I was recently named one of ShareCare.com’s Top 10 Online Influences for Infertility. It’s a privilege that still humbles me greatly and I am honored to have been independently recognized in that regard. I’m also very humbled to be on this list in the company of some true heavyweights in the ALI blogosphere, including some folks I’ve been following since the start of my own blogging journey more than three years ago.
Number 5 on the list is Bonnie Rochman, a writer for the TIME Magazine Healthland Blog. She shared with me her most recent article and I was surprised to see she had covered a topic that’s been sitting in my drafts folder for some time now: the ethical implications of IVF contests.
In her piece, Baby Contest: Couples Compete for Free IVF — Is This Exploitation or Generosity?, Rochman goes in depth to explore all sides of the IVF contest debate. She writes specifically about one fertility clinic’s most recent IVF giveaway, wherein couples “competed” by submitting videos. Three winners were chosen out of nearly 50 submissions.
Y’all know I loves me a good infertility video. In fact, I was even approached by this clinic to help them judge their IVF contest.
At first I was flattered. Then… hesitant. I did a little soul-searching and touched base with some trusted friends. Their opinions were all over the map, so I went with my gut. It ended up I had a convenient out anyway: I had upcoming travel that prevented me from completing the judging in time for their deadline.
Turns out I wasn’t the only one who felt uncomfortable about being asked to judge this IVF contest, as Rochman notes:
Yet some of the judges — I was asked to participate but declined — were uneasy with the process. “It felt like playing G-d,” says Erika Tabke, who runs IVF Connections, a website for people going through infertility. “Who’s more worthy? Whose loss is more tragic? Who are any of us to judge each other?”
As I’ve had time to process and think about this, I’ve had a lot of reservations about even writing about my thoughts on contests like these. For one, I like to see myself as a health activist and patient advocate, so I think it’s important to share this with the infertility patient community. I struggle with sharing my personal opinions because I’m currently in treatment and I don’t like to name clinics if I don’t have to; to clarify, I’m not going to the clinic that featured this contest – but I won’t bad-mouth anyone I would consider a professional colleague.
I’ve been so hesitant to talk about this at all here because I constantly have to strike a delicate yet awkward balance as both an infertility patient and infertility professional.
I feel like I got some editorial reprieve when I saw this on the clinic’s Facebook page yesterday:
TIME writer covered our “I Believe” Video Journal Project. Like a good journalist, she looked at all perspectives. Some outsiders took a few shots at us for doing this. We have nothing to be ashamed of and are proud of how we can help even a few people. What do you think?
Well, if they’re actively opening up discussion, then I feel obliged to comment 🙂
Like the ShareCare recognition, I’m deeply humbled by the ask. “Little ol’ me?” I thought, when I got the message. “You think my opinion matters?”
So yes, I’ll admit there was a nice little ego boost at the onset. But then the reality set in. As someone who hasn’t even started treatment – and here you have folks who have been through round after round – who was I to deem worthy enough to receive a free cycle?
Where I chickened out, Carolyn Savage stepped in (check out my review of Inconceivable, her incredible true story of carrying someone else’s embryo when her clinic transferred the wrong one):
As a judge, I had to watch the videos, and somehow determine which couples were most worthy of becoming finalists.
Holy Moly. How do I do that?
I watched every video twice. The first time, I’d sit back and try to immerse myself in the story. The second time, I’d take notes. How long had the couple been married? Did they have a diagnosis? How long had they been trying to conceive?
Reasonable… right?
But then came the other notes… That’s when I questioned my involvement. Was it right to weigh one person’s loss against another’s? And who the heck am I to decide who’s more worthy of a chance at parenthood? (Source)
On one hand, I can understand where contests like these are coming from. In an increasingly crowded market, clinics must distinguish themselves beyond standard testimonials and SART data in order to attract patients and clients. The publicity buzz from this has been pretty fantastic for this clinic: you’ve got Rochman’s piece, Savage’s response and now mine – in addition to all the comments in response to these posts as well as comments and shares on social media.
