IVF and BMI

ktln77

I am so devastated today. I am trying to finish my first IVF cycle. First, I went on the Progesterone to start my period. Then, I went on the BCP's and I have been injecting myself with Lupron. I went in for my E2 and ovary check and everything came out great... my levels were great and my ovaries are responding in a way that they wanted to see. My problem is when they weighed me. I gained about 1 - 2 pounds and now they are cancelling my IVF cycle because I reached the threshold of 40% <<crying>>. If I was a pound less, I would have been fine. My weight gain is probably due to the stupid meds as I feel so bloated since I started the Lupron injections. I don't get it. My ovaries are responding the way they like to see and I had a full physical exam with my cardiologist to include a stress test, EKG, etc and the doctor told me that I had a very strong heart. Why cancel my whole cycle?!?!? They say it would become dangerous for me to start the other meds being overweight, but it is only a pound and why can't I be the judge of that and why cancel if everything is responding correctly? There are women bigger than me who get pregnant all the time. If my husband made sperm, we could just do this on our own and actually be happy in the process! We would not have to go all through all this emotional trauma. I feel like I failed everyone... myself, my husband, and our parents. I was finally coming to terms with all this and now this! I just feel like I wasted our time and money and disappointed everyone. I am so sad and angry at the same time.

ktln77

Round 2: So, I spoke with the receptionist and she said that the BMI was a requirement because they do the egg retrieval in a clinic and not a hospital and if anything were to happen with the anasthesia there is no facilities for a life threatening emergency. Um.. so what happens if anyone has an emergency? I have known really skinny, young people to have massive heartattacks that killed them outright. Anyways, taking that advice, I called the local hospital that has an infertility clinic and I found out they have no BMI requirement and that the clinic I go to regularly refers their overweight clients there all the time. So, why wasn't I told back at my September appointment that I have 2 options?!?!? One option being, I can try to lose weight so I can continue treatments there or I can get a referral to the hospital where they do not have a BMI requirement if I did not think I could lose the weight by the time I wanted to start my IVF cycle!!! I was just under the 40% then; the clinic I went to should have been more upfront with me. Instead, they made it sound like the 40% BMI was a requirement to do the IVF procedure anywhere I went. I now found out that was wrong. I was too ignorant to know what questions to ask and I trusted them too much. I am so angry! The lesson learned here is to do your research. Don't accept what one place tells you. Visit many different fertility clinics and find out about their requirements. This place just made me waste our time and money. They made me start a cycle only to cancel it before I got to the gonadotropins. Now, no place will even help me until I cycle again. My husband and I wanted to start a family now for many reasons. We wanted to have our baby in a certain time frame and now we have been irrepably harmed, and all for some bogus requirement!

moewhit25

I'm shaking my head at your post....I've never heard of such a thing! What state do you live in? We all go into this process fairly "ignorant" but that's where the clinic needs to show intregrity and inform patients of options. How could they take your money waste your time and then pull that shady crap?! That's unacceptable! Speaking from someone that has always had difficulty gaining/maintaining weight, I ACTUALLY gained 5+ pounds during my fresh IVF cycle from all the injections. So why wouldn't they caution you about that especially if you were near that rediculous BMI thereshold?! I would certainly file a complaint with BBB (better business bureau) and at the very least request some sort of partial refund/credit.

I hope that you're able to get some sort of positive resolution.

ktln77

Hi, everyone.

I haven't been on here for a while since my last post. I am happy to report that after speaking with the doctor I am now going to continue this cycle. I told her that if weight is an issue then perhaps this is not the right clinic for me because I always had trouble with my weight (I can gain 10 pounds before my period and lose it easily afterwards) and that I will go somewhere else where my weight is not an issue. She then called the nurse manager on my behalf and they made an exception for me. I have to admit she did scare me though because she said that it is not a matter of me having a heart attack as much as a person with a BMI over 40 can have trouble breathing when under anesthesia and that I will need to be able to breathe on my own when I am under. Now, I am VERY vigilant about what I eat and I upped my exercise to an hour or more a day. Not that I ate badly before, but now I won't touch anything that has empty calories or fat. If it is not in its natural form, I am not eating it. I am asking for prayers that all goes well. I am nervous.

Moe, I live in Rhode Island. Luckily for me infertility is covered under insurance, but it is capped at $100,000 lifetime benefit. I know that is alot, but if this was cancelled, I would have wasted some of that money.

Anne72

Wow! $100,000 is a great cap. Mine was capped at $30,000. I got pregnant on my second IVF (after 11 IUI) and came in just under my cap. It was my last chance and I was moving onto adoption if it hadn't worked.

Glad the doctor agreed to work with you. Best of luck on your cycle. Fingers crossed.