Scott and I have been researching IVF for quite a while. We have researched many options abroad in an attempt to save money.
Here are some of our favorite options we came across:
First we heard about
http://www.ivfvacation.com/. They are a couple who did IVF in the Czech Republic 3 years ago and had twins. The wife is originally from the Czech Republic. They now coordinate trips for couples wish to go there for treatment. They recently lowered their coordination fees and they do not charge for return trips for second tries or frozen embryo transfers. The downsides of Czech Republic for me are the travel costs and that it is a non English speaking country and there are other countries I would rather visit.
The second we found is with Dr Malpani in Mumbai, India.
http://www.drmalpani.com/. The downsides of IVF in India were LONG travel time and high travel costs and I was nervous about traveling in a country who's system largely revolves around bribes. Bonuses would be that I have always wanted to go to India, I would love to see the Taj Mahal and other historical sights and it would be a fun place to buy pretty fabrics and other souvenirs!
cost:
Next we looked for the cheapest IVF clinic we could find in the USA. We found this clinic in Grand Rapids, Michigan:
http://www.fertilitycentermi.com/. The bonus of that were that we could stay in the U.S. The downsides were I guess also that we would be staying in the U.S.(and didn't get to take a fun vacation!) The meds were also very expensive unless we ordered them from
http://www.ivfmeds.com/ who import the meds from Europe(?). In the case that we used ivfmeds.com, the clinic did not want to know about it.
Next Scott found out about IVF in Costa Rica. Here is Dr Perez's website
http://www.centrofecundar.com/english/ and the website for the trip coordinator, Mark Semple who runs passport medical
http://passportmedical.com/2010/01/the-cheapest-ivf-in-the-world-it-very-well-may-be/. Just a few days ago as I was researching IVF in Costa Rica, I found a comment that Mark had left on an IVF cost website (www.ivfcost.net), and saw that he was taking a trip in May! As I learned more about IVF in Costa Rica I found that it is not only one of the best clinics with the best doctors, but also less expensive and the best vacation spot. Scott and I spent our honeymoon in Costa Rica about 5 years ago and loved it! We have been looking for an excuse to make another trip! I started coordinating my trip this week, and plan to join in on the group going in May! Also it is a Spanish speaking country, but Scott and I found it pretty easy to find people who spoke English. We also found the people in Costa Rica to be extremely friendly, outgoing and helpful.
There are other families going that will also be documenting their experiences. You can follow their blogs here: to be posted soon...
In just the past few days since I got in touch with Mark, he has been extremely helpful in answering my questions and doing research for me. He has answered our emails in a very timely manner, and even spent an hour and a half with my husband and me on the phone. Today (Saturday) the Doctor has started emailing me directly and answers my questions very promptly via his Blackberry. So far, Mark and Dr Perez have been the easiest to get in touch with and the most willing to answer questions of all the clinics and coordinators that I have researched.
I have been keeping a running total of our costs for our trip and am guessing that after all is said and done, after flights, hotels, food, entertainment, supplies, medications, passports...on and on, the final tally will be up to about $9000. I will post a list of expenses when the trip is all over.
Stay posted to see how things go as I make the preparations for our trip, and then to see how the whole IVF process and trip goes!
