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I personally recommend the online "garage sale on medications". We are doing Injectables now on a monthly basis and yes, if your insurance does not pay or does not pay any more, then it is extremely expensive. We just purchased through this online garage sale from a private person 14 Gonal f pens for 75$ each. They retail for around 800$ a piece. We were even able to pick up locally. Just make sure the person had the meds refrigerated. That would be preferred. Besides, even slightly expired medications work just fine. For two of my cycles I used Repronex and Pergonal vials from my own stash in the basement from 10 years ago. My dr. suggested we could try them, he monitored the cycle with blood work and ultrasound, and agreed afterwards that the meds worked perfectly. Best wishes and the Lord's blessings.

Thanks so much, @Phillips!! I will definitely look into that. It's ridiculous how expensive these meds are!! And you don't even know if they will even work! Crazy. So glad they worked for you!! :)

We went through 3 IVF cycles 13 years ago without success, then did GIFT and ZIFT. Finally ZIFT worked out. I wish you the best of luck and don't get discouraged even if it takes a few attempts. We were actually able to conceive naturally after all that. We have 4 children now.- This shows that we are not in control of it . Thank God, in his timing things will work out for the best. Warm greetings.

Amen! That is such a great testimony you have!!! Praise God, His timing is flawless. :) My husband has severe MFI with a very low count. Our FS gave us a 1 - 3% chance of conceiving on our own and said IVF w ICSI would be our best bet. But I love it because he is a believer too and absolutely acknowledges that the Lord can work miracles and can do anything He wants. :) This might sound silly but would you mind explaining what GIFT and ZIFT is? I am new to all of this infertility treatment stuff...

GIFT and ZIFT are somewhat "ancient" procedures that I think are not performed any longer. Even 13 years ago, we had to go to St. Louis and seek treatment with Dr Silber a specialist in the field. GIFT is a gamete intrafallopian transfer whereas ZIFT is a zygote intrafallopian transfer. Both procedures require full anesthesia and a mini lap incision. It is invasive and that's why it is not done anymore. However, IVF does not work for everyone. With ZIFT and GIFT gametes or zygotes are not handled extensively or cultured in a lab but transferred straight into the Fallopian tubes, the natural environment for it. It was a unnatural procedure but put egg/ sperm or fertilized egg to the most natural place for development. It did work for us. I will keep your question /thread in my folder. I would love to stay in contact with you. We are currently trying for a 5th child with Femara and Injectibles. It is a long hard road - I am 47 now. God bless.

Oh wow! That is amazing. I have never heard of that being done, but it totally makes sense. Thanks for explaining that for me! I would love to stay in touch as well. My husband and I have only struggled with infertility for a year now so a lot of the treatment options are still very new to us. We are both 26 and hoping the Lord allows us to have at least one sweet child of our own one day. Thank you for being so kind and encouraging!! I hope and pray your 5th child is right around the corner! :)

How did you find the center that will be doing your IVF? Most clinics' advertising material is so enticing but there are great quality differences especially when it comes to the labs and embryologists. Lab and embryologist are extremely important for success. Will you be freezing resulting embryos before transfer? I have heard there is a greater chance for success with a frozen embryo transfer rather than directly from fresh. So many details and I am certainly not an expert on IVF, but I would love to give you my insights if you have ANY questions. My biggest concern is that you won't be "taken" by a center that does not deliver best care. This fertility business in my mind is a "fringe business" in the medical business and I have had my experiences.......best wishes until later.

We ended up going with the fertility specialist that my obgyn referred me to. We have met with him twice now and we really love him. He also reports that his success rate for those under 30 is at 70% right now which is wonderful! http://www.brownfertility.com/ here is his website. I think he is honest and legitimate. I think we will be doing a fresh round of IVF for the first try and then doing FET's after that if we have any to freeze from the fresh cycle. We are just trying to decide now whether we want to implant one or two. I would love to hear your insight on all of that though!!

When I get some time I will look up you center's website. I probably won't be able to give you much of an opinion. You have to trust the dr. and be reassured by his and the staff's level of attention. Is it a big or small center? Where do you live? At age 26 you don't want to implant more than 2 embryos. As long as you think you could handle twins, go with 2. Consider reading the statistics online for success for frozen versus fresh transfer cycles. It appears that a woman's receptiveness for implantation is greater after the body had enough time to rid itself from the medications needed for IVF - this is the most recent way of thinking. Because you are so young you might end up with a lot of frozen embryos. Commit to them in a way that you will use them either now or in a few years. Last summer we had 3 frozen embryos transferred from 13 years ago. Unfortunately, the quality was poor and no pregnancy resulted. Until later:)