We started our fertility journey in February 2020. Finally in December of 2023, we found out that I was pregnant. Everyone’s journey is different, but ours felt both lucky and difficult.

Our Journey

It started with no fertility clinics being able to see us at the start of COVID after we had a first round of consultations. When we were able to meet with someone again, we downselected to the right clinic for us, found the right donor sperm, performed all genetic testing we needed to and were ready to start right away! Unfortunately, my first ultrasound started with the doctor saying “Hmmm… that’s odd,” and the convesation spiraled quickly. I spent a very nerve wracking week waiting for testing and imaging results. Luckily, I was told that I did not have cancer, which was the concern. However, I still needed to have some endometrial scarring and an ovarian cyst removed.

Once the surgery was completed, I needed to wait a couple of months for my system to regulate itself. Then we could finally start trying. We attempted five (5) IUI cycles. After 2 unmedicated and 3 medicated attempts at IUI, we decided to transition to IVF.

This meant several months of admin and ordering medications, being on medications for the egg retrieval and then having the eggs removed and fertilized. We were lucky to get 10 embryos that made it through blastocyst stage.

Yet, there was one last trip up before we could get started. The day before my transfer, they called to check on how I was doing and with being on all of the hormones and medications, I was feeling pretty bad. Well, at least I thought it was the medications. Turns out, I had COVID and we had to push back the embryo transfer date another month. I was so upset, but finally we were able to do the one and only IVF transfer in December 2023.

That first IVF finally did it. Our fertility journey ended up being a success! From a finance standpoint, we ended up being very lucky as in 2023, my company’s fertility benefits were drastically increased over the previous benefits and saved us about $16,000 in IVF costs alone.

The grand total cost for our fertility journey came to: $21,260

Now What?

Well, after running that 3 1/2 year marathon, I was finally pregnant. Now, I just needed to give birth and be a parent forever. *gulp*

But first, did you know that babies come with A LOT of gear? I was woahfully unprepared for how many things babies would really require. Then how many things you want them to have for developmental reasons. My wife, however, has been a nanny for the last dozen years and so, they are VERY aware. Might I recommend to everyone to marry a professional nanny when preparing to have kids. It was probably the smartest thing I’ve ever done. For many reasons, but this is high on the list.

I will go into all of the baby gear that we did get, where we got it from and how much our baby actually used in the first year, but I will save that for another day. What I will say is to use your local “Buy Nothing” groups. This one move alone saved us over $1,000 in baby gear. It’s worth the time if you have an active group.

What was your fertility story? I’d love to hear in the comments!

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