IVF contests make for good business. And let’s not kid ourselves: as much as REs want to help us build our families, they’ve got businesses to run.
. . .
But here’s where I get stuck. Allow me to set this up:
A few years ago, I used to play poker regularly with some friends. I’m looking forward to the new proposed casino in East Boston. I celebrated my 21st birthday like any kid from South Jersey: by spending the weekend getting free drinks on Atlantic City casino floors. I am a sucker for the occasional scratch-off ticket when I hit up the 7-11.
In short: Lord, I was born a Gamblin’ Gal.
But there are some things on which I just won’t gamble. For me? That’s anything related to my family, whether it’s my husband, our marriage, or our future children.
I’ve talked at length about how just because we’re finally starting treatment this year doesn’t mean we end up with a child(ren) or even pregnant. And the financial implications of that risk of our treatment not working literally keep me awake at night. Remember, even with our mandated state coverage, we’re still facing $6-7K out of pocket.
I try to keep my bets to around $20 max. In fact, I’ve only ever bet $20 TWICE in my entire life at card tables in the casino. I didn’t need the “third time’s a charm” lesson to know that even $20 was too rich for my blood, because I was already $40 in the hole. And when it comes to our cycle, we’re talking about a bet that’s 300 times what I’m normally comfortable with putting on the table.
So when someone gives away a free IVF cycle, there’s no guarantee that the winning couple even takes home the real prize. (That’s why, as Mel notes over at Stirrup Queens, IVF contests saying “Win a Baby” are a damaging misnomer).
And I just can’t play with those kind of odds. To be honest, living with premature ovarian failure feels like I’ve already had so many odds stacked against me. Did you know, that for example, I still have a 6-10% chance of conceiving naturally? But that no protocol exists for predicting or encouraging just who that 6-10% of POF-ers will be?
And even with great stats supporting that women who use donor eggs have better implantation and live birth rates than women trying to use their own eggs… well, it feels like my right Fallopian tube (the one that still has an ovary at the end) is just a lever on my reproductive slot machine.
…Oh man, I apologize for the totally inappropriate use of “slot” in that last sentence.
. . .
We’ve had to make some extremely difficult financial decisions and sacrifices in the past week just to move forward with treatment. These choices already feel like a gamble I’m not even sure will pay off in the short term and deeply impacts our long-term financial health.
I could use a free all-expense paid IVF cycle right about now. I totally understand the allure as an infertility patient. I get the need for market competitiveness as a business-owner. Could I have produced a slick video and won an IVF cycle? Probably. Do we need that financial relief right now? Absolutely.
Would a free cycle guarantee a baby? Not for one second.
And I don’t get why you’d add an even chancier gamble to already stacked odds when it comes to fertility treatments. That might sound a little jaded, but infertility has instilled a sense of razor-sharp cautious realism within me.
So for me, IVF contests: either participating in, sponsoring or judging them – just feels like an all-in call I’m just not willing to make.
. . .
What are your thoughts on IVF contests? How much are you willing to gamble on your family-building journey?
Place your bets in the comments.
UDPATED: Terri Davidson, a friend and colleague I hold in truly high regard, has written a stellar response piece from the perspective of a fertility clinic marketing professional. Our feeling about contests like these aside, there’s a bigger issue to discuss here: the fact that most insurance companies still consider IVF elective, making fertility treatments even more unaffordable for couples who need it most. Terri knocks it out of the park with her article, so definitely swing by and give it a read.
For 7 years, I worked at a horse track. Six of those years as a seller, a bookie. I watched people play the odds and fail everyday for 7 years. I know the odds, and I never play them. I’m not a gambler. Which I figure is understandable when you see the dark side of the gambling world, watching people gamble away life savings without even so much as batting an eyelash, just chasing the elusive “big win”. So I don’t gamble, I don’t enjoy it and if someone asked me to part with my money to gamble it on something, it leaves and icky feeling in my stomach. I don’t even like the feelings that come with treatment because even with the treatment, its a gamble. I don’t like it when there are odds and I have to place a lot of money on that gamble. If treatment doesn’t work, I will feel sick knowing the money that was wasted on a failed cycle.
