Pak Rocks!

Bob and I met with our doctor, Dr. Pak Chung, at Cornell. We hashed out all of the pros and cons of our situation with him and still don't really have our decision made.

Dr. Chung feels that another round of IVF should be the next step for us. Considering that it would be our seventh cycle, he understands that there is high amount of stress and emotion to cycling again. Medically speaking, he stresses, another round is what he recommends. Financially, emotionally...well, that's all to be considered as well.

I keep saying that a pregnancy from IVF is highly unlikely, not to mention a healthy, successful pregnancy. Dr. Chung seems to think the odds aren't quite so bad. I am fearful of spending too much money on IVF and limiting our further options (surrogacy or adoption). Dr. Chung pointed us to some different ways of reducing the cost of IVF for our specific situation.

We discussed India with him and he has offered to do as much research as possible on Rotunda for us. He was surprised to hear about India as an option. I was surprised that it was new to him. He expressed concerns for my care throughout the cycle and wants to make sure that an IVF cycle in India would be safe for us. He said that he sees many couples in our situation who become desperate and take risks at overseas clinics that could lead to disaster and gave a specific example of a procedure and clinic in Mexico. He did not say that going to India was a bad idea; he simply wants to help assure us of a good decision, in as much as he can.

Shipping/taking embryos to India is simply not possible. He said that the paperwork and effort expended in taking embryos just to the next state is incredible; out of the country would surely prove to be impossible. Also, he didn't think the embryos would survive that long.

So, right now Bob and I are in limbo. We have agreed between us that Bob will take care of finagling the financial burden of another round of IVF. (Did you know there are grants available through a few states? http://www.acog.org/acog_districts/dist_notice.cfm?recno=1&bulletin=1767) If Bob can make it work, I will do one more round. If he can't, we will continue our path to India. Hopefully, Dr. Chung is able to give us a green light on the facilities/doctors at Rotunda.

You know, Dr. Chung is the third RE I have had. I found it truly amazing how willing he is to help us, not just at Cornell, but in any choice we make. I did four cycles with other clinics and other doctors. I wish I had gone straight to Cornell.