WSVN — She was having trouble getting pregnant and went through a procedure to store her embryos. Now she is ready to have a baby, but a hurdle came up — the cost to get her own embryos from the doctor’s office — which is why she called Help Me Howard with Patrick Fraser.
There is absolutely nothing better in your life than having a child.
Danielle Hodge: "My daughter is awesome. She is always happy, always smiling."
And for Danielle and her husband David, this is a baby they never thought they would have.
Danielle Hodge: "I was told I have a disease called polycystic ovary syndrome, and girls like me can’t have babies."
But the Hodges refused to accept that diagnosis, and went through what’s called IVF, or in vitro fertilization.
Danielle Hodge: "Your body is overstimulated to collect eggs from the body. They are fertilized and then put back into the mom’s body in hopes of a pregnancy."
It’s a remarkable procedure, but it’s not cheap.
Danielle Hodge: "Pretty close to $25,000. I emptied out my 401K and saved every penny on top of that. My husband emptied out his 401K."
Very expensive, and emotionally, very tough for them.
Danielle Hodge: "Attempt No. 1 was no pregnancy, attempt No. 2 we had a miscarriage, attempt No. 3 we had a miscarriage. Olivia is No. 4."
Now you see why Danielle calls Olivia their miracle. And now that she is 9 months old, Danielle and David are ready to use the two remaining embryos the doctor removed from her and stored to try to have another baby. So they called the office.
Danielle Hodge: "He told me, ‘You are incurring fees.’ I told him, ‘I don’t know what you are talking about, about these fees.’ And he said, ‘Well, it’s on the contract.’
Danielle did sign a contract, but didn’t initial the clause that detailed she had to pay a monthly fee to store her embryos. She thought that was included in the $25,000 she paid for the IVF.
Danielle Hodge: "I didn’t see anything in the contract about any sort of storage fee."
But now to get her embryos to try to have another baby, she would have to pay $1,700 in storage fees.
Danielle Hodge: "I told them I don’t have the money. I don’t work anymore; I stay home with my daughter."
And if she doesn’t pay for the embryos…
Danielle Hodge: "What do we do? I don’t want to destroy them. Those are my kids. I don’t want to adopt them out. I want them for me."
Well, Howard, legally can Danielle be charged $1,700 to get her embryos to try and have another baby?
Howard Finkelstein: "Because Danielle did not initial the clause that lists the storage fees, it’s possible a court would say she didn’t agree to that price, but because her eggs were stored, she has to pay, at least fair market value."
We contacted the doctor’s office several times. They did not return our calls, but they did send Danielle an e-mail asking her to tell Channel 7 to "cease calling our office and stopping by."
And then they did the nice thing. They compromised with Danielle, lowering the cost of the storage from $1,700 to $600, a price Danielle could afford and paid immediately.
Howard Finkelstein: "If Danielle and the doctor had not been able to agree on a price and Danielle couldn’t afford the price for storage, one of them would have to sue the other and a judge would sort it out, but legally those eggs cannot be destroyed."
Danielle now has her embryos stored with a company that charges much less, as she saves up to get the treatment to hopefully have another baby.
Danielle Hodge: "So the quality of those embryos, we were told, is very good. The likelihood of us having a pregnancy from that is very high."
Patrick Fraser: "Good luck, Danielle. Now, since Danielle didn’t initial that clause in the contract, it threw it into dispute, but in many cases, the failure to initial may not matter because that clause may be irrelevant to your purchase. No matter. It’s a reminder to read the entire contract carefully."
A problem left you frozen trying to figure it out? Ready to give birth to a solution? Contact us. You don’t have to egg us on to help you.
With this Help Me Howard, I’m Patrick Fraser, 7News.
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