Anonymous wrote:OP here. I'm 42. I'm surprised I've been able to get pregnant easily. But having said that... it's not like I can try every month. The reality is, there's the weeks of conception, then 6-8 weeks pregnant, then spend another 5-8 weeks recovering physically from the miscarriage/D&C before I can try again. So it's a several month process each time I try.
At my age, I'm clearly running out of time and I am really trying to comes to grips with whether I should do IVF in order to take advantage of the process whereby they can identify and implant a healthy looking egg or keep trying naturally.
I'm afraid of the impact of spending all that money. I'm afraid of having bad/hard reactions to meds. I'm afraid of shots. I'm afraid of the procedures. I'm afraid of failing. ACK.
(1) Money - Assuming there is no insurance coverage, there is no way around this, because the specific procedures you would need to check the quality of the embryos is significant and it may take several rounds for you to get something healthy to even implant.
(2) Meds - Discussions regarding bad reactions to the meds are overblown. The main issue is OHSS, which happens when you have a ton of eggs. At your age, you probably won't, and most people who do still don't get sick.
(3) Shots - I hate shots, as in spent time in therapy because of needles. At the end of the day, I wanted a baby more. It still sucked, but it wasn't the end of the world. If you share your concerns, they can probably give you a protocol that allows for fewer needles (combining medications, avoiding intramuscular shots, doing vaginal inserts instead of PIO shots, etc.) but you have to speak up.
(4) Failing - It is always possible, particularly given your age. To me, the monetary part was the hardest aspect of possibly failing because I had clearly been failing on my own for a LONG time before turning to IVF. It would have been so much better to have a crystal ball before plunking down >$20K to KNOW it would work out and that being a pin cushion would be worth it.
I guess the bottom line is that it depends on how much you want a baby versus how happy you are childfree - a very personal decision.