It was pretty risky for me to attempt to put our « journey » (ick) in a three part series using nerdy trilogy movie and novel titles. Tricky in many ways: 1- I would have to continue the theme (which I haven’t) and 2- I’m not sure three blog posts are enough! So I’m breaking ALL the rules and adding a mini part 2 & 1/2. This part of our story however is less about us and more about how our health system has let me and thousands of others down and continues to do so.
As you may- or may not- know every province has autonomy over their health care systems which means care for infertility patients looks very different depending in which province you find yourself in. Much to my chagrin (but SO good for others) my home province of Ontario that I left only 8 years ago, has IVF coverage. This means that if your doctor determines that you fit the right criteria for IVF, you are put on a waiting list. Once it’s your “turn”, you have coverage for 1 retrieval plus (here is the really awesome part in my opinion), every embryo transfer done with the embryos collected from that initial retrieval is also covered! Seriously amazing. It still has its limitations and is not perfect by any means, but this is a step towards equitable care. Here in Alberta is a much easier story to tell: NOTHING IS COVERED. Sorry, was I yelling?That free IVF cycle in Ontario that I described? That cost us approximately 18,000$. Not only that but there are only 2 clinics (once was three but I’ll get to that...) for the entire province. “But Sara, surely you have good medical insurance that at least covered meds”. Hahahhahahahaha On one of the best medical insurance plans, I get 800$ a year for infertility medications. Because my husband and I work for the same school board I get an additional 800$ for a total of 1600$ per calendar year. I blew through that in two months for only two IUIs. For my IVF cycle I calculated that each injection I took cost me 100$ based on my dosage. When I contacted my insurance provider to see if they were willing to revisit their plans to include more for infertility here is the response: “Hello Sara, from what I can see because you and your husband both have coverage you will have 1600 per year! That will be more than enough to cover your costs! Thank you for your questions!” Door slammed. I would soon realize that more doors would be slammed on us in such an unexpected way. Going into our last IUI, we knew if it failed our next step was IVF. However, before getting yet another negative pregnancy test, I would see a news story online that really put in jeopardy our future. “ Royal Alex Hospital is closing it’s Fertility Clinic” A simple headline I see while scrolling Facebook. That’s my clinic. I remember going numb, trying to read the article for more information. There really wasn’t more. The government of Alberta decided that a non covered service (infertility treatment) had no place in a building that was run by tax payers dollars effective in a few months. Even though all 4000 patients of this clinic paid for services out of pocket, even though it had been open for years, even though much of the care provided does fall under the Alberta Health Care System (consultations, routine medical tests, bloodwork, management care etc). I was angry. I felt so incredibly let down by a system and government that should be making my life better not worse. For me and for thousands of others the closure of this clinic is by no means a small deal. For us, that meant waiting months for another referral to another clinic, it meant re-doing many of the tests, it meant paying more at a private clinic that runs like a business. It meant that the only other clinic in Edmonton would suffer because it would grow by close to three thousand patients in a few short months. For others it meant that they no longer can afford treatment, or that the future of their frozen embryos was unknown. Most of all, for me it signalled that this place and medical team I had grown to know, who took care of me, who I trusted would be forcibly taken from me. The next few days I spend on hold with the clinic, with Alberta Health, with my MLA, with the minister of Health, with anyone who would answer my questions and tell my why infertility is a medical diagnosis that could be ignored and it’s sufferers casted away. I know thousands of others were doing the same. There are some amazing women who put countless hours into lobbying, petitioning, marching, having meetings with various ministers, to get this message across. Still suffering in silence, I did something unusually brave. I wrote to CBC Edmonton to tell them of my story and how the closure of the Lois Hole Clinic at the Royal Alex is and will affect me, wanting them to continue to cover the story and for them to keep digging to apply extra pressure on the government. What they wanted was an interview. So at 530pm I did a live over the phone interview with Portia Clark on Radio Active about my story. It is still unbelievable to me that the first time I tell someone of our story and how this effects my life, I do over the radio. I was that angry. I was not going to make this easy for them. I was already fighting every day, what’s a few extra punches? Yet, no matter the letters I wrote, the petitions I signed, the conversations had with government, the clinic closed and all the issues we worried about, all the logistics we were warning then of, happened. I saw my doctor hang his head in sadness, tears in his eyes because not only was his job in jeopardy but everything he cared about was being taken away. Almost a year later, the anger has gone but not the hurt nor the hopelessness that comes with being an infertility patient. I was happy at my new clinic, and received the care I needed but what brought me there will always be a stain in my memory. The transition to the other, for profit, clinic was relatively smooth for us, but that is not the story for other patients. Lost frozen embryos, and new rules at this clinic that would cause them to be denied treatment. Although we have received the care we need, although at greater cost, there is still such an injustice around what brought us there. Infertility treatment = nothing is fair but you have no choice but to deal with it. In the end it’s a medical condition that is still being treated by society and governments as though it is something we have chosen therefore not deserving of adequate and equatable care. There are thousands of Albertans and Canadians, who are denied a family simply because they can afford it. We have already sacrificed so much for where we are now. We would do whatever it takes, however it still doesn't strip the bitterness and injustice that comes with making these sacrificial financial decisions that others don't have to make.
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Author:Sara Collins has always had a passion for writing. Writing song lyrics for the Backstreet Boys, Short Stories, Poetry, and big chunks of half finished novels. Now she is proud to share her writing around her experiences in infertility. Archives |