Somewhere in the deep recesses of childhood memory, I vaguely recall a fuzzy black & white Lee Majors sprinting across the television screen at incredible speed in the TV show The 6 Million Dollar Man.
For the unfamiliar, Majors played Steve Austin, an astronaut who was severely injured in a test flight of an experimental aircraft. Rebuilt by the government with a bionic body, he had superhuman strength and speed, infrared and zoom vision, and the greatest in 1970’s fashion.
The total cost of this life-saving operation? 6 Million Dollars. That’s a lot of money to create one amazing human being. With inflation, that 1973 procedure would cost more than $33.5 million today. Or would it?
Over the past few months, using the latest in modern technology, we have managed to create an amazing little human of our own at an expense of slightly less than $7,000 (although certainly that is only the down payment)
That’s right, Winnie is pregnant! We are both pretty excited
For anybody that has been reading GCC for awhile, this will probably explain some things: Why did our alcohol budget plummet to zero several months ago, and why would we stay in Taiwan for so long when there is so much of the world yet to see?
Due to some self-inflicted fertility obstacles, we sought some outside assistance. In a perfect example of medical tourism, based on convenience and cost this took the form of IVF, aka in-vitro fertilization aka test-tube baby making at a hospital in Taipei
Over the course of the last few months we have gone through two iterations of this procedure, and the second round was a success. Today we saw the heart beat for the first time on an ultrasound at ~7 weeks
Although we will likely remain in Taiwan throughout the pregnancy, we have considered a destination birth. We are open to recommendations on countries that offer great lifetime passport benefits to newborns
Afterwards we will most definitely undergo additional adventures (but absolutely no bionic body parts until age 18!)
Update: Read about our IVF experience, including costs
Wow!
Congratulations to the newest member of the GCC family.
Well done, kid. You did a GREAT job picking your parents!
Haha, thanks Jim!
Congratulations! Have you thought about an EU birth to get an EU passport?
Thanks Jason!
We are thinking an EU or Commonwealth Passport would be the best, but need to decide if it is worth the effort
Congrats! Such an exciting moment in your lives. Good luck.
Thank you! And just think of the tax deductions! ;)
Well, damn son, congrats to you both!
My first thought was “was this a planned baby or a miracle surprise?” but I think that question is answered. :)
This will certainly add an extra dimension to your travels!
Oops! I spent $7,000!
Ha ha, don’t hear that very often.
Congrats!!!! What a great family to be coming into this world with. Y’all are blessed :)
If nieces and nephews give any clue, this baby will be sporting your hairstyle in no time!
Congrats, folks. Winnie, I hear getting up at a ridiculous time (like 3 or 4am) and having a snack can combat nausea. Also, that right now, all that kid wants is carbs.
Congratulations! Have a miracle of modern science too – most fun ever! Passport-wise, I’d pick countries that have great airport options- have friends with multiple passports and those that require visits to the country as adults sometimes find it a pain. This is an odd point, but as someone with 2 passports, I sometimes wonder which country I’d claim in a hijacking situation- global politics, sigh.
Congratulations, that’s really wonderful news!
Thanks Brad!
ok, was I the only one to question “self-inflicted fertility obstacles?” What does that mean? Vasectomy is the only thing I can come up with…but I’ve read that those can be reversed for a lot cheaper than IVF. What gives?
I had a vasectomy maybe 12 years ago. I’ll post details about how and why we chose this route, including financials sometime in the near future
Congratulation to both of you & you guys will be the wonderful parents!
I hope so! It will be an adventure for sure
A hearty congratulations to you both! Very exciting :)
Congrats to you both. As a new dad I can tell you that you’ll really enjoy parenthood once you get past the getting up in the middle of the night part. ;)
EU passport sounds like a great idea!
Thanks Tawcan, and congrats to you too
Not looking forward to the middle of the night part :)
Congrats! As a new parent myself, I know how tough it is to travel with a baby. Looking forward to hear about your adventures in parenthood and how that melds with your “Wealthy World Traveler” plans. Best of luck!
Congrats to you as well, Kuma. It will be a change for us for sure, and certainly a growing experience.
We met people traveling with kids throughout our journey. Lots to figure out!
I vote EU. I have dual citizenship with Italy, and was able to get a Master’s degree for much cheaper than if I were not a citizen. See http://www.studyineurope.eu/tuition-fees Also, it makes employment inside the EU much easier, should the little one decide that route. Finally, it would make the blog much more interesting! ;)
Anything to make the blog more interesting! ;)
We like the EU idea but aren’t yet sure if we can make that work citizenship wise
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jus_soli
More research required :)
Well, congratulations!
This is the most innovative blogger traffic-building technique I’ve ever seen! Just kidding.
Thanks Nords! Just wait until I write the “Name the baby contest” post ;)
Laurence on Early-Retirement.org has been getting grief for nearly seven years for doing that to his daughter!
But you’d have to pick an epic Mandarin middle name anyway…
Very cool. I was wondering where you were going with the Lee Majors thing. Congratulations to you and Winnie. All the best!
Just a little geeking out to go along with making a baby in the lab! haha
We Aussies welcome go curry cookie to down under, free health care!
Thanks srikala!
After a little research, it might not be so easy to get a passport for the little one. Most countries don’t grant citizenship on birth
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jus_soli
Congrats! How exciting, and can’t wait to see the little world traveler’s experiences as they grow up. :D
Thanks Joe!
Congrats!!!
Thanks much! We are pretty excited
Congratulations, that is great news! Enjoy the excellent health care in Taiwan!
Thanks Peter. So far Taiwan health care has been world class
Winnie went to the Doctor today and got an ultrasound and a vitamin shot. Total for everything was less than $30
Big congrats guys. That little stink ball in my Avatar is the result of 3 IVF attempts and about 18K$. You guys got a great deal at 7K! I hope your little one brings you guys as much happiness as ours has.
Much thanks Chris!
Are you US based? Did any health insurance lower the price to $18k, or is that the full cost? Thanks!
Live in California and have Tricare through the military. Tricare will not pay for most fertility procedures so we were stuck paying the bill.
Wow!!
Congrats, guys. I’m incredibly happy for you two. How fun it will be to go on adventures with a little one. Life just keeps getting better. :)
Best regards!
Thanks Jason! Indeed, life is good
I remembered that she mentioned in one of her blogs that you both decided not to raise a kid.
It’s something we discussed for several years
In any case, we’ve made the final decision :)
Congratulations Jeremy. Its great to hear.
Congratulations! I can’t wait to see what you do with your budgets and travel with a baby in tow!
Recently started following your blog. Congratulations.
As far as citizenship at birth have a look here:
http://www.sovereignman.com/trends/set-your-child-up-for-life-with-a-second-citizenship-5-places-to-have-a-baby-14910/
Thanks Bruce, and thanks for the link
Canada might be an option, as part of the old Commonwealth countries
FYI, from researching Canada and medical tourism, I found out they screen for knocked up women trying to enter the country. Guess they don’t want any anchor babies and don’t want to provide free health care to destitute Americans who can’t afford care (not really – medicaid covers pregnant women pretty well!).
So they make every woman coming into the country pee on a stick?
I think it’s a visual screening only. :)
In other words if you show up with a visible baby bump, they might potentially deny you entry. Of course Winnie will be showing in winter, so you could tell her to don a heavy parka and they would never know.
That makes more sense :)
Originally we were thinking we would spend 6 months someplace (Australia/NZ for example) and so when we arrived it would be smooth sailing
The list of countries that give citizenship at birth is much shorter than I assumed though
Congrats!
Thanks Eli!
Congrats!! Really happy for you!!