we've taken a huge step these couple of days. we're already taking steps into ivf treatment. the biggest move we made was to book a flight to kuala lumpur and talk to my company regarding off-site work during my treatment. and yes, we already decided as to where we'll have the procedure. our choice is the hospital lam wah ee.
HLWE is located in penang, about 6 hours from kuala lumpur. i've learned this hospital from sis strauss of girltalk who had hers there for only Php135k. i did some research on the hospital and found that their success rate is quite high as well. they follow the procedure that would take 2 menstrual cycle:
First Cycle:
1. One-Day Assessment (any day before Day 18) - bring Day 3 LH, FSH, E2, Prolactin, T4 and sperm analysis (3-4 days abstinence) results
2. Range of Day 17 to Day 23 - start Buserelin (no need to be in Penang)
Second Cycle:
1. Day 4 to Day 11 - blood test, gonadotropin, ultrasound; gonadotropin has to be injected maximum about 12-13 days prior egg extraction (depends on patient's response).
2. Range of Day 13 onwards (dependent on the maturity of follicles) - extraction; husband should be present to provide fresh sperm
3. Day 3 after extraction - embryo transfer
total cost of the treatment is RM10,000-RM11,000 (php158,000). embryo freezing cost is RM1000 (or php14400) for 2 years. if you use the embryo before 2 years, you will get a RM300 refund. frozen embryo transfer costs RM400+. best part is you can pay using credit card.
i also took consideration on airfare, accommodation and work arrangement. malaysia requires no visa. we already booked a flight to kuala lumpur for october. got it from cebu pacific zero fare for only php2500 two-way per person. i also contacted an apartment for rent that costs RM60 per day. the location is perfect, just across HLWE. im lucky that my company is flexible enough to accommodate my treatment schedule.
all in, it will costs around php250,000. since we don't have all of it in cash, credit card is our best option so we can have the treatment as soon as possible. in any case, we'll be able to pay all of it by december (all thanks to 13th pay, hahaha).
of course, we will continue trying to get pregnant. best scenario is to conceive before october. if we can't achieve it by then, IVF is, by all means... a go!
