WHAT DO FERTILITY ACUPUNCTURE FEES ACTUALLY COVER?
Much more than the hour you spend on the treatment couch. It covers the specialist training needed to advise you properly, the time spent on your case before, between and after sessions, and impartial guidance throughout.
Some people are able to decide they want a baby, start trying and get pregnant within a few months. That usually isn't an expensive process. Maybe they go out for dinner a bit more or spend money on a weekend away, but there's no big obligatory investment. Where that pregnancy doesn't happen, where you experience the devastation of loss and need testing and expert help, or where you are trying to conceive on your own or in a same sex couple, things can get very expensive very quickly.
Having experienced issues conceiving myself and seen how quickly spending can get out of hand, I used to look at "fertility experts" who charged more than non-specialists and wonder how they could justify it, and whether it was just because they knew people looking for help would be willing to pay more. Worrying that others would see me the same way led me to undercharge for some time after getting my additional qualifications, and I see lots of fertility acupuncturists still undercharging, presumably for the same reason. So I want to explain why specialist fertility acupuncture often comes at a premium, and why it's actually very good value (even if I do say so myself).
The training behind the advice
Properly trained fertility acupuncturists have invested thousands in the postgraduate training they need to advise you properly, and they keep investing every year in CPD to stay up to date in a field that's constantly changing. As well as the money, that's many hours of study on top of clinical work.
The work you don't see
Your fee isn't really an hourly rate. I offer a free 15-minute consultation, so I've often spoken to people before they even book, and I regularly exchange several emails before the first session to make sure I have copies of all the relevant information. Before I meet you, I review your intake form and every test result you've had. After your first session, I write a full consultation report and a treatment plan. Between sessions, I'm available by email or phone as questions come up, and I follow your testing and appointments with other professionals as they progress. (I walk through the full process in my previous post.) All of that time sits behind each session.
Guidance with no agenda
I'm not trying to sell you a clinic, a protocol or a procedure. That means I can talk you through what a diagnosis actually means, what your options are and what's indicated for you, without an incentive pulling toward one path over another. I don't receive commission for any tests or referrals, so if I recommend something, you know it's because I genuinely think it's right for you.
It also means being honest about the limits of what acupuncture can do. If something needs a reproductive immunologist, an endocrinologist or further testing, I'll tell you that, rather than quietly carrying on with treatment and hoping for the best. Sometimes the most valuable thing I do is point you to the right person or the right test, early, before more time and money is spent in the wrong direction.
What you're really paying for
When you're already spending on tests, clinics and treatments, it's reasonable to question every cost. But the right support early on can save time, money and heartache further down the line. A specialist fertility acupuncturist's fee covers the expertise, time and impartial guidance to help make sure the rest of your spending is going in the right direction.