My RE offered this too and my DH and I thought a long time about it.

For us it came down to the decision of "How many more cycles were we willing to go through and at what cost?"

In the end we didn't do the shared risk program but our second round of IVF did work. No matter what I wish you tons of luck!!!

Hi MomHopes - I have had 2 fresh & 1 FET cycle. (& still no baby).
If we had the option, we would have done the /shared Risk programe, but as we had ins it was not an option for us.
Be aware however, that if you opt not to do it, some RE's will not offer it again if you have had a failed cycle. (I hope you don't).
Good luck with your dicision.
xoxoxxoxox - baby dust!

I would take advantage of the shared risk program. My two IVF's were $16,000 each. My RE didn't offer the shared risk and I was so naive when we started this journey that I didn't do research or look into other clinics. You just never know. The odds are much greater that you will come home with a baby if you have three fresh and three frozen attempts! I wish you all the luck in the world. I hope that 2010 brings you many miracles!

Thanks for your replies! Before my last attempt at IUI my RE said we were eligible for the program. If he changes his mind I will be furious! I'm 99% sure were are going to do the shared risk although that amount of money is really scary!

Hi MomHopes, I agree with Z1977. If we had to choose we would go with the shared risk program. Even back when we first started we knew it could take several cycles. My cousin got pregnant her first IVF but it took DF's BF 4 IVF's before having their twins. We have done 5 fresh IVF cycles and no baby. I noted you said all the costs do not include meds. You may be able to look around at different mail delivery sites for meds to find the one that is the cheapest. I found the that first one our RE sent our prescription to was not the cheapest in our area.

I wish you the very best of luck what ever you decide!!!

we were just about to go this route when we got preggers. The way my hubby and I looked at it was this....

we'll know - no matter what - that we did our VERY BEST to get pregnant. If we come out with a baby, GREAT....but if not, we can take that refund and use it towards adoption costs or whatever we want...but with the knowledge that we gave it every possible chance to have our own.

It was a peace of mind thing for us but we ended up not needing it. The only thing I would caution you is that some RE's have a time limit. Like 3 fresh and 3 frozen in ONE CALENDAR YEAR or something. See if your RE has this kind of limitation and also find out how they handle overstimulation or cancelled cycles. You don't want to invest all this money and emotion if you are at too high a risk of being hosed over ya know.

GOOD LUCK to you whatever you decide.

I did a shared risk program and feel it was totally worth it.

It leaves you with a peace of mind and sense of security that if the first round doesn't work, well, you still have lots of options. It really takes the pressure off. The worst thing that could happen is that you don't get pregnant, and then you are only out a little money. If you get pregnant on the first try -- well you are just too happy to care about anything other than that precious gift you will be carrying.

I am currently 18 weeks pregnant after 2 IVF cycles.

Wishing you a wonderful new year and hoping that you get your BFP whatever you decide.

Wow! Where are you at? (state?) We are in MN and the only shared risk programs we have found are $30,000 or so. We don't think we could ever get that much money together.

Needless to say, I would go with the shared risk program.

Thank you all again for your comments. They have been very helpful. mrstoven - my RE is in Cincinnati, OH.

We also looked into the shared risk program in MI and the cost was about the same for the same 3 fresh / 3 frozen. We did not do it as luckily I found out the my insurance covered most of the costs.

One thing to think about though -- I was all set even after the first fresh transfer did not work to try another round of fresh and frozen. However after the disappointment of the FET not working, I am not even sure that I want to consider doing another round at all.

Good Luck!

Sorry MomHopes,

I was a little down yesterday. Go for it! I think that it sounds like a wonderful plan.

when i started looking for my new DR that was the first question i asked.. we havent gone that farr yet but i know we will and this is one more reason to go forwad with it ...

So I'm back to this debate. I thought we decided for sure to do shared risk but after my consult with the RE I'm back to being unsure. He explained that with the program you do a fresh cycle then a frozen then a fresh then a frozen and so on. Well, I asked him what happens if you don't have any frozens to transfer and he said then you wouldn't get the frozen cycle. So, it's possible that we could just get 3 fresh cycles and no frozen cycles. DH thinks that if we paid as we went it might be better. He said if we get pg on the first try the extra $10k could go towards our baby's needs such as education, etc. Also, if it doesn't work the first time a second fresh cycle would still be cheaper than paying for the shared risk. My concern is that if nothing works and we don't do shared risk we have no baby AND are out a ton of money. At least with share risk we get something out of it. We get our baby or we get our money back. Uggg....I just don't know what to do. I wish there was some type of guarantee that this would work. I wish money wasn't such a huge object in determining our family.