PGD and Insurance

flopsy

New member
We were already undergoing IVF for male-factor infertility when we found out we are both carriers. We are very lucky that our insurance covers infertility treatments at 70% up to $18K lifetime max. They do not cover PGD, but we succesfully petitioned to have it covered at 70% as well in our case. I can't understand why an insurance provider would elect to cover nothing for two known carriers who could have a child that will potentially cost the provider millions over 18 years. From a business standpoint it just makes good sense to pay the $3K up front.

Obviously, this one cycle will eat up most of our lifetime max, but I am so thankful to have any coverage at all. We did one IVF out of pocket before having coverage and I thought it would be our only shot until DH happened to get a job offer from a great company who has great insurance benefits. Incidentally, our first clinic did not even bother to test us to see if we were carriers, so we had no idea until we had started our second IVF at a new clinic. At that point I was already on stims and it was a huge rush to get all of the preliminary genetic workups done in time since the process normally takes six weeks.

We are also using Genesis Genetics and Dr. Hughes and they have been great. The normal process takes a few weeks, but since we were going about things backwards due to not knowing we were carriers, they actually rushed our process and got it all done for us in about a week and a half! In fact we just got our results back today. Of our 10 embryos, 1 is totally CF free, 4 are carriers and 5 have CF....50% was kind of a shock since I was expecting more like 25% to 30% to be affected since that's the statistic I've been reading. I am totally excited to have five good possibilities though.

Good luck with your insurance company! I truly think it is sick that they would rather you take your chances....
 

flopsy

New member
We were already undergoing IVF for male-factor infertility when we found out we are both carriers. We are very lucky that our insurance covers infertility treatments at 70% up to $18K lifetime max. They do not cover PGD, but we succesfully petitioned to have it covered at 70% as well in our case. I can't understand why an insurance provider would elect to cover nothing for two known carriers who could have a child that will potentially cost the provider millions over 18 years. From a business standpoint it just makes good sense to pay the $3K up front.

Obviously, this one cycle will eat up most of our lifetime max, but I am so thankful to have any coverage at all. We did one IVF out of pocket before having coverage and I thought it would be our only shot until DH happened to get a job offer from a great company who has great insurance benefits. Incidentally, our first clinic did not even bother to test us to see if we were carriers, so we had no idea until we had started our second IVF at a new clinic. At that point I was already on stims and it was a huge rush to get all of the preliminary genetic workups done in time since the process normally takes six weeks.

We are also using Genesis Genetics and Dr. Hughes and they have been great. The normal process takes a few weeks, but since we were going about things backwards due to not knowing we were carriers, they actually rushed our process and got it all done for us in about a week and a half! In fact we just got our results back today. Of our 10 embryos, 1 is totally CF free, 4 are carriers and 5 have CF....50% was kind of a shock since I was expecting more like 25% to 30% to be affected since that's the statistic I've been reading. I am totally excited to have five good possibilities though.

Good luck with your insurance company! I truly think it is sick that they would rather you take your chances....
 

flopsy

New member
We were already undergoing IVF for male-factor infertility when we found out we are both carriers. We are very lucky that our insurance covers infertility treatments at 70% up to $18K lifetime max. They do not cover PGD, but we succesfully petitioned to have it covered at 70% as well in our case. I can't understand why an insurance provider would elect to cover nothing for two known carriers who could have a child that will potentially cost the provider millions over 18 years. From a business standpoint it just makes good sense to pay the $3K up front.

Obviously, this one cycle will eat up most of our lifetime max, but I am so thankful to have any coverage at all. We did one IVF out of pocket before having coverage and I thought it would be our only shot until DH happened to get a job offer from a great company who has great insurance benefits. Incidentally, our first clinic did not even bother to test us to see if we were carriers, so we had no idea until we had started our second IVF at a new clinic. At that point I was already on stims and it was a huge rush to get all of the preliminary genetic workups done in time since the process normally takes six weeks.

We are also using Genesis Genetics and Dr. Hughes and they have been great. The normal process takes a few weeks, but since we were going about things backwards due to not knowing we were carriers, they actually rushed our process and got it all done for us in about a week and a half! In fact we just got our results back today. Of our 10 embryos, 1 is totally CF free, 4 are carriers and 5 have CF....50% was kind of a shock since I was expecting more like 25% to 30% to be affected since that's the statistic I've been reading. I am totally excited to have five good possibilities though.

Good luck with your insurance company! I truly think it is sick that they would rather you take your chances....
 

flopsy

New member
We were already undergoing IVF for male-factor infertility when we found out we are both carriers. We are very lucky that our insurance covers infertility treatments at 70% up to $18K lifetime max. They do not cover PGD, but we succesfully petitioned to have it covered at 70% as well in our case. I can't understand why an insurance provider would elect to cover nothing for two known carriers who could have a child that will potentially cost the provider millions over 18 years. From a business standpoint it just makes good sense to pay the $3K up front.

