TTC Wednesday: A letter to our MLA

The issue of whether or not to include IVF as part of Alberta Health Care is being reviewed right now and Generations of Hope is asking everyone who can to write a letter to our MLA explaining why this is important and why it should be considered. 
I do not know what kinds of struggles you have faced in your life. I do not know if this is an issue that is personal to you or not or if you have an opinion one way or another. I do know, though, that this is an issue that is personal to a lot of Canadians. 
I could write you a fact based letter and share with you all the statistics that are readily available on the internet. I'm sure you've heard them. I'm sure you understand what a profound impact having Alberta Health Care cover IVF treatment could have. 
Instead, though, I am choosing to tell you my story. I don't want you to forget that 47% of Canadians have been impacted by infertility in some shape or form. Nor do I want you to forget that 1/6 families struggle to be, have and complete their family. I don't know if you have children or if you struggled to have them. If you did, I'm sorry that you had to. If you didn't, I hope this can provide some insight for you.
I am 26 years old. I am infertile. I suffer from two conditions that have contributed to my lack of fertility. The first is a condition called Polycystic Ovarian Syndrome. For most women this causes a lack of ovulation and ovarian cysts that prevent implantation. It is one of the leading causes of female infertility in North America and is said to affect 1/10 women. There is no cure or medication to undo the varying symptoms of PCOS. In some cases it can be managed with birth control or fertility medication to induce ovulation. 
I also suffer from a rare condition called Unicornuate Uterus. This means that when I was a fetus developing my uterus did not form properly and I am missing the left half of it. This does not mean I cannot carry a child but it does increase difficulty conceiving and carries it's own set of risks if we do get pregnant one day. There is no way to fix how my uterus developed when I was a baby. 
I have spent the last two years charting my cycle. This requires me to get up at 4am every morning to take my temperature. It requires me to buy ovulation tests on a regular basis. My bathroom looks like a lab experiment. I struggle with going to baby showers or visiting some of my friends because I often come home in tears. 
I have gone through a battery of invasive tests and without too much detail, I would need a minimum of two hands to count the number of people who have had to "examine" my personal areas. I have had dye injected into my uterus. And this is just the beginning. We haven't reached a stage where IVF would be considered because IVF is so expensive. 
IVF has the single highest success rate of any medical intervention in this field. It is also the most expensive.  A study in the US showed that the average IVF baby cost between $50,000 and $70,000. Many people choose to do multiple embryos with IVF because it costs so much. Studies have shown that a single embryo  would reduce some costs for Alberta Health Care in the long run, even if IVF was funded by AHC. 
I have spent the majority of my adult life wanting to be a mother. I went to college with the sole purpose of being able to get a good, steady job where I could support having a family. My health conditions are not my fault, I did not create them. Plenty of people with these conditions go on to have healthy and happy children naturally. After 26 months of charting, we are not those people. We do need medical interventions and IVF may be on the table for us in the future. 
We live in a time where medical interventions are able to make a lot of things possible. I would hate to think after all the time, heartache and money we have invested into all of this that I would have to give up because I don't have $50,000 to spend on IVF.
I hope with all my heart that you will consider financial assistance for people who require these interventions to conceive.