That being said, I would never take part in one of these contests, I know my odds and I’m not willing to play my emotions in this bet. In my mind, I’m already emotionally invested enough and losing just adds to it. Because at the end of the day, you are gambling with your emotions with the odds heavily against you. A contest like this means that maybe you don’t gamble your money, but you do gamble with your emotions and your heart. I may be able to come to terms with gambling the money when the time comes but I can’t gamble both in such a public way. It all comes down to if the government and insurance companies would accept this as a call to wake the hell up and do something, there would be no need for these contests. And I really only see these contests as a way for these specific clinics to gain more popularity. Maybe they gave 3 people free treatments, but did they do anything for the remaining contestants? Did they think about maybe offering them something for publicly outing their story to them? But instead they could have just lowered the cost of the treatments across the board if they really wanted to help as many people as possible. Yes they are a business and they have to make money, but the US and Canada have the most inflated prices in comparison to other countries offering the exact same treatments. Its privatized and at the end of the day, its all about how much $$ is going into the bank accounts over offering affordable treatments for everyone who walks in their doors. Using one of my racing references, in this case the house has the best odds, the rest of us are just throwing money at it. Or in this case, emotions and attention.
But by saying this, I don’t deter or judge those that take part in these types of contests. Most of us are willing to do anything, including various forms of pimping ourselves out (whether it be by video, essays or contests), just to have a chance. My judgement lands entirely on those that offer the contests and the government and insurance agencies who encourage this by doing absolutely nothing.
I understand most of what you are saying, but I take exception to the term ‘pimping ourselves out’. Without people who are willing to share their (our) stories, people remain ignorant about infertility and it’s prevalence. Without people willing to write essay’s and articles and blogs and create video’s our voices remain silent. Sharing my story is not pimping myself out – it is giving a voice to my pain and the pain of others who are similarily struggling. Maybe if enough of us raise our voices something will change.
@MaryWagnerClement I should clarify. I don’t mean pimping in a negative way. Consider it instead with the phrase “promoting your agenda”. I only mean that in any situation where we are asked to give something in order to gain, or a chance to gain, something in return. It’s like that for any student trying to get into a university, program or scholarship, anyone who tries to win a car, a house, something (anything) that has a monetary value. The guidelines are set forth by the person offering the product. Anyone who has to do anything beyond enter their name in the draw or contest are, effectively, aiming to show themselves in the best light possible and promote why they are the perfect person for what is being offered. So therefore, whether its an essay/video/20 page questionaire, you are “fluffing your feathers” or “pimping yourself out” to fit what they are looking for in a winner. So like I say, its not a negative term to you or anyone who participates. Just a term in general to explain the process. You decided that you wished to make a video at a chance to win a treatment, therefore you made a video to show why you deserve this free treatment, so in my books you are promoting your agenda for a chance to gain something with a monetary value attached to it.
I think its wonderful that you are now using the video to promote infertility, its a wonderful way to now use the original video for the community as a whole. But there is a difference between making a video or writing an essay about infertility and your personal infertility journey simply for advocacy versus making it because that’s what the guidelines of a contest told you to do. They both carry the possibility of playing advocate in the end (depending on what you do with it), but they have originally started out as two different things with two different (immediate) goals in mind. Mind you, I also don’t put that in a negative light either, to me its all about the end game, but they are two different things that can end up being the same at the end and that’s more of the feelings that I felt while I was writing my original comment. I write this just to clarify my original points.