Obviously, this one cycle will eat up most of our lifetime max, but I am so thankful to have any coverage at all. We did one IVF out of pocket before having coverage and I thought it would be our only shot until DH happened to get a job offer from a great company who has great insurance benefits. Incidentally, our first clinic did not even bother to test us to see if we were carriers, so we had no idea until we had started our second IVF at a new clinic. At that point I was already on stims and it was a huge rush to get all of the preliminary genetic workups done in time since the process normally takes six weeks.

We are also using Genesis Genetics and Dr. Hughes and they have been great. The normal process takes a few weeks, but since we were going about things backwards due to not knowing we were carriers, they actually rushed our process and got it all done for us in about a week and a half! In fact we just got our results back today. Of our 10 embryos, 1 is totally CF free, 4 are carriers and 5 have CF....50% was kind of a shock since I was expecting more like 25% to 30% to be affected since that's the statistic I've been reading. I am totally excited to have five good possibilities though.

Good luck with your insurance company! I truly think it is sick that they would rather you take your chances....
 

julie

New member
Flopsy, out of curiosity, has your husband had a genetic test through Ambry genetics? I'm sure Dr. hughes has mentioned his belief on "cf carriers with male infertility", but I'm personally curious. What kind of male infertility are you talking about? I'm curious here and hope I'm not offending you with my questions, this is just an "area" I spend a lot of time in for my website.

Miesl, any luck with anything yet?
 

julie

New member
Flopsy, out of curiosity, has your husband had a genetic test through Ambry genetics? I'm sure Dr. hughes has mentioned his belief on "cf carriers with male infertility", but I'm personally curious. What kind of male infertility are you talking about? I'm curious here and hope I'm not offending you with my questions, this is just an "area" I spend a lot of time in for my website.

Miesl, any luck with anything yet?
 

julie

New member
Flopsy, out of curiosity, has your husband had a genetic test through Ambry genetics? I'm sure Dr. hughes has mentioned his belief on "cf carriers with male infertility", but I'm personally curious. What kind of male infertility are you talking about? I'm curious here and hope I'm not offending you with my questions, this is just an "area" I spend a lot of time in for my website.

Miesl, any luck with anything yet?
 

julie

New member
Flopsy, out of curiosity, has your husband had a genetic test through Ambry genetics? I'm sure Dr. hughes has mentioned his belief on "cf carriers with male infertility", but I'm personally curious. What kind of male infertility are you talking about? I'm curious here and hope I'm not offending you with my questions, this is just an "area" I spend a lot of time in for my website.

Miesl, any luck with anything yet?
 

julie

New member
Flopsy, out of curiosity, has your husband had a genetic test through Ambry genetics? I'm sure Dr. hughes has mentioned his belief on "cf carriers with male infertility", but I'm personally curious. What kind of male infertility are you talking about? I'm curious here and hope I'm not offending you with my questions, this is just an "area" I spend a lot of time in for my website.

Miesl, any luck with anything yet?
 

julie

New member
Flopsy, out of curiosity, has your husband had a genetic test through Ambry genetics? I'm sure Dr. hughes has mentioned his belief on "cf carriers with male infertility", but I'm personally curious. What kind of male infertility are you talking about? I'm curious here and hope I'm not offending you with my questions, this is just an "area" I spend a lot of time in for my website.

Miesl, any luck with anything yet?
 

flopsy

New member
No offense taken at all, I understand where your question is coming from and should have been more clear. He does not have CAVD. In fact , he has two kids from a previous marriage who are in their teens now. His problem is very poor motility caused by anti-sperm anitbodies. I also found out I have PCOS, endometriosis and an under-active thyroid all of which can cause problems getting and staying pregnant, but all of these are mild compared to the male factor issues. IVF with ICSI was a natural choice for us after a few IUI's failed. It was a blessing in disguise that our first IVF resulted in a miscarriage, since we had no idea about our carrier status.

To answer you question, neither of us has had the Ambry panel, but I was planning on doing so if his 100 mutation panel came back negative, since we had already found out I was a carrier. I'm not sure it is necessary for us to do any further testing since he does for sure have a vas-def....or does CF cause other fertility related problems in men besides the CAVD?
 

flopsy

New member
No offense taken at all, I understand where your question is coming from and should have been more clear. He does not have CAVD. In fact , he has two kids from a previous marriage who are in their teens now. His problem is very poor motility caused by anti-sperm anitbodies. I also found out I have PCOS, endometriosis and an under-active thyroid all of which can cause problems getting and staying pregnant, but all of these are mild compared to the male factor issues. IVF with ICSI was a natural choice for us after a few IUI's failed. It was a blessing in disguise that our first IVF resulted in a miscarriage, since we had no idea about our carrier status.

To answer you question, neither of us has had the Ambry panel, but I was planning on doing so if his 100 mutation panel came back negative, since we had already found out I was a carrier. I'm not sure it is necessary for us to do any further testing since he does for sure have a vas-def....or does CF cause other fertility related problems in men besides the CAVD?
 

flopsy

New member
No offense taken at all, I understand where your question is coming from and should have been more clear. He does not have CAVD. In fact , he has two kids from a previous marriage who are in their teens now. His problem is very poor motility caused by anti-sperm anitbodies. I also found out I have PCOS, endometriosis and an under-active thyroid all of which can cause problems getting and staying pregnant, but all of these are mild compared to the male factor issues. IVF with ICSI was a natural choice for us after a few IUI's failed. It was a blessing in disguise that our first IVF resulted in a miscarriage, since we had no idea about our carrier status.

