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It’s hard to believe we’re more than a quarter into the New Year’s Roadmap for Fertility. It’s Month 4 and, in honor of tax season, we figured finances should be the name of the game at this point in the year.
Fertility treatments aren’t cheap, but the successful outcome is priceless. Even so, it takes a bit of learning, planning, understanding and preparing to ensure your path to fertility keeps your family in the financial black.
Contact the team here at the Reproductive Resource Center to learn more about IVF and its associated costs, or to discuss your fertility concerns.
A Little Planning Ensures You Can Afford IVF
According to ASRM, the average cost of a single IVF cycle is about $12,400, and that doesn’t include the initial rounds of fertility testing, fertility medications, frozen embryo storage, and other miscellaneous expenses. Then, you have to figure that most couples require more than a single cycle of IVF before they give birth to a healthy baby. Thus, planning and preparing is key to ensuring your fertility dreams can be a financial reality.
There are several things you can do now to prepare financially such as
Researching a better healthcare plan. Are you 100% clear about whether your healthcare plan covers any portion of fertility treatments. Even if your plan appears to provide some type of assistance, their definitions or policies regarding what determines infertility can vary. Give your health insurance provider a call and get very, very specific about what your plan does and doesn’t cover. Depending on what you hear, it may make sense to shop around and find a health insurance provider who offers better coverage for fertility treatments. Your HR representative may be able to help you with this task as well.
Financing Through the Fertility Clinic’s Preferred Lender. If you have decent credit, odds are you’ll be approved for some version fertility treatment-specific financing. Most fertility clinics work with their own preferred lender, who can offer you various financing options, typically at lower rates than credit card or other, more traditional lines of credit would offer. This can transform your scary “grand total” into a much more manageable monthly payment.
Banking Hours for Time Off Work. In addition to your out-of-pocket expenses, couples can be surprised when the hidden costs of fertility treatments make their appearance. For example, most fertility treatments will require some amount of scheduled time off from work. Depending on your company’s vacation and sick time policies, this may place you in a precarious position when paid-time-off runs out and your time off is unpaid.
As long as your speaking with an HR representative or an administrator about health insurance options, you may want to discuss the ability to work from home, or to bank extra hours at work that can be “cashed in” for paid hours when you need them down the way.
Reconsidering your career. Are you interested in IT or social media? Some of the trendiest IT businesses offer financial compensation to employees who need certain types of fertility treatments. Apple, Google, Facebook and Intel are all examples of companies who offer premium fertility treatment and/or pregnancy perks as part of their employee benefits packages. These companies also have in-house admin and non-software oriented positions, so they might be worth checking out if you are thinking that infertility will be an issue for you or your partner in the future.
One thing is for certain; money, or lack thereof, should never be the reason you give up on your dreams of becoming a parent. The team here at RRC is committed to helping you find a way to make IVF affordable. Give us a call so we can help. (877) 221-2323.