I also regularly play an advocate. While not on the scale that Keiko and others in the community are able to do, I still play my role. I blog about our infertility journey for no monetary gain. I am out about our infertility to my friends and family. I am an advocate to those around me who have no one to stand up for them. I’ve introduced people to something they would not know about otherwise. My best friend was able to get her family doctor to send her to a fertility clinic after 5 years TTC and shes starting her treatment because I was helpful in giving her information and resources that she didn’t know existed to help her. Because of my work, friends have come out to me about their infertility, people have directed others who are dealing with infertility to me for resources and an understanding ear to listen to them. I am pro advocacy of infertility, regardless of how we go about it, just as long as we get out there.
@almostbatten Thank you for especially sharing your very relevant experience with gambling on this conversation – I was just going largely on metaphor here but you bring a realness of the dark side of gambling here that i appreciate.
“My judgement lands entirely on those that offer the contests and the government and insurance agencies who encourage this by doing absolutely nothing.” – I agree to some extent. On one hand, I get that businesses need to do what’s good for business. But you’re absolutely right in that larger public policy (esp. American) fails to recognize this segment of the population that so desperately needs care – treatable care – but can’t afford it b/c of those very business decisions that make treatment so expensive in the first place.
“A contest like this means that maybe you don’t gamble your money, but you do gamble with your emotions and your heart.” – This, x1000. And maybe I’m coming at this with a harsher perspective b/c I haven’t even yet BEGUN treatment. I’m already working out emotional contingency plans if G-d forbid this doesn’t work.
@KeikoZoll I’ve always thought that gambling was a fairly accurate and perfect metaphor for infertility and treatments. Even our doctors will throw out odds and percentages for our age groups and other factors. Reading a doctors assessment of our health and our chances of winning is much like reading the stats on a horse program, you get their age, who they train with, how they did on their last race. Its no different than the importance of our age, who our doctors are, and our previous history of treatment. So I’ve always viewed infertility and treatments in the same way I view my past as a bookie. There are so many stories in this community that I can easily relate to some of the guys at the track. Many of the same personalities can be found in both areas and the only difference is one is gambling for money, the other for a baby.
For the very reasons that you’ve stated, I don’t think that I would have the gumption (or the guts) to judge a contest. If they are presented with respect to the patients they are designed for, I don’t have a problem with the contests themselves. From the judging viewpoint, though, I just couldn’t do it. Saying, “yes” to one couple is essentially telling a number of others “no.” I can’t even begin to imagine how I would wrap my head around doing it. That’s not to say that others who CAN do it are wrong for doing so; it only means that I don’t think I have the emotional fortitude or necessary degree of objectivity to accomplish the task. I also don’t view these contests as winning a child. You’re winning the CHANCE for a child. When you consider ALL of the costs of infertility treatment, at the root you have emotional and financial costs. Winning helps alleviate at least part of the financial pressure; when couples have to use creative means to afford treatment, it is understandable how many can put their emotional costs on the line in a contest if it could give them even the slightest chance of helping to ease the financial cost.
Complicating the morality of such contests is the question of who benefits more – the clinic/agency or the winning couple? While these contests ARE run with the intent to help someone, these contests are also a marketing tool. Is the collective emotional cost of the participating couples (and even of those of us who don’t participate, but spend time weighing our own emotions about it) worth whatever financial gains the clinic might receive as a result of doing the contest, especially when there can (usually) be only ONE winner? Phrased differently, is it fair that clinics may gain more advantages for their business than the participants gain for themselves? When I think of that question, my mind always turns to the potential winner and how I would feel if I were her; YES, it would be worth it, because even just having that CHANCE would be priceless. Then taking that once step further, even if I had entered and NOT been the winner, however upset I might be for myself, knowing that SOMEONE out there — someone like ME who knew the substance of my own pain — had that chance…yes- it would STILL be worth it.
@Kymberli Thank you for having the gumption to say what I hesitated to really get at in my post: ” Phrased differently, is it fair that clinics may gain more advantages for their business than the participants gain for themselves?”
