There are these ads that have been playing up here lately.
These ads that literally make me want to throw something at my radio every single time I hear them.
These ads that might just bring out my violent side.
Yelling and cursing at the people talking to me from inside those little speakers.
Because it’s lies. All lies. False advertising at it’s very best.
To know what I’m talking about, I guess you have to know that there are no board certified Reproductive Endocrinologists in the state of Alaska.
Zero. Zilch. Nada.
There is one rogue guy in Soldotna who has been practicing IVF for decades (at a drastically reduced price), but in the medical community – he isn’t really talked about or recommended much at all. And he’s not board certified. So while he is cheap and local, there are the varying risks that go along with trusting a family practitioner to impregnate you. I’ve heard mixed reviews on his results, and after a friend recently went through her protocol with him – I’m not sure how fast I would be to seek out his services.
So that leaves those of us up here in the great white north at a bit of a loss if the long dark winters don’t lead to spontaneous pregnancies for us at the same rate they seem to for most of our friends.
It turns out; it takes more than a cold winter to knock up a girl with stage IV endo. Which is really just not fair at all if you ask me.
Anyway, somehow (some way) Seattle Reproductive Medicine has cornered the market up here. They’ve formed relationships with most of the OB/GYN offices, and as far as I can tell – they are the first recommendation whenever anyone in Alaska starts to experience fertility issues.
They were the one and only name that was ever recommended to me.
And lately, I’ve been hearing their ads on the radio.
These kind, compassionate, heart-warming ads that make it seem like Seattle Reproductive is there to envelop you in their warm and loving arms and gently guide you towards your dream of building a family. All the while keeping your best interest at heart.
These ads make it sound as though they are in the business of helping people. As if that is their primary goal in all that they do.
These ads leave me screaming “Bullshit!" at my radio.
Because let’s be real – these people are not in it for the women they’re helping. They are in it for the money. Plain and simple.
How do I know this?
Well… I was a patient of theirs for 1 year, that’s how. And literally every experience I had with them was cold, and calculated, and all about the money.
Not once (during either of my visits to Seattle for IVF) did I ever see the same practitioner. Not once.
Never did the doctor who completed my phone consults come to one of my appointments to introduce herself to me. Never.
During my follow-up phone consult after my first failed cycle, it became abundantly clear that the doctor on the other end of the line hadn’t even taken 5 minutes to review my file before getting on the phone with me.
Which I suppose is better than the follow up consult I got after my second failed cycle.
The follow consult that never actually happened.
Instead, I heard from a nurse. A nurse who informed me that while the Dr. was unsure why my first two cycles hadn’t worked, she was positive that if I kept trying – I would get pregnant.
When I explained that dumping $25,000 into an endeavor that had produced absolutely nothing had pretty much bled my bank account dry, she promptly got off the phone with me – after reminding me that I could call them in the future at any time if I decided I wanted to try again.
I never heard from anyone at Seattle Reproductive Medicine again.
And that was over 6 months ago.
These people are not kind. They are not compassionate. And they are most certainly not in the business of helping people.
No. They are in the business of making money. Of collecting exorbitant fees for services that promise less than a 50% success rate. Services that don’t come with a single guarantee attached.
They pump women through like they are on a conveyor belt. Setting them up with whatever practitioner is available, and hoping that these women won’t notice that there is nothing personalized about their treatment at all. Churning them out one by one and relying on the fact that IVF is a numbers game. Plain and simple. It’s about rolling the dice as many times as you can. Because at the end of the day, even they have no idea why it works for some women and not others.
Which is fine. I could live with that (and even understand it), if only… If only I felt like just once throughout the year I was a patient of theirs that there had been at least one doctor who had my best interest at heart. One doctor who was invested in my case. In getting me pregnant. In giving me that dream come true.
But I never got that.
Because, like I said, I never even got the pleasure of seeing the same doctor more than once at all.
I did everything right. That second cycle especially, I did everything right. I followed the diet, committed to bed rest, did acupuncture before and after transfer, and ate my pineapple like a champ.
I did everything right.
And I still didn’t get pregnant.
I don’t blame Seattle Reproductive Medicine for that. I know it’s not their fault. I know that IVF is a crapshoot, and that unfortunately – luck just wasn’t on my side.
Because I do fully believe that luck has far more to do with it than these doctors would like to admit.
But I do blame Seattle Reproductive Medicine for how they treated me throughout both of my cycles. Like just another number. Dollar signs flashing in their eyes every single time they saw me.
And I blame them for how they washed their hands of me when everything was said and done. Like I didn’t matter. Like I had never mattered at all.
So every time I hear their ad playing on the radio, I want to scream. Both at them, and at any unsuspecting woman like me who may be hearing their ad for the very first time.
I want to tell them to do their research. To look harder. To find someone who will give them personalized care. Someone who will make them feel like they matter. Like they are worth the extra time and effort. Like it’s about more than the money they are about to hand over.
I feel like Seattle Reproductive Medicine is preying on women with these ads. Alaskan women who feel trapped up here by the lack of options. Vulnerable women. Broken women. Women who would do anything to make their dreams come true.
And I worry. Because I know they are not the people-oriented center for reproductive medicine that these ads are making them out to be.
But up here in Alaska, we don’t have many options.
And they know that.
They know they can prey upon that.
Which is exactly what they're doing. Ensuring they can add more numbers (and dollars) to their crapshoot.
Because at the end of the day, they have nothing to lose.
Only more money to make.
ADSPACE
