Just Making Sure...

My husband and I are getting ready to try to conceive our second (and last) child. Our firstborn is a little boy, so we'd love to also have a daughter. I'm intrigued by the thought of high tech, but I'm pretty sure it's not right for us.

Option 1: IVF with PGD
As I understand it this costs well upwards of $12,000 and only has less than a 40% chance of resulting in a live birth with one cycle. We're just not financially in a position to commit to those odds at that cost.

Option 2: Microsoft with IUI
This one is interesting but it's hard to get information about it. From what I've gathered the cost is around $2,500 just for the sorting procedure, and then there's additional costs for the IUI, medical tests and consultations, and travel to one of the international locations that legally offer it. The worst part though is the dismal odds of it working. I've read there's only a 15% likelihood of a pregnancy per attempt which sounds pretty unlikely. To make matters worse, if you do get pregnant there's a significant chance (like 30%) your baby would be of the opposite gender anyway, and there's also a significantly higher likelihood of a twin pregnancy than you would otherwise have.

Please let me know if I'm missing or misunderstanding anything before I write both of these options off entirely!

Microsort is no longer available so that isn't an option. Is it available in Mexico but I would not go there for treatment and the odds are so low, it's just not worth it.

For IVF, there are several factors that help predict your odds- your age, pretesting and clinic choice.

Depending on how old you are, THAT is the greatest factor with IVF. Now, even if you are mid 30's-39, if your pretesting is good and you choose a good clinic, you can still have a great chance.

If you look at SAART.org and look at clinics we see used on here, your odds can be 70% IF, IF you have an embryo to transfer. Getting to transfer is a big hurdle but if you can make it to that stage, you should have a good chance; better than 40%.

Paying for HT is a challenge for many. In the US, we have zero interest credit cards and you can use those to pay it off if you cannot afford to pay at once for it. Meds can be covered by insurance even if you do not have IVF coverage. If you have IVF coverage, you can use that of course for your cycle. Pretesting can be covered by insurance too. So, there are ways to potentially save money in some areas.

It is the only way to a gender guarantee though.

Thank you for getting back to me, Nuthinbutpink.

Yeah, I haven't read any success stories from people who tried Microsort in Mexico, just a lot of people who have been disappointed.

As for IVF/PGD, wow... it's a lot to consider. I can't wrap my mind around it...

I'm glad it worked for you with your little boy!

Microsort was a terrible technique that caused tons of heartbreak. I saw hundreds of women do thousands of MS cycles and only two of them ever got pregnant. One of those two was an opposite with a 92% X sperm sort. On Ingender during that time period an entire YEAR would pass with BFN for everyone trying it. That 15% number they quote is exaggerated beyond belief.

Please reread my above post Cherie. Even if it is still up and running (it isn't to my knowledge) it is a terrible method with barely anyone getting pregnant with it. Of the TWO people who got pregnant of hundreds I know of who did several cycles with BFN, one of those two got an opposite with a 92% sperm sort.