More often than not I am back in the store or online the next day to get that item that I had first laid my eyes upon and just had to have. This time around however the Veronika Maine striped, cotton silk tunic dress with the contrasting belt is not nestled amongst my overflowing wardrobe but rather it remains perched on its hanger in the store and will most likely not be making its way into my wardrobe this summer.
For now I have a new kind of expensive taste and it’s the kind every female would, I am sure, rather do without. It started when I first made an appointment with my GP to discuss the possibility of fertility issues. In less than what felt like five minutes, armed with a referral for a specialist and $70 later, the new kind of expensive had begun.
From my research on the internet I definitely sensed pcos was a possibility but still harboured the notion that there was more than likely nothing much wrong with me and that I would just come out of the specialist appointment with some tablets…… problem solved.
As soon as Dr C performed an ultrasound a month down the track and halfway through said, “Yes there it is, polycystic ovaries.” I was ushered back into his room and given a wad of fact sheets on pcos, all sorts of fertility treatments available and referrals for blood tests. Of course he was very thorough in explaining everything to me but I was still in a daze from having it confirmed to me that yes, I did have pcos and along with that coming to the realisation that having a baby was not going to be as easy as I had previously predicted. It felt like I was retaining little of this information being thrust upon me.
However when I was handed the collection of blood test scripts and told that there was “over 700 dollars’ worth of tests there” I suddenly felt very alert. $700 for blood tests! Mr JR was going to have a coronary. Luckily Dr C went on to say most of that was covered, but I sensed this could just be the beginning of our expensive journey. I came out of that appointment, $278 later feeling rather overwhelmed. Of course Mr JR and I are willing to pay in order to try and start our family but being a young couple just starting out (and like I said in an earlier post, with bills and a mortgage to pay) there are limitations to how much we can afford. A friend of mine told me they are currently $50 000 less and still no baby. Another friend has said he and his partner are considering surrogacy in America but have to find a spare
$200 000. I’m beginning to wonder how the average person can possibly afford this. I understand that many are willing to spend what they can to have a family but if you simply don’t have that kind of money is that the end of it all baby wise?
So instead of just being problem free and being able to take the easy (not to mention cheap!) alternative of conceiving naturally it seems apt that I, as I have always done in my life, am travelling down the more expensive path. Hopefully for Mr JR and me it doesn’t get to the stage like my friends where we have to somehow come up with those large sums of money (I really feel for those who are in that position). We will just have to wait and see what happens, but for now the Veronika Maine striped, cotton silk tunic dress with the contrasting belt will remain on the store shelf, or in somebody else’s cupboard whilst we take on this new kind of “expensive taste”.
*Please note that as I mentioned earlier although I have a love for shopping and in particular buying clothes, my number one passion is animal welfare. I am a huge animal lover who despairs daily over the injustices committed against animals and I support animal welfare in any way I can. I just wish I had lots of money to impact in a big way in making their lives cruelty free.