That’s the lynchpin for me. I think it has to do with my worldview of being a very community focused person as opposed to individual. What harm does this do to the community? It could be said that this marketing driven approach makes the clinics all out to be money grubbing baby factories – you and I both know that’s not true, b/c we’ve been in the trenches. It’s the broader public perception of our community I worry about (paging Nadya Suleman) and how contests like these can fuel those misconceptions, which in turn can drive public policy (hello only 15 states with mandated coverage).
I love your optimism: you immediately think of how it would feel to win. Me, channeling my inner Eeyore as usual, looked at this from “Of course I won’t win.” Awesome ballsy comment. Thanks Kym!
@KeikoZoll The effect that these contests have on the greater public, with all its existing misconceptions about infertility, is one of the concerns that I also weigh when thinking about this issue. This is where I move to consider how “tasteful” the actual marketing of the contest is. I have a serious problem when they’re marketed with all the glitz and glitter of the Publisher’s Clearinghouse Sweepstakes and with sensationalist headlines. Those tactics don’t do the infertility community any favors, even if an individual DOES get the benefit of free treatment. When contests are presented respect to the gravity of human element battling infertility, then I think I’m good with it, even if it’s ONE MORE thing we have to defend as a community because the general public just doesn’t get it. If I’m going to fight a battle, I’d much rather it be for a GOOD cause vs. for one like clearing the smoke from fires like Suleman.
@Kymberli
I completely agree with everything you said. Having been an entrant in both contests and pretty much told that people like me were excluded from the outset, I STILL think it is worth it.
I look at these contests as winning cash, not as winning a child. Personally I think it is great that centres are trying to give couples a chance at free treatment. Treatment as you know, is so costly. There are Jewish organizations that will help couples fund their treatment. A couple has to apply for the grant, and fill out an application that gets reviewed (i.e. judged in some way). The HUGE difference is that this is done privately, only the organization sees the application.
Should the centres make couples write out their stories or make a video so that a judge can decide who is most worthy of winning? Maybe not, maybe it should be more of a random draw. Then again, maybe the centres have another ulterior motive – by making people write or video their journeys, MORE people will read them and see them. There will be more awareness, more advocates (one would hope, anyway)…and hopefully some legislation for subsidized treatment of infertility.
Shorty, you raise such a great point. This really is no different that grants and scholarship applications for treatments, it’s just the difference b/t how public it is. I don’t know what about these contests that rubs me differently than say, a grant application. Perhaps it is the marketing element to it. You do raise a great point that I just touched on in the update at the bottom of the post from my friend Terri – ultimately, this raises more awareness about the prohibitive uninsured costs of treatment. It’s not like you see cancer clinics raffling off chemo rounds, right?
@KeikoZoll In Canada anyway, many cancer treatments are covered by Medicare. I do see many requests for help in covering treatment when it is not covered. Interesting that people wouldn’t mind donating a bit of $ towards someone’s chemo though, huh?
@GeoffreySherMD @KeikoZoll …stacks the odds against you even more? Doesnt make since. We KNOW the odds…we need help with ONE try!!
@kristinascackle With 45 entries and only 3 winners this time, chances are, you won’t win. There’s the emotional gamble on top it all.
@KeikoZoll there’s always an emotional gamble w/ ivf. The chance that it might be free makes it a bit easier.
@KeikoZoll we knew the odds…and we thought they were only picking 1 winner. It was a no brainer for us. Cant win unless we TRY. 🙂
@GeoffreySherMD @KeikoZoll just posted a comment. I’m confused about the logic…its like not entering the lottery b/c buying the ticket
@kristinascackle Saw your comment – to quickly clarify. Odds are stacked that you won’t win, in addition to odds of IVF treatment.
I guess I dont really understand your logic in stacking more odds against you by entering this contest. My husband and I entered & we will continue to enter because entering INCREASES our odds of having a baby. Like Mary, we can’t get pregnant on our own.
