Miracle of Creation
Originally uploaded by Orin Optiglot
The urologist who first tested my husband's sperm told him, "If your wife gets pregnant, you should get a paternity test." He then referred us to a fertility specialist.
He was the first of many medical personnel who would offer us mixed messages and gloomy encouragement and then ask for a check.
Actually, the doctors never talked about money and if you pressed them for an estimate they got all flustered and begged ignorance on the current fee schedule. The sad receptionist was the one who had to deal with our panicked faces as we added up the fees in our head and wrote the check with crossed fingers. At some point during our assisted reproduction odyssey, it became clear to me that these ladies didn't often deal with folks on a budget. They were much more comfortable with the understanding that, if you have to ask, you can't afford it. Normally, I would take my business elsewhere when faced with such dismal customer service, but I didn't know where else to go. And, my sweet husband wanted to minimize the number of people in the Miami Valley who had first hand knowledge of his sperm count and all it's shortcomings.
We pressed on...
