*grumble*

[judecorp]

I just got a bill from the fertility clinic in Boston - an annual sperm storage fee. For the vial of sperm they were supposed to thaw and destroy for us months ago.

The bill is $600. Heads will roll.

Comments

[jodied.livejournal.com]

That there are so many dudes storing sperm in their testicles for free is just wrong. They should spread the wealth.

Bastards for not doing what they were supposed to do though!

[judecorp.livejournal.com]

I know! To think they are providing a valuable service all this time!!

[kjtoo.livejournal.com]

Yeah, but I won't store just any dude's sperm in my testicles. I'm very picky.

[jost.livejournal.com]

I could use $600... any idea if they pay for dropping off as well as picking up?

[judecorp.livejournal.com]

Try Xytex in Atlanta. My clinic isn't a sperm bank, just an andrology lab.

[colorbars.livejournal.com]

Ignorant question coming. Why would the sperm be destroyed instead of given to someone else?

(I'm trying to ignore the urge to ask who we males who store sperm all the time should be billing.)

[judecorp.livejournal.com]

Well, it's my sperm that I bought from a sperm bank. I suppose if someone really WANTED it, I could get a cooler of dry ice, drive to Boston, withdraw the sample, drive it to whomever, etc. etc. What a PITA that would be, and that's IF (a big if) someone would want to use a sample from a donor we got TERRIBLE sperm counts from.

Who would you suggest I give it to? The bank won't buy/take it back.

[cappucinogrrl.livejournal.com]

If you donate an egg, they'll give you back change! =)

[judecorp.livejournal.com]

Ha! If it were that simple!

[artjax.livejournal.com]

Uhm...is this 600$ for just ONE vial??? Jeez

[judecorp.livejournal.com]

Apparently it's a flat-fee storage rate or something. I think we paid $300 last year. WTF?

[artjax.livejournal.com]

first, going from 25 to 50 a month is a HUGE jump, secondly, they uh, should have destroyed it when you asked them too. Arseholes. good luck on the phone.

[judecorp.livejournal.com]

Boston Eye Vee Eff is very VERY ch-ching! I learned this when I noticed that my health insurance at the time (BCBS) wasn't paying them much for their claims... and then at the end of the year they RESUBMITTED all the claims to get more money!

But the person I talked to in billing was VERY nice. We straightened out why the vial hadn't been destroyed, and she told me if I could submit a certain form within 30 days, they would just remove the charge entirely.

I hope that's true!

[afullmoon.livejournal.com]

Wow that's a lot we pay 120 a year for 4 vials. Why did you destroy sperm if I might ask?

[judecorp.livejournal.com]

We originally bought three vials from our first donor. We used two of them in two months, and both of them had TERRIBLE counts. But the sperm bank refused to buy it back or issue a refund. We opted not to try the third vial and instead switched to another donor at another bank. We never have any intention of using Mr. Shady Numbers.

[afullmoon.livejournal.com]

Ahh makes sense if you don't mind me asking what banks you use?

[judecorp.livejournal.com]

The dude we fired was from New England Cryogenic. We switched to Xytex after that and had great numbers.

Who did you use, if you used a bank?

[afullmoon.livejournal.com]

We did use a bank we used genome resources. It was an okay bank.

[judecorp.livejournal.com]

Well it worked, right? That's what matters! :)

[eeka13.livejournal.com]

Heads will roll.

Sperm heads?

[judecorp.livejournal.com]

YES!

[colorbars.livejournal.com]

I figured that you could sell or return it, actually. Logically it would seem to me that there would be a higher demand for popsicle sperm than there's a supply, thus there would be a need for every donation.

[judecorp.livejournal.com]

Oh, you'd be surprised. There is TONS of sperm out there. It is big business.

Sperm banks won't take returns unless for some reason the sperm quality is below what they guarantee. They won't just take it back if you don't need it.

I could probably TRY to sell it to someone, but since the counts were so low (which is why we stopped using it), I doubt anyone would want it.