It’s been 6 years and never had a positive test. We’ve been to 2 other Drs that wasted our time & money…thinking about that makes me sick. Now we see Dr Selah at Sher in Dallas and we finally have a shot at our family. The problem? Finances. 4 yrs of our treatments were out of pocket. The last 2 were “somewhat” covered but IVF isn’t covered at all. We are looking at $15-$20 in total costs.
We KNOW that there is no guarantee of a baby. To make the assumption that we wouldn’t know that and enter blindly is pretty insulting. We know the odds. That’s why we enter. We know that it may take 1, 2, or even 3 or more attempts to get pregnant. If we can enter and get ONE of those attempts for free…then BRING IT ON…because that is one step closer to our family.
Our first attempt didn’t produce enough follicles to have a retrieval. The med protocol was wrong. So, we have to try again & hope we get it right this time. It would have been a HUGE blessing and relief to know that this next “try” wouldn’t leave us $6k in the hole like the last one (most of our $$ was refunded, but we were out the office visits and cost of meds at high doses) or even worse, out the whole $15k.
I posted my video on my fb wall and was blown away by the support from friends and family. Most know our story…but to see it all in 5 min reminded them how difficult it’s been. I love our video! Our friends and family were 100% supportive in us entering the contest…they get the financial struggle & know how much we want this.
We will enter every contest and we will go to every seminar…because we want to INCREASE the odds of having our family!!
Here’s the link to our video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MNS8PeS6PMw&feature=youtube_gdata_player
Kristina
http://Www.kristinascackles.blogspot.com
Kristina, thank you so much for commenting – I’m really glad that you and Mary, as folks who entered the contest. I hope you don’t think I’m bashing SIRM – I’m not at all. I have a lot of respect for their work and physicians around the country. The point I was trying to make is that IVF contests are not for me, personally – I apologize if that wasn’t clear.
Thank you also for sharing your video and your story. All of our journeys are hard. They all suck. Infertility sucks. My biggest issue is choosing “worthiness” among the stories – I just don’t have the fortitude to make that kind of call.
With regards to odds, you do raise a good point. I assume you’re not a regular reader, b/c my readers know I’m TERRIBLE at math 🙂 Sure, you increase your odds of getting to parent by entering in the contest. I’m a glass half-empty kind of gal, so I was thinking of it more along the odds that someone entering the contest was NOT likely to win it (45 entries, only 3 winners), so it furthers the emotional gamble of coping with not being able to afford that cycle AND whether or not it would even work.
I’m so glad that you’ve found such support by sharing your story: that is indeed a silver lining to these contests in that they raise tremendous awareness. I’m all for awareness-raising; I just want to make sure that HOW we raise awareness is ethical, of which these contests are somewhat in the grey area. Like I said, my personal opinion – folks are free to do what they want. Wishing you much luck on your journey!
I entered the contest pretty much knowing that I has absolutely NO CHANCE of winning it. But I entered anyway and here is why:
1) I have already gambled at this game. I have spent over $50,000 out of pocket, and I am fortunate enough to have gotten one beautiful, miraculous child out of it. After I had her, I spent more than half of that trying to give her a sibling. At that point, I decided I could not risk our retirement and her college fund on more losses. It felt too much like flushing money down the toliet. But this contest – well, I had nothing of value to lose. I am already ‘out’ to my family and friends. They know how much we would love to have another child, so the only thing I had to do was make a video. easy peasy.
2) I couldn’t NOT try. For me, it is the same as when the lottery is over $200 million. Even though I don’t normally play, I can’t pass up a chance like that. After all, someone has to win, right? Knowing how much I love my daughter, and how much of a change she has made in our lives how could I pass up the opportunity to have that again? I would have always played the what if game. What if we had gotten lucky and won a cycle and it resulted in an addition to our family? When someone offers a person like me a chance like that – I stay up all night and make a video :).
