Tandem, not for me, sadly AND, what it actually cost me

Tandem is a procedure by which a woman cycles for IVF and also starts a fresh donor cycle and during egg retrieval and fertilization, the donor eggs are also fertilized and transferred together with any of the woman's own fertilized eggs. The idea is that you don't waste money on a low rate of success IVF but you don't give up on IVF completely. Some choose not to find out which embryo took, own egg (OE) or donor egg (DE)--which could be done using a dna test of the child. I was looking to Cyprus for tandem and honestly they had the best information on the OE/DE procedure and they were honest enough to tell me that, nope, even though they'd love to, with my numbers, DE was my best route. Also, they had me do a ton of tests here to rule out what was causing the two M/C I had.

Cyprus would have been cheaper, though the flight there would have cost more. I was leaning that way as I was dying to see both Cyprus and Istanbul which would have been new for both my husband and I, but then I discovered no photos of donors and was worried when I had trouble finding out how much testing they do of donors--but I still think it's a place worth looking into. Tandem would have been about $6000 at the time I was looking, less than I eventually paid for donor egg alone. 

At Irega I paid $8350 for the DE, including all meds except $30 to $50 I spent on estradiol pre-arrival (I skipped the Lupron as it was too late to order, would have been $300 from a Canadian mail order pharmacy and $1500 from US pharmacy), baby aspirin, and two other medications once I did arrive. I also paid an additional $500 for meds to cover the 5 weeks following the beta test on Nov. 27 (as I felt that forced me into a positive mindset for a big fat positive--BFP). $2000 of the $8350 I paid prior to arrival and the remainder plus the $500 just after transfer, the $2000 started the donor on her meds and the clinic monitoring her.

I paid about $700 for hubs and I to fly (maybe a little more) and $32 for the collective taxi from the airport to the hotel. For the first three nights we stayed at an all-inclusive, height of luxury place (Royal Sands) for $201 per night, plus about $64 in tips (I'm a good tipper in general). Then we switched to a $60 a night place (Cancun Bay) that did not always have hot water and no mini-fridge, if I had it to over I'd have spent the $75 a night for mini-fridge and hot water.

We spent about $15 a day on buses, taxis, etc. and once we had switched hotels, about $50 a day on food (once hubs left I was spending maybe $15 a day on food and less for taxis as I was taking the bus). We did three big trips--two day trips to Playa del Carmen, one to Chitzen Itza organized by me as we left too late for the regular tour (I had to contract the taxi, guide, etc but we probably only spent an extra $70 and it was just hubs and I to Chitzen, the Cenote and Valladolid). Final big extravagance was a day trip to Isla Mujeres where we swam with dolphins, manatees and sea lions for about $500 for us both (combined).

Total cash withdrawals was about $1200, plus credit card for the hotels combined for about $1000, plus credit card of $600 for dolphin etc as we also bought some photos. I also spent about $250 on gifts and souvenirs for the people caring for our animals back home and family/friends.

We could have done it much cheaper but we had a great time, was hubs first time in Mexico and I wanted him to enjoy. Eating at the little outdoor quesadilla place across the street from the hotel and next to Oxxo was about $3 for two quesadillas and a drink and it was my dinner each night after hubs left. Then, for lunch/brunch each day I went to the Sanborns near the ADO bus station--ADO goes to all major cities (easy to reach by local Cancun bus, about $.75) and spent about $12-15 for a really nice meal.

It seems few US places have lots of information on Mexico which is crazy as it is so close. Also, I found a ton of information and support on the ivf.ca site under going abroad for ivf--Mexico it was a lifeline for me as I could find no information here.

Here are some fun photos, first of papel picado across a street and the next two of mariachi players entertaining outdoor diners.