# chicago bloods



## Sparty

Hi Ladies
 on Chicago bloods - has anyone had them done. Noticed they are very expensive, but are they worth it?
Sparty


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## Ladyhex

sparty ~ i cant remember the name but there was a girl on here that went to New York for TX and i think (girls correct me if im wrong ) but she got BFP!!! 

did you try thee sub boards for over seas TX ??

good luck hun   

LX


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## Hollybags

Sorry to butt in - I had them done via my clinic in London, and yes, they're worth it so long as you know what you're going to do with the results. (I know that sounds obvious, sorry!)
Have a look at the Immunes section of the board for the best details.


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## DC8

Hi Sparty

I went onto that one as well!!!  Hollybags or someone who has done them might give an exact cost and descriptuion but this is what I've found so far from searches and requests....

But I think I'll try 1 more time before doing those tests. They are v expensive at approx 1500-2000 all in!!!

ARGC in London do them cheapest at £800 but you must be a patient and their tx is outragious (ICSI, drugs, scans, bloods, with Chicago bloods coming in at about £10000 and if you need IVIg due to immune issues then think about £12-13000). 

I did some research as success rates great but too expensive for me. In addition you must be there for everyday monitoring and bloods from 1st day of STIMMS.

Also Dr Gorgy in London will do the tests at approx £1200 cost before tx costs.

SIMS in Dublin do the tests too (not sure of prices)

CARE in Manchester too but I think also comes in at approx £1200 just for tests.

You can do them yourself and communicate with Alan De Beer Clinic in USA and Fedex the bloods to them. It works out cheaper but still at about £800

Do seaches on here and you'll find loads of info xx


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## Hollybags

I had my treatment at ARGC - yes, they're expensive, but what you're paying for is the astonishing success rate. For my age group they consistently achieve about a 50% live birth rate per cycle. When I went for my first consultation, the doctor I saw said taking into consideration that physically I'm fine (no PCOS, fibroids etc) and we were going for ICSI, he reckoned we had about a 70% chance of a live birth! And he was right, it worked first go, and the result is having a nap upstairs! 

I had the Chicago bloods because I thought that if I was going to spend all that money, I may as well make sure I'm getting the exact treatment I need. I got most of it covered on our health insurance as it was called 'investigatory' - they wouldn't touch actual fertility treatment. Anyway, the initial tests were £730 (although this was in 2008 and is subject to the $ exchange rate.) They took 17 vials of blood,   and the details of the Chicago tests are on the Immunology bit of the board, but in effect, they're testing to see if your body is likely to tolerate a pregnancy, and if you're producing things which might block the hormones needed for pregnancy. 

Having the tests done was the best decision because 5 of the 17 tests came back as out of range. On the one hand I was devastated, but on the other, at least I'd found out before we paid out for standard ICSI, only for it to be doomed not to work. 

I had standard ICSI, and then they added in blood thinners (clexane and aspirin) and steroids to dampen the immune system. Then I had some of the tests repeated to see how I'd responded, and this was another £380, twice, once I was pregnant. I didn't need iVIG but if I had, my GP was happy to try to cover it as by then he could have argued that it was to support an existing pregnancy.

It's true, you need to be there every day throughout stims, and all in it cost us about £10k, although we could have got the drugs cheaper. I was 37 when we started treatment and decided that as age is the single biggest factor, we were going to throw everything at it as soon as possible. IVF is a practice of diminishing returns, so you may as well bring in the big guns earlier than later, especially if you want to have more than one child. (That was our view anyway)

A halfway house is to cycle elsewhere and have additional treatment with Gorgy or *******, but you'd still have to be in London for at least some of it. There's some argument to say that having the tests can be a bit pointless as the treatment is often the same, regardless of the results - blood thinners and steroids - it's only when you get into the realms of iVIG and Humira that it gets really expensive.

Hope this helps x


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## Leah

Hi,

Sims in Dublin do them - cost 800 euro.  I haven't had them done as the dr was willing to treat me for immune probs without the tests.  Hope this helps.

Leah


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## Sparty

Thanks for all the information ladies - its an expensive business


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## ursde

Hi Sparty
I v had Chicago tests done with Dr George in Nottingham. It s with Care Fertility. He is great and very positive. I m waiting on level one tests to come back from gp here and then i hope to go for treatment to Nottingham, But blood tests here seem to be the main problem. Because they are so unusual it is taking months for results to come back!! Getting very frustrated  
I am glad i had them done though, at least then you know what your dealing with and not wasting any more time  not to mention money!!


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## 4Victory

ursde, excuse me how much did you pay for Chicago test in Care Fertility? Was it a long time ago?

Thank you so much!


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