The Beginning

Most people who we tell that we are going to Panama to IVF is "Why go there when you have US doctors here?" My major reason is the money. Due to the high cost of IVF/ICSI here we would not be able to afford the procedure for several years, as we are only wanting to pay cash for the procedure. That is the last thing that we want is the stress of being in debt and pregnant!! Before we knew for sure the IVF was our only option I began researching IVF, checking out various clinics in the U.S., inquiring about price and success rates and following IVF forums to be prepared for the worst case scenario, having to IVF with ICSI. Through my research I discovered serval medical tourism companies that talked about doing IVF in other countries and the money that can be saved but still have quality care. I then began the research on all the various clinics around the world, which are a ton, that handle interanational patients and reading patient reviews on forums. The majority of the paitents were very happy with thier treatment and the protocols that were used and even those that weren't successful the firt time would reccomend returning again. I found a great website where the lady talked to hundreds of International clinics and got the main information that you would need and posted them to a website so other people could use that information as well. It was very helpful and it gave me even more clinics to contact myself. After putting together a very extensive spreadsheet including procedure costs, medication cost estimates, travel, lodging and expenses, success rates, protocal and Doctor eduction I decided the best option for me was to go to Panama to Centro Fecundar with Dr. Berbey. They do have a clinic in Costa Rica as well but you have to travel to Panama to do the actual ER and ET so I thought it would be less stressful to be in one place and deal with one doctor. I also got an interpretor with my medical tourism company that I went through that will accompany me to every appointment so that we don't have any communication problems. They have been great to work with and are always emailing me and have set up several phone conferences with me and with Dr. Berbey as well.

I leave on September 8th and my first appointment is September 9th and 2:00 pm. I am excited to move forward with IVF after two years knowing something wasn't right but not getting any response from doctors. My goal is to keep a daily journal of what I am doing and the procedure so that I will have a logged reminder of the process but also for others looking into other options in IVF that they may have a better understanding of what is out there for them as well.