As contractors added a second story to her 1920s bungalow, Renee Whitley awaited the birth of her first child. Then, she had a miscarriage. Then, she learned she would need expensive fertility treatments to conceive again. And the kicker: health insurance would not cover the cost.
Construction stopped. Money from the Whitley’s home equity line of credit earmarked for renovations was diverted to arduous treatments that weren’t guaranteed to work.
“The biggest issue here is that insurance doesn’t cover infertility,” says Whitley, now mother to a two-year-old son. “It’s a disease.”
Whitley is active in Resolve, a support network for those with infertility, which affects one in eight couples. The organization lobbies for legislation forcing insurance companies to cover fertility treatment. Nationally, about one in five companies offers coverage. Fifteen states have some sort of mandate for infertility coverage, but there are loopholes for small businesses, companies that underwrite their own plans, and others.
That leaves thousands of couples and singles who are chasing parenthood to pay their own way.
The price tag on a single round of in vitro fertilization—where the egg and sperm are combined in a lab in hopes of creating a healthy embryo that will grow in the woman’s uterus—runs $12,000 to $15,000, and even more if they use eggs donated by a younger woman or other additional procedures. Some couples require three or more treatments.
Despite the sticker shock, ordinary people find a way to pay.
“Wanting to have a family is a strong motivator,” says Dr. David Adamson, medical director at Fertility Physicians of Northern California and founder of Advanced Reproductive Care, a national network of infertility practices offering financing programs for treatment.
If you are facing infertility, here are some ideas to help you conceive and save some money:
• If you even suspect you might be infertile, find out if your company has benefits. If it doesn’t, write a letter requesting coverage. A Resolve survey found most employers who offer coverage do so because an employee asked.
• Find out if your partner’s company covers infertility. If it does, consider switching.
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