Hi, my name is Chef Bud and I am BACK!

Hello to all the Bloomin' Babies readers...I know it's been a while and I'm sorry to have kept you waiting so long but I am back and boy has my story taken a different turn!

In my last post way back in March I told you all that our doctor had suggested we move to IVF, and I was looking into the split donor cycle that my RE offered. Shortly after that post, I heard back from the split donor coordinator, and she basically told me that because of my family medical history, I would only be accepted with reservations (and this would be after extensive tests and interviews) and that most likely I would never have a couple choose me to be their donor. It was so hard to hear this...I am a healthy young woman and my RE seemed so sure of this being the perfect fit for us. But I also understand that when a couple makes the hard decision to use donor eggs, they want everything to be as perfect as it can be with those eggs.

So once that option was out, Mr. CB and I were back to square one. The OOP cost at my clinic for IVF is $9300 (ICSI is an additional $1100) plus the medication which could be anywhere from $3000-4000. I was prepared to do anything to make this happen, but I also wanted to be financially responsible. We have worked so hard over the past few years to get out of debt and neither one of us wanted this to put us right back where we were.

While posting on my favorite message board I had seen a post that talked about going out of the country to do IVF. I thought it sounded interesting, so I started doing some research. I found a company called Passport Medical that assists people with medical tourism. I began emailing with Mark, the company's president, and discovered that IVF in Costa Rica/Panama costs $2800 (including super-ICSI) and the medications are half the price of what they cost here. Right away I got on the internet and started pricing out flights, accommodations, rental car and other costs that we would incur over a 19 trip to two countries. I was amazed to find that we could travel to two beautiful places, stay in nice hotels and apartments, see some amazing sights...oh yeah, AND do an IVF cycle...for under $10,000. I was immediately ready to sign up! Photo of Arenal Volcano

It did take some time for Mr. CB to warm up to the idea, and even longer for our families. Once I showed them the statistics for the clinic, and Dr. Perez's credentials and training (he even trained and worked at a top US hospital), everyone was on board. What made me even more comfortable with doing this was that Mark and his wife were going to do their cycle in Costa Rica/Panama in May. He was able to share his experiences and why they felt good about traveling thousands of miles for IVF.

I will say this option isn't for everyone. There are some drawbacks that I will talk about later...let's just say you have to be really laid-back and able to just trust in the system without a lot of questioning. I will say for me, so far so good...I am excited, nervous, hopeful, scared, optimistic. A lot of emotions all rolled into one.

I have so much to tell you about the process but I don't want to bombard you all at once! So over the next few weeks I'll explain how it all works and give details about what went in to planning the trip. Right now I'm on week three of devil pills, which I will take until June 26th. We fly out July 1st and will have our first appointment that afternoon.

In Costa Rica, they use the term "pura vida" as a greeting or farewell. When I looked it up, I found that they use the phrase to express perseverance, resilience in overcoming obstacles, enjoying life and celebrating good fortune. This is definitely our theme for the trip, and our new mantra!

Photo Credit