New member- applying for scholarship

[leslieJ]

Hello my name is Leslie and I am applying for the June scholarship. I have been struggling with infertility for over 10 years and have to have IVF in order to conceive.

I amnew on here and would like to hear stories of anyone that has received the scholarship and been successful as well as the length of time it has taken. There is not much information on the fundraising requirement that thoroughly explains it can anyone give me some more information?

Thank you,
Leslie

[Annette]

Welcome!

Hi Leslie!

My husband and I became scholarship recipients in April and are now completing our fundraising. There are definitely success stories of scholarship recipients so I hope they are able to share with you. The fundraising requirement is $3000 and basically it's like fundraising for any other type of non-profit that you would do. There is a letter template that you can send to friends and family to ask for donations, that is where most people start. Then you can do anything that is considered non-profit type fundraising, once you get the approval from the scholarship administrators. I know this probably sounds really confusing at the moment, but if you are selected to be a scholarship recipient there is more information in the Heart Scholarship forum that is designated for only scholarship recipients.

Good luck to you!!

[TinaT]

Hi Leslie!!

Welcome!! I'll try and give you a shortened version of the rundown for me/us. We applied to INCIID in March 08. Got the call July 7th 08 that we had been accepted. We raised our money by Dec. 08 and were matched with our clinic in late April, early May 09. We started our 2nd IVF the first week in May 09. Had the egg retrieval on May 25, 2009 and on June 10, 2009 we had our pregnancy confirmed. This past Wed. we had it confirmed that we are having twins!!! July 7th (exactly one year after acceptance) we will have our first ob-gyn appt. YAYYYYYYYYYY!!! Hope that gives you some idea as to the timeframe, but keep in mind it is different for everyone. It could be a shorter timeframe for you. Let me know if you have any other questions....I'd love to help and encourage you in any way shape or form. That goes for any of you reading this. Just ask away and I'll do what I can to help.

-Tina

[leslieJ]

Is this your second attempt since the scholarship or did you try once on your own before you got the scholarship?

[Annette]

Hi Tina,

I was wondering if you would be willing to share how much you had to pay out-of-pocket for the cycle?

[TinaT]

2nd Time

FIRST time since the scholarship but second time we've done IVF. We did IVF 3 years ago that wasn't successful. Never had a confirmed pregnancy. We paid and ARE STILL paying for that one out of pocket. Still owe $11,000 on that one unfortunately. Let me know if you have anymore questions. I'd love helping and answering any questions you may have. Have a good weekend.

-Tina

[TinaT]

Certainly

Altogether it was like $16,000. That included the IVF procedure all the bloodwork, meds, etc. Altogether we've spent about $20,000 out of our own pocket. Before the unsuccessful IVF 3 years ago, we did 7 IUI's that we also paid for at about $400 each. I'd do it all over again though. Having babies in my arms will make all this worthwhile. Let me know if you have anymore questions. I love helping and answering any questions you or anyone else may have.

-Tina

[leslieJ]

So you spend 4000 out of pocket for the scholarship cycle then?

[Annette]

Hi Tina,

Did you have to pay anything out of pocket for the cycle you just had through INCIID?

[TinaT]

A little

We had to pay for my husbands lab work. His analysis were not included in the INCIID scholarship. So far we've had to pay approx. $500+ which includes some of the drugs that were not covered. The only one I know that we still have to pay is the cryo preservation of the 3 that we froze. That will be $400. Does that help?

-Tina

[TinaT]

For the scholarship we've only spent about $500+ so far that we did just this year. We do have to pay for the ones we had frozen ($400). We're still paying on the un-successful IVF from 3 years ago. Did I answer your question?

-Tina

[Annette]

Oh thanks so much, that puts my mind at ease. I was thinking we would have to put in thousands and obviously we don't have that since we are in the scholarship program! My only worry is that we haven't been through any labs for ivf services ever, so I don't know if there's extra lab stuff we will have to go through.

[JennieC]

My situation is kind of the same, my husband and I have been trying for over ten years too. I was wondering if someone can tell me when the deadline was last time so it will give us a better idea on how long it takes to hear from them?

Thanks,
Jennie

[Annette]

Hi Jennie,

The last deadline was March 17th. I mailed my application in on February 28th and got a confirmation email on March 4th from Linda that my packet was received. I was notified that we were awarded a scholarship on April 30th, but we were contacted a few days later than everybody else, everyone who received a scholarship was notified between April 26th-30th by phone call. You should receive an email at some point stating when they will be reviewing applications and when they will be making decisions.

Hope this information helps, please feel free to ask any questions, those of us who have gone through the process know how nerve-wracking it can be. Hang in there!

[leslieJ]

Thanks for the info.... Now I am scared though because I maile dmine on June 19th and I have not received an email confirming receipt of my application as yet.