated birth rate with Micro-IVF in the same population group would be about three times greater (at least 30% per cycle).
* The average IUI cycle with injectable fertility drugs costs about $3,000-$4,000 which is comparable to the fee for Micro-IVF.
* When measured in terms of the cost per baby rather than cost per cycle of treatment, Micro-IVF is far more efficient than IUI.

The bottom line is that Micro IVF is not for everybody. It is designed to offer the ideal IUI candidates an opportunity at a higher success rate for having a baby at a stream lined cost.

Doctors who are offering Micro IVF such as East Coast Fertility, want to boost the chances of success for those who have the best chances of a successful outcome - and avoid expensive and time-intensive, high-tech processes and procedures needed for more difficult candidates. Do you want to explore this option? Dr. Dave Kreiner is offering free consultations to all patients struggling to have a baby. All you have to do is visit the website, fill out a request form - and you can come in and talk about whether Micro IVF is for you - at no cost.