3) There is no other way for us. We HAVE to do IVF to get pregnant. Over 10 years of trying on our own without a single positive test told us that. Yeah, I have done the wheatgrass, the CoQ10, the pycnogenol, the soy osoflavones, the clomid, the red raspberry leaf tea, the fertiliblend, the clearblue easy fertility monitor, the this, the that. I have done it. I can’t get pregnant without help – and I can’t pay for treatments any more. I can’t apply for grants because I have money in retirement accounts. So, contests like this are all I have.
I am so glad I made a video – I have watched it a million times. And sometimes I smile when I do, but mostly I cry. Because I am so very lucky to have what I have, but I am also so very sad that I can’t give my daughter the experiences that I had growning up with siblings. I think one day she will treasure it – almost as much as I treasure her.
Id doesn’t matter to me if the clinic does it for marketing purposes, because in the end it might mean everything to a family. That is what matters. Besides, SIRM is a great group of doctors and clinics – that is evident to anyone who has found their discussion boards and blogs. I am incredibly grateful for the opportunities and hope they give me and so many others.
@MaryWagnerClement , thank you so much for commenting. I really appreciate your comment as someone who entered. In fact, please feel free to link up your video – I’d love to share it with my readers here.
I’m struggling to temper my bias towards secondary infertility as someone experiencing primary infertility, so I want to put that out there so you understand where I’m coming from. I do think your situation is slightly different, but no less valid. The desire to parent, and parent your COMPLETE family, is valid and strong. I think you come at in that as you said, “you have nothing to lose.” For me personally, to enter into this and lose – counting on this as my one shot – I could very well lose the ability to EVER have children. It’s a subtle difference in our circumstances and I appreciate you sharing so openly about yours here.
You said: “When someone offers a person like me a chance like that – I stay up all night and make a video :).” I totally relate – when I made my What IF video, I spent 10 hours filming it and 8 hours editing it. I barely slept/ate/went to the bathroom that weekend 😉
Thanks again for sharing your story here and please do link up your video in the comments!
@KeikoZoll
I understand the initial resentment towards those who have secondary infertility, I used to be the same way. Try to keep in mind though that some of us also suffered from primary infertility. 12 years, 1 month, and 3 days passed fromt he time I got married and started trying to have a baby until I got to hold my daughter for the first time. That is an awful long time to try to conceive a child. I think some people think that IF is cured if you are lucky enough to have a child – that couldn’t be further from the truth.
Also – I don’t think many people would consider a free cycle as their ‘one shot’. Most of us would consider it a bonus shot 🙂
You can view my video here:
http://haveababy.com/uncategorized/family-i-believe-video-contest-entry-win-free-ivf-by-mary-john-clement/
@KeikoZoll But in the end we feel helping 3 couples afford IVF is better than helping none. Is it fair? No way! How can it be?
@geoffreyshermd I totally get that, I do. And I’m still very touched/humbled you reached out to me, too.
@KeikoZoll We reached out to you & the other judges b/c you all have the best intentions for the IF community. Your motives are pure.
@geoffreyshermd Which I am quite humbled 🙂 I just don’t have the fortitude to make decisions like those. My own life? Yes. For others? No.
@geoffreyshermd I think part of my biggest issue, when thinking about IVF contests in general, is that IF has made me both realist/skeptic.
@KeikoZoll Skepticism is warranted. Bottom line is that we’ve donated 6 cycles thru these contests, 25 more at seminars the last 2 yrs.
@geoffreyshermd I realize I probably sound ungrateful for the generosity you’ve shown; hope you know I’m not! It IS good work u & SIRM do.
@KeikoZoll Not all! You raise valid questions that we have asked ourselves. We welcome all opinions. We certainly don’t have all the answers
Agreed. Infertility is the epitome of “not fair.” RT @geoffreyshermd: Is it fair? No way! How can it be?
@KeikoZoll Not tooting our horns. Just pointing out that our docs donate their time all year. Free egg freezing for cancer patients too.
Honestly, I feel like this should be a standard of oncological care. RT @geoffreyshermd: Free egg freezing for cancer patients too.
@KeikoZoll Should be – but sadly it is not.