IVF Clinic in Toronto?
February 18, 2019 4:52 PM Subscribe
Hello!
I am a 41 year old woman and my husband (42) and I have recently moved to Toronto. We do not have children. Can you please recommend a good IVF clinic in Toronto? How much should we expect to pay for the treatment? Is there something we need to consider before going for the treatment?We are both Canadian residents.
Thank you for your help.
You might enjoy the podcast “Matt and Dorrie’s Eggcellent Adventure”. There is a pretty active and supportive Private Facebook group where listeners share tips and recommendations.
That might be a good place to explore this same question.
posted by wowenthusiast at 5:43 PM on February 18, 2019
That might be a good place to explore this same question.
posted by wowenthusiast at 5:43 PM on February 18, 2019
Mt. Sinai. IVF is covered by the provincial health insurance. You can do one round (i.e. one retrieval and as many transfers as that yields) for free (all tests and procedures are no cost). You or your supplemental insurance pay for the cost of the drugs. My insurance covered it, but I think it's about $5000 for the drugs. If you do a second round of IVF you would have to pay $10K.
You can do unlimited IUI attempts for free under the provincial health insurance, but since you're asking about IVF presumably you already know that is not the route for you.
posted by If only I had a penguin... at 5:58 PM on February 18, 2019 [1 favorite]
You can do unlimited IUI attempts for free under the provincial health insurance, but since you're asking about IVF presumably you already know that is not the route for you.
posted by If only I had a penguin... at 5:58 PM on February 18, 2019 [1 favorite]
I’ve been to both Hannam and CReAte, both downtown. The doctor I had at Hannam made it feel like a bit of a hard sell and we ended up not trying IVF there. We did at CReATe, but I did have a bit of a negative experience when my doctor was off for a couple of days and one of the other doctors dismissed some symptoms I reported and almost derailed the whole thing. Luckily the third clinic doctor caught the mistake and called me back in to give me injections that would correct it (Memail me if you want doctors’ names). Basically I really liked 2 of the doctors and not the 3rd, and also found the rest of the staff very helpful.
If you are covered under OHIP, a lot of the initial cycle monitoring is covered, but not everything. If you’re under 41, you’ll also want to look for one of the clinics involved in the OHIP project that covers 1 round for selected candidates (provided Doug Ford hasn’t cancelled the program) - CReATe is one and I basically only had to pay for medications/hormones (about $6k) rather than the entire cost.
posted by scrute at 6:00 PM on February 18, 2019 [1 favorite]
If you are covered under OHIP, a lot of the initial cycle monitoring is covered, but not everything. If you’re under 41, you’ll also want to look for one of the clinics involved in the OHIP project that covers 1 round for selected candidates (provided Doug Ford hasn’t cancelled the program) - CReATe is one and I basically only had to pay for medications/hormones (about $6k) rather than the entire cost.
posted by scrute at 6:00 PM on February 18, 2019 [1 favorite]
Oh, and go as soon as possible. The first thing they'll do at any clinic is testing, and because some tests need to be done at specific points in your cycle (assuming you have an active cycle), it can seem to drag on for some weeks (like almost a couple of months) before you even get a plan-of-attack.
posted by If only I had a penguin... at 6:03 PM on February 18, 2019 [1 favorite]
posted by If only I had a penguin... at 6:03 PM on February 18, 2019 [1 favorite]
IVF is covered by the provincial health insurance. You can do one round (i.e. one retrieval and as many transfers as that yields) for free (all tests and procedures are no cost).
Just want to clarify here....a set amount of IVFs are covered by OHIP each year, but there's not enough money for everyone. This means every clinic distributes their funding differently (lottery, first come-first served, waitlist, etc.). This is something you should ask about up front! We ended up self-funding because our clinic (in Burlington) only has a waitlist and I would have had to wait 2+ years to start IVF (this was after 3 years of trying already.....). However, I know people who went to clinics where everyone's first round is automatically covered (bliss! so unfair!) and others where there was a lottery each March (adding an extra layer of cruelty to the experience).
If I had known at the start, I would have investigated this info BEFORE hitching my wagon to this particular clinic. But by the time I realized it we'd already been there nearly a year and the thought of starting all over again somewhere else was too daunting.
posted by Mrs. Rattery at 4:40 AM on February 19, 2019 [3 favorites]
Just want to clarify here....a set amount of IVFs are covered by OHIP each year, but there's not enough money for everyone. This means every clinic distributes their funding differently (lottery, first come-first served, waitlist, etc.). This is something you should ask about up front! We ended up self-funding because our clinic (in Burlington) only has a waitlist and I would have had to wait 2+ years to start IVF (this was after 3 years of trying already.....). However, I know people who went to clinics where everyone's first round is automatically covered (bliss! so unfair!) and others where there was a lottery each March (adding an extra layer of cruelty to the experience).
If I had known at the start, I would have investigated this info BEFORE hitching my wagon to this particular clinic. But by the time I realized it we'd already been there nearly a year and the thought of starting all over again somewhere else was too daunting.
posted by Mrs. Rattery at 4:40 AM on February 19, 2019 [3 favorites]
Oh, forgot to add...there are certain medical conditions that do allow you to have your first IVF covered by OHIP, but that didn't apply to us. Another thing to inquire about...
posted by Mrs. Rattery at 4:41 AM on February 19, 2019
posted by Mrs. Rattery at 4:41 AM on February 19, 2019
IVF is covered in Ontario, with a waitlist. You will want to get a referral to get on a waitlist asap, as one of the conditions of coverage is that the gestational carrier is less than 43 years old: information from the Ontario government.
