Which Insurance, Fertility Clinic, and Doctor??? - YouTube

Hey there! What's up?

This week, we will be discussing our least favorite part of the TTC process with AI (artificial insemination).

However, this is one of the most important components to planning for TTC via assistive medical procedures.

There are three things we had to figure out before beginning TTC:

1) Selecting Your Insurance: This can be overwhelming but you'll figure it out and make the best informed decision.

2) Choosing A Fertility Clinic: Which place will you go in to have your procedures done?

3) Deciding On Your Reproductive Endocrinologist (RE).

1) Selecting Your Insurance: We created a spreadsheet for organizing information we gathered from select insurances.

The link provided down below will redirect you to our blog which is where you can find an example template of this spreadsheet.

For this part of the process, I did all the phone calls since C3 is not a fan of that type of task.

After I filled in the spreadsheet, we compared each option.

Before doing phone calls, we anticipated that we wouldn't find much coverage if any at all for doing IUI/IVF so we were prepared.

...at least under federal insurance for us. We'll take what we can get.

...fortunately most insurances are good about providing coverage for maternal (parental) care during the pregnancy and birth.

Make sure you ensure receiving that coverage because it can be so expensive with your birth and hospital stay post birth.

Hopefully, you find an insurance that covers everything! That'd be so awesome!

2) Choosing A Fertility Clinic: We chose Columbia Fertility Associates (CFA) in Washington, D.C.

How I came upon CFA, I utilized a service through my federal agency called the Employee Assistance Program (EAP).

They helped me gather information for different fertility clinics so I could narrow down our choices for the DMV area.

It came down to Shady Grove Fertility in Fairfax, Virginia, Dominion Fertility in Arlington, Virginia, and CFA in Washington, D.C.

CFA also has a second location (Bethesda, Maryland).

Why is it important to consider selecting a fertility clinic that is nearby?

During the TTC process, you may find yourself going to appointment after appointment.

You won't know how many times you may have to do AI or IVF.

You may need to go in for medications or especially when you're at your ovulation cycle's peak.

You'd have to go in right away (the same day or the next morning) to do AI or have your eggs retrieved.

It's essential that you find a clinic nearby for these reasons and convenience.

Ultimately, whatever suits you but its helpful having a clinic nearest to you.

Also, there is one big factor in your decision-making is choosing a clinic.

Considering how many of us couples and single folks are queer, its essential that you find a location that is queer-affirming.

The staff is a huge part of this tender, emotional journey. How do they treat patients who are queer families, couples, or singles?

3) Deciding On Your Reproductive Endocrinologist: We got lucky with this part.

At separate times we each had conversations with a good friend and colleague at work.

Each of them shared recommendations of the same RE! When we both learned of the same recommendations, we were delighted.

We went ahead and gambled by choosing to begin with this RE which led to us choosing CFA.

We are fortunate that these recommendations led to a very comfortable and affirming process during our TTC journey.

Our RE has decades of experience and has been working with CFA since they first started their medical training back in 1992.

Plus, CFA was good about providing reasonable accommodations we requested.

Our RE communicated with Maya each and every step of the way before doing something with her body

so that she could anticipate what was about to be done and have the opportunity to consent or deny the treatment.

I really appreciated that type of treatment for Maya.

As little as it is, we'll always remember that our RE wore a Pride band for their Apple watch, indicating his affirmation of people like us.

Ultimately, the best place to begin with this process is to ask around.

Look into the leads you're given, ask plenty of questions, and remind yourself that it will all work out.

Regardless of what you choose, we hope you advocate for yourself by considering the preferences and needs you have.

In the next week or two, we will talk about our first visit to the fertility clinic and the price tag we were faced with. Exciting stuff!

HAVE AT IT!