Last night we watched a documentary on Netflix, called Vegas Baby. It’s about a fertility clinic in Las Vegas that used to hold a contest to offer one couple/individual a free round of IVF. It shows the lives and stories of various contestants who suffer from infertility and who are trying to win a free round of IVF. Basically, it’s depressing sob stories where barely anyone comes out a winner.
And that is the beauty of in vitro fertilization.
When I go to Las Vegas for vacation, and believe me, I go a lot, I don’t gamble that much. I don’t play on the tables or pull $5 slots. I sit on my 25 cent machines and play video poker. My money lasts for a little while and I have a few small wins here and there. But every time I go, I always put in my $21 and play the Megabucks. Why? Because I want the one in a billion trillion chance that I hit the winning pull and win $25 million. But the odds are stacked against me, yet I still do it anyway. Well…all it takes is one pull.
And that, essentially, is what doing IVF is like. It’s high stakes gambling baby. Throwing $12,000, $25,000, or $125,000 at a machine, betting on the 30% chance that you’ll win on the first pull. 30%….30. That’s all it is. And with every pull you take, you have the exact same odds at winning….or losing. There are no small wins here or there. When you play the game of IVF thrones, you either win, or you lose.
And as you get older, your odds of winning decrease drastically. For women between the ages of 35-37, it might be 33-36%, but for women over the age of 40, it’s 13%.
This is the reality of it. And it fucking sucks.
Would you put $20,000 in a machine, for the chance at ONE pull, when you have a 30% chance of winning???
I know, the odds are so much worse than people realise. IVF certainly isn’t an easy route. People for whom it works on the first round are extremely lucky!
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