Shady Grove Consult

[Anonymous]

We have been TTC #2 for almost a year. My OB will not even talk to me regarding any sort of infertility testing or bloodwork because (1) we have only been trying 10 months and (2) we have one child, so we must be compatible.

We practice fertility awareness method, which my OB is unsupportive of and I don't think she believes in it.

I see in other posts that people have made consult appointments at Shady Grove and had them do a sperm analysis. For those that have done that, did insurance cover it? If not, how much did it cost for a consult and sperm analysis?

[Anonymous]

Your husband can get his sperm checked without going to an RE. He may need a referral from GP depending on your insurance. I think a urologist can do them. Get on the phone and start calling.

[Anonymous]

Oh, and be sure to tell all dr's from here on out that you've been trying for a year. Make sure your husband says the same thing. You will need to contact your insurance to see what is covered under your plan. I'm pretty sure sperm analysis is covered with most normal plans.

[Anonymous]

I just had a consult last month at Dominion. I actually happen to be staring at the EOB so I can submit for flex spending and the consult was $240 without insurance (but with the insurance discount I'm sure) and insurance covered 80% so I paid $48. The sperm analysis was $180 and we paid $36. My insurance covers seeing a specialist without a referral but DF was out of network hence the 80%.

We also have been trying about 9/10 months and I did not try to hide this (it was on the form I filled out prior to the appt and there was no sense in hiding it since my OB knows exactly when I went off the pill.) I realized at the consult that I really just wasn't ready to do all of the testing. I think it would be around $500 out of pocket for me but I can't remember exactly. I am really hoping we can do this naturally (using FAM) so I've decided to wait until after the holidays to go for the testing.

Good luck!

[Anonymous]

This is 2146. I echo what 2143 said about insurance. I had to call my insurance 3 times to figure out what was covered and I didn't find out until after my husband had the SA at DF that my insur covered 80% b/c DF was out of network. At that point, I already had my consult appt and just wanted to go. It took another couple of calls to figure out who was in network. Which is SG and CFA, and if I had known, I would have just done that to begin with. So annoying.

[Anonymous]

We did a consult with SG after TTC for nine months, and my ob was also not very supportive of doing any diagnostic testing until we had been TTC for 18 months! (not the usual year.) I was definitely not going to wait that long. It all depends on your insurance plan, but we have BCBS PPP (private, not federal) and the sperm analysis and my diagnostic testing was covered at 100%. I just told them we had been trying over a year and I had gone off the pill sooner than I actually did.

[Anonymous]

I am not sure what kind of insurance you have but our insurance covers all the diagnostics, just not the actual treatment. 12 months is typically the time frame when you seek out treatment if you are under 35. As PPs have said sperm analysis can be done now and it's probably the easiest test (IMHO).

Good luck.

[Anonymous]

OP Here -

Went to a new OB today and had a great experience. I left with blood work ordered, ultrasound scheduled and an order for DH to have a semen analysis done.

Thanks for all the advice!

[Anonymous]

As has been discussed before on the Infertility forum, OBs generally have no clue about even the most basic ideas about fertility. (I got patently incorrect information about timing intercourse from mine). Don't accept your OBs unwillingness to help--take matters into your own hands by getting those tests ordered and/or seeing an RE.

[Anonymous]

We just had a consult at SG in November. They gave us a price list for all the basic intro tests you will do at our first appointment. The HSG was the most expensive so far. The sperm analysis was somewhere around $200- 300. That's cash price, not sure what it is with an insurance discount. Then again our initial consult was $230 and our insurance negotiated price was $223.98.