How Did You Finance Your Fertility TX?
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Anonymous
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We are looking at options around $30K. I don't know about everyone else on this board, but we do not have that kind of savings, nor can we afford a monthly payment that large on a 5-7 year loan... 2nd mortgage is not an option.
I'm wrestling with how much of our decision (whether to move forward or not) should be based on Finances. We really want this but can not figure out how to make it happen (in a way that won't stress us out financially for years to come...) How did you finance your fertility treatments? |
Anonymous
Savings.  Which is not helpful for you, I know. I really feel where you are coming from, here. There is no option, adoption or fertility treatments, that is "cheap." (Not to say you're looking for a "cheap" option -- just to say that it's ALL expensive.) Like normal folks, part of your decision-making will HAVE to be based on your finances. You can't bankrupt yourself over this.
There's a book I read early on in this process called "Budgeting for Infertility" that was quite useful. (I can't remember the authors but you can google it. I remember that it was two women.) The book focused on assisted reproductive technology, and had several ideas for how you can reduce the costs on meds and cycles. It might be worth checking out (get a used copy or get it from the library!) Good luck to you. |
Anonymous
| I did the standard IVF but have you considered NCIVF? there have been quite a few threads on the boards about this and I think its significantly cheaper. Also, I know this isn't legal, but can you find a support group of other fertility challenged women who have unused meds? I have been offer unopened menopur and bravelle from someone who was cycling at the same time as me. huge savings, my dr wanted me to do just two additional days of stims and it cost another $700. every little bit helps. Ask about generics. I think one of the progesterone commonly prescribed is now available in a generic form. Insist on that one if you can! also, at CFA they call your meds into Grubbs pharmacy and they were great to work with when trying to find me every possible discount possible. Also, do not over order! My standard order when I started my first cycle included FOUR weeks of progesterone suppositories . You only need to two weeks to get you to your first pregnancy test. If its negative then you don't need the other weeks so why pay for them. If its positive, then celebrate and you won't feel so bad paying for more progesterone. Think good thoughts. I am currently 5 weeks pregnant from my first IVF cycle. Now I am paying for many many weeks of progesterone but its worth it! |
Anonymous
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So sorry to hear about your trouble, OP.
Have you considered doing infertility treatments internationally? Medical tourism is booming in India, Singapore and Czech Republic. Plus you will get a vacation out of it. Does your employer cover infertility? If not, consider looking for another job with infertility coverage benefits. Can you afford (age-wise) to wait until your finance improve? So sorry you have to go through this... |
Anonymous
| Have a very honest conversation with your dr about your chances of responding on injectibles. I think many REs get super aggressive very quickly but maybe its not going to work no matter what. I spent 5k on IVF drugs and only produced 6 eggs. A few months earlier I spent $20 on clomid and produce 4 eggs. thats a hell of a lot of extra money and not a lot of extra eggs! |
Anonymous
| OP Here... unfortunately, it's not the cost of meds, etc. It's cost of either DE or Adoption... |
Anonymous
For DE, look into overseas clinics or RBA's vitrified egg programs. Is the $30,000 a guaranteed program at least? |
Anonymous
A couple of benefits of adoption are that you don't have to pay the money up front, as I understand it. You pay it in big chunks, of course, but it's not like you have to sit down and write a check for $30K. Don't know if that matters at all. And then there is the adoption tax credit; I'm not sure how much that is, but it reduces the pain a little bit. And of course, adopting an older child from foster care is not expensive, necessarily, but it has to be something you want to do; that's not a simple path. |
Anonymous
| Fortunately through savings. Parents have told us they'll contribute if I need it which I don't think I'll have to (fingers crossed). If I didn't have the savings I'd take out a loan against my house as the next option. |
Anonymous
| Totally honest question here. If you can't save for the fertility treatments, how are you going to finance the baby? Daycare in this area is like $18,000 a year. Add to that diapers and incidentals, you are at $20k. So, if you save for a year and then continue to save at the same rate during treatment while paying for treatment out of savings, you have it covered. |
Anonymous
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We're doing DE too. We figured out what we could afford to pay or save (after cutting out extras, packing our own lunches, etc.) and set out a plan to save that much per month until we got to a point where we were a payable amount of months out from having the full amount, if that makes sense. At that point, we'll start DE, put the cost on the CC, and pay it off at the rate we were saving. (It's timed to be fully paid a month or two before I would give birth.) So, we've been saving a certain amount since January and paying for the last round of failed IVF. In September, we will have X amount saved and be 8 months away from saving the full $30k. At that point we'll do the first cycle, putting the cost-not-covered by our savings on CC's, which we will pay at the same rate that we are saving now. It's not ideal to use CC's for this, but our accountant did tell us that if we incur the cost in a single year we will be able to write off the medical expenses, which helps a little.
FYI - We've also estimated what we will need to get us through the post-birth period. We have leave and a small CD which will cover that cost. If you don't have that though, you'll want to factor that in to your savings plan as well. The good news about DE is that even if you are AMA, you can carry for longer than you produce useable eggs. So, you have some time to save and plan for the financial side of things. Good luck! |
Anonymous
Financing the baby is not the problem. We have DC #1, who will be out of daycare by the time the next one (hopefully) arrives, so we will just continue on with the same daycare bills. We already have all the baby gear we need and diapers/formula will be added costs that we can incur. And, I have saved up enough vacation/sick time at work to cover maternity leave. I was thinking more along the lines of a $30K loan - we can pay back in chunks to some extent through flex spending, work bonus, taxes, cutting current costs in our budget, and saving less. However, a $500-600 payment/month really isn't in the budget (unless we stop saving). I think we could swing it but we are in a condo & if we wanted to move to a house with a bedroom room for baby, we wouldn't be able to afford a larger mortgage payment on this budget. Plus, I'm trying to justify the cost, knowing that if we didn't spend that $30K, it could go towards our DC #1's college fund, vacations, etc. Just wanted to hear how others are making this work. Sounds like it makes sense to save for awhile first. Also weighing our options with NCIVF vs. DE. The success rates are so much lower with NCIVF - but so is the cost. We're wavering on whether to try that first. After 2 years & many disappointments & bumps in the road, we just want the best chances at success. PP - hw much does your accountant charge? Do you think it's worth it to get some profeesional advice on how to do this? |
Anonymous
| what about using donated embyros. Granted they would be from both a donated spern and egg donor but its somethign to think about. CFA asks IVF patients what they want to do with "extra" fertilized embryos. Freeze, donate, discard etc. I was told the donated ones are for couples who cannot afford doner eggs. |
Anonymous
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As for the accountant.... hmmm... we had some specific questions about our income and situation. It was very helpful to have an answer to those, but I'm not sure if I would go for a general consult. It all sort of depends on your situation. She definitely didn't pull out any miracle money from a hidden bag, unfortunately. She did advise us to keep our medical expenses in a single year and that was helpful because we had been thinking about doing otherwise.
I think she usually charges around $250 for a consult, but we had consult and taxes and that was $600. |
Anonymous
| Has anyone used any of the programs like Capex MD? |