Making a Change

May 05, 2020

Making a Change

Making a change

My husband and I sat in the office of my REI (Reproductive Endocrinologist) waiting, I can remember the awkward silence in the room to this day. We were married less than a year before in the Greek Orthodox Church, I remember the priest words:

"Join them together in oneness of mind; crown them with wedlock into one flesh; grant to them the fruit of the womb, and the gain of well favored children, for Yours is the dominion, and Yours is the Kingdom, and the Power, and the Glory: of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit, both now and ever, and to the ages of ages."

You see, I was a judo athlete for a very long time, I thought that my body's response to prolonged high intensity training, was a normal one for a female. I was in the best shape of my life, my body fat was low, and it was not uncommon for irregular menses. After years of decreasing the intensity of my workouts, medical school, it never improved. For some reason, I was still coping with "the female athlete triad". I was sitting in my medical school Endocrinology class when my professor said "It is not normal for a woman not to have her menstrual cycle". After class, I stepped down to the front of the class to privately speak to my professor and he referred me to see an Endocrinologist. I went through a myriad of hormonal tests, including an MRI of my brain to make sure that it was not a pituitary adenoma (brain tumor) causing my amenorrhea. It was discovered that I had been suffering from hypothlalamic amenorrhea, a condition where my brain (hypothalamus) was not telling my reproductive organs (ovaries and uterus) what to do. They were not sure what caused it, weight cutting? concussions? nutritional deficiencies? too much exercise? stress? The end result being the same.... long term complications for my health, but the one that stings was my reproductive ability, my capability to have children.

My husband and I chose to be proactive, seeking out early treatment for my disease. We went to a local clinic, expecting the very best of compassionate healthcare, instead it felt like a meat market. "We want you to have a baby, you will require IVF, please step into the billing department to discuss". As an emergency medicine physician, I treat all, regardless of ability to pay. We have case managers, social workers and resources to make sure our patients get the treatment the need. Here, the fate of my ability to bear children anchored on my ability to pay. "Your work up package will be $5000, your IVF package will be $23,500, that does not include medications that can run $5,000 to $10,000 or an additional fee to the anesthesiologist who will be preforming your sedation for your egg retrieval, fees are due upfront". Um what? But my husband and I both had insurance though our employers? Gabe by a California company and myself a physician, surely our insurance would cover ? Unfortunately that was not the case. I went home feeling defeated. My husband and I both spend many years in school and accumulated large student loan debt, we were just starting our lives, and we were faced with out of pocket spending to have children.

I started doing research. There were employers that did include IVF and fertility, even states that required insurance companies to cover fertility benefits. Sadly, Colorado was not one of them. I scrambled to find resources such as grants and loans. We were denied. We both considered taking part time jobs at Starbucks who offered fertility coverage, I even attempted to change employers to a company that included IVF benefits. Unfortunately there was no social worker or case manager to help, there was no guidance or resources, and I was not in a state that mandated IVF coverage. We decided to proceed with IVF and Egg retrieval, and maxed out credit cards to do so. But I was UPSET. I would cry when I was most frustrated as an athlete, somehow those tears made me perform better.......and through this journey.....I have cried a lot.