Has anyone here done IUI/IVF through a MTF?

[G22]

Just out of curiosity. I know its slow here, so I don't even know if anyone here has done this.

We only have one option in our state for seeing a RE (and its 4 hours away from us). Through research, we're looking at upwards of $20,000 for one cycle. I knew it was that much, but now that we're at this point its hard to comprehend spending that much on something that isn't 100%. I'm just starting to look into seeing if doing it at a MTF is an option. I know there are wait-lists and few that do it.

We're looking at Madigan in WA and WPAFB in OH. Madigan is clearly closer to us, but we have family in OH near WPAFB so we'd have a place to stay and everything for free.

I guess I'm just curious if anyone here has done it, and was it worth it to you? Even if you traveled states away, was the saving enough?

[NomadicMama]

I did, as well. I did IUIs at the IF clinic in San Diego (when we lived on Fort Irwin) and IVF at Walter Reed (when we lived on Fort Lee). This was all five and six years ago, though. I'm not sure how relevant my experiences are. I did not know that there were infertility clinics doing IUI and IVF at Lewis or Patterson.

Let me know if you have any questions.

[G22]

Thanks @ojo. I'd love to hear your experience.

NomadicMama I knew you'd done IVF but wasn't sure if it was MTF or civilian. I actually talked with the IVF coordinator at Lewis today and we are planning to go with them. I'm not sure how long they have been doing it, but I guess they do everything but retrieval and transfers at their MTF. They contract with a hospital in Seattle for those.

As for WPatt, they do but only for people actually stationed there.

Did you feel like standard of care was comparable to a civilian RE? My understanding is Lewis is a teaching hospital. I think the biggest reason we are planning to go to Lewis is cost. The only RE in our state is super expensive. The quote we got for Lewis is 1/3 of the cost here.

[amaristella]

I know someone who did IUI at Madigan and it's possible she might be willing to talk about it (she's not on this board that I know of). Let me know if you're interested and I'll ask her if she wants to share her contact info. I will PM you her blog address. (It's a public blog but I don't think it's been updated since her daughter was born.)

[NomadicMama]

Mar 25, 2014 14:37:24 GMT -5 G22 said:

Thanks @ojo. I'd love to hear your experience.

NomadicMama I knew you'd done IVF but wasn't sure if it was MTF or civilian. I actually talked with the IVF coordinator at Lewis today and we are planning to go with them. I'm not sure how long they have been doing it, but I guess they do everything but retrieval and transfers at their MTF. They contract with a hospital in Seattle for those.

As for WPatt, they do but only for people actually stationed there.

Did you feel like standard of care was comparable to a civilian RE? My understanding is Lewis is a teaching hospital. I think the biggest reason we are planning to go to Lewis is cost. The only RE in our state is super expensive. The quote we got for Lewis is 1/3 of the cost here.

I was quite pleased with our results.    


At least at Walter Reed, the manner in which care is provided is different than with a civilian RE, but still high quality.  Instead of a quiet, spa-like experience, the IVF process at WRAMC was like a cattle call.  Every step that could be done on a large scale was.  Monitoring ultrasounds were done in the early morning before the OB office opened for patients.  The door opened at 6:30am.  We started lining up at about 5:45am.  It was first come, first seen.  Staffing was minimal, you had to provide your own chaperone.  Most women came with their husbands, but my husband was in school two hours south.  Another solo patient (who knew the process) offered to be each other's chaperones (we are still in contact over five years later!).

At WRAMC (which, technically no longer exists as it is now combined with Naval services), there was minimal handholding.  If you had questions, you had to speak up.  But, they for results.  On paper, my IVF cycle should have been a bust.  But, through science, modern medicine and a bit of a miracle, our son was conceived and is now a happy, healthy four and a half years old.

FWIW, our diagnosis was unexplained.  DH has lower numbers, but not low enough to have called for treatment.  My armchair self-diagnosis is that I make crappy eggs.  They retrieved 18 eggs at ER.  Of those, 12 were mature.  We did ICSI, of the 12 mature eggs, only 6 fertilized (which is why I think  I produce crappy eggs).  Of the six only four were viable on day three.  They transferred the best two.

i don't know if any of this helps.  Cost was a huge factor for us.  We paid about 1/3 of what we'd have had to pay to a civilian RE.  Being 37 at the time, we didn't have tons of time to save nearly $20k for the civilian option.

