I had some medication left from the first cycle, but not much. And, it definitely would not be enough to get through another cycle. I remembered Dr. Buyalos' office telling me that people sometimes either give away or sell their unused and unopened leftover fertility meds at a much lower price. I began my search through using google and entering phrases like "free follistim", "follistim for sale", "menopur for sale", "free IVF meds". My searches lead me to many sites- topix.com (infertility forum), freegaragesale.com (the medical section), sharedjourney.com, and even Craigslist. I even posted my own ad on Criagslist.
A few hours after posting my ad on Craigslist, someone contacted me. It turned out that she lives close to the hospital I work per diem at. We communicated through email, and she was willing to sell me 900IU of follistim for $180 total. Retail price is close to $1,000! We arranged to meet the next day at her home. There is nothing like walking into the home of a stranger and immediately feeling at ease. She openly shared her journey with me, as I did mine with her. This woman had been through several miscarriages and was now four months pregnant with twins. She also gave me information on Resolve, a national infertility organization, and information on the local support group in Santa Monica, Ca. I left her home with hope that our turn was next.
I continued to browse the internet. A lady in Arizona posted that she wanted to "pay it forward" and was GIVING away all of her leftover IVF meds. I emailed her. Another couple, who live near me, also had an ad saying they wanted to give away all of their leftover IVF meds. I called and left a message.
On another site, I think it was sell.com, I met a single woman in Wisconsin selling her leftover follistim.She was now three weeks pregnant with twins and was willing to sell me a 600IU of follistim for only $100 total (and this included overnight shipping). This would normally cost close to $600! This woman was gracious enough to tell me that she trusted me to send her a check and that she would send the meds immediately. In addition to sending her the check, I picked up a beautiful card from Babies R Us and included a gift card. I wanted her to know how thoughtful she had been to a complete stranger and wished her a healthy pregnancy.
Somewhere along the way, I'd read about a person on Facebook who tries to help others get donated or low cost fertility meds. She is under "Give Away Acosta" and I friended her.
I think my husband thought I was nuts, as I spent a lot of time looking for our meds. On Topix Infertility Forum, a woman in New York was selling four boxes of menopur for $30 each. Each box retails for close to $400! She also sold me a 900IU of follistim for $225.
By no means did I purchase all of these meds at once. This was over a period of weeks. The extra paycheck from Henry Mayo has been put to good use.
As time went on and days passed, I'd forgotten about the woman in Arizona and the couple near me giving away their meds. I then got an email from the woman in AZ, and she was willing to ship me a ganirelix syringe for only the cost of shipping ($5.90). I don't even know the retail price of ganirelix, but knew this was a deal as most people sell them for $50.
Another night, I received a phone call from a number I did not recognize. Yes, I screen my calls. When I do not know who is calling, I will not answer the phone. The caller stated he was sorry for taking so long to get back to me. He had been out of the country for work, but did have follistim available for free. I immediately called him back. He and his wife also live very close to me. They have a 10yo son and a newborn son from which they had leftover medication. The next day I went to meet them at their home. They were so sweet and offered me a glass of wine. What a lovely couple! They had been lucky to be part of a study on PGD. Out of 22 embryos retrieved, only one (#9) was considered normal. She had had the one embryo implanted...nine months later a beautiful baby boy. They gave me two 600IU of follistim at no charge. What a blessing!!
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