To answer you question, neither of us has had the Ambry panel, but I was planning on doing so if his 100 mutation panel came back negative, since we had already found out I was a carrier. I'm not sure it is necessary for us to do any further testing since he does for sure have a vas-def....or does CF cause other fertility related problems in men besides the CAVD?
 

flopsy

New member
No offense taken at all, I understand where your question is coming from and should have been more clear. He does not have CAVD. In fact , he has two kids from a previous marriage who are in their teens now. His problem is very poor motility caused by anti-sperm anitbodies. I also found out I have PCOS, endometriosis and an under-active thyroid all of which can cause problems getting and staying pregnant, but all of these are mild compared to the male factor issues. IVF with ICSI was a natural choice for us after a few IUI's failed. It was a blessing in disguise that our first IVF resulted in a miscarriage, since we had no idea about our carrier status.

To answer you question, neither of us has had the Ambry panel, but I was planning on doing so if his 100 mutation panel came back negative, since we had already found out I was a carrier. I'm not sure it is necessary for us to do any further testing since he does for sure have a vas-def....or does CF cause other fertility related problems in men besides the CAVD?
 

flopsy

New member
No offense taken at all, I understand where your question is coming from and should have been more clear. He does not have CAVD. In fact , he has two kids from a previous marriage who are in their teens now. His problem is very poor motility caused by anti-sperm anitbodies. I also found out I have PCOS, endometriosis and an under-active thyroid all of which can cause problems getting and staying pregnant, but all of these are mild compared to the male factor issues. IVF with ICSI was a natural choice for us after a few IUI's failed. It was a blessing in disguise that our first IVF resulted in a miscarriage, since we had no idea about our carrier status.

To answer you question, neither of us has had the Ambry panel, but I was planning on doing so if his 100 mutation panel came back negative, since we had already found out I was a carrier. I'm not sure it is necessary for us to do any further testing since he does for sure have a vas-def....or does CF cause other fertility related problems in men besides the CAVD?
 

flopsy

New member
No offense taken at all, I understand where your question is coming from and should have been more clear. He does not have CAVD. In fact , he has two kids from a previous marriage who are in their teens now. His problem is very poor motility caused by anti-sperm anitbodies. I also found out I have PCOS, endometriosis and an under-active thyroid all of which can cause problems getting and staying pregnant, but all of these are mild compared to the male factor issues. IVF with ICSI was a natural choice for us after a few IUI's failed. It was a blessing in disguise that our first IVF resulted in a miscarriage, since we had no idea about our carrier status.

To answer you question, neither of us has had the Ambry panel, but I was planning on doing so if his 100 mutation panel came back negative, since we had already found out I was a carrier. I'm not sure it is necessary for us to do any further testing since he does for sure have a vas-def....or does CF cause other fertility related problems in men besides the CAVD?
 

julie

New member
Thanks for satisifying my curiosity <img src="i/expressions/face-icon-small-smile.gif" border="0">.

That makes a lot of sense to me now. As far as I know, the only "fertility" related problem that CF causes in men is the CBAVD. I've never read anything about antibodies causing reproductive problems in relation to someone having CF, or even being a carrier. I was thinking that he didn't have a vas deferens. but clearly he does <img src="i/expressions/face-icon-small-smile.gif" border="0">

Thank you for answering it, I know it's personal.
 

julie

New member
Thanks for satisifying my curiosity <img src="i/expressions/face-icon-small-smile.gif" border="0">.

That makes a lot of sense to me now. As far as I know, the only "fertility" related problem that CF causes in men is the CBAVD. I've never read anything about antibodies causing reproductive problems in relation to someone having CF, or even being a carrier. I was thinking that he didn't have a vas deferens. but clearly he does <img src="i/expressions/face-icon-small-smile.gif" border="0">

Thank you for answering it, I know it's personal.
 

julie

New member
Thanks for satisifying my curiosity <img src="i/expressions/face-icon-small-smile.gif" border="0">.

That makes a lot of sense to me now. As far as I know, the only "fertility" related problem that CF causes in men is the CBAVD. I've never read anything about antibodies causing reproductive problems in relation to someone having CF, or even being a carrier. I was thinking that he didn't have a vas deferens. but clearly he does <img src="i/expressions/face-icon-small-smile.gif" border="0">

Thank you for answering it, I know it's personal.
 

julie

New member
Thanks for satisifying my curiosity <img src="i/expressions/face-icon-small-smile.gif" border="0">.

That makes a lot of sense to me now. As far as I know, the only "fertility" related problem that CF causes in men is the CBAVD. I've never read anything about antibodies causing reproductive problems in relation to someone having CF, or even being a carrier. I was thinking that he didn't have a vas deferens. but clearly he does <img src="i/expressions/face-icon-small-smile.gif" border="0">

Thank you for answering it, I know it's personal.
 
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