[G22]

Thank you Nomad! It helps to hear your experience. The grouping/cattle call thing doesn't surprise me too much, but for me if it works it'd be worth it.

My H has a varicocele which causes low numbers/viscosity. Its not awful but not great either. I don't always ovulate on my own so together we make a great pair. lol

I don't know of many people who daily have $20k laying around. We don't. And with a PCS in our future next year, I feel like were on a deadline due to that. So hopefully moving onto IVF is what we need. The last 4+ years have been long and I'm tired of this IF game.

[amaristella]

Mar 26, 2014 1:07:14 GMT -5 NomadicMama said:

At least at Walter Reed, the manner in which care is provided is different than with a civilian RE, but still high quality.  Instead of a quiet, spa-like experience, the IVF process at WRAMC was like a cattle call.  Every step that could be done on a large scale was.  Monitoring ultrasounds were done in the early morning before the OB office opened for patients.  The door opened at 6:30am.  We started lining up at about 5:45am.  It was first come, first seen.  Staffing was minimal, you had to provide your own chaperone.  Most women came with their husbands, but my husband was in school two hours south.  Another solo patient (who knew the process) offered to be each other's chaperones (we are still in contact over five years later!).

For what it's worth I have seen two different civilian RE's manage their monitoring in that manner so it's not just a military practice. If you feel concerned about that type of thing I would check with any office civilian or otherwise to see how they do monitoring.

Edit: I also wanted to say that although that method sounds pretty terrible there are times when it really makes sense. Some civilian practices are set up with a big main facility for a region and several satellite offices so that people don't have to travel so far. Sometimes the smaller offices aren't staffed every single day and so they only have a contracted phlebotomist and ultrasound tech who come in for an hour or two each morning to do monitoring. Setting it up that way reduces travel time for a lot of the patients and minimizes cost (vs having all day staff members) which can then also lower the treatment cost for the patient which I think a lot of patients really appreciate!

Edit again: Reason #3 sometimes it helps to get all the test results back and analyzed so that patients can get their instructions before the end of the day.

[G22]

I completely get why they do it that way. FWIW, if we had decided to go with the RE clinic in our state, they do it the same way. I was also told they only do 3-4 rounds a year (ex: June-Sept-Nov are the only months they do IVF cycles). I don't particularly like that method, but the coordinator at Lewis said they do them every month. So at least there's that.

[mada]

So, cool to see this post here. 

I was wondering if any of you had any more information on which other MTF's do IUI (or where I could find that info)? I know they do in Fort Bragg's MTF, but there next "group orientation" is not till the 4th of Nov and I was hoping to get in for this month cycle (Oct). Im a new military spouse and Im a bit lost when it comes to TRICARE, as it is we just PCSed from Germany to Fort Gillem (where there's literally nothing)

Any info would be greatly appreciated. Thank you! 

 

[mada]

DO you know where I might be able to find out where else its done? I mean what other MTF's do it?

[G22]

Oct 8, 2014 15:32:14 GMT -5 mada said:

Stans list is the current MTFs that have waiting lists and will do IVF for any military couple even if they aren't stationed there. Some others do it, but only for people stationed at that particular base (Wright Patterson apparently is one).

I just googled the heck out of it. I got on Fort Lewis's list this summer and am currently out there going through my first IVF. It was a nonexistent wait list which was awesome.

I have no idea how they do wait lists for IUIs as I did mine with a civilian doctor. If you havent done any kind of fertility testing there will be a whole slew of stuff to do, even for an IUI. I would call Fort Bragg's clinic and start there. Fort Lewis does their IVF cycles in batches every month and have all of us at the same point in our cycle. I would imagind the other bases do that too and its most likely too late to do a cycle this month. I would absolutely get signed up for the Nov orientation if I were you.

[amaristella]

G22 I hope it goes well. I know that it's been a long road for you.

[G22]

Thanks ladies! I'm feeling hopeful right now, and haven't felt that in awhile. So that's nice.