I would also second the Mount Sinai clinic: it's a teaching hospital with an excellent fertility program (evidence based and patient-centred). They have a couple of different locations: where ever you go, you will wish to be near either your work or your home, as the gestational carrier will have to attend frequent early morning appointments (between 7am and 9am) for blood work and ultrasounds, and being near where this is done will save so much hassle. (A friend of mine learned this the hard way). The clinic will cover everything you will need to consider: testing, consultation with a specialist on best options, etc.; they don't just throw you into the process.
Drugs are not covered by OHIP; they may or may not be covered by private insurance (depends on the plan). If not covered, they cost about $3000-5000, depending on your dosage needs. If you are a candidate for pre-implantation genetic screening (which may be a consideration for anyone over 40 with larger number of eggs/embryos), that is not covered and can cost between $3000-7000 (depending on the number of embryos). Counselling is also mandatory.
There are also administrative fees ($300) and embryo storage fees ($400) that aren't covered. Full schedules may be available online, though they can't tell you how much for drugs (because that changes a lot by dosage).
posted by jb at 6:57 AM on February 19, 2019 [1 favorite]
I would also second the Mount Sinai clinic: it's a teaching hospital with an excellent fertility program (evidence based and patient-centred). They have a couple of different locations: where ever you go, you will wish to be near either your work or your home, as the gestational carrier will have to attend frequent early morning appointments (between 7am and 9am) for blood work and ultrasounds, and being near where this is done will save so much hassle. (A friend of mine learned this the hard way). The clinic will cover everything you will need to consider: testing, consultation with a specialist on best options, etc.; they don't just throw you into the process.
Drugs are not covered by OHIP; they may or may not be covered by private insurance (depends on the plan). If not covered, they cost about $3000-5000, depending on your dosage needs. If you are a candidate for pre-implantation genetic screening (which may be a consideration for anyone over 40 with larger number of eggs/embryos), that is not covered and can cost between $3000-7000 (depending on the number of embryos). Counselling is also mandatory.
There are also administrative fees ($300) and embryo storage fees ($400) that aren't covered. Full schedules may be available online, though they can't tell you how much for drugs (because that changes a lot by dosage).
posted by jb at 6:57 AM on February 19, 2019 [1 favorite]
To add about timing, as I've recently gone through the process: my spouse and I were referred to Mount Sinai in late 2017; our first appointment with at the fertility clinic was in early 2018 (January or February). It took a few months to do testing (to identify possible cause of fertility issues - this affects what your choices are for fertility treatment); we were added to the IVF waitlist in about April. We were very lucky, and we offered a cycle within a few months with an October 2018 start. I don't know if this is typical for Mount Sinai or whether we just lucked out. But no matter what, if you even are considering IVF in Ontario, I would get a referral to a clinic asap to start the process. It doesn't commit you to anything.
When offered a cycle month, you are offered 1 of 3 (e.g. September, October or November), but you have to take one of those three. That said, an "October cycle" really means most of the action - injection drugs, egg retrieval and fertilization - will actually happen in late November, as there is a full menstrual cycle of 'priming'. This matters when you're trying to coordinate this with the rest of your life (work, travel, etc.)
All in all, we've been really impressed by Mount Sinai Fertility: our specialist, the residents, the nurses, the technicians are all really expert at their jobs. I got a blood test somewhere else recently, and it made me realize how lucky I've been to have lab techs at Mount Sinai who were so much better at drawing blood without hurting/bruising.
If you have further questions, please feel free to memail me.
posted by jb at 7:56 AM on February 19, 2019 [1 favorite]
When offered a cycle month, you are offered 1 of 3 (e.g. September, October or November), but you have to take one of those three. That said, an "October cycle" really means most of the action - injection drugs, egg retrieval and fertilization - will actually happen in late November, as there is a full menstrual cycle of 'priming'. This matters when you're trying to coordinate this with the rest of your life (work, travel, etc.)
All in all, we've been really impressed by Mount Sinai Fertility: our specialist, the residents, the nurses, the technicians are all really expert at their jobs. I got a blood test somewhere else recently, and it made me realize how lucky I've been to have lab techs at Mount Sinai who were so much better at drawing blood without hurting/bruising.
If you have further questions, please feel free to memail me.
posted by jb at 7:56 AM on February 19, 2019 [1 favorite]
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Is there something we need to consider before going for the treatment?
Is practically worth a book. Where are you at in infertility treatment? Have you had any testing done? Have you tried any other procedures (like IUI)?
Again, US healthcare system, but my wife and I had three tries at IUI, then four tries at IVF with eggs harvested when she was 34 and the total cost was in the neighborhood of $100K. Our marriage couldn't handle the strain and my divorce finalized a couple weeks ago. We had some unexplained problem with embryo implantation that you may not have, but just based on age, your odds are significantly worse than ours were at the start. You may need to rely on donor embryos - getting a harvest of 10 viable embryos from the extraction procedure is generally a pretty good result, and if they implant 3 or so at a time, you'll have 3 shots at it.
There are most likely infertility support groups or discussion boards that are more local to Canada and could handle your questions about what to expect and where to go far better than AskMe can do.
posted by LionIndex at 5:32 PM on February 18, 2019 [1 favorite]