CONTRIBUTED BY ELIZABETH McKENZIE
One of the first things I heard from other military wives about being stationed in Okinawa is that every family leaves with at least one more child. “There must be something in the water!” was a sentence I heard a lot. Great, I thought! My husband and I had been trying for a couple years without success. Bring on the water!
Upon arriving in Okinawa, I scheduled an appointment with my PCM on Kadena to discuss my infertility issues and see what he had to suggest. I filled him in on my history: fertility testing that revealed PCOS, but no problems with my fallopian tubes or my husband’s sperm, a year of medically stimulated ovulation using Lexatrole (similar to Clomid), and a miscarriage. My PCM told me that he could refer me to Foster OBGYN clinic and that the only intervention they could offer me would be Clomid. At the time, Foster OBGYN did not refer people off base for infertility services. Since my visit, this seems to have changed, but on a case-by-case basis.
This news, while alarming, did not surprise me. Being the researcher that I am, I had found reference to infertility treatments off base in a comment on an old post in OkiHai, and I knew that there were options out there. Thank God, or I would have freaked out! To be clear, Foster will provide infertility testing, but they require that you have been trying to conceive for a year or more. Their testing panel includes sperm analysis for men, and blood work and hysterosalpingogram (HSG) tests for women. Given the sheer number of women seen at the OBGYN clinic, getting appointments at Foster is slow, and getting test results is even slower.
Fortunately, there are several off base clinics that offer fertility testing and treatments. None of these are covered by TriCare, even with an elusive referral, so be prepared to pay out of pocket. On the upside, treatments here are much less expensive than in the states. A round of IVF in the US can cost from $15-$20 thousand, while the highest I have heard about here is $6,800.
Clinics:
Uemura Hospital in Okinawa City
Address: 904-0021 Okinawa Goya 1-6-2
Phone: 098-937-5110
Uemura Clinic is a full service OBGYN hospital with a separate Reproductive Health clinic. The clinic offers both IUI and IVF procedures. Dr. Satoshi Uemura runs the clinic, and Natsuki-san is his translator. Dr. Uemura speaks pretty decent English himself, but as it’s a complicated subject, it is very helpful to have a translator. Plus, she is very nice, and cute as a button. All appointments are walk-in, unless specified by Dr. Uemura. On your first visit, bring any test results you have. You will fill out a history form as well. Expect to be asked to come back on day 1-4 of your cycle for a blood test. All testing is done on site, and results are usually available same day.
(In January 2015, the clinic will move to a brand new facility in the village of Nakagusuku.)
Address: 787-5 Shiohira, Itoman (South of Naha)
Phone: 098-852-3130
This clinic offers IUI and IVF treatments. Dr. Sakumoto speaks some English and so does some of the staff. Bring your test results and lab work. By appointment only. Map is available through Google.
Address: 868 Kochi, Nishihara City
Phone: 098-946-2837
Dr. Vaughn is an American Board Certified doctor and some of the staff speaks English, too. This clinic offers IUI treatment only, and is by appointment only.
The Women’s Clinich Itokazu Hospital
Address: 1-29-12 Tomari, Naha, Okinawa
Phone: 098-869-8359
This clinic offers IUI and IVF procedures, by appointment only. They have some English speaking staff.
The Ryukyu University Hospital
Address: 207 Uehara, Okinawa
Phone: 098-895-3331, Ext. 4916
This hospital offers IUI and IVF services. Dr. Yagi speaks limited English, and the literature from the hospital requests that you bring your own translator to your appointments. First appointments are walk-in only, on Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays from 8:30-11:00 AM.
Hi I was wondering how
Much it cost for IVF..?
We have had 4 miscarriages and would like to see all my options. Thanks
Does Dr Vaughn not Practice here anymore I’ve been calling with busy signal every time
Typo in section about the Uemura Clinic. It should read: “In January 2015, the clinic will move to a brand new facility in the village of Nakagusuku.
Also I’m not sure why they didn’t post the translated map I sent, so here are written directions from KAB Gate 2.
Go straight out the gate, make a left at the Koza Music intersection onto Rt. 330. Look for sign for Chuo Park Avenue, get in the right lane. Make the first right after the sign, across from the Drum Chinen sign. Continue up the hill through two intersections until you see a blue parking sign. That is the Uemura parking tower. They will give you a ticket, which you have validated inside. Once you have parked, go back down the road towards 330, go left at the first intersection and then right. The Umuera hospital main entrance will be on your right. Just past that, on the corner, is the door to the Reproductive Clinic.
Hi Elizabeth,
I fixed the typo – thanks for catching that!
To answer your map question, I actually did post the map you sent. The words in English did not appear because they were not part of the map photo. Let me explain: we ask contributors to submit photos as JPGs. Yours came in a Word Document, so I saved the map photos as JPGs in order to upload them to the post. However, it appears that the English words were not part of the actual photo but were inserted on top of the photo into the Word Document separately; thus, they did not carry over. If you could re-send me the map with the English words as a single JPG file, I will replace the map above with it right away.
Sorry for the long-winded explanation, but I hope this makes sense! If you ever have a concern about the way your post publishes please e-mail me at manager@okinawahai.com.
Thanks!!
Marie
Translated map is up! Thanks for re-sending Elizabeth! 🙂
Marie
We also had infertility issues (PCOS) but we were back in the states when the one year mark hit. Thanks for posting this, have you been offered metformin? It’s what finally helped us. Good luck to all and know you are not alone in this
Elizabeth thank you so much for sharing this on okinawa hai! If there is any one interested there is also a Facebook group that you can join: infertility